OT: Knicks

[Lefty2one]

After a dreadful 0-3 start the Knicks have won three straight, including two by double figures. They still won't be a playoff team but may not be picking in the Top 5 next June like many anticipated. Offense looks good and the defense magically picked up three games ago. Some good chemistry is developing.

Porzingis has efficiently scored 30+ points in five of six games. It's remarkable how much he's improved, he's now strong enough that he establishes position within 15' of the hoop, takes a dribble or two and shoots over whatever poor defender is covering him. The book on him his first two years was to put a smaller, quicker guy on him and get up in his space. That doesn't work anymore. In fact, Horford (aka a big) is the only defender who's done a good job against him though that was as much a team defensive effort from Boston than anything else. Regardless of that one dud, I didn't think he'd be able to create his own offense so easily this year.

Ntilikina has shown a few nice flashes but he certainly needs a few years to develop. His defensive potential is exciting. His vision is good for a 19-year-old though for every great pass there's a bad turnover. Such is life with a teenage point guard. I think most Knicks fans can breathe easy and have realized that he won't be a bust.

Lastly, all the Melo-haters have been justified. It feels fantastic to watch unselfish basketball with a ton of ball movement and no Triangle offense in sight. Good riddance to that guy. There's an energy back in The Garden. No Melo, no Phil. Unfortunately we can't say 'no Dolan' yet too but this is definitely the start of a new era at MSG.

 

[NielsisGood]

There's already an NBA thread. How many people here actually even live/are from CT? Feels like I wandered onto an NY sports site.

 

[Jerry1714]

There's already an NBA thread. How many people here actually even live/are from CT? Feels like I wandered onto an NY sports site.

You know you can not click on the thread? There is a Celtics thread. There is a thread about the trading of a back up QB. Grow up. (I am not a Knicks fan either)

 

[Jerry1714]

After a dreadful 0-3 start the Knicks have won three straight, including two by double figures. They still won't be a playoff team but may not be picking in the Top 5 next June like many anticipated. Offense looks good and the defense magically picked up three games ago. Some good chemistry is developing.

Porzingis has efficiently scored 30+ points in five of six games. It's remarkable how much he's improved, he's now strong enough that he establishes position within 15' of the hoop, takes a dribble or two and shoots over whatever poor defender is covering him. The book on him his first two years was to put a smaller, quicker guy on him and get up in his space. That doesn't work anymore. In fact, Horford (aka a big) is the only defender who's done a good job against him though that was as much a team defensive effort from Boston than anything else. Regardless of that one dud, I didn't think he'd be able to create his own offense so easily this year.

Ntilikina has shown a few nice flashes but he certainly needs a few years to develop. His defensive potential is exciting. His vision is good for a 19-year-old though for every great pass there's a bad turnover. Such is life with a teenage point guard. I think most Knicks fans can breathe easy and have realized that he won't be a bust.

Lastly, all the Melo-haters have been justified. It feels fantastic to watch unselfish basketball with a ton of ball movement and no Triangle offense in sight. Good riddance to that guy. There's an energy back in The Garden. No Melo, no Phil. Unfortunately we can't say 'no Dolan' yet too but this is definitely the start of a new era at MSG.

But he is not Dennis Smith either. No idea why they passed on him for Ntilikina

 

[mjmoney23]

I'm shocked at how well they have played the past 3 games. The biggest thing for me is how they blew a big lead, but were able to get stops when needed to secure the victory. KP is legit, I had told my wife seconds after we drafted him he would be the best knick of all time. He still has a long ways to go but is on pace. If he puts up similar numbers to Pat but is able to win a title he will get the honor. This team is fun to watch; it's amazing how much more watchable they are with number 7 gone. The big thing will be if KP can keep up his frantic pace going forward. Also, not too mad myself at Willy being buried on the bench, as Kanter is a rebounding machine. The only thing I'm still a bit upset about is now much they gave Hardaway. He needs to be more consistent.

 

[mjmoney23]

But he is not Dennis Smith either. No idea why they passed on him for Ntilikina

I think his injuries scared them away. We will see in a few years if it was the right move. As of now, it looks as if it wasnt.

 

[hoopsknowitall]

Nice as a Knicks fan to have interest in the team at the Halloween juncture. Been a while since we’ve seen that.....

 

[superjohn]

Porzingis is unreal, my favorite player to watch in the league. My only worry for him is it seems that almost every bucket he gets is a tough bucket, he does make it look easy though.

Watch "Kristaps Porzingis Career-HIGH 38 Points 2017.10.30 vs Nuggets - UNSTOPPABLE Unicorn!" on YouTube

 

[Lefty2one]

But he is not Dennis Smith either. No idea why they passed on him for Ntilikina

Smith Jr has not been impressive so far. Based on the little we've seen of both players, I'll take my chances with Frank long term. I don't want anything to do with an inefficient PG with injury concerns who plays no defense.

 

[Scoe]

The team has definitely been fun to watch the young guys can just play and not have to worry about differing to Melo. Porzingis has a full year to be the guy on his team, him and Nikinla need to play together a lot, Hardaway is a chucker but when hes on hes on. Getting nice contributions from Kanter. Kanter and Courtney Lee could be tradeable assets, especially Lee, which would put Nikinla into the starting lineup. Pleased to see a team that is fun to watch, they are gonna lose a lot of games though which is what I want.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Smith Jr has not been impressive so far. Based on the little we've seen of both players, I'll take my chances with Frank long term. I don't want anything to do with an inefficient PG with injury concerns who plays no defense.

