POST GAME THREAD: Knicks | Mavs (FrankfROOTERS unite!!!)

[Capn'O]

every advanced stat says mitch is the most positive player for the knicks on both ends. even with the foul trouble he has. we're not benching him.

Forgive them, god for they know not what they do.

Spoiler:

That said, Taj fits a lot better with the starting unit. Until Mitch lets it fly.

[god shammgod]

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A lockdown defender is what he is

This is why I said twice in the GT that Frank is the foundation you build around, because a starting unit that plays solid D around him makes it harder for teams to game plan their offense to avoid Frank.

The Mavs were trying to keep the ball away from Frank, but they couldn't always do that as the numbers above show. If Mitch is clicking and the starting unit 5 all play above average D, then you start to have the makings of a # 1 defensive team.

Luka being Luka still tried to confront Frank and it simply did not go well for him. In fact, at crunch time Frank resoundingly outplayed Luka and took the game from the Mavs.

Mitch can't start unless Randle is on the bench.

[god shammgod]

every advanced stat says mitch is the most positive player for the knicks on both ends. even with the foul trouble he has. we're not benching him.

Forgive them, god for they know not what they do.

Spoiler:

That said, Taj fits a lot better with the starting unit. Until Mitch lets it fly.

even if that's true, who care about the starting unit though ? morris might not even be here next year. we don't even have the 2nd year option on him. randle has been a disaster mostly. making plans for the starting lineup this year is like refurbishing a house right before you tear it down.

[Juco24]

One last thing and I'll leave it alone.... anyone notice how the refs are beginning to let Frank be Frank? In the past they were calling ticky tac fouls.... now they seem to be respecting his defense

[3toheadmelo]

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He did his thing. Even came up with some big moments in crunch time. Idk why ppl are still trashing him.

Cause some people too ignorant and won’t admit they were wrong. I’ll take 21-8-4 all day with a clutch performance.

[Fat Kat]

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[thebuzzardman]

Gibson... 12-8-1-1. Ill say it loud. What a GREAT adjustment from Fizdale. Granted Taj started because Mitch is out, but like with Frank hopefully Taj got to earn more future minutes. He was a coach on the floor for us and make it so much easier for Morris and Randle. I very much like Frank and Taj together on the basketball floor to go along with scorers. Looks like Taj has some left in the tank.

Whole write up was great but I wanted to highlight this.

Gibson needs to play more. In fact, I think he should start. He helps Randle, who face it, we are sort of stuck with and have to maximize, but also Frank, in that Frank is good in the P&R but especially with a big who is a threat to pop. So he helps two players.

That doesn't mean I'm down on Mitch. I still want him to get his 28 minutes. I think the only way to play Morris and Randle together effectively is to separate Mitch from them.

Obviously, there is a starting lineup of Knox/Morris/Mitch that would work as well, but Randle isn't goint to the bench.

Start Gibson but keep his minutes at 18-20

Gibson and Frank run the offense. I'd love to see more Taj and less Bobby as the year goes on.

Without solving the guards and even guards who could play the 3 or in a 3 guard, I think the key is to start Gibson with Morris and Randle but sub in Knox/Mitch as a tandem while Gibson and Randle sub out. Then at some point Randle could be staggered in.

Something like: (ignoring guard subs)

Frank
RJ
Morris
Randle
Gibson

Then

Frank
RJ
Knox
Morris
Mitch

Then

Frank
RJ
Knox
Randle
Mitch

Obviously, there's the issue of which guards would work in the 2nd unit, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out something out of DSJr/Payton/Trier/Dotson where one of them may even see time at 3 and Knox to 4 in smaller lineup, with either Mitch or Gibson at the 5.

[Clyde_Style]

every advanced stat says mitch is the most positive player for the knicks on both ends. even with the foul trouble he has. we're not benching him.

Forgive them, god for they know not what they do.

Spoiler:

That said, Taj fits a lot better with the starting unit. Until Mitch lets it fly.

even if that's true, who care about the starting unit though ? morris might not even be here next year. we don't even the 2nd year option on him. randle has been a disaster mostly. making plans for the starting lineup this year is like refurbishing a house right before you tear it down.

kind of like asking a crack head to make their bed

[god shammgod]

Read on Twitter

He did his thing. Even came up with some big moments in crunch time. Idk why ppl are still trashing him.

Cause some people too ignorant and won’t admit they were wrong. I’ll take 21-8-4 all day with a clutch performance.

if this aint spiderman pointing to spiderman i don't know what is

[Clyde_Style]

Read on Twitter

He did his thing. Even came up with some big moments in crunch time. Idk why ppl are still trashing him.

