Re-Watched the Second Half of the Knicks-Wizards last evening.
A few observations.
Marc Berman in the POST, as is his wont, stirring up nonsense as usual, i.e; concerns about Evan Fournier and his shooting.
Lordy.
The Knicks as a team were pretty chilly from trey until well into the game.
So what does the "troubled" Evan do? Nails a sweet IQ floater going to the basket; deuces his man and creates a nice three; and a really pretty pass to a team mate. Some of his "struggles" would seem to stem from rhythm and learning his team mates, and being a bit more "selfish" vis a vis, Thibs. You can see a lot of Knicks maybe over thinking the whole UNSELFISH thing, and looking to make the extra pass when they have the shot, and not just Evan, but Derrick and Obi. A sin of commission. The unselfishness will balance out.
Otherwise, second unit is ahead of the first unit, as per Mister Thibs and the evidence of our eyes.
The Wizards' Brazilian Kemba, that kid Neto, just lit up Walker and the rest of the Knicks. IMPRESSIVE. Kemba himself, showing flashes of his genius, but still getting in a rhythm.
RJ still needs to perfect a midranger off of the bounce, and better finishing at the rack, and to go right just enough to keep defenders honest on his forays to the left. But HOLY SHIT, for a guy who couldn't find his ass with both hands in a rain storm as a rookie, his three point shooting--and not just from the corner--has turned into a deadly weapon, and you can see him ramping up his D.
Really loving our depth at the big wing: RJ, Fournier, Burks, Grimes. And, man, Quentin Grimes has got some stones. Did he ever get after it on defense in the second half, which will get him minutes, no matter how much depth we have at SF/SG. And as we saw in summer league, after he got into rhythm, he could get scary hot from trey. After missing a few against the Wiz, he hit a gigantic trey to key our comeback, and bring us within one as I recall.
This was a BIG GAME for Obi, and a lot of strong defensive things which wouldn't necessarily show up in the box score. Played big around the basket with some tenacious offensive rebounding, a couple of blocks and shot changers, opportunistic plays in transition...and of course, how effective he and Julius played as a PF-C tandem. Mister Thibs indicated it is a genuine option for us going forward, as in his estimation, Obi has gotten a lot better [read: on D]. Obadiah still finding his range on his threes, but they will come...and leave us NOT UNDERESTIMATE the influence of Opi's 6'9' doppleganger, TAJ Fucking GIBSON. Meanwhile, showing more confidence as he gets opportunities in the box, and that enthusiasm BoD characterized as such ostentatious juvenile jive on the in bounds play, well...our Forum GM may still be getting over his lingering draft day sneer factor. And based on a very small sample, admittedly, teaming Obi with Julius looks tenable, very tenable, and during the fourth quarter seemed to bring out Randle's Inner Willis. And perhaps JR can help bring out Obi's Inner Anthony Mason.
Kemba still getting his rhythm together, and it remains to be seen how he evolves defensively, but Derrick Rose has been fucking unconscious. The temptation is, as per for Marc Bermans and trolls of the blogospere, is for Derrick to start. WRONG. That second unit is building on last season's chemistry, and as we saw against the Wiz, it's WHO FINISHES that matters. There is a serenity and a wisdom to Rose's game that is a joy to behold, and the work he has put in as a three point shooter, makes him such a dangerous player. His relationship with Thibs has really evolved on such a spiritual level, and one can only smile thinking about D-Rose's influence on IQ and Deuce, let alone the ongoing evolution of Obi's game, going back to last season.
CENTER: Hopefully Nerlens will not have any lingering issues, and considering how winded and out of sync Mitchell was, a pretty good effort right out of the gate. Having Taj and Obi as small ball options with Julius, mitigates the necessity of rushing Nerlens back or piling on minutes to Mitchell until he is ready. But it was sure great to see him out there getting his sea legs back. Jericho? Not sure Thibs sees him as a viable option quite yet, but surely a nice developmental piece.
THEY CALL ME MISTER THIBS: Loved his attitude in pre-season, less committed to giving players a look, as he is to getting us into regular season rhythm while finding his 10-man rotation, while giving meaningful looks to the next men up, as with Knox and Grimes. He has remained faithful to IQ as a facilitator despite his struggles, though hey, come the fourth quarter, it ain't about the next man up but THE BEST MAN UP. I still perceive IQ less as a PG than as a scoring combo, learning when to force his offense, when to look for his shot, and more mature about creating for others. Dare say he and Deuce are ripping each other new assholes in practice. GOOD.
JULIUS: Check. Again, as with Rose, there is a serenity about him, vis a vis Thibs, vis a vis his wife and children, vis a vis his status as our putative captain and long term commitment to the Knicks [and MAN OH MAN, did he ever take one for the team and leave money on the table] and the city of New York. Those who were ready to toss JR overboard based on his struggles against Atlanta? FUCK YOU. I think Julius recognized that he overthought/overcomplicated things against the Hawks, while Leon and Scott and Thibs recognized that were vulnerable based on offensive limitations, and looked to address them in the off season with the additions of Fournier, Walker, Grimes and McBride, and the development of Obi and IQ.
ADDENDUM: The much maligned Payton and Smith have played well for their new teams. Happy for them both to get a second/third chance outside the glaring spotlight of NYC. Worth noting that while the earthly remains of Kemba represent a significant upgrade on offense and intangibles over Elfrid, I think Neto running wild italicizes what Payton brought to the Knicks. Obviously, Thibs and the Brain Trust concluded that we very much needed to prioritize offense over defense at the PG, though the drafting of McBride surely anticipates some positive combo of BOTH in the foreseeable future.
PROJECTIONS: My original projection was 48-34. My final call is 50-32.
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