Just from the Box:
Knick starters 2-12 on treys. Bench 3-11.
Gonna lose a lot of games that way.
Svi almost made as many 3's as the whole Knick team.
Everybody but Bullox with a turnover.
More TO's than Assists.
A poor ballhandling/passing team without shooters.
Gonna be a long season.
Starters went 1-7 on FT's?!? Rather laughable.
We did board well, with all 11 players snagging a rebound.
Which is good cause they'll be a lot of missed shots to pull down.
Jesus, this is nutty. First game of....preseason. Everyone is rusty.
That said, I thought the DEFENSE was exciting. Quick hands, aggressive. Rebounding. Fun to watch.
And fuck, OBI, looked pretty fucking fearless with the ball. Not your typical rookie. I mean, he made a number of rookie mistakes, but there's something there. I saw him a lot at Dayton and wondered about the leap to the NBA. But at least in this game, you get the sense that he will not disappoint.
Noel looks awesome too.
The only negatives I felt — and I know it's all premature — is that I'm looking for signs that Smith and Barrett brought something new into the season. In this first brief glimpse, we didn't see anything. Let's see what happens Sunday.
Thanks. Pretty much zeroed in on my observations.
Loves me my BoD, but the narrowness of his focus marks him as the uncrowned KING OF NEGATIVE NANCIES. I thought his post made the obvious superfluous.
Takeaways.
* Thibs has their attention. Hate to reference Narc SpermMan, but Tom Thibodeau was the Knicks TOP OFFSEASON FREE AGENT. By a country mile.
* The Knicks defense was scrappy and in your face and pseky and combatitive in a manner I have not witnessed going back to when Thibs was an assistant coach back in the JVG Era. Our shooting sucks? Wow, what an insight, Bo. And yes, that will cost us games, assuming, AS YOU READILY DO, that on the evidence of ONE FUCKING GAME, it will not show any progress. Shooting comes with reps. And DEFENSE will keep you in a lot of games you otherwise will not be in on the basis of talent. Did Bo happen to note that Blake Griffin was 3-11 and Jerami Grant was 0-11. Obviously some of that is rust. But some of that was DEFENSE. The Bete Noire of Knicks fans for years has been our pitiful defense of three point shooters. Again, rust, first season game, but Knicks held Detroit to 10-39. Bey and Mykhailiuk impressive, a combined 7-17. So we CAN do better, but progress.
* No comments by Bo about Obi, save to project Randle trades. Now there's a suprise, seeing as how picking Toppin was such a sucky dumbass move.
* Those who have Randle on a slow boat out of town. I thought the last couple of minutes were a freeze frame of the bitter and the sweet, Julius style. In one sequence he dribbled and pivoted into a double team and coughed up a turnover. TRADE HIM! Then when the Knicks needed baskets to hang on, he drained two jumpers. Oh, and did anyone notice he had 6 assists?
* Randle and Toppin in 49 minues a combined 9-20, for 22 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and a block.
* Three Point Shooting. Amidst a bevy of goose eggs? Randle 1-2, Burks 1-3, Bullock 1-2, Smith 1-3, Ntilikina 1-1.
* Free Throw Shooting is FAR MORE CONCERNING TO ME than 3 point shooting. Just fucking awful: ONLY got to the line 19 times and only converted 9. A lot of losses in that stat.
* Payton showed off all of his strengths and weaknesses, a solid 10-7-6-1, but winced at all three of his treys. French Frank was playing off guard a good deal, and I was impressed with his energy and aggression...did not seem at all tentative. Dennis? Made some good plays, and was warmed by the smooth technique on his made three...thought he was playing more purposefully, particularly on D where he had two steals, but four turnovers and while not discombobulated like last year, still seems tentative. Wondering when Quickley gets his chance.
* RJ, like Randle, the bitter with the sweet. Clanged his first of two FTs for the evening, and among his first six misses were some painful unguided missles. But after going 0-6, he was 7-10 and finished with 15-5-2, our leading scorer. Also getting after it on D.
* Kevin Knox. Not much to hang your hat on stats wise, but played with force and energy, was going strong to the hoop, defended, and had a beuatiful assist to Obi in the two man game.
* Nerelens Noel. Now HE played his ass off. Don't think who starts between him and Mitchell is much of an issue. Mitch often gets in foul trouble. Thibs referred to both of them as ELITE rim protectors. NN really set the tone for our individual and team D. And when Mitch came in, he was clearly motivated. Not to take a shot (NN nailed a short jumper). They combined for 15 boards, 5 steals and 4 blocks.
* MINUTES? Offering some clues as TT sorts it all out. Randle [29]. Barrett [29]. Payton [27]. Noels [25]. Robinson [22]. Smith [21]. Toppin [20]. Ntilikina [19]. Burks [18]. Knox [17].
OBVIOUSLY I was happy with the baby steps I witnessed. And to repeat, BOY DOES THIBS HAVE THEIR ATTENTION. Opening of the second half, Griffin was left ridiculously open for an open three. TIMEfuckingOUT, A teachable moment? AN ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME MOMENT.
Things are neither as dire as BoD suggests, nor as hopeful as I project.
Our team does not have a Devin Booker-scaled scoring threat/sniper on the immediate horizon. RJ teases as a cutter, penetrator finisher, but is he going to step up as a bonafide shooter, let alone a resourceful scorer.
Toppin looks to be the real deal, but he is a puppy.
For me, the takeaway which made me happy, though not delusional, was the combative, competitive, collegial nature of these Knicks on and off the floor. WE PLAYED HARD. OUR DEFENSE WHILE STILL VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS, WAS THERE FROM THE OPENING BELL. Detroit is a team in transition, not unlike our own, but these are the types of teams we need to beat on.
Be interesting how Dwayne Casey gets his Pistons to come back at us on Sunday. And if we maintain our focus. Don't believe on scant evidence, that they would DARE LET DOWN for Thibs.
Anyway, clearly more of a work in progress than a jerk in regress...I liked what I saw last night, even as I wince at our imperfections, but Thibs clearly has the vestigial traces of a competitive culture and accountability in process. It was not pretty, but it was fun.
They played hard, they played scrappy. That will have to do in the short term.
Oh, and....
DEFENSE
Poll
