Charlotte was Rooting for the Knicks

The night before, Dennis Smith Jr, when asked about the Detroit game, said “We’re going to keep their ass out”. But before the game it was announced Smith Jr would not be playing due to his bad back.

.@Dennis1SmithJr has a message to the Pistons: don't expect an easy game tomorrow.

Hear his thoughts in his post-game interview with @RebeccaHaarlow! #Knicks #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/1cwVJ0zG9L

— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) April 10, 2019

Before the game, the Charlotte Hornets posted this on twitter:

Charlotte is rooting HARD for a Knicks W tonight against the Pistons.

(: @hornets) pic.twitter.com/9G7LJB3qqf

— theScore (@theScore) April 10, 2019

It was also reported that Hornets coach James Borrego played for and coached with Knicks coach David Fizdale at the University of San Diego, so Fizdale would make sure his Knicks tried to beat Detroit.

So with that incentive, it was surprising to see the Knicks show no fight whatsoever and get blown off the court on Fan Appreciation night at Madison Square Garden. They played no team defense and didn’t look like much of a team at all.

The Highlights

Mitchell Robinson was a “Skinny Shaq” slam-dunk highlight show in the first half. It was alley oop slam after alley oop slam. He finished with 11 pts on 5-6 shooting (all slams) but only played 23 minutes due to 4 fouls — and didn’t block a shot, ending his consecutive game 2-blocks-or-more streak.

.@23savage____ ending the season with after pic.twitter.com/xtpVZyerEP

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 11, 2019

On the other end of the court, Andre Drummond powered his way to 20 points on 10-15 and 18 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan did not suit up for the game so couldn’t come in to help. Guess Fizdale wasn’t THAT intent on beating Detroit.

Luke Kornet couldn’t stop Drummond — he had 6 points (on 2-9 shooting) and 2 rebounds in 28 minutes. The Knicks left the job mostly to Isaiah Hicks (11 points) and Henry Ellenson (12 pts). If I were Charlotte I’d be like WTF?

John Jenkins played well — 16 points on 6-9. He’s a SHOOTER. Some believe the Knicks signed him to a one year contract to act as contract fodder in a coming deal for Anthony Davis (where Knicks need to accumulate salaries to send to Memphis to match Davis’ salary). Kadeem Allen (13 pts on 3-10) was brought in to lead the offense in the second half — he had a decent game — very aggressive and penetrating as usual. Billy Garrett Jr played ok.

The Low Lights

Mario Hezonja lost his slippers. He started at point and was horrible — 21 minutes, 0 points (0-3), 6 turnovers and a -21. Kevin Knox shot poorly — 3-12 (o-6 from 3) for 9 points with 7 rebounds. Damyean Dotson with another poor shooting game (2-8).

Lance Thomas suited but didn’t play — again — did Fizdale really care about this game?

Allonzo Trier, Emmanuel Mudiay, Frank Ntilikina, Noah Vonleh continued to be injured.

For Detroit

Detroit is in the playoffs with the win. Besides Drummond’s heroics, Reggie Jackson looked quick and fast and hit his jumper; Knick reject Langston Galloway played 32 important minutes and looked good; Jose Calderon played too. Detroit emptied their bench to get everyone playing time as they prepare for the playoffs — as this game was over in the 2nd quarter: Bruce Brown, Zaza Pachulia, Thon Maker, Jon Leuer, Ish Smith, Glenn Robinson III, Luke Kennard, and Khyri Thomas all got minutes.

The Boxscore

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071896

The post Stinking Up Fan Appreciation Day — April 10, 2019: Detroit 115 NY 89 appeared first on Knicks.City.

And win they have.

The Game

This one, in Chicago against a “who’s that?” team fielded to audition for next season — was a solid win. There was no incentive for Chicago to lose this game — as they are in 4th worst spot — with no chance to move to the 3 spot (3 games back of Cleveland with 2 to play) or fall back to the 5 spot (7 games ahead of 5th place Atlanta).

So it was a legitimate win for the Knicks, who put on a SHOW early and jumped out to a huge 20+ point lead in the first quarter. They led start to finish (although Chicago pulled back to within single digits early in the 4th).

Smith on Display

Oddly Mario Hezonja — superstar point guard of the previous two games — was ‘sick’ and didn’t play. That left 34 minutes of point guard play for Dennis Smith Jr. Knicks management have got to be trying to make a decision on him in one way or another. Rumor has it Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have already made a pact to sign with the Knicks; the only unfinished business is who signs first. So that means Dennis Smith Jr will be the backup or trade bait for Anthony Davis? And of course the Knicks’ position in the draft will affect things, with a couple of top-notch point guards available at the #2 or #3 slot. We’ll see.

Knicks Two-Headed Monster Dominates

The Knicks started their two-headed monster and it dominated again — Mitchell Robinson (3-6, 8 pts, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Luke Kornet (5-14, 12 pts, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 blocks).

