Initial impressions of KAT, Bridges, offense and defense

[Clyde_Style]

Good post. What I'll add this....its way way early, but I think Kolek will be a special player...he just knows how to play, how to run a team , and when to shoot. As far as our lineup, I want OG at the 3 and Bridges at the 2 and Hart coming off the bench.

Regarding Tows, he's a much better or quicker and/or willing passer than I expected, Ill be interested to see what his assist stats will look like .


PS free TJ Warren , dude is still a walking bucket.

Kolek is a natural 1 who may be an even better passer than Brunson. Super high BBIQ. I cant believe we found another post-lottery gem.

Kolek is without a doubt a better passer than Brunson. Not even up for debate.

I believe Brunson's passing has improved since he joined the team, but it is an adjunct to his primary impact as a scoring PG.

If we did not have Brunson, maybe we'd be even more excited about Kolek, because he is a rare pure PG. They simply are not that common in the NBA today among starters, much less role players.

Looking back through Knicks history of PGs you'll find few major talents (Richardson, Clyde, Strickland, maybe Marbury and I consider Pearl mostly as a SG), a handful of steady and competent PGs (Jackson, Ward, Childs, Greg Anthony), but when you sift through the whole lot of them the only ones that I recall having the crisp attack you see from a player like Kolek might be Rod Strickland. Micheal Ray was super slick and no one was better at orchestrating than Clyde.

Basically, Kolek excites me because seeing a rookie Knicks PG execute this precisely, pass this crisply, make decisions like a real pro is really unusual. Most of the players listed above still had a learning curve. Even Clyde's first season was a getting acquainted period. But Kolek right out of the gate plays with complete authority and with absolute certainty about what he wants to do on the floor. I think the guy is truly impressive.

[2010]

Kolek is a natural 1 who may be an even better passer than Brunson. Super high BBIQ. I cant believe we found another post-lottery gem.

Kolek is without a doubt a better passer than Brunson. Not even up for debate.

I believe Brunson's passing has improved since he joined the team, but it is an adjunct to his primary impact as a scoring PG.

If we did not have Brunson, maybe we'd be even more excited about Kolek, because he is a rare pure PG. They simply are not that common in the NBA today among starters, much less role players.

Looking back through Knicks history of PGs you'll find few major talents (Richardson, Clyde, Strickland, maybe Marbury and I consider Pearl mostly as a SG), a handful of steady and competent PGs (Jackson, Ward, Childs, Greg Anthony), but when you sift through the whole lot of them the only ones that I recall having the crisp attack you see from a player like Kolek might be Rod Strickland. Micheal Ray was super slick and no one was better at orchestrating than Clyde.

Basically, Kolek excites me because seeing a rookie Knicks PG execute this precisely, pass this crisply, make decisions like a real pro is really unusual. Most of the players listed above still had a learning curve. Even Clyde's first season was a getting acquainted period. But Kolek right out of the gate plays with complete authority and with absolute certainty about what he wants to do on the floor. I think the guy is truly impressive.

I agree with a lot of this. But just want to add on that I think the best pure passing Knicks PG of all time (that I’ve seen) is Mark Jackson.

[Clyde_Style]

Kolek is without a doubt a better passer than Brunson. Not even up for debate.

I believe Brunson's passing has improved since he joined the team, but it is an adjunct to his primary impact as a scoring PG.

If we did not have Brunson, maybe we'd be even more excited about Kolek, because he is a rare pure PG. They simply are not that common in the NBA today among starters, much less role players.

Looking back through Knicks history of PGs you'll find few major talents (Richardson, Clyde, Strickland, maybe Marbury and I consider Pearl mostly as a SG), a handful of steady and competent PGs (Jackson, Ward, Childs, Greg Anthony), but when you sift through the whole lot of them the only ones that I recall having the crisp attack you see from a player like Kolek might be Rod Strickland. Micheal Ray was super slick and no one was better at orchestrating than Clyde.

Basically, Kolek excites me because seeing a rookie Knicks PG execute this precisely, pass this crisply, make decisions like a real pro is really unusual. Most of the players listed above still had a learning curve. Even Clyde's first season was a getting acquainted period. But Kolek right out of the gate plays with complete authority and with absolute certainty about what he wants to do on the floor. I think the guy is truly impressive.

