PG: KNICKS 'Put A Spell' On The Wizards!!!

[GONYK]

I can't think of anything the team is doing this season that isn't on par or better than they were last season.

Slow starts and inconsistent defense were definitely present last season.

At least now we get pace and space offense, tons of open 3s, 5 out, maximization of our wings on both ends and lineup experimentation.

[F N 11]

Would it benefit the team both now and in the longterm if Deuce started in place of Shamet?

Or am I severely underrating and underappreciating what Shamet brings?

Still hurts losing Donte. Mike Brown system helped revive his career. We need that type of dynamic shooter. Shamet inconsistent to me.

[3toheadmelo]

We are mediocre across the board and the schedule has been pretty easy so far. I think with the core group being together a full year and having gone deeper into the playoffs last year, expectations need to be higher even for regular season success. There should be progress and they should look better. So far that hasn’t been the case

Yep. There's nothing wrong with expecting more from a team that just went to the ECF. We've looked massively disappointing against teams we should be beating with ease. A win against a tanking team isn't moving me honestly.

A win against the Wolves tomorrow should move you

I’m hoping ant plays so we can see how we look like against them with both of us at full strength. A win would move me for sure!

[mpharris36]

how have we played an easy schedule so far?

CHI twice who is legit (they have already beat DET and ORL two playoff teams along with us and they beat ATL who can be decent)
CLE is a good team
BOS (is a fringe playoff team)
Mia is a solid team that likely makes the playoffs

Washington is terrible that so far has been the only team that isn't a legit playoff team. I wouldn't say that is easy.

Easy would be like playing multiple games vs Brooklyn or New Orleans or Sacramento.

I would say only Washington was the only bad team we have faced so far.

[HEZI]

We are mediocre across the board and the schedule has been pretty easy so far. I think with the core group being together a full year and having gone deeper into the playoffs last year, expectations need to be higher even for regular season success. There should be progress and they should look better. So far that hasn’t been the case

I would have higher expectations if they were building upon an identity they already built but it's a new coach installing a new system with a group that honestly didn't even seem to have an identity last year. A year of the core together and we still don't have a clear and obvious starting 5, the two players the team is built around formed zero chemistry last year, the bench hasn't been massively upgraded, there was no time invested into the young players and we still don't know definitively know if KAT is better for this tea at the 4 or the 5.

Our core group actually played worse together over time including the postseason and the same question marks that existed at the start of last year exist this year. Can you tell me the areas that the team made progress in last year that put this team in a better place for success this year and please don't just say they made the ECF?

I was actually saying these things last year so not much has really changed. We did slightly upgrade our bench from arguably worst bench in the league to decent now.

I do notice them slowly adjusting things to more of what worked last year. Abandoning the chuck and duck and focusing more on slowing the pace down in the half court, playing more through KAT and not just having him stand around for catch and shoot opportunities but working him inside the arc. Shortening the rotation. Playing Josh Hart more minutes with the starters and having him close the games out. Basically using the blueprint of last season and slowly scrapping the new plan because this roster is not designed for that and thankfully it’s not because it’s a bad system anyway. That’s just some stuff on offense but some of our biggest weaknesses continue to be defensively and that’s something we continue to struggle with. We can’t defend and unless we bring in better defensive players I don’t see how that changes.

[HEZI]

how have we played an easy schedule so far?

CHI twice who is legit (they have already beat DET and ORL two playoff teams along with us and they beat ATL who can be decent)
CLE is a good team
BOS (is a fringe playoff team)
Mia is a solid team that likely makes the playoffs

Washington is terrible that so far has been the only team that isn't a legit playoff team. I wouldn't say that is easy.

Easy would be like playing multiple games vs Brooklyn or New Orleans or Sacramento.

I would say only Washington was the only bad team we have faced so far.

All Eastern Conference teams. Sixers and Bulls are both 5-1 and neither team is a contender. At least last year the top two teams were actual contenders but it’s so bad this year that these two teams are leading the conference. Not to mention we’ve played those teams while they were missing their top players. Yes it’s been an easy schedule

[WaltFrazier]

Mikal is really the only player who has looked better under Mike brown. Everyone else has regressed

Read on Twitter

plus steals/blocks

[MrDollarBills]

Mikal is really the only player who has looked better under Mike brown. Everyone else has regressed

Read on Twitter

plus steals/blocks

Brunson is averaging 29 and 6. Lets give everyone some time

[thebuzzardman]

Yep. There's nothing wrong with expecting more from a team that just went to the ECF. We've looked massively disappointing against teams we should be beating with ease. A win against a tanking team isn't moving me honestly.

