Nice effort by our Skinny Shaq last night.
Running the floor and being in position to be the recipient of a couple of really sweet passes in the paint by Hezonja and a wonderful long lob on the run from Mudiay.
As per his "confrontation" with Morris, I was struck by how he didn't back down, yet still kept his cool. On the sequence in which MM got tossed, the Wizards PF was jabbering away in his ear, trying to, I don't know, if not provoke him, let the rook know who the fuck you think you messin' with, boy, and Mitchell kind of turned his back on him and refused to take the bait, and finally in walking away from the MF, he put up his hands as if to say NO MAS, with a big smile on his face as if to say, "Hey, Ref, it ain't me engaging," at which point MM got tossed.
I was struck by what a chill, mature response that was, and how while the rook stood up for himself, he didn't take the bait.
PS: Alonzo Trier looked very resourceful with the ball, in creating for himself, and was the one player Fizdale singled out as having a hall pass from his one second to create, nothing there, pass the ball down the line. And Damyean Dotson looked good in OT, ringing up points. Glad to see Baker getting a shot as well, besides the one in his eye (using his own saliva as a saline solution to re-insert his contact lenses). My rook PG from Morehouse, Walker, was a turnover machine (and got waived today) Still, Fizz gave him a good long look, despite clearly being ticketed for the G-League, along with everyone at the tail end of the roster, including Hicks, who looked quicker and more decisive (Vonleh looked interesting as well...bigger than I recall). Anyway, plenty of work to do, particularly on the boards, and while one doesn't want to get all giddy over a pre-season game, I liked the pace at which The Fizz Kids are pressing the action, and how the coach is keeping everyone in the moment and involved and rooting for each other with a deep rotation.
PPS: Waiving Walker means the Knicks can get forward Jeff Coby into camp, while still leaning on Noah to give back more money. Can't quite gauge is Knicks told Noah not to show up or if he declined to show up, but considering the Knicks never dicked around with his money, coming off his suspension/mutual sabbatical following the Hornacek Dustup, it would seem the Knicks are committed to getting Noah to lighten up on his buyout demands/aspirations. We shall see.
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