I agree with a lot of this. But just want to add on that I think the best pure passing Knicks PG of all time (that I’ve seen) is Mark Jackson.

I made some broad categories and placed Mark in the competent one though he did win ROY and achieved All-Star status. He was a very good floor general who delivered passes with some precision so he deserves those commendations. He was also more of a back to the basket guard whose scoring was often from posting up. He was strong and backed people down until he could get off a shot, layup or his baby teardrop shot that was his signature.

Those traits made Jackson more of a bully ball PG than someone like Kolek who so far appears to be almost exclusively a face the basket passer and shooter. Maybe these are not important distinctions but it flavors why I hold up Kolek as fitting the pure passing PG mold. He looks like he's always ready to go downhill and exploit a seam to either orchestrate a teammate in motion or to find his space for a good shot of his own.

I should add that all of the best PGs can shoot. It is one of the keys to their effectiveness as a floor general. And Kolek clearly can do that as well.

[RHODEY]

Kolek is a natural 1 who may be an even better passer than Brunson. Super high BBIQ. I cant believe we found another post-lottery gem.

Kolek is without a doubt a better passer than Brunson. Not even up for debate.

I believe Brunson's passing has improved since he joined the team, but it is an adjunct to his primary impact as a scoring PG.

If we did not have Brunson, maybe we'd be even more excited about Kolek, because he is a rare pure PG. They simply are not that common in the NBA today among starters, much less role players.

Looking back through Knicks history of PGs you'll find few major talents (Richardson, Clyde, Strickland, maybe Marbury and I consider Pearl mostly as a SG), a handful of steady and competent PGs (Jackson, Ward, Childs, Greg Anthony), but when you sift through the whole lot of them the only ones that I recall having the crisp attack you see from a player like Kolek might be Rod Strickland. Micheal Ray was super slick and no one was better at orchestrating than Clyde.

Basically, Kolek excites me because seeing a rookie Knicks PG execute this precisely, pass this crisply, make decisions like a real pro is really unusual. Most of the players listed above still had a learning curve. Even Clyde's first season was a getting acquainted period. But Kolek right out of the gate plays with complete authority and with absolute certainty about what he wants to do on the floor. I think the guy is truly impressive.

Solid analysis. Like the Strickland comparison, I'll add that he seems to also have Mark Jackson's court vision ..and in that one area I would place Mark Jackson near the top of your list. It's too bad he was slow footed on defense...

[Davis18]

Kolek is without a doubt a better passer than Brunson. Not even up for debate.

I believe Brunson's passing has improved since he joined the team, but it is an adjunct to his primary impact as a scoring PG.

If we did not have Brunson, maybe we'd be even more excited about Kolek, because he is a rare pure PG. They simply are not that common in the NBA today among starters, much less role players.

Looking back through Knicks history of PGs you'll find few major talents (Richardson, Clyde, Strickland, maybe Marbury and I consider Pearl mostly as a SG), a handful of steady and competent PGs (Jackson, Ward, Childs, Greg Anthony), but when you sift through the whole lot of them the only ones that I recall having the crisp attack you see from a player like Kolek might be Rod Strickland. Micheal Ray was super slick and no one was better at orchestrating than Clyde.

Basically, Kolek excites me because seeing a rookie Knicks PG execute this precisely, pass this crisply, make decisions like a real pro is really unusual. Most of the players listed above still had a learning curve. Even Clyde's first season was a getting acquainted period. But Kolek right out of the gate plays with complete authority and with absolute certainty about what he wants to do on the floor. I think the guy is truly impressive.

Solid analysis. Like the Strickland comparison, I'll add that he seems to also have Mark Jackson's court vision ..and in that one area I would place Mark Jackson near the top of your list. It's too bad he was slow footed on defense...

I do not recall Strickland being a good shooter.
Anyway, Kolek definitely is a keeper.
I feel confident Kolek could lead a team when Brunson is out.

[Clyde_Style]

I believe Brunson's passing has improved since he joined the team, but it is an adjunct to his primary impact as a scoring PG.

If we did not have Brunson, maybe we'd be even more excited about Kolek, because he is a rare pure PG. They simply are not that common in the NBA today among starters, much less role players.

