The Knicks made late comeback attempt after struggling with Trae Young and the Hawks all night but couldn't close out, losing 96-100. It was a game of flashes of hope mixed with frustration. The point forward concept has been pushed a little too hard with a front court that mostly isolates. All of Randle, Morris and Portis performed better when they got the ball in motion. The Randle and Portis interior tandem leaves a lot to be desired defensively. We're also getting a healthy dose of Ellington, Mook and Portis at the expense of minutes for Trier, Knox and Robinson. But the young guys did so flashes. RJ and Knox looked like our most dynamic weapons on the roster in spite of poor shooting numbers. Mitch still blocked shots in limited minutes. Then Frank flashed his ability to take over a game on the defensive end late, keying the near comeback for the Knicks through a block, a steal, an offensive board and an assist during a late run. Let's explore further...
DSJ: Tough to say much about this one because Smith looked rusty after returning from a back injury. His timing wasn't there, two players looked him off on the very first play of the game and he picked up quick foul trouble that hurt his rhythm even further. When Smith did play, he looked hesitant and may have been trying to share a bit too much (new teammates causes chemistry issues). It's mostly forgivable, the guy just took time off for back problems and he's rusty. We can worry about him if two weeks from now the same problems persist. One thing that does worry me is just how iso heavy our forwards are. DSJ struggled when Doncic took the reins of the offense in Dallas. Now he's looking at an offense with Marcus Morris, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett will all share the floor and need their turns...it's concerning. But I'm hopeful DSJ finds a balance or maybe slides into the bench scoring role that I assumed Allonzo Trier would fulfill (that's if Fiz doesn't give Zo a shot at the role). Smith put up 4 points (1/5 shooting), 3 assists and 2 boards with 3 turnovers...tough night, give him time.
RJ: RJ Barrett looks like a prize, point blank. He's a college freshman aged rookie with an NBA vet's strength and poise. He was the Knicks best playmaker by a wide margin, played good defense, chased down boards and found ways to score in spite of struggling with his shot. The rookie posted 12 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds with 2 TO's. RJ also added 2 steals and a block, and it wasn't just stat sheet defense. He has been a pleasant surprise on the defensive end all preseason. The new wrinkle we got last night was playmaking. With DSJ's foul trouble, Fizdale allowed Barrett to run some PG and he handled the role pretty well. These moments showed off that we probably want to put the ball in RJ's hands and give him creation opportunities for chunks of time...let's develop that! I do have to point out the bad though. RJ's shot is the known issue and he struggled with that again last night. Barrett went 4/14 from the field and 0/3 from three over 39 minutes. He's not forcing things, I'm optimistic the efficiency will come around, but for now that's the big work in progress.
Morris: It felt like Marcus Morris took more shots than he did for me. The guy is a bucket but he also isolates heavily, so it's easy to lose track of how much or how little he's dominating the ball. Whether he seems like he's forcing the issue or not though, he's been productive every time out point blank. Morris went 5/11 including 1/3 from three, totaling 14 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists to 1 TO. Mook also supplied 2 blocks and was solid defensively all night. He's a steady scoring presence with defense to back it up and that's a fine role for him to fill.
Randle: I feel like Julius Randle's play wasn't as good as his statline suggests but it also wasn't bad, it was just inconsistent. There would be a stretch of play where Randle attacks the lane and finishes, attacks the lane and finds an open man, then finds the ball in motion and scores again...then there would be a stretch where he dribbles into traffic repeatedly with no positive results. It was the same deal defensively, where there were periods of Randle giving way too much space in screen and roll situations but then other moments where he made rotations that I wasn't expecting. The statline makes Randle look like a juggernaut though. He posted 20 points, 8 boards and 2 assists to 2 TO's along with 2 blocks and a steal on 6/12 shooting plus 7/9 from the free throw line. The thing is, Randle had the ball in his hands A LOT and especially initiated the offense often. From that perspective the 2 assists is too low and the mixed bag defense wasn't good enough. He looks like he'd make a really solid number two option but running the offense through him isn't working so far. Bare in mind though, it's the third game of the preseason and a new role for him; these growing pains could end up worth it considering how productive he was. He's not as far away from making this work as a handful of frustrating isolations might make you think.