A win against the Wolves tomorrow should move you

I’m hoping ant plays so we can see how we look like against them with both of us at full strength. A win would move me for sure!

Knicks playing an actual good team? This is a 25 point loss

[Iron Mantis]

A win against the Wolves tomorrow should move you

I’m hoping ant plays so we can see how we look like against them with both of us at full strength. A win would move me for sure!

Knicks playing an actual good team? This is a 25 point loss

What have the Wolves accomplished this season that makes them better than the Knicks?

They have only beaten one .500 team: the Blazers, who may actually be frauds.

[robillionaire]

how have we played an easy schedule so far?

CHI twice who is legit (they have already beat DET and ORL two playoff teams along with us and they beat ATL who can be decent)
CLE is a good team
BOS (is a fringe playoff team)
Mia is a solid team that likely makes the playoffs

Washington is terrible that so far has been the only team that isn't a legit playoff team. I wouldn't say that is easy.

Easy would be like playing multiple games vs Brooklyn or New Orleans or Sacramento.

I would say only Washington was the only bad team we have faced so far.

Chicago is, in my opinion, a fraud, off to a bit of a hot start now they’re currently down by 19 at the half to the 76ers. Boston is completely cooked, Miami is mid and still blew us out, the bucks were not supposed to be contenders(hence the Giannis rumors) and they stomped us, Washington is tanking. The only good team was Cleveland and they were shorthanded with no garland and we didn’t look very good in the win. So, I am not impressed and need to see more.

But… with he downfall of Indiana and Boston the east looks very weak this year in general. I still don’t see why we shouldn’t win it

[mpharris36]

how have we played an easy schedule so far?

CHI twice who is legit (they have already beat DET and ORL two playoff teams along with us and they beat ATL who can be decent)
CLE is a good team
BOS (is a fringe playoff team)
Mia is a solid team that likely makes the playoffs

Washington is terrible that so far has been the only team that isn't a legit playoff team. I wouldn't say that is easy.

Easy would be like playing multiple games vs Brooklyn or New Orleans or Sacramento.

I would say only Washington was the only bad team we have faced so far.

Chicago is, in my opinion, a fraud, off to a bit of a hot start now they’re currently down by 19 at the half to the 76ers. Boston is completely cooked, Miami is mid and still blew us out, the bucks were not supposed to be contenders(hence the Giannis rumors) and they stomped us, Washington is tanking. The only good team was Cleveland and they were shorthanded with no garland and we didn’t look very good in the win. So, I am not impressed and need to see more.

But… with he downfall of Indiana and Boston the east looks very weak this year in general. I still don’t see why we shouldn’t win it

us until the last few games have been short handed as well. I don't feel bad for any of these teams.

CHI may fall off a bit but they were still playing really well with really strong wins vs ORL/DET/ATL and us. Miami just beat LAC on the road. You can call them mid but this idea we had a cakewalk easy schedule is ridiculous.

And what do you mean we didn't even look good beating CLE? We dominated them for 3 of the 4 qtrs...we had a terrible 3rd qtr where Spida went nuclear but whats your evaluation of not looking good to beat a team?

No one is trying to peak in Oct/Nov either...so this idea "I need to see more" basically applies to every team not named OKC.

[KnixinSix]

how have we played an easy schedule so far?

CHI twice who is legit (they have already beat DET and ORL two playoff teams along with us and they beat ATL who can be decent)
CLE is a good team
BOS (is a fringe playoff team)
Mia is a solid team that likely makes the playoffs

Washington is terrible that so far has been the only team that isn't a legit playoff team. I wouldn't say that is easy.

Easy would be like playing multiple games vs Brooklyn or New Orleans or Sacramento.

I would say only Washington was the only bad team we have faced so far.

Chicago is, in my opinion, a fraud, off to a bit of a hot start now they’re currently down by 19 at the half to the 76ers. Boston is completely cooked, Miami is mid and still blew us out, the bucks were not supposed to be contenders(hence the Giannis rumors) and they stomped us, Washington is tanking. The only good team was Cleveland and they were shorthanded with no garland and we didn’t look very good in the win. So, I am not impressed and need to see more.

But… with he downfall of Indiana and Boston the east looks very weak this year in general. I still don’t see why we shouldn’t win it

us until the last few games have been short handed as well. I don't feel bad for any of these teams.

CHI may fall off a bit but they were still playing really well with really strong wins vs ORL/DET/ATL and us. Miami just beat LAC on the road. You can call them mid but this idea we had a cakewalk easy schedule is ridiculous.

And what do you mean we didn't even look good beating CLE? We dominated them for 3 of the 4 qtrs...we had a terrible 3rd qtr where Spida went nuclear but whats your evaluation of not looking good to beat a team?