Cause some people too ignorant and won’t admit they were wrong. I’ll take 21-8-4 all day with a clutch performance.

His turnover ratio is really high. You're so obsessed with scoring totals that you don't care how efficient a player is as long as the guy you've hitched your star to gets theirs. So maybe you should hold off on calling others ignorant for pointing out the current flaws in Randle's game which are significant.

[thebuzzardman]

every advanced stat says mitch is the most positive player for the knicks on both ends. even with the foul trouble he has. we're not benching him.

Sometimes benching a good player is for the benefit of the team. Either Randle or Mitch need to not be in the starting 5.

Obviously I'd prefer Knox/Morris/Mitch, but that's not happening. Mitch could still average 28-30 mpg, off the bench.

[j4remi]

The Knicks needed last night. After looking dazed and confused in blowout losses to the Kings and Pistons; the Knicks went into Dallas and beat the allstar who didn't want to be a part of their rebuild. There was no need to look back, only ahead as the Knicks had easily their best performance of the season. The switching defense was back and held strong. The offense saw a few less dribble handoffs and much quicker decisions. This was the first game that didn't see any prolonged scoring droughts and the best example of some chemistry developing between these guys. Marcus Morris and Julius Randle were still the focal points but the ball moved more freely than prior games. Kevin Knox and Bobby Portis didn't have great games off the bench, but their scoring came at times when the Knicks needed that help. Taj Gibson's value as a floor leader was on clear display. And all of these guys came together to lift up RJ Barrett, who had his toughest night. And then there was Frank...

Frank: It'd be tough to imagine a more Cinderella-like run to a big performance if we didn't have Linsanity. Frank Ntilikina was the fourth player to get a shot at Point Guard to start this season and yet here we are just 8 games later and he's on the cover of the Sports Pages in NYC trying to dunk on the Knicks former franchise hope. Ntilikina wasn't just essential, he might have been the Knicks best player. The French Prince put up 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists to just 1 turnover, 4 steals and 3 blocks. This came on 5/12 from the field and an outstanding 4/5 from three.

Frank made his open looks and attacked whenever the defense started to shade off of him. It didn't always lead to makes, but it forced the Mavs to keep an eye on him and that created spacing for everybody. The third year player attacked off the dribble with some impressive plays, especially a one-handed no-look pass to Julius Randle for three in the second half. The offensive potential of Frank was on display here. Just knocking down a couple of open looks unlocked new opportunities for Frank and gave him a much more commanding presence overall.

But the offensive game is never going to be the highlight with the French Prince if he's as good defensively as he was last night. You could be fooled by Luka Doncic's stat-line, but Frank was absolutely stellar on defense. The Knicks' switching defense allowed Ntilikina to wander into positions near the ball even when it wasn't in the hands of the guy he was guarding. This meant the young guard was able to constantly impact plays by rotating, helping or being on the ball. This especially stood out in the fourth quarter where Frank looked like he could take two guys out of the play at once with his frenetic energy. This was All-Defensive Team caliber play.

The kid has been on the rise since he was thrust into a bigger role. Even in his FIBA play, Frank showed potential to take the leap this year, but hadn't put it all together exactly. Last night, it all came together.

Barrett: RJ Barrett had a nightmare game shooting, but did manage to produce in some other places. The rookie put up just 3 points in 35 minutes while shooting 1/9. RJ did add in 4 assists and 8 rebounds though, including a big board late in the fourth quarter. He wasn't all bad. As a matter of fact, RJ was still able to get into the lane with some consistency. He simply didn't finish when he got and when the Mavs put him on the line, it was not pretty. RJ went 1/6 from the free throw line including a missed pair in crunch time...Julius Randle bailed him out with an offensive board and the team came together to pick the kid up. It turned a low point for the third pick in the draft into one of the best Team moments of the season.

I do want to express a bit of concern for RJ's defense the past couple of games. I think this could be a bit of tired legs after being a league leader in minutes early on, but RJ has been a bit late getting out to shooters. He seems like he's just a step slower through screens then early on. This could be a lapse thanks to his offensive struggles or any number of issues to be honest. But I do want to keep an eye on that. His defense still isn't bad but it's taken a step back from his eye opening start to the season.

