PG: KNICKS Z-League Beats Charlotte Starters

[KnixinSix]

A bench squad of Precious, Payne, McBride and maybe Dadiet with 10-15 mins could be pretty nice and more capable that many would have thought.

A starter like Bridges will often be playing with them, which will make the bench unit even better.

[BKlutch]

It was great seeing Dadiet out there and his shooting explosion was nice. I felt like he looked a step slow when trying to stay with his man on D.

I love Deuce but don’t feel confident in him making plays. No real change here from last season.

Precious remains criminally underrated. Those long arms always seem to serve him well on both sides of the court.

Kolek scrapped away again. His ability to maintain his dribble is so dangerous and something we have really lacked in recent years. Definitely looked small on D again but he toils.

Huk did some nice things, showed violence in those dunks. He seems like a student of the game and I liked his post game interview. I think he will be patient with his role and continue to add value accordingly.

You added 10% to your And1's with this comment, because it's really spot on. These youngsters are going to make a difference. I also liked Dadiet's play last night, with great shooting, court presence, and defensive effort.

[KnixinSix]

I love how close Kolek was to a triple double and Thibs was like na fk that I’m putting deuce back in to get some stops and win this preseason game!! Haha

Kolek is going to be a legit NBA 1 in this league. His passing and setting up teammates , you can see it's special. He has a great feel for the offensive side of the game. He is a natural at it. If he learns to play any D he will become even more special.

[BKlutch]

Rokas was a joke. He baited us.

But this all reads like the upside from his draft tape. Effortless jumper. Solid off ball reads. Doesn't overthink things. Hopefully he can be passable on D. But we've got plenty of time to bring him along.

Think about it. Bad draft. Bad picks. And so far we can be optimistic about having three serviceable rotation players and we don't even know about the fourth. Brock Aller has earned the right to celebrate. Maybe he can acquire the rights to some guy from Tajikistan who last played in 2007. Something special that he'll always cherish.

That's a punny dad joke, but it's acceptable in the preseason.

[stuporman]

I wonder if McCullar is a hidden Shamet clone since we haven't seen him play because of his own injury recovery. He fits that mold but I don't expect him to get any mins anytime soon and is headed to the g-league but just that he's a similar type player.

I really suspect TJ will be the guy who gets Shamet's spot and am just am concerned this means the return of Bullock. You know how Thibs loves his 'guys' and finds a way to get them onto the roster even if it means at the expense of younger players fans rather see than his old dogs.

[KnixinSix]

Will Thibs go 8 or 9 man rotation? I am leaning 9. With Shamet out I think it will be Warren, he is a proven vet scorer in this league (previously avg 18 pt a game). Dadiet and Huk will remain developmental and first reserves in case of further injury. I also believe the 9th might vary game to game with Kolek getting some time too. Sims I think is going to be phased out. Precious is going to get the bulk back up 5 minutes until Mitch is back.

[BKlutch]

Can't we trade him for a future 2nd round pick?

Pretty sure we could but We’d need someone with cap space to want him. Or at least someone that’s below the first apron.

Charlotte would probably take him

They could, because they could relase a couple of scrubs they got from some team up in NYC recently. Then this board could stop worrying about coiffure boy ruining the team.

It's probably why Thibs keeps praising him after every game. He can't say, "Sims sucks!" and then say "Hi Charlotte, we've got this great guy we'll gladly trade to you in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick."

[F N 11]

WE THREE KINGS!!!

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Damn Mculler looks like OG which how intense he plays defense. They compared him to Josh Hart but that defense(if he can play it like that in the NBA) is better than Harts

Best part about this is he plays SG. Hope to see him out that sweatsuit.

[stuporman]

The Hornets center rotation is as thin as the Knicks and could use Sims but I don't see the Knicks getting rid of a big body with so much uncertainty in their big man depth, plus is the Aller special of two second rounders that alluring this time? I guess for Sims it would be...even only one of them I suppose.

[kNicksGmen]

I hope Thibs look at KAT and Precious starting lineup for the last preseason game.

i think for whatever reason Thibs isn't going to do it right away but at some point he'll realize hart is better off the bench.

if someone like OG misses games I think Precious is the obvious guy to fill in, but then the spacing is even worse with both him and hart out there together - that has never stopped Thibs before though lol.