Portis: I'll preface this with a simple statement, I don't like the Randle/Portis tandem because the interior defense suffers and our pick and roll defense is exploitable. But I like both as individual players to fit in a rotation and from a pure productivity standpoint, I can't argue with the results. Bobby Portis put up 16 points and 7 boards with 1 assist to 1 TO while shooting 6/12 but struggling from three where he went 1/4 including a forced three ball very late in the game down 2 points. Portis flashed good hands on dump offs, which helped when Randle and RJ drove into a crowd. Bobby also got some tough boards and made his post ups count. The bad on the offensive end in this one mostly comes down to being in a line-up with two other post up bigs while his three ball wasn't landing. Portis can produce, but he needs the ball in his hands the same as Morris and Randle...that takes the ball out of the guards hands too often and allows for easy collapsing. Defensively, Portis kinda hamstrings pick and roll defense to the tune of everyone guarding Trae Young picking up fouls rapidly. Portis HAS to slow down the guard as they come through the screen, it's a simple adjustment that he didn't make until Fizdale went full on trapping the ball handler.
Frank: Frank Ntilikina started the game shaky with quick fouls and differing to the aforementioned big men. Ntilikina would push the pace and then just pick out whichever big had the best size mismatch, then feed that big man and move away. That's the tentativeness that frustrates Frank's supporters and detractors alike. It was in the second half that Frank really got into his bag though. His first stint of the second half was marked with finding more players in motion from off ball action rather than feeding them for Iso's. Then he came back with around 5 minutes left and shut down Trae Young. The Hawks offense is still massively relient on Young, so those stops sparked a comeback. The problem with Frank even during that stint was that he couldn't keep the defense honest in the half court. The Hawks packed the paint and Frank fed the bigs again, who forced the ball again and the offense was stagnant enough to fail at a comeback. Either Frank has to draw his defender back on him to make space or he has to get the ball back from the bigs so they aren't forcing shots in traffic. At least get the ball back and swing it to the weakside. At the end of the day, Frank has to keep having faith in his jumper...he'll either be a jumper away his whole career or the jumper will start falling and he'll be a permanent rotation player.
Ellington: Wayne Ellington is a gunner. He runs hard off ball and if he has an inch, he takes a shot. That's who he is and it contributes to better spacing for everyone, but can also lead to some ugly games when the shot isn't falling. Wayne put up 5 points, a steal and 2 TO's on 2/8 shooting and 1/7 from three. It wasn't pretty at all. Wayne tried to attack a couple of pick and rolls which resulted in a couple of ugly possessions and TO's, but he HAS to do that from time to time. The more problematic part is the terrible three point shooting...he's here so he can make those and when they're not falling it's impossible to justify why he'd be on the floor over Allonzo Trier or Damyean Dotson. That said, Trier hasn't proven himself to be ready for a true off ball shooter role and Dotson has that should situation. I want Zo to get another, legitimate crack at this role but I'd preach patience with Ellington. He's a microwave, so you're always a shot or two away from this guy going NBA jam fire levels of knocking them down...also I love when players move off the ball with purpose which is how this vet plays all the time. So give Trier a look but keep an open mind with Ellington and the true answer for this role might still be recovering from offseason surgery.
Kevin Knox: Full name treatment for this young man because even shooting poorly, he showed everything I'm looking for from his development as a player. Knox was a young rookie with poor vision, decision making and a lack of balance but showed potential to score from all levels and good rebounding. Last night his vision and decision making were much improved; the core strength held up on drives; and while Knox was still inefficient he was a legit long ball threat who got to the line when players chased him out of the long range. In 20 minutes, Knox put up 11 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds on 2/8 from the field, 2/6 from three and 5/6 from the line. Like Randle, Knox's stat-line doesn't tell the whole story. His ability to be a floor stretching forward was a welcome addition to the isolation and post heavy offense that came from everyone else in the front court besides a bit from Taj (more on that in a second). The team's best spaced line-ups are probably going to involve Knox and the fact that he's now spotting open guys when the defense collapses means that he's a threat to shoot, drive, draw the foul and now also a threat to find the open shooter or cutter. He's still extremely young...this is the tip of the iceberg. Defensively, he didn't stand out which is an improvement over last year where he only stood out there when he made mistakes. I'll take mediocre to average defense and that offensive contribution all day. As a matter of fact, I'd like Knox to get a chance to start in the last preseason game. If anyone has earned that opportunity, it's Knox.