Big man's got moves. pic.twitter.com/ZO9jrMofB8

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 10, 2019

The kid doesn't stop pic.twitter.com/oNEZUGbbA5

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 10, 2019

Kevin Knox (5-16, 4-8 from 3, 17 pts, 10 rebounds) rounded out the big front line and Dennis Smith Jr (10-23, 25 pts, 5 assists) orchestrated. Smith looked GREAT orchestrating. He looked like a good NBA point guard.

Damyean Dotson (5-10, 12 pts) rounded out the starting five and coach Fizdale played reserves Henry Ellenson, Billy Garrett Jr, Isaiah Hicks, and John Jenkins.

Chicago started Robin Lopez, Shaquille Harrison (looked very quick with an ability to cut thru defenses and finish at the rim in a variety of ways), and the unknowns — Ryan Arcidiacono, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Wayne Seldon Jr.

The Boxscore

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071886

Crazy Night

This was a Crazy night in sports — the Knicks win completely overshadowed by other happenings in NY and in the NBA.

• The Yankees ballpen blew a 3-2 lead and lost in Houston,
• Jacob DeGrom got BLASTED in his start with the Mets,
• Ian Begley quit ESPN for SNY,
• Chris Mullin quit St Johns as head coach, and then
• Earvin Magic Johnson said ‘hold my beer’, announcing he was quiting the Lakers in an impromptu press conference, without having told owner Jennie Buss yet.

Magic Johnson just stepped down as Lakers president with this strange, meandering press conference. It’s too kind to call the Lakers a dumpster fire. Wherever LeBron goes, chaos follows. pic.twitter.com/iVhE9ApRVb

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 10, 2019

This lit Twitter afire, with tweets such as these:

Magic Johnson’s mood at that press conference pic.twitter.com/nAved8r0sX

— Daniel Berhane (@dannyberhane) April 10, 2019

Magic Johnson is pulling the "it's not you, it's me" breakup excuse with the #Lakers in this press conference lol

— Erin Ashley Simon (@erinasimon) April 10, 2019

ladies, if he:

-ghosts you
-tweets too much
-holds a press conference where he tells the world he loves you but couldn’t break up face to face because he cares too much

he’s not your man. he’s NBA legend Magic Johnson.

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) April 10, 2019

Magic Johnson walking into his press conference to resign after fucking up the Lakers roster pic.twitter.com/OSKfawVFRx

— kitty kat man (@timthekat) April 10, 2019

Holy shit Magic Johnson just quit the Lakers, on live TV, in a press conference…

He just told the media before he told Jeanie Buss lol

Thank you for this gift of content, Lakers.

Never change. pic.twitter.com/LNz39Rcf61

— Rachael Van Oranje (@GameDayOJ) April 10, 2019

And a good counter point!

I’m a @Lakers fan so I’m not objective but I will say…. if when Magic was hired and they had said “His whole job is just to get LeBron here and then he’ll step down” I think most Laker fans would have signed up for that.

— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) April 10, 2019

The post Wins Coming Easy Now — April 9, 2019: NY 96 Chicago 86 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Skinny Shaq

Out of training camp we learned the Knicks players had knicknamed him “Skinny Shaq” according to Trey Burke, because he impressed in camp and everything he did was a slam dunk and shot block.

Mitch just doing Mitch things. pic.twitter.com/3DzXoXADhO

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 29, 2019

As the season started, the shot blocks and slam dunks came but his rebounding wasn’t great, and there was the worry about his free throw shooting. But as this season has progressed, Robinson has been improving by leaps and bounds — in the last few months, his rebounding has become terrific — pulling the ball down in traffic, and his free throw shooting has improved dramatically.

We now wait for the post-up move and the 3-pt shot.

The Game That Announced Robinson?

As this season has progressed, more and more NBA fans are learning about Robinson. If there was a game where Robinson was “announced” this may have been it. Robinson’s line: 8-12 for 19 points and 21 rebounds, 2 blocks in 31 minutes — he missed a backwards layup at the buzzer that would have given him 20-20.

.@AllenKadeem with the moves pic.twitter.com/C2nhzCnzWG

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 29, 2019

The rest of the Knicks — not so good.

“Glorified G-League Team”

After this game, it came out that coach David Fizdale had referred to these Knicks as a “glorified G-league team”. This was the most disappointing quote of the season from him. It means everything he’s said to this point this year was BS. And he’s pointing the finger of blame at the players for the Knicks horrible record. Two months ago, DeAndre Jordan and Dennis Smith Jr were considered key players on a playoff-bound Dallas Mavericks team. Now they are part of a team that has little talent?

As Knicks tank for Zion, David Fizdale calls them a 'glorified G League team' https://t.co/8T4Gduvdka

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 17, 2019

Toronto beat the Knicks without Kawhi Leonard. Pascal Siakam ran the Knicks off the court — 11-19 for 31 pts. Kyle Lowry looked slow like he was still recovering from recent ankle injury — 3-10 for 7 points. Marc Gasol didn’t do much (0-4 2 pts).

Toronto essentially blew out the Knicks with Siakam, Jeremy Lin, Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet, and Danny Green. Knicks have as much talent as that. The difference was the 3 and the coaching.