Looking back through Knicks history of PGs you'll find few major talents (Richardson, Clyde, Strickland, maybe Marbury and I consider Pearl mostly as a SG), a handful of steady and competent PGs (Jackson, Ward, Childs, Greg Anthony), but when you sift through the whole lot of them the only ones that I recall having the crisp attack you see from a player like Kolek might be Rod Strickland. Micheal Ray was super slick and no one was better at orchestrating than Clyde.

Basically, Kolek excites me because seeing a rookie Knicks PG execute this precisely, pass this crisply, make decisions like a real pro is really unusual. Most of the players listed above still had a learning curve. Even Clyde's first season was a getting acquainted period. But Kolek right out of the gate plays with complete authority and with absolute certainty about what he wants to do on the floor. I think the guy is truly impressive.

Solid analysis. Like the Strickland comparison, I'll add that he seems to also have Mark Jackson's court vision ..and in that one area I would place Mark Jackson near the top of your list. It's too bad he was slow footed on defense...

I do not recall Strickland being a good shooter.
Anyway, Kolek definitely is a keeper.
I feel confident Kolek could lead a team when Brunson is out.

Rod had no range and was lousy outside the arc, but was good enough inside the perimeter. His value to offense was often his speed either as a penetrator or orchestrator. He got down the floor in a flash so if you had anyone on the team breaking he'd find them. The man was both quick and had serious acceleration.

[Davis18]

Solid analysis. Like the Strickland comparison, I'll add that he seems to also have Mark Jackson's court vision ..and in that one area I would place Mark Jackson near the top of your list. It's too bad he was slow footed on defense...

I do not recall Strickland being a good shooter.
Anyway, Kolek definitely is a keeper.
I feel confident Kolek could lead a team when Brunson is out.

Rod had no range and was lousy outside the arc, but was good enough inside the perimeter. His value to offense was often his speed either as a penetrator or orchestrator. He got down the floor in a flash so if you had anyone on the team breaking he'd find them. The man was both quick and had serious acceleration.

I think Strickland had better pure talent than Mark Jackson.

[Clyde_Style]

I do not recall Strickland being a good shooter.
Anyway, Kolek definitely is a keeper.
I feel confident Kolek could lead a team when Brunson is out.

Rod had no range and was lousy outside the arc, but was good enough inside the perimeter. His value to offense was often his speed either as a penetrator or orchestrator. He got down the floor in a flash so if you had anyone on the team breaking he'd find them. The man was both quick and had serious acceleration.

I think Strickland had better pure talent than Mark Jackson.

That's what I was saying in my first post.

[RHODEY]

I do not recall Strickland being a good shooter.
Anyway, Kolek definitely is a keeper.
I feel confident Kolek could lead a team when Brunson is out.

Rod had no range and was lousy outside the arc, but was good enough inside the perimeter. His value to offense was often his speed either as a penetrator or orchestrator. He got down the floor in a flash so if you had anyone on the team breaking he'd find them. The man was both quick and had serious acceleration.

I think Strickland had better pure talent than Mark Jackson.

That was the debate back then Strickland versus Jackson, and who was better. Individually perhaps it was Strickland but from a team perspective maybe it was Jackson...

[HarthorneWingo]

I think that we’re the best team in the Eastern Conference

[HarthorneWingo]

Terry Johnson is ahead of Tyler Kole and Cam Payne.

[thebuzzardman]

Shved had the best pure PG skills

[MrDollarBills]

I do not recall Strickland being a good shooter.
Anyway, Kolek definitely is a keeper.
I feel confident Kolek could lead a team when Brunson is out.

Rod had no range and was lousy outside the arc, but was good enough inside the perimeter. His value to offense was often his speed either as a penetrator or orchestrator. He got down the floor in a flash so if you had anyone on the team breaking he'd find them. The man was both quick and had serious acceleration.

I think Strickland had better pure talent than Mark Jackson.

Strickland had better handle and was more talented overall but Jackson was a better shooter/passer imo

[BadNewsBarnes]

We got exploited a few times backdoor...but that's nitpicking...

[Spree2Houston]

We got exploited a few times backdoor...but that's nitpicking...

