As Thibs pointed out after the game, more than half the league now has at least one big man who can space the floor (ie going five out). This is not a problem that is going away.
Between Robinson, Noel (available for just 10 games, and ineffective at times when he has played) and Taj (11 games played), the inconsistency of New York center position has been the most underrated aspect of them falling to 24th in defense. Against a team like Denver, who for all of their injuries can still go five/out for 48 minutes (jokic, nnaji), this was perhaps a perfect storm.
It/s tempting to use that (and a whooole lot of missed open threes by New York) as an excuse for their first true ass/kicking off the season. Likewise, this is still a team that has had a second half lead in all but three games, and one of those (Indiana) they got within one.
But both talking points would only hide the truth: this was a no/show job that would make Paulie Walnuts blush. And that, more than anything, is why every Knicks fan should wake up this morning with serious concerns about what lies ahead.
It was probably too convenient to think that the removal of Walker would cure what ailed them (although save for the first quarter against the Bulls, their defense had looked largely solid in the three games prior to Saturday). Either way, we can now be sure it wasn/t the magic elixir that would get things back on track. Needless to say, with two losses to the Magic and a near defeat by the Rockets, no game can be taken for granted. If this level of play continues, the season can absolutely spiral out of control.
They have moves they can make. Trade season opens in 10 days, and I/m sure they will be active. Putting RJ into the second unit and elevating Grimes might actually give the starting five a jolt (and judging from Grimes getting an extended run with the starters in place of Barrett on Saturday may be an indication Thibs is mulling it over). At center, I mean the NBA/s ultimate in unspectacular consistency is sitting right there on the bench. I/d be very curious to see how they look with Taj starting and Mitch off the bench, where fewer stretch fives will be in to hurt him.
But these are all bandaids. At the end of the day, as Julius himself said afterwards, this is about looking in the mirror. It/s been a while since this organization was at a crossroads, but it feels like they/ve arrived at one now. Their best player has displayed the sort of inconsistency that left two teams ready to move on from him and left our own fan base just as willing to part ways before last season. Can he get back to what he was?
Time will tell. The same goes for RJ, whose shooting slump has extended well past any funk he was in last season. The sooner he accepts the fact that he/s not destined for greatness, as he told the New York Post right around when his shooting slump began, and that greatness instead comes from hours and hours in the gym, the better his chances get.
It has to start with them. The Immanuel Quickleys, Obi Toppins, Quentin Grimes and Deuce McBrides of the world are tireless (and, if you/re looking for silver linings, evidence of good things long term for this regime), but if they/re being depended on to rescue this season, this season is not going to be rescued, at least not in the way we now still hope.
Perhaps we get a healthier dose of all the kids after all. If that happens, this season will have pivoted in a way that almost no one could have possibly expected before it began. They/re another bad six weeks away from looking awfully hard at the top of the 2022 Draft.
(If you think that/s hyperbolic, consider: only six teams have a worse net rating than the Knicks since November 1. Four of them entered this season with the intention of tanking, the Pelicans have not yet seen their best player in uniform, and the Blazers have been Knicks West, only worse.)
Or we look back on this 11 and 12 start as nothing more than a bumpy transition for a roster that tried to reconfigure itself but realized that with this core group of players, there was only one style of play that was ever going to work.
But it/s getting late early. The clock has just about struck midnight, and Saturday/s pumpkin was proof of just how bad things have gotten.
The choice is theirs.
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(As an aside, I wouldn/t be shocked in the slightest if the Knicks made a serious push for Myles Turner. This isn/t the first time Thibodeau has mentioned the prevalence of teams who can go five/out, as if to ask, where is mine? Noel and Taj have both taken corner threes this season, so the notion is being encouraged behind the scenes. Now its just a matter of getting someone who can make them).
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