The 3

Toronto was 20-47 from the 3-pt line. The Knicks didn’t guard the 3 and were 6-26 from the 3 themselves.

After the game, NY Post’s Marc Berman reported that Fizdale was pissed in the post game. “The way they just dealt with that film session, that was brutal,’’ Fizdale said. “And I got no backlash. [I was angry] just because the amount of attempts they got off from three. We said we were going to commit to taking away the 3-point line against them, and those guys got up basically 50 3’s just from an attempts standpoint.’’

For the Knicks

The one guy on the Knicks who can hit the 3 is Kevin Knox. He was 3-10 (2-5 from 3) for 9 points.

Emmanuel Mudiay was 4-12 (0-2 from 3) for 11 pts; Damyean Dotson was 3-9 (1-5 from 3) for 9 points; ; Mario Hezonja was 3-8 (0-3 from 3); Dennis Smith Jr was 2-11 (1-4 from 3) for 7 points; Kadeem Allen was 6-9 (1-2 from 3, 5-5 free throws) for 18 points. Henry Ellenson, Luke Kornet, Lance Thomas, and John Jenkins played minimal minutes off the bench. Allonzo Trier, Frank Ntilikina, and Noah Vonleh remained injured.

Side Note

Kyle Lowry elbowed Mitchell Robinson in the stomach at one point to pick up a foul. The last time Toronto played NY a week ago, Lowry called Robinson “dirty” for falling on him.

The Boxscore

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071798

The post Mitchell Robinson BEAST Game — March 28, 2019: Toronto 117 Knicks 92 appeared first on Knicks.City.

The 3’s

Denver jumped out to a 16-pt lead in the first quarter by hitting their 3’s, while the Knicks didn’t hit their 3’s. From there, Denver essentially coasted. Knicks were down by 4, then a couple of Emmanuel Mudiay turnovers, a couple of Denver 3’s and just like that it was 23-9 Denver. By midway thru the second quarter this was the story:

• Knicks 2-13 from 3
• Denver 7-17 from 3
• Difference was 15 pts
• Knicks were down by 16, 45-29

The 3 is an area where the Knicks are definitely behind other NBA teams in talent. The Knicks have Kevin Knox who can hit the 3. Allonzo Trier can hit a 3 but he was out injured for the second straight game.

There are a lot of guys on the Knicks who can’t hit a 3 with any regularity, or are streaky. Damyean Dotson can hit a 3, but can have off nights. This was an off night — he was 1-7 from 3 (2 for 9 overall) for 6 pts. Kadeem Allen also shot poorly (1-7, 3 pts).

Emmanuel Mudiay is just under 33% on the season — he had a decent shooting night — 9-21 (2-5 from 3) 21 pts, 7 rebounds, 4 assists. He attacks attacks attacks the basket. But he can turn the ball over on some stupid passes.

Kevin Knox has that Money 3 off the pass with no hesitation. It is pretty and accurate. That’s where his game is at. Knox still has a habit of being driven off the drive and tossing up a floater while running away from the basket out of bounds. Knox finished 6-16, 3-8 from 3 for 19 pts. Here was Knox off the pass after one of several unforced Denver turnovers in the lane due to Robinson’s presence:

K3⃣V pic.twitter.com/rY1ELQmTzf

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 23, 2019

And then there was Ntilikina — Ntilikina looked decent tonite; his defense was pretty good; he was active in attacking with the ball — didn’t quite drive into the paint but went around the baseline at one point; and distributed. He had 5 assists in 25 min. Good. But .. you know 1-6 (1-4 from 3) for 5 pts.

Now that's a assist… pic.twitter.com/qcCPXNni7M

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 23, 2019

Mercedes Mitch

Mitchell Robinson had another terrific night — 16 points (7-10), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks in 23 minutes and his presence caused several Denver unforced turnovers in the lane — leading to fastbreaks the other way — one leading to a Knox 3.

This was the play of the night:

SAVAGE INDEED pic.twitter.com/dDTFCrMr0u

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 23, 2019

There were other Robinson highlights — like every play is a highlight:

Putback Mitch pic.twitter.com/btcrerG9aq

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 23, 2019

Other Knicks

DeAndre Jordan added 7 pts, Mario Hezonja 7 pts, Lance Thomas 3 pts, Henry Ellenson 3 pts, John Jenkins 3 pts, and Luke Kornet didn’t score. Dennis Smith Jr and Noah Vonleh continued to be injured.

For Denver

Denver finished 15-38 from 3 for 39.5%; Knicks closed to 9-32 for 28%.  Nikola Jokic (8-20) played effortlessly well; he had 21 pts, 17 rebounds, 5 assists

Paul Millsap 3-12 for 8 pts, Jamal Murray was 7-16 for 18 pts, Will Barton 4-13 for 12 pts, Gary Harris was 4-5 from 3 (5-8 overall) for 14 pts. Mason Plumlee put a body on the Knicks and was 4-6 for 11 pts. Juan Hernangomez was first man off Denver’s bench — 0 pts in 7 minutes.