No one is trying to peak in Oct/Nov either...so this idea "I need to see more" basically applies to every team not named OKC.

Some folks just have an obsession with negativity.

[JayTWill]

We are mediocre across the board and the schedule has been pretty easy so far. I think with the core group being together a full year and having gone deeper into the playoffs last year, expectations need to be higher even for regular season success. There should be progress and they should look better. So far that hasn’t been the case

I would have higher expectations if they were building upon an identity they already built but it's a new coach installing a new system with a group that honestly didn't even seem to have an identity last year. A year of the core together and we still don't have a clear and obvious starting 5, the two players the team is built around formed zero chemistry last year, the bench hasn't been massively upgraded, there was no time invested into the young players and we still don't know definitively know if KAT is better for this tea at the 4 or the 5.

Our core group actually played worse together over time including the postseason and the same question marks that existed at the start of last year exist this year. Can you tell me the areas that the team made progress in last year that put this team in a better place for success this year and please don't just say they made the ECF?

I was actually saying these things last year so not much has really changed. We did slightly upgrade our bench from arguably worst bench in the league to decent now.

I do notice them slowly adjusting things to more of what worked last year. Abandoning the chuck and duck and focusing more on slowing the pace down in the half court, playing more through KAT and not just having him stand around for catch and shoot opportunities but working him inside the arc. Shortening the rotation. Playing Josh Hart more minutes with the starters and having him close the games out. Basically using the blueprint of last season and slowly scrapping the new plan because this roster is not designed for that and thankfully it’s not because it’s a bad system anyway. That’s just some stuff on offense but some of our biggest weaknesses continue to be defensively and that’s something we continue to struggle with. We can’t defend and unless we bring in better defensive players I don’t see how that changes.

I don't know. The upgraded bench to this point consists of Yabu contributed almost nothing positive in place of Precious who at least gave you some defense and Clarkson average 9 points on similar percentages to Payne and his 7 points but with Payne having a much better assist/to ratio. It's too early to tell if it is an upgrade, a downgrade or neutral.

As far as going back to what worked last season in the last few games with Hart playing well Brown only actually went back to last year's starting lineup for and an average of 5.3 minutes in comparison to the almost 20 minutes they played together. They only play a couple of 2 to 4 minute stretches together in the 4th. Brown seems like he will just close with who is playing well rather than going back to a specific unit all the time.

They are still playing at a much higher pace over the last few games while 2 of their 3 losses came at nearly equal or slower pace to last year. Brown cut Kolek's limited minute but they are still going with a deeper rotation and doubt Hart comes anywhere close to playing 38 minutes again. Outside of the crazy 54 3 point attempts in the Miami game they have consistently gotten up 40-45 3's every game in comparison to the 34 they averaged last year.

I do like them playing through KAT more on the interior in the Wizards game but that has more to do with the matchup against a much thinner and inexperienced Sarr. It didn't look great playing through KAT in the interior in the 2nd half of the Bucks game and it may not be a great option to do it in the next game against the Wolves.

I'm sure Brown will pull some things from last years team and implement it into this years team but their are still huge differences on the offensive end and I don't think he has scrapped anything just yet other than possibly Kolek's minutes for now with Yabu limited role also in jeopardy.

[Flaming Mo]

Flaming Mo? Good to see you around. Have one on the house

Good to be back!

[KnicksGadfly]

Chicago is, in my opinion, a fraud, off to a bit of a hot start now they’re currently down by 19 at the half to the 76ers. Boston is completely cooked, Miami is mid and still blew us out, the bucks were not supposed to be contenders(hence the Giannis rumors) and they stomped us, Washington is tanking. The only good team was Cleveland and they were shorthanded with no garland and we didn’t look very good in the win. So, I am not impressed and need to see more.

But… with he downfall of Indiana and Boston the east looks very weak this year in general. I still don’t see why we shouldn’t win it

us until the last few games have been short handed as well. I don't feel bad for any of these teams.

CHI may fall off a bit but they were still playing really well with really strong wins vs ORL/DET/ATL and us. Miami just beat LAC on the road. You can call them mid but this idea we had a cakewalk easy schedule is ridiculous.

And what do you mean we didn't even look good beating CLE? We dominated them for 3 of the 4 qtrs...we had a terrible 3rd qtr where Spida went nuclear but whats your evaluation of not looking good to beat a team?

No one is trying to peak in Oct/Nov either...so this idea "I need to see more" basically applies to every team not named OKC.

Some folks just have an obsession with negativity.

It’s not really negativity. They’re extremely positive and patient when it comes to their favorites. It’s kinda NYK Mentality-like, actually.