+ No Diddler

[JXL]

I think the team is better with Hart off the bench. He doesn't seem aggressive enough right now with the starting unit.

I rather see him run with the second unit and close ouT games when necessary.

I think Precious next to KAT can work, especially if Precious can hit the corner three. But we would need a other useful big off the bench and Sims ain't it. Maybe Hukporti can give some minutes at center, but this is going to be a problem until Mitch comes back or we find a way to improve that part of the roster.

While I agree on the notion, the reason for Hart starting is spacing. Thibs acknowledges that the spacing aspect of the offense is what will make Brunson near unstoppable. Plus, his rebounding for a guard/wing is elite. While using Precious next to KAT for size is noticeable, the spacing gets clogged more because Precious hasn't shown he can be a knockdown shooter.

Right now, he's going to be needed off the bench because of the dearth of center depth until Robinson comes back. Hart makes more sense for the starting lineup.

[thebuzzardman]

We got exploited a few times backdoor...but that's nitpicking...

[Moose]

I think the team is better with Hart off the bench. He doesn't seem aggressive enough right now with the starting unit.

I rather see him run with the second unit and close ouT games when necessary.

I think Precious next to KAT can work, especially if Precious can hit the corner three. But we would need a other useful big off the bench and Sims ain't it. Maybe Hukporti can give some minutes at center, but this is going to be a problem until Mitch comes back or we find a way to improve that part of the roster.

While I agree on the notion, the reason for Hart starting is spacing. Thibs acknowledges that the spacing aspect of the offense is what will make Brunson near unstoppable. Plus, his rebounding for a guard/wing is elite. While using Precious next to KAT for size is noticeable, the spacing gets clogged more because Precious hasn't shown he can be a knockdown shooter.

Right now, he's going to be needed off the bench because of the dearth of center depth until Robinson comes back. Hart makes more sense for the starting lineup.

Hart hasn't shown he can hit the three consistently either. I think it was 30% last season and he's around 34% for his career.

I wonder if DDV would have started in this lineup or came off the bench.

It seems we may be a rotation piece or two away from unlocking the most optimal lineups though.

That can be resolved by performance of the current players or pulling off a trade, if possible.

No decisions will be made until we get a proper sample size.

[KnixinSix]

The most immediately noticeable thing about the offense is how much quicker everything happens. There's no point where the ball stagnates so we're going to get better first opportunities. KAT missed some shots but they were quick and in rhythm. Shots he should take and shots he'll eventually make. When he didn't have a quick opportunity the ball moved immediately. With that, KAT actually got 4 OREBs last night and his career best in that cat was under Thibs so we may not be going away from that strategy completely. Very optimistic look at him.

Our wing defense is incredible. That will allow KAT to stick to on-ball situations, which is his strength. It's a different look from last year but one that shows promising initial fruit.

I continue to believe they built this team to dethrone the Celtics. KAT can defend KP. Our wings take on Brown and Tatum. Matches made in heaven.

This is straight up a great perspective and post Capn'O

[Capn'O]

Yeah, as a pure creative passer, Brunson is not too special. His decision making/floor general/leadership is impeccable.

The most immediately noticeable thing about the offense is how much quicker everything happens. There's no point where the ball stagnates so we're going to get better first opportunities. KAT missed some shots but they were quick and in rhythm. Shots he should take and shots he'll eventually make. When he didn't have a quick opportunity the ball moved immediately. With that, KAT actually got 4 OREBs last night and his career best in that cat was under Thibs so we may not be going away from that strategy completely. Very optimistic look at him.

Our wing defense is incredible. That will allow KAT to stick to on-ball situations, which is his strength. It's a different look from last year but one that shows promising initial fruit.

I continue to believe they built this team to dethrone the Celtics. KAT can defend KP. Our wings take on Brown and Tatum. Matches made in heaven.

One thing that the Awful Coaching video showed is that KAT is also effective switching onto guards and we saw a couple plays where he picked up a guard in transition and defended it well in the last game. If you get him in space (team defense) he's lost but he shouldn't have to do that much with Hart/Deuce/Mikal/OG and maybe even Precious being absolute terrors in that role. Then you have Mitch playing cleanup in the middle to add midseason. There's a lot to be hopeful for.