Again — you look at the Denver team and you aren’t blown away by the talent in the boxscore. But they are well coached, they pass well and hit their 3’s.

The Boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071755

The post Never Close — March 23, 2019: Denver 111 NY 93 appeared first on Knicks.City.

It shouldn’t prevent top free agents from signing here, and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are still fully expected to join the team this summer. But Coach David Fizdale must certainly be under the magnifying glass by GM Scott Perry and Knicks management right now. Next year it will be a microscope.

The Math

Put it this way — the Knicks will finish with about 15 (or less) wins this year. Next year, if they bring in Durant and Irving, added to this young core, with a top pick in this June’s draft — the Knicks will be expected to win 45 games and advance to the second round of the playoffs. Anything less would be a disappointment. If the Knicks are 12-18 at end of December, Fizdale may be on the firing block.

Remember Durant will be 31 next year, with a 3-year window. Irving will be 27, and for an ultra quick point guard — will also be looking at a 3-yr window.

So the Knicks will need to jump from 15 wins to 45 wins in a year. Everyone says the Knicks are tanking the second half this year — so it’s not a true 15-win team. But still others are now saying the Knicks don’t have enough talent so you can’t judge Fizdale properly. Knicks certainly seem to have a lot of young talent — it may be “too young” at this point.

This year the magnifying glass; next year the Microscope.

The Picture

This picture of Mario Hezonja surfaced on Twitter after the game. It was the picture of the night:

The Highlights

It’s a Hard Knicks Life suggested this was Highlight #1 of the game:

Knicks v Jazz Highlight #1 pic.twitter.com/ZqhbNX3kkE

— It’s a Hard Knicks Life (@HardKnicksLife) March 20, 2019

The Game

Utah pummeled the Knicks from the 3-pt arc. They hit their 3’s; the Knicks didn’t hit their 3’s. The Knicks didn’t do a good job of being in Utah’s face, defensively.

Near the end of the 2nd quarter, this was the story:

• Utah 11-23 from 3 for 33 pts
• Knicks 5-15 from 3 for 15 pts
• Utah 66 Knicks 40

The Knicks were without Allonzo Trier and Kadeem Allen so they didn’t have as much firepower as usual. They would’ve helped. But it wouldn’t have mattered — Knicks were down by 30 for most of this game.

The Bright Spots

The bright spots were the play of the following guys:

• Kevin Knox 10-17, 27 pts, 8 rebounds, 3 assists — looked Terrific. Driving to the basket, being aggressive.

.@KevKnox @23savage____ pic.twitter.com/FnFyfwC24L

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 21, 2019

• Mitchell Robinson 6-10, 14 pts, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks — another fine game. Broke a bunch of Knicks records on the evening — most consecutive games with a blocked shot (29, besting Patrick Ewing), and most blocked shots by a rookie (besting Kristaps Porzingis). It was also Robinson’s 20th straight game with 2 or more blocks.

With this block, Mitchell Robinson sets a new #Knicks franchise for blocks by a rookie in a single season! #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/bTNkEkX5yT

— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) March 21, 2019

• Mario Hezonja 8-13, 23 pts — played well
• Damyean Dotson 7-13 (4-9 from 3) 21 pts, 5 assists — shot well
• Emmanuel Mudiay 7-17, 15 pts, 5 assists — pretty good although he was 0-5 from 3

The Other Knicks

Henry Ellenson played well (3-6 for 7 pts, a +12), and Luke Kornet, Lance Thomas, and John Jenkins logged minutes. Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr and Noah Vonleh continued to be injured, as was Trier and Kadeem Allen.

The Jazz

Joe Ingles in particular, killed the Knicks. At one point he was 5-6 from 3, and finished 6-9 from 3 — 18 pts.

Donovan Mitchell 30 points on 12-20. Looks like Knicks should have picked him in that draft (it was either him or Ntilikina said some sources afterwards). Rudy Gobert 18 pts on 7-7 inside. (DeAndre Jordan, the Knicks big body guarding him, had only 6 pts on 3-4 in 18 min, 3 fouls). Ricky Rubio 12 pts on 10-10 from free throw line. Jae Crowder 15 pts, Derrick Favors 10 pts, Kyle Korver 9 points on 3-9 from 3. Utah played their whole bench in the blowout, and whoever came in — Raul Neto, Royce O’Neale, Ekpe Udoh, Grayson Allen — hit their shots.

After the game, Stefan Bondy of the NY Daily News reported that Donovan Mitchell had this to say about Frank Ntilikina: “When he gets a chance, he’ll figure it out. He’s a great defender. He was one of the hardest guys I had to go against last year. He came in in the second half and shut me down when we played here.”

The Boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071741

The post Magnifying Glasses & Microscopes — March 20, 2019: Utah 137 NY 116 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Eleven (11) games left and Knicks have worst record in the league by 2.5 games over Phoenix. The worst team guarantees itself no worse than the #5 pick overall; if you slide to 2nd worst, there’s a 20 percent chance you could get the #6 pick, and the team that is 3rd worst has a 7 % chance at getting the #7 overall pick.