Funny thing, Chicago eventually came back and beat the Sixers

[robillionaire]

us until the last few games have been short handed as well. I don't feel bad for any of these teams.

CHI may fall off a bit but they were still playing really well with really strong wins vs ORL/DET/ATL and us. Miami just beat LAC on the road. You can call them mid but this idea we had a cakewalk easy schedule is ridiculous.

And what do you mean we didn't even look good beating CLE? We dominated them for 3 of the 4 qtrs...we had a terrible 3rd qtr where Spida went nuclear but whats your evaluation of not looking good to beat a team?

No one is trying to peak in Oct/Nov either...so this idea "I need to see more" basically applies to every team not named OKC.

Some folks just have an obsession with negativity.

It’s not really negativity. They’re extremely positive and patient when it comes to their favorites. It’s kinda NYK Mentality-like, actually.

Funny thing, Chicago eventually came back and beat the Sixers

I really didn’t say anything that bad. If you want to critique my opinion instead of my personality do that. I’ve always been one of the most positive posters and usually when I’m negative about a player or situation it’s been for a good reason that I can back up. I even predicted we would win the conference in my post. You guys are being defensive for no reason, because I said I didn’t think we had any impressive wins yet? Idk what to tell you

As far as Chicago since that’s the one you brought up, we played them two games in a row, they beat us in the NBA cup that mattered and we got them at home on the next night. I’m just not impressed by that, or them as a contender. The Magic started out hot last year too. I reserve the right to not think the Bulls are good or not be over the moon because we got a 1-1 split where we lost the cup game. We are supposed to be where they are.

[KnixinSix]

Some folks just have an obsession with negativity.

It’s not really negativity. They’re extremely positive and patient when it comes to their favorites. It’s kinda NYK Mentality-like, actually.

Funny thing, Chicago eventually came back and beat the Sixers

I really didn’t say anything that bad. If you want to critique my opinion instead of my personality do that. I’ve always been one of the most positive posters and usually when I’m negative about a player or situation it’s been for a good reason that I can back up. I even predicted we would win the conference in my post. You guys are being defensive for no reason, because I said I didn’t think we had any impressive wins yet? Idk what to tell you

As far as Chicago since that’s the one you brought up, we played them two games in a row, they beat us in the NBA cup that mattered and we got them at home on the next night. I’m just not impressed by that, or them as a contender. The Magic started out hot last year too. I reserve the right to not think the Bulls are good or not be over the moon because we got a 1-1 split where we lost the cup game. We are supposed to be where they are.

Some folks tend to always focus on the negative. It's human nature. All my point is is that Rose and company have earned beneift of the doubt at this point. We went to the ECF last year and they still moved on from Thibs because they realized this team is capable of EVEN MORE. I love that.

If this were the Mara's they would have 99% kept Thibedeau lol

Also give this thing some time. It's a total new system for goodness sake! We tend to just make hasty judgements without accounting for all the variables.

In this case, the variable is system acclimation and system acclimation in cases like this can take up to a couple months before it really settles in. Brown himself said end of November.

[KnicksGadfly]

Some folks just have an obsession with negativity.

It’s not really negativity. They’re extremely positive and patient when it comes to their favorites. It’s kinda NYK Mentality-like, actually.

Funny thing, Chicago eventually came back and beat the Sixers

I really didn’t say anything that bad. If you want to critique my opinion instead of my personality do that. I’ve always been one of the most positive posters and usually when I’m negative about a player or situation it’s been for a good reason that I can back up. I even predicted we would win the conference in my post. You guys are being defensive for no reason, because I said I didn’t think we had any impressive wins yet? Idk what to tell you

As far as Chicago since that’s the one you brought up, we played them two games in a row, they beat us in the NBA cup that mattered and we got them at home on the next night. I’m just not impressed by that, or them as a contender. The Magic started out hot last year too. I reserve the right to not think the Bulls are good or not be over the moon because we got a 1-1 split where we lost the cup game. We are supposed to be where they are.

Apologies robillionaire. I ended up lumping you in with a few others. No one likes that. It is frustrating when I sense a gleeful "I told you so" in a lot of posts whenever we stumble in the early running, where it feels like people are happier when we're losing than if we won, but you're right, I don't see that in you.

Where I really disagree is "We are supposed to be where they are," which is not realistic yet. At the end of the season, then yes, I'd hold the team to higher standards. As of now, I think it's fair to give the team a little grace. For example, they're making a lot more passes this year than they did last year. That, to me, is worth the experimentation and the growing pains. I'm also on board with the threes, considering that we still do well on the offensive boards and we still get to the line a fair amount. That sort of stuff is new, but I think it will lead to better outcomes in the future.

[NYKat]

Wrong thread