I've really talked myself into believing Precious should start. That was before he was shooting 3s with confidence (and making them). The size, ability to switch, rebound, added rim protection, another screen and dive player - it makes a lot of sense. Takes pressure off OG from having to do as much dirty work or bang around with bigger 4s etc.

the only real negative I see to it is then you have sims/huk as your backup bigs off the bench and not sure we want them in the actual rotation (outside of injuries of course). but I think the minutes could be worked in a way where Precious starts but is first to the bench, then he comes back in for Towns. Then you close the 2nd and 4th quarters with either Hart or Deuce depending on how the game is going (or even Precious if he's playing well etc)

I feel like it makes a lot of sense but don't see too many people advocating for it. part of it i think is people still view Precious as some bum or something and worry about the spacing (but ignore the fact hart basically refuses to shoot most of the time). Most people that don't want hart to start want Deuce - I'm not against that other than to me he's our #1 scorer off the bench so I think he should remain there. close games with the hot hand.

START PRECIOUS. Another idea or option is change the lineup game to game depending on the other team's lineup. I don't love that idea and don't think it's Thibs style either though.

[Jalen Bluntson]

It's difficult not to get excited about what we did last night. We ran a full squad without any starters and won. The issue that exists is the team we beat. They have young talent but, they are just a bad team. Still, our bench and rookies beat them. That's promising. Their starters would be our bench.

If the kids develop/improve on what we just saw that's gonna be a problem for the rest of the league. Or we could trade them to upgrade even more. Not advocating this but, it's a business.

I think HUK should be converted to a rookie minimum though. He's already better than Sims. Kolek and Dadiet are looking better than him right now but, too much depth in front of them. It's nice depth to have that no one really saw before this. With McC we have another player who could develop too. Time will tell and we need to see them against better teams before getting too hyped. That won't stop many of us though.

One more scrimmage and then it's for real. Gonna be a fun team to watch come together is year.

[FrozenEnvelope]

Sucks for Shamet (BLAME THIBS! ) but hopefully it's just a month long thing not season ending like Randle. We need that skillset on the team without DVo. Shamet is no DVo but he plays a little bit of the same style.

But if it is season ending, give Warren that spot and just give Kolek some burn. Or see what the waiver wire looks like the next few days. Ex-Knicks McDermott and Bullock are still FA's.

[Jalen Bluntson]

I hope Thibs look at KAT and Precious starting lineup for the last preseason game.

i think for whatever reason Thibs isn't going to do it right away but at some point he'll realize hart is better off the bench.

if someone like OG misses games I think Precious is the obvious guy to fill in, but then the spacing is even worse with both him and hart out there together - that has never stopped Thibs before though lol.

I've really talked myself into believing Precious should start. That was before he was shooting 3s with confidence (and making them). The size, ability to switch, rebound, added rim protection, another screen and dive player - it makes a lot of sense. Takes pressure off OG from having to do as much dirty work or bang around with bigger 4s etc.

the only real negative I see to it is then you have sims/huk as your backup bigs off the bench and not sure we want them in the actual rotation (outside of injuries of course). but I think the minutes could be worked in a way where Precious starts but is first to the bench, then he comes back in for Towns. Then you close the 2nd and 4th quarters with either Hart or Deuce depending on how the game is going (or even Precious if he's playing well etc)

I feel like it makes a lot of sense but don't see too many people advocating for it. part of it i think is people still view Precious as some bum or something and worry about the spacing (but ignore the fact hart basically refuses to shoot most of the time). Most people that don't want hart to start want Deuce - I'm not against that other than to me he's our #1 scorer off the bench so I think he should remain there. close games with the hot hand.

START PRECIOUS. Another idea or option is change the lineup game to game depending on the other team's lineup. I don't love that idea and don't think it's Thibs style either though.

A lot of us wouldn't mind Precious starting. We could also start Deuce. There's a lot of flexibility with this group.

We have scoring and defense up and down the roster. Deuce starting and Hart off the bench wouldn't really hurt our bench all that much. Hart would have to score more though. 0-0 ain't gonna work on that situation. Closing lineup would be very fluid.

We have depth that's established with a promising end of the bench rotation as well. 14 deep if Mitch ever comes back.

[Clyde_Style]

It's difficult not to get excited about what we did last night. We ran a full squad without any starters and won. The issue that exists is the team we beat. They have young talent but, they are just a bad team. Still, our bench and rookies beat them. That's promising. Their starters would be our bench.