Morris: Marcus Morris caught some flack from myself and plenty of others after an Iso-heavy start to his season. Mook is still isolating and taking some tough shots, but he has also started letting the game come to him on more occasions. Look no further than his recent three point shooting for proof positive that he's letting the ball find him and not vice versa right now. The results? 29 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in 41 minutes of play while shooting 10/22 from the field and 4/8 from three point land.

Morris gives the Knicks gritty defense while being ready to attack on offense at all times. This was always the case, but it's now accentuated by more comfort passing the ball to teammates and trusting them to make the right plays. He's gone from averaging 0.4 assists per game in five October games to averaging 2.3 assists in the four he's played in November so far. That willful ball movement has really helped out the Knicks and even though he got 20+ shots up, it means less forces and more high percentage looks.

Randle: Make no mistake, Julius Randle is still figuring things out offensively. There were times throughout last night where Randle would drive into traffic and completely miss wide open players around the three point line. He also looked off Frank to take the ball up himself in non-transition situations which I don't think should be happening unless he sees a mismatch. But last night represented a promising step in the right direction. Randle posted 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists to 4 TO's on 7/16 from the field and 2/8 from three.

The Knicks big man scored 25 points in the home opener, then failed to break 20 again for 6 games after with back to back 8 points disasters to close that run of games. But he managed 20 against Detroit and now 21 against the Mavs. For the most part, he's just making some of the bunnies that he'd been missing but he has curbed some of the forces lately. It's still a frustrating aspect of his game to see the 6'10 forward dribble into the entire defense but he's spotting it at times and letting the plays reset. Even if that only happens once more per quarter, it can be the difference between a momentum killing turnover and an open look for one of his teammates. Small improvements can have a big impact.

Gibson: Taj Gibson looked like the intangibles guy in the preseason and then looked terrible in the first couple of games. But his past two performances have been a much needed return to form. His stand out plays are either simple elbow jumpers or well placed screens, but the steady effort that he puts up helps everyone be in the right place and also causes him to accumulate a sneaky good stat-line. Taj gave the Knicks 12 points and 8 boards on 5/6 shooting in 28 minutes last night.

The real highlights of Gibson's night were moments where young Knick defenders had lapses in concentration. You could count on Taj to be in their ear. He wasn't about to let these young guys string together missed rotations or miscommunicated switches. It was most evident on a second half play where Knox chased his own man too hard to recover on a switch, a play where effort was there but mindfulness wasn't. Those are instances where a veteran presence like Taj can reel a kid in and keep everyone sharp for crunch time.

Trier: Allonzo Trier had a solid night offensively as the kinda, sorta back-up PG. He took his role seriously, having one of my favorite assists of the game on a drive and dish early on. That said, the stat-line is fairly quiet for 17 minutes of microwave Zo in action. He put up 4 points and 2 assists on 1/3 shooting. He's the type of player that needs rhythm to get going and he was more focused on ball movement last night...I'm not mad at that.

But I am mad at his defense. We have seen Allonzo Trier lock-in and play tough defense when he's mad. His showdown with John Wall as a rookie bought him damn near a full season's pass on lackadaisical defensive efforts that happened throughout his rookie campaign. This season it's been more of the same. He gave up more than And-One to players that drove by while he swiped at the ball instead of defending with his feet. This is worrisome because like I said, we've seen that he can be better than that. If his defense could be respectable, he could get more time to find his rhythm.

Dot: Damyean Dotson only got 7 minutes of play but looked solid nonetheless. He went 1/2 and knocked down a three off the dribble near the top of the key. His 3 points and 1 board doesn't say much, but he looked his usual self. He moved well off the ball, had solid movement on defense and overall looked like a guy you could trust to give more minutes without hurting the team and possibly helping with his jumper.

Knox: It's a bit of a weird one for Kevin Knox in that he only played 15 minutes and only had 6 points and 3 boards on 2/4 shooting...but his impact was felt thanks to a long three pointer with the shot clock dying. As a matter of fact, Knox was a perfect 2/2 from three and one of his misses came when he was chased off the line and forced the defense to collapse. That miss led to an easy putback for Portis. So the sophomore's offensive impact was real. But if I'm being honest, he had some defensive lapses and got away with a couple extra where the Mavs didn't capitalize. He's still better than last season, but he's taken a step back on that end and it could mean that our most reliable three point shooter gets his minutes trimmed until he cleans up the rotations.

Portis: When Bobby Portis is really amped for a game, you can tell as soon as he touches the floor. While this was no Chicago performance, Portis did have a big first half run that helped the Knicks keep up with a high scoring Mavericks team. Unfortunately, Bobby came back down to Earth the rest of the way and his defense continues to be a challenge. But at least the big man was a terror on the boards to keep contributing. BP went 5/15 for 14 points and 12 boards while knocking down 1/3 from three in 24 minutes. He had a solid but inconsistent type of night.