So that’s what the Knicks are playing for.

Trier Tried

This game — Allonzo Trier played well — 22 points on 8-14 shooting (1-2 from 3, 5-6 from the free throw line). He was cutting thru the defense with quickness, stopping and popping, or hitting 3’s — and playing pretty good D.

@ISO_ZO pic.twitter.com/w9TafqmM0m

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 19, 2019

And Trier’s play is about all you can say good about the Knicks in this game! Well Damyean Dotson was ok — 4-8 for 11 pts in 18 minutes.

Shooters shoot pic.twitter.com/JZZvmozLza

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 19, 2019

Still Dotson and all the Knick starters were pulled off the court a few minutes into the 2nd half, as Knicks were getting blown off the court after halftime. Coach Fizdale showing his displeasure.

Mitchell Robinson (0-1, 0 pts, 3 blocks) fouled out in only 14 minutes which is not good — he had been doing so well in staying out of foul trouble since returning from injury, but now the last few games has been ringing up fouls.

.@23savage____ doin' what he do pic.twitter.com/KK5TqNhBFX

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 19, 2019

The Knicks Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Kevin Knox (4-14, 12 pts) had a poor shooting game, as did Mario Hezonja (3-10, 8 pts), and Emmanuel Mudiay (2-7 for 7 pts). Shooters John Jenkins (1-4, 0-3 from 3) and Luke Kornet (2-8, 0-5 from 3) came in and shot badly. Kadeem Allen was 0-8 for 0 pts. Even DeAndre Jordan who only takes slam dunks and layups, was 0-2 from the floor for 6 pts in 20 minutes. Yea it was that bad.

Henry Ellenson (3-6, 9 pts) and Lance Thomas (1-3, 4 pts) rounded out the boxscore. Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr, and Noah Vonleh continued to be injured.

Toronto Looked GOOD

For Toronto, Pascal Siakam (9-14 19 pts, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) looked terrific, as everyone has been saying. He is long and lean and muscular and quick — runs the floor like.. The Greek Freak.

Toronto Looked REALLY WELL COACHED

Kawhi Leonard was out injured, but Toronto ran the Knicks off the court. Toronto looked very well coached — their coach Nick Nurse — who used to be the assistant — has an extensive coaching history, including college, 11 years coaching in Europe where he won a bunch of titles, and the D League.

Toronto Looked LIKE GREYHOUNDS

Fred VanVleet (5-9, 13 pts, 12 assists) looked fleet. Kyle Lowry looked a tad slow, and Walt Frazier noticed it and mentioned it. Mike Breen explained Lowry was just coming back from a sprained ankle. Danny Green was shooting lights out (4-6, 3-4 from 3, 13 points in 22 minutes). OG Anunoby (6-12, 1-6 from 3, 14 pts) was finishing at the rim. Toronto just ran the Knicks off the court. Marc Gasol was in there too with 12 pts and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes. Jeremy Lin — 7-11 for 20 points in 27 minutes why not.

It’s all about the coaching and Toronto has good coaching, making their players look like greyhounds.

The boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071726

The post BOOM CRASH Knicks Fall to Earth — March 18, 2019: Toronto 128 NY 92 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Knicks mustered only 83 points against San Antonio’s defense.

And that was it. Does San Antonio have such a talented team on the court? No — not really. LeMarcus Aldridge is good, and there’s DeMar DeRozan, and a bunch of no names, really. But they have vastly better coaching.

For the Knicks, Kadeem Allen was back and looked terrific again — 6 for his first 7, and finished 7-10 for 16 points. He was hitting floaters in the lane, 3’s off the pass, and baseline reverses. Allen was put back on the roster from the G League after Dennis Smith Jr was put on the injured list with a bad back. Damyean Dotson also terrific — 21 points on 9-19. “We’ve seen Dotson run amuck like this recently” — said Clyde Frazier midway thru 3rd.

.@wholeteamDot's got a hot hand pic.twitter.com/XXDqg8viqJ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 16, 2019

Knick Guards Trying to “Get Theirs” = Lack of Ball Rotating

But there was something lacking in the backcourt and you saw it if you are an Allonzo Trier fan. Trier has become a ready passer — one of the Knick guards most intent to ‘pass first’ — but in so doing there are possessions where he’s standing on the left or right side of the court and never sees the ball again after passing it. The ball is not rotating around much. The guard with the ball, takes the shot. And so on a possession where Trier does get the ball back, he kind of hurries a shot off. That’s what seemed to be happening the last two games. And coach Fizdale mentioned this earlier in the week — he’s noticed players trying to ‘get theirs’ as everyone is trying out for next year, and the passing had become less.

More evidence of the lack of passing was that the guards were not finding Mitchell Robinson, who got only 5 shots — he was 0-3 but went the free throw line twice; he finished with only 2 points in 21 minutes, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. (He also scored on a slam dunk at the end of the 1st quarter buzzer, but the score was ruled off as too late later.)