If the kids develop/improve on what we just saw that's gonna be a problem for the rest of the league. Or we could trade them to upgrade even more. Not advocating this but, it's a business.

I think HUK should be converted to a rookie minimum though. He's already better than Sims. Kolek and Dadiet are looking better than him right now but, too much depth in front of them. It's nice depth to have that no one really saw before this. With McC we have another player who could develop too. Time will tell and we need to see them against better teams before getting too hyped. That won't stop many of us though.

One more scrimmage and then it's for real. Gonna be a fun team to watch come together is year.

Yes, Charlotte is like a B Squad, but on paper their talent vs. our guys who played last night should have been better. That's why I wouldn't downplay our performance. Going into this they should have won, but our talent was better last night.

[Clyde_Style]

It does appear winning flushes out the trolls. It is refreshing to read a PG thread with positive voices for once.

[kNicksGmen]

I hope Thibs look at KAT and Precious starting lineup for the last preseason game.

i think for whatever reason Thibs isn't going to do it right away but at some point he'll realize hart is better off the bench.

if someone like OG misses games I think Precious is the obvious guy to fill in, but then the spacing is even worse with both him and hart out there together - that has never stopped Thibs before though lol.

I've really talked myself into believing Precious should start. That was before he was shooting 3s with confidence (and making them). The size, ability to switch, rebound, added rim protection, another screen and dive player - it makes a lot of sense. Takes pressure off OG from having to do as much dirty work or bang around with bigger 4s etc.

the only real negative I see to it is then you have sims/huk as your backup bigs off the bench and not sure we want them in the actual rotation (outside of injuries of course). but I think the minutes could be worked in a way where Precious starts but is first to the bench, then he comes back in for Towns. Then you close the 2nd and 4th quarters with either Hart or Deuce depending on how the game is going (or even Precious if he's playing well etc)

I feel like it makes a lot of sense but don't see too many people advocating for it. part of it i think is people still view Precious as some bum or something and worry about the spacing (but ignore the fact hart basically refuses to shoot most of the time). Most people that don't want hart to start want Deuce - I'm not against that other than to me he's our #1 scorer off the bench so I think he should remain there. close games with the hot hand.

START PRECIOUS. Another idea or option is change the lineup game to game depending on the other team's lineup. I don't love that idea and don't think it's Thibs style either though.

A lot of us wouldn't mind Precious starting. We could also start Deuce. There's a lot of flexibility with this group.

We have scoring and defense up and down the roster. Deuce starting and Hart off the bench wouldn't really hurt our bench all that much. Hart would have to score more though. 0-0 ain't gonna work on that situation. Closing lineup would be very fluid.

We have depth that's established with a promising end of the bench rotation as well. 14 deep if Mitch ever comes back.

agreed. the reason I said I like Deuce off the bench is he's more aggressive in that role, knowing it's his job to score. With the starters he would likely defer more and be more of a spot up catch and shoot guy. same is true of hart though as far as knowing it's his job to rebound and push in transition and look to score more and defer less when he's with the bench unit compared to the starters.

to your point though, lots of flexibility and many of the options can work well and who starts isn't the only important thing - the rotation mixing and matching to find the best lineups and then closing. outside of Brunson and Towns - minutes I think could vary depending on matchups and performance game to game. If Deuce is killing it he could get 30+ then the next game if he's missing everything maybe only 15-20 etc.

[E-Balla]

Huk can play shoutout to our FO. I know he has injury concerns but he's a baller.

[3toheadmelo]

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[NYKinMIA]

Yalls bench looked much better than the starters last week, for sure

At least we have an excuse of it being our teams first game together, your top 5 lottery squad has been mid for years now, worry less about us and more about your 5 year $203 million player being more of an impact at intersections than he is on the court.

[Capn'O]

Rokas was a joke. He baited us.

But this all reads like the upside from his draft tape. Effortless jumper. Solid off ball reads. Doesn't overthink things. Hopefully he can be passable on D. But we've got plenty of time to bring him along.

Think about it. Bad draft. Bad picks. And so far we can be optimistic about having three serviceable rotation players and we don't even know about the fourth. Brock Aller has earned the right to celebrate. Maybe he can acquire the rights to some guy from Tajikistan who last played in 2007. Something special that he'll always cherish.

That's a punny dad joke, but it's acceptable in the preseason.

I will continue to make it as opportunities rise for I have become more dad than human.