C’mon Taj… 1 more rebound.
I cannot pick a favorite player on this team.
It’s probably Randle because I feel like he turned the franchise around, but man these guys play with heart.
Anyone else notice that Evan Fournier's defense is not as bad as people say. It might be the Thibs factor but I am fine with his defense so far. I mean Thibs got Obi no longer looking terrible on D also.
Clean wrote:Anyone else notice that Evan Fournier's defense is not as bad as people say. It might be the Thibs factor but I am fine with his defense so far. I mean Thibs got Obi no longer looking terrible on D also.
Yep, plus don't be alarmed if he gets off to a slow start offensively- in the KFTV interview over summer he said he was mainly going to rest over the offseason to recover from the olympics, then slowly start to get back into the swing of things
Great win again. It was kind of dicey in the first half. Knicks have so far shown the ability to win in a variety of ways- everyone on，Randle out，and Randle to the rescue. With all the talk about regression to the mean over the summer，it's easy to forget how good and clutch Randle is.
He definitely seemed to enjoy getting the better of Jerami Grant，hitting a bunch of jumpers in his face and some pretty sweet off the dribble pull ups. There was a defensive play towards the end of the 4the when Julius passionately called for a coaches challenge to get the correct call on an out of bounds. That aggression vs Jerami was probably the reason behind the two early offensive foul calls but it paid off in the end. Julius seems to take some matchups more personally than others. Since he's fighting for All Star and All NBA slots with Grant，Sabonis，etc it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the season.
One thing not to overlook- missing Kemba. While Rose and IQ did a good job stepping up， it is one way to explain the relatively worse offense than in the previous wins. The money season starts soon. It will be interesting to see how the respective preseason of the Knicks and Lakers play out in real time.
Clean wrote:Anyone else notice that Evan Fournier's defense is not as bad as people say. It might be the Thibs factor but I am fine with his defense so far. I mean Thibs got Obi no longer looking terrible on D also.
If your playing for THIBS you going to be a solid team defender, We saw that last yr with Randle's defense from the yr before.
We were a TOP 5 defensive team with No top defensive players.
When MDA was here and he had Al Harrington and Chris Duhon, we scored the 2nd most points in the league with marginal players.
when your a TOP defensive or offensive coach, doesn't matter who's on the court your going to get guys to over achieve because your so damn good at it
Watched a few minutes in first half. I think Jericho Sims fouled olynick at at the three HARD………Thibs had that look. I think he took him out. Love the Drose quote. Maybe Thibs took him out so he would not melt his brain and not as a punishment.
Simms is a rookie, and will make those kind of mistakes.
We all know Thibs uses preseason to get team in mental shape as well as physical. We all vilify Larry Brown but he came in and expected his players to be professional. Its why rookies sit often with old school coaches. Its why Nate drove him nuts! Its why he was the wrong coach for that team. Ariza needed time. THats not Larry’s thing. Thibs is more like Larry in that way. Rooks have to play winning ball. If they do, they play. Knicks in this era are not going to developmentally tank. They will try to win with what they got. Old School players, the starters with great frequency played over 40 min a game. Randle led league with 37 min per. I get he has to monitor his minutes but Randle handled it, and now it appears if others can hold down the fort he could play less this season. We’ll see.
Thibs wants guys in preseason to feel the game and