Part of that was San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Jakob Poeltl — both big guys and shot-blocking threats — guarding Robinson inside, eliminating alley-oop opportunities; but most of it had to do with the Knicks not running plays for Robinson or the Knick guards looking for him too much. Emmanuel Mudiay had his second straight good game — 6-14 for 14 points — was hitting his shot. He still doesn’t quite look like a point guard though — looks for his shot first, then maybe the pass, although coach has said he’s the best passer on the team. Before the game, Walt Frazier said “Mudiay knows how to break down the defense, and set up his teammates.”

.@emmanuelmudiay pic.twitter.com/D5WbrUyjJP

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 16, 2019

Battle of Big Men

In the battle of big men, LaMarcus Aldridge hit some tough shots over Noah Vonleh early, and Vonleh didn’t guard him for long as he sprained his ankle and left after 9 minutes. Aldridge had his usual 18 pts (8-14) and 11 rebounds in only 28 minutes. DeAndre Jordan put up big numbers — 11 pts, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists. This was the second straight game where he put up big numbers and watching the game, he didn’t seem to look that great. He was good — but… 9 assists? Have to watch the game again. Jakob Poeltl had 12 pts, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks — and put a body on Robinson. Kevin Knox hit a nice 3 but had another soft game — 7 points in 25 minutes.

1⃣7⃣ pic.twitter.com/qNtxvmCta0

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 16, 2019

Other Knicks and Spurs

John Jenkins, Henry Ellenson, and Luke Kornet got minimal minutes. Mario Hezonja and Frank Ntilikina continue to be injured.

For San Antonio, starters Bryan Forbes shot 5-7 for 13 pts, and Derrick White had 3 pts. San Antonio emptied their bench in this one — playing 13 players. Rudy Gay played 19 minutes and was 5-8 for 12 pts, Marco Belinelli got 21 minutes and had a tough 12 points, and Patty Mills had 9 points and a +23.  Chimezie Metu, Quincy Pondexter, Davis Bertans, Dante Cunningham, and Lonnie Walker IV all got playing time.

The boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071705

The post Now That was a Solid Loss — March 15, 2019: San Antonio 109 NY 83 appeared first on Knicks.City.

With the loss, Knicks have a very nice 3-GAME LEAD on last place, 4-game lead over Cleveland, and 5.5-game lead over Chicago with 14 games to go.

Van Gogh Overrated

Van Gogh is by the way overrated as an artist. He was my favorite artist as a kid; loved his colors. But visited the Vincent Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, and found out he only learned to paint late in life, painted for only 10 years (some of his stuff was rudimentary with bad angles but he was in right place at right time — in Paris at the advent of new paint technology — became ‘one of the boys’ of the many other famous artists flocking to Paris at the time; he artfully used the new bright colors available); cut off his ear after an argument with another male artist because he was going insane due to syphilis (there was a syphilis epidemic at the time); and went to town and threw his ear at a hooker (who perhaps gave him the syphilis). He sold one painting while alive and wasn’t particularly regarded as a fantastic painter; he lived off his brother who owned an art gallery, and died after his brother died also of syphilis. The brother’s wife, with child, out of desperation marketed and sold Van Gogh’s art and made him famous in his after-life. The song “Starry Starry Night” furthered his fame to current-day gigantic proportions. There are probably thousands of current day artists who are better. Maybe tens of thousands. Not so Rembrandt.

The Game

Trying to think of a deeper analogy between Van Gogh and the Knicks but can’t. Last night was not a good night if you are a fan of Mitchell Robinson or Allonzo Trier (3-12 for 7 points) as Robinson played only 13 minutes, and Trier had a poor shooting game. Robinson — who has been avoiding foul trouble almost completely the last two months — got into early foul trouble in this game against Domantas Sabonis, who can do that to you. Robinson picked up his 3rd foul in the second quarter — and finished with only 13 minutes, 3-3 shooting for 7 pts and 3 blocks. Sabonis dominated the Knicks in two previous games against them this season, but not tonite — 4-12, 10 points — although he did pick up two fouls on Robinson, once by leaning into Robinson on a drive.

Not happenin' pic.twitter.com/M2DKVB1ctV

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 12, 2019

DeAndre Jordan had something to do with that and blew up the boxscore for 5-6 shooting, 12 pts, 16 rebounds, 5 assists. Somehow he didn’t look that impressive while watching the game; will have to watch it again.

.@DeAndre is HYPE pic.twitter.com/f6X9q6L6lG

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 13, 2019

Despite the poor shooting game from Trier, he did connect on a 3 and provide one of his usual drives:

Make way for @ISO_ZO pic.twitter.com/JE2MoOPMiq

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 13, 2019

Good News Knox

Good news for the Knicks: the second good game in a row for Kevin Knox — he hit his 3 and finished on drives to the basket — he was 5-9 (4-5 from 3, 2-2 from free throw line) 16 pts, 5 rebounds in 25 minutes.