Taj: The Taj Gibson theme for this preseason continued...Taj should probably get more minutes. Gibson only played for 13 minutes but went 3/4 from the field, made his only 3 pointer (also hit a long jumper with his foot on the line) and contributed 8 points, 2 boards, 2 assists and consistently solid defense that the starting frontcourt couldn't provide. The other new bigs are young vets with more to learn, Taj is the old dog who knows his role and plays it perfectly. The closing minutes when the offense came down to one pass and an isolation; I think Taj replacing one of Portis or Randle changes that...speculation of course. Anyway, there isn't too much to say here. Taj gets limited minutes, looks good and goes back to the bench. I feel like that's his rightful role later on in the season, but this team needs to learn how to close games with poise and that was lacking last night. I'd like Gibson to get a chance to help with that issue.
Mitch: Two disappointing games led to a bench role for Mitch and while there was some improvement, he still hasn't captured the magic of his rookie campaign. Robinson came in and quickly tallied a block, plus grabbed some boards although his hands both on boards and some feeds were shoddy. He posted some numbers with his limited time though. In 18 minutes, Mitch offered up 4 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks on 2/3 shooting. Most importantly though, the second round steal had no fouls in that span. Foul trouble has ruined his first two campaigns and he seemed aware of it while still managing 2 blocks. It's way too soon to stress over a sophomore slump. Some players are slow starters and with Mitch, so much is predicated on timing that you could argue he'd be a prime candidate to need some extra time to straighten things out. His energy and pace seeming off could also come down to building competitive play stamina and chemistry with new teammates. That he looked better next to a real vet like Taj, with less defensive holes to try and cover for as well as in a more ball movement friendly line-up gives me some optimism about that being the case. Considering how flawed the starting front court was defensively and how stagnant the offense was regardless of ball handler in these cases, I think Mitch ought to head right back into the starting unit. But the entire rotation needs better balance and Mitch could be an example of why that is with his marked improvement last night.
Fiz: I see a lot of red flags but there's plenty to rationalize around it, so we can choose glass is half full or glass is half empty here. The good is that the pace is up, the defensive intensity was back (especially late) and the rotations have been tightened. Fiz has trotted out 10 main guys to mix and match a night rather than giving us spot minute check ups on players where we don't learn anything meaningful (this did sort of happen to Iggy but he's about it). Benching Mitch is likely a necessary evil after two really rough games in terms of foul trouble and misplaced efforts. There's also plenty of sharing the opportunities. While the ball is sticking, everyone is getting their turn with 4 players in double-digit FGA's but a max of 14 takes for any one guy. That said, there's plenty to worry about too. It's hard to imagine Allonzo Trier getting so few opportunities this preseason when the offense has stagnated often and the isolation stuff plays to his biggest strength. Knox has been the most promising player outside of RJ but still isn't getting the minutes like it. Frank Ntilikina, for better or worse, has been the Knicks best PG in all three games but still hasn't been rewarded a start. It's not just that the youth could get more opportunities, it's that I think we might actually be better that way. The depth and log jams should mean that when Ellington is 1/6; we give Trier or Dotson a look. When Bobby Portis or Julius Randle forces two straight possessions, we can pull him for Taj to settle things down and get back to ball movement. That hasn't happened. On the "could be bad, could be nothing" front there's the lack of any offensive system right now. The team seems to just rely way too often on isolations up top for whoever they think has a mismatch. That led to too much Randle or Portis orchestrating when the guards could set those guys up to act more quickly before the defense rotates or closes the lanes. We still need more set plays to get some guys going too, the Knicks ran a couple that worked but a couple of plays over the course of a game is way too few. It's early, we have a ton of new guys and the young guys still have a lot to learn...but it's worth noting the red flags, especially ones that carry over from last season. The lack of a cohesive offense ran for 82 games last season, through summer league and now into the preseason. That doesn't mean anything definitive but it worries me.
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