Fiz: You could tell Fiz wanted this one just by looking at the minutes breakdown. He was right to trust the handful of guys that have been reliable too. Frank, RJ, Morris and Randle all played more than 35 minutes but the Knicks were desperate for a win and this was a perfect time to make a stand. The decision to start Taj instead of Portis proved wise and I really like the yin/yang leadership of Morris/Gibson out there. One guy is a firestarter with his passion on his sleeve while the other is all about staying steady and making the right plays.

There's not much to fault Fiz with last night, he got the dub and the team played well on both ends for a full game. That said, there was one period to start the fourth where he gave us Trier/Knox/Portis all on the floor at the same time. That's arguably the three worst defenders in the rotation all out there at once and they quickly saw a 4 point lead become a 1 point deficit. This is nitpicking though. Morris and Randle needed the break while Fiz at least tried to keep defense together via Frank and Taj as bookends. I don't hate that.

I do worry a bit about the exploitability of a switch heavy defense. It worked against a team with two young offensive focal points, but I'm nervous about the prospects of it holding up against a James Harden or any elite scorer for that matter...even KP and Doncic went off, they just struggled late. We'll be relying on Frank to continually do heavy lifting if the switching continues, especially until Mitch is back.

Last note: Dennis Smith Jr is on the verge of being back and it couldn't be a moment sooner. Frank played spectacular ball last night, but he looked positively exhausted in the waning moments of the game. It'll be tough to maintain intensity on defense and provide offensive punch at the minutes load the Knicks need from Ntilikina right now. Meanwhile, RJ Barrett has had a tough couple of games and has had to shoulder a heavy offensive burden even as a rookie. This is the perfect opportunity for DSJ to enter a situation with less pressure and a clear goal to attack the defense when he gets openings. The Garden loves a redemption story.

[HerSports85]

Lord, this post game is unreadable.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

[3toheadmelo]

He did his thing. Even came up with some big moments in crunch time. Idk why ppl are still trashing him.

Cause some people too ignorant and won’t admit they were wrong. I’ll take 21-8-4 all day with a clutch performance.

if this aint spiderman pointing to spiderman i don't know what is

Nah you talking bout your self here

[Manhattan Project]

Everything that we saw out of Frank last night is what we've been waiting on, the defense, some of the clutch baskets. It really does seem like his mentality has finally gotten out of that soft shell. It's why you just envision the potential upside of him and Mitch on the floor together, defensively they can put the clamps down on people. Pick and rolls are utterly useless against them potentially. He's doing a good job of just finding space for his teammates, he's the perfect fit next to Barrett if we plan on using Barrett as the primary ball handler down the road.

This team overall still looks like a train wreck with rotations and what not, but I can't see how Dennis/Payton are going to be happy because Frank is earning his minutes right now.

[CDAZ]

The only reason he played Frank is because he was forced to. Now, he's like "See? I told y'all to just be patient until I said he was ready."

He’s really trying to pretend this was all part of the plan

Someone photoshop fiz potato Head on that pic

[Rasho Brezec]

every advanced stat says mitch is the most positive player for the knicks on both ends. even with the foul trouble he has. we're not benching him.

Sometimes benching a good player is for the benefit of the team. Either Randle or Mitch need to not be in the starting 5.

Obviously I'd prefer Knox/Morris/Mitch, but that's not happening. Mitch could still average 28-30 mpg, off the bench.

What's the benefit of benching Mitch in favour of Taj?

[KnicksGod]

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Ha Frank knows he’s the star.

[3toheadmelo]

He did his thing. Even came up with some big moments in crunch time. Idk why ppl are still trashing him.

Cause some people too ignorant and won’t admit they were wrong. I’ll take 21-8-4 all day with a clutch performance.

His turnover ratio is really high. You're so obsessed with scoring totals that you don't care how efficient a player is as long as the guy you've hitched your star to gets theirs. So maybe you should hold off on calling others ignorant for pointing out the current flaws in Randle's game which are significant.

You’re obsessed with always thinking you’re right. Last night Randle had a clutch game and we probably wouldn’t have won without him. Those are facts and you know it. So FOH.

[HerSports85]

every advanced stat says mitch is the most positive player for the knicks on both ends. even with the foul trouble he has. we're not benching him.

Randle better learn to play with him or he can request a trade.