Stay out the splash zone pic.twitter.com/knlIHaPKQl

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 12, 2019

Other Knicks

Damyean Dotson again looked like a starting NBA shooting guard. He had 18 pts on 6-16 shooting (4-8 from 3) and 6 rebounds, 3 assists. Emmanuel Mudiay played well — 7-14 for 21 pts. He attacks the basket — attack attack attack — and has become much better at finishing tough layups in traffic, something he didn’t do when he came to the Knicks a year ago. He still doesn’t orchestrate his teammates well — doesn’t even look to pass sometimes; and his defense is shoddy. Coach has him out there because he attacks; pushes the tempo.

Dennis Smith Jr (3-8 for 7 points, 3 assists) didn’t play that well again. He was there at the end and you had a feeling if Trier was in there instead in the last 3 minutes, the Knicks would have won. Smith did nothing as far as penetrating to the basket or scoring in the final minutes. Still he finished with a team high +11. Fizdale is clearly playing Smith Jr to close to see what he has in him for the future.

Lance Thomas played 12 minutes and scored 2 points. Henry Ellenson and Luke Kornet did not play. Frank Ntilikina and Mario Hezonja continue to be injured.

For Indiana

This is Indiana without Victor Oladipo, out for the rest of the year. Knick castoff Wesley Matthews is the starting shooting guard, playing well (4-8, 14 pts). Boran Bogdanovic was tough — 24 pts on 9-16. Miles Turner was 5-15 for 15 pts, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in 37 minutes (Mitchell Robinson had 3 blocks in only 13 minutes). Darren Collison had 16 pts on 5-11 shooting. And Doug McDermott had 8 pts on 4-6.

More on Banning of Knick Fan Event

Meanwhile, there was more news on the banning of the Knick fan for telling James Dolan to sell the team — according to Dolan he was going to give the fan a visit to the lockerroom, etc, but then found out the fan set up the whole thing:

Knicks & Rangers owner James Dolan explains why he banned a fan for life from Madison Square Garden. pic.twitter.com/RmSE0TnO9k

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 12, 2019

The boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071680

The post Like Van Gogh Knicks Paint Another Loss — March 12, 2019: Indiana 103 NY 98 appeared first on Knicks.City.

• The day before they lost 102-94 to Sacramento.
• Before that 107-96 to Phoenix.
• Before that 115-108 to Sacramento.
• Before that a blowout loss to LA Clippers, but the 5 games before that — all lost by about 10 points.

Minnesota did not look like they had more talent than the Knicks on the court, especially with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins out — but they looked like the better team. Better coached. Their coach is Ryan Saunders — son of “the great Flip Saunders”. The MSG analysts said Knicks coach David Fizdale tried to hire Ryan Sanders as an assistant coach in Memphis, but it never went through.

The Knick Guards

In this game, Damyean Dotson and Allonzo Trier shot lights out in the backcourt. Dotson 10-19 for 26 pts in 41 minutes; Trier 5-11 (4-5 from 3) for 15 points in 24 minutes. On one play, Trier grabbed the defensive rebound, raced full court then did a stutterstep stop go stop go layup in traffic and got the foul — terrific play! After the game Wally Sczerbiak and Alan Hahn agreed that Trier is going to find a home in the NBA as an excellent instant offense off the bench player. However to my reckoning — he looks like a starting NBA shooting guard who may become an All Star someday.

Too smooth. pic.twitter.com/hiVhtI17om

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 11, 2019

Dennis Smith Jr overall played well but made some poor decisions on passes. He finisheed with 6-15 13 pts 4 assists. Emmanuel Mudiay played poorly — mistakes and 2-7 for 4 pts.

Skinny Shaq

Mitchell Robinson dominated as usual — 4-5 for 8 pts, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in 33 minutes. On one play, Dennis Smith Jr made a beautiful penetration and behind the back pass to Robinson who made the shot and got the foul.

This duo though pic.twitter.com/r1Ef5bh2oP

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 11, 2019

.@23savage____ is on auto block pic.twitter.com/dDZTjt6Yyb

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 11, 2019

The Knock on Knicks Knox

Kevin Knox was good and bad as usual. In this game mostly good (5-11, 13 pts, 5 rebounds, 4 assists in 27 minutes). He throws down terrific plays which show he can be a star in the NBA; then follows with terrible plays which make you scratch your head and say he needs to get better. He showed off his beautiful, high-arching, accurate 3, and on one play used his loooong arms to intercept a pass in the lane then drive fullcourt to make a tough layup in traffic. On another play, he botched an inside layup twice and lost the ball out of bounds.

Jordan Old Overnight?

In this game DeAndre Jordan looked like he got old overnight. He missed several slam attempts — couldn’t get the height on his jump, and opponents drove at him in the lane regularly. He blocked one shot but allowed a number of easy inside scores. He had 2 points on 1-8 shooting in 15 minutes; 5 rebounds. He mostly looked terrible.

Other Knicks

Noah Vonleh was back from injury and started (3-4, 8 pts 6 rebounds in 28 min), Lance Thomas had 13 minutes as first man off the bench; John Jenkins played 10 minutes, and Luke Kornet and Henry Ellenson did not play.