Smith has been pretty good

 

[AntG168]

I think porzingis is good enough to lead this team to a playoff birth(8 seed) if hardaway is half a good as he was against Cleveland and Kanter continues to be as good as he's been

 

[Walker11]

Porzingis is unreal, my favorite player to watch in the league. My only worry for him is it seems that almost every bucket he gets is a tough bucket, he does make it look easy though.

Watch "Kristaps Porzingis Career-HIGH 38 Points 2017.10.30 vs Nuggets - UNSTOPPABLE Unicorn!" on YouTube

He has been far more efficient and productive as a #1 option than I anticipated. I completely agree that everything looks too difficult both offensively and defensively but he has so much height that he just shoots over guys or catches up after blow bys to affect shots. He is too slow matching up versus other 4s and he his size allows him to make up for it but I expect him to become truly devastating when he is matched up against 5s. I guess he needs to get a little stronger to hold his own down there.

 

[NielsisGood]

You know you can not click on the thread? There is a Celtics thread. There is a thread about the trading of a back up QB. Grow up. (I am not a Knicks fan either)

This should have just been put in the NBA thread. There's no NFL thread that I know of, which is why the Garappolo trade got it's own thread.

 

[metsfan2323]

But he is not Dennis Smith either. No idea why they passed on him for Ntilikina

I'll take my chances with Frank who already is a difference maker with his defense, he has a lot of Ray Allen in his game. Great pick by Phil Jackson.

 

[metsfan2323]

Lastly, all the Melo-haters have been justified. It feels fantastic to watch unselfish basketball with a ton of ball movement

Amen to this. So glad the net negative is gone and the Knicks got two decent players in return to boot.

 

[Jerry1714]

I'll take my chances with Frank who already is a difference maker with his defense, he has a lot of Ray Allen in his game. Great pick by Phil Jackson.

You are the same person who said he reminds you of Oscar Robinson during the draft. Clearly, nothing you say can be taken seriously.

 

[AntG168]

You are the same person who said he reminds you of Oscar Robinson during the draft. Clearly, nothing you say can be taken seriously.

Frank doesn't really remind me of anyone. He's very unique. I don't think he'll ever be a huge scorer but I believe he can have a rondo type of impact(celtics rondo). Defending, rebounding, assist, triple doubles. He obviously already shoots better than rondo ever did, but I believe his impact will be similar

 

[UconnFanNVa]

As a Knicks fan, i'm happy to see KP elevating his game and putting up better numbers and being more efficient, but I'm really hoping it doesnt translate into too many more wins... If we start winning now, i can see us spending a long period of time being middle of the pack (unless the Knicks somehow land the right FAs to put alongside him). I want a top 5 pick so that we can get a combo of talent similar to the 76ers with Ben and Emiid. This needs to be a year of KP taking the reins and taking that next step, but lets not screw up our draft pick.

 

[AntG168]

As a Knicks fan, i'm happy to see KP elevating his game and putting up better numbers and being more efficient, but I'm really hoping it doesnt translate into too many more wins... If we start winning now, i can see us spending a long period of time being middle of the pack (unless the Knicks somehow land the right FAs to put alongside him). I want a top 5 pick so that we can get a combo of talent similar to the 76ers with Ben and Emiid. This needs to be a year of KP taking the reins and taking that next step, but lets not screw up our draft pick.

Well if KP continues to play the way he's playing and we continue to play well, free agents are going to flock to NY to play with KP. There is no downside of KP being dominant. If we we're in a small market like New Orleans or Indiana I'd agree. But a young superstar in NY would draw tons of players

 

[navery12]

I'll take my chances with Frank who already is a difference maker with his defense, he has a lot of Ray Allen in his game. Great pick by Phil Jackson.

I think I found your Twitter account

 

[Scoe]

Well if KP continues to play the way he's playing and we continue to play well, free agents are going to flock to NY to play with KP. There is no downside of KP being dominant. If we we're in a small market like New Orleans or Indiana I'd agree. But a young superstar in NY would draw tons of players

Yeah while I do wanna see a top 5 pick I won't be disappointed to see these guys win 30-40 games, should still get a pick in the 10-15 range not what you would hope but not terrible. It would be different if Melo were still on the team stalling the young guys progress. Big test tonight against the Rockets, Pringels returns to the Garden, hopefully its an exciting high scoring game at least and the game isnt over after the 1st quarter.

 

[nomar]

There's already an NBA thread. How many people here actually even live/are from CT? Feels like I wandered onto an NY sports site.

There's like 75 Merrimack threads. I can live with a Knicks thread.

 

[nomar]

But he is not Dennis Smith either. No idea why they passed on him for Ntilikina

The Curse of Frederic Weis, that's why

 

[nomar]

Porzingis is unreal, my favorite player to watch in the league. My only worry for him is it seems that almost every bucket he gets is a tough bucket, he does make it look easy though.

Watch "Kristaps Porzingis Career-HIGH 38 Points 2017.10.30 vs Nuggets - UNSTOPPABLE Unicorn!" on YouTube

I'm a huge fan, I was all about going after him hard when Phil went senile, but the kid needs to work on his rebounding. If you're 7'3" and playing 35 minutes a game, you gotta pull down more than 8 a game.