For Minnesota

Taj Gibson (11-15 for 25 pts) and Jeff Teague (8-18 20 pts, 10 assists) killed the Knicks all night. It was like a 2-man team. Three if you count Keita Bates-Diop (7-12 for 18 pts) who was also good. Four if you count Dario Saric (5-11, 11 pts). Five if you count Tyus Jones (5-10, 13 pts) but who’s counting.

Bottom line Knicks looked like they had more talented players than Minnesota — especially with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins out — but Minnesota was the better coached team.

The boxscore: 

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071671

The post Knicks Making Losing an “Art Form” — March 10, 2019: Minnesota 103 NY 92 appeared first on Knicks.City.

NY Didn’t Play their Best Team at the End

The Knicks had the lead with 5 minutes left, and were playing well. Then, inexplicably, Fizdale lifted most of the players playing well — Mitchell Robinson, Allonzo Trier, Luke Kornet, and Emmanuel Mudiay, who were playing well with John Jenkins — a team that had just erased a 12-pt deficit to take the lead — for an entirely new team (with Jenkins) for the final 3-4 minutes. That team — DeAndre Jordan, Lance Thomas, Damyean Dotson, Dennis Smith Jr., and Jenkins — came in cold and Sacramento blew past them. On two key plays Sacramento went right at Deandre Jordan in the lane — Harrison Barnes scored in the lane and on the next time down, De’Aaron Fox drove the lane for 3-pt play — plays that would not have happened with Mitchell Robinson out there. Deandre Jordan at 30 is not the inside defensive shot-blocking force he was 2 years ago. He still blocks shots but can be challenged.

After the game, Fizdale was asked about lifting Mitchell Robinson for the final 3 minutes. He said he sat Robinson because “he was done. He was barely getting up & down the court. Instead of letting him not be focused & play & make mental mistakes, I figured get a fresh body in there & having the luxury of DJ we didn’t think it would be that big of a shift.”

One could imagine the Knicks could have simply called a timeout and let Robinson rest for a minute, then continue playing. He is only 20 yrs old.

But it was another loss and the Knicks maintain their 1.5 lead on last place with 16 to go.

Battle of Point Guards

In this game, De’Aaron Fox dominated. He had 30 pts on 11-17 shooting, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and carried Sacramento at the end, pushing the tempo, scoring and finding teammates. Dennis Smith Jr wasn’t as good — he had 17 pts on 7-19 shooting, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Mudiay had 9 pts on 4-8 shooting, 3 assists.

.@emmanuelmudiay with the finesse pic.twitter.com/RhIlj9UfSm

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 9, 2019

Trier and Robinson

Allonzo Trier was 0-5 from 3, but otherwise played well (10 pts on 3-10 in 24 minutes). At one point he made a terrific cross-court pass to Kornet on opposite baseline. Trier was inexplicably pulled for the final 4 minutes while Damyean Dotson played the shooting guard (2-12, 0-4 from 3, 5 pts in 33 minutes).

Mitchell Robinson was a beast as usual — 8 pts (on 2-4, 4-4 free throws — great news there as he continues to look great on the free throw line), 9 rebounds, 3 blocks in 22 minutes. His rebounding has improved by light years in the last 2 months — whereas he used to not pull down rebounds in traffic, now he does. His free throw shooting also is improved by light years in two months, as is his ability to stay out of foul trouble! (He did foul out twice in the last 5 games but in one of those games, 2 of the fouls were on purpose to stop the clock.)

Get this kid a cape pic.twitter.com/fmH9d7n7Hb

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 9, 2019

Other Knicks

Kevin Knox made one terrific Euro step drive to the basket which left you feeling he can be Really good if he increases his motor a tad and gets better at finishing at the rim, percentage wise. He has that pretty, accurate 3-pt jumpshot, shoots immediately off the pass, and is either shooting 3’s or driving to the hoop — a game made for the current NBA.

Jenkins it should be mentioned, shot lights out in the 4th — at one point hitting 3 straight 3’s.

Lance Thomas played ok (10 pts, 7 rebounds — not sure why he continues to start and get a lot of minutes), Henry Ellenson got some minutes, and Noah Vonleh sat out with a hip injury. Mario Hezonja and Frank Ntilikina continued to be injured.

For Sacramento

For Sacramento Buddy Hield had a not-great shooting game (7-22, 4-13 from 3), Willie Cauley-Stein was tough inside (12 rebounds, 7 pts). The Knicks mostly kept Nemanja Bjelica (5-13, 13 pts) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (2-9, 9 pts) from doing damage with their outside shooting. This game was all about De’Aaron Fox and the Knicks not putting their best team on the court the final 3 minutes.

Dolan Tells Fan to Get Lost

After the game, this surfaced on Twitter which — all we can say is, Who are the Girls??

So a Knicks fan gets banned from MSG after today's game for telling James Dolan to "Sell the team". Wow. pic.twitter.com/4hHpyt8jFh

— Knicks Fan TV (@KnicksFanTv) March 10, 2019

The Boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071659

The post Tank or Poor Coaching? — March 9, 2019: Sacramento 102 NY 94 appeared first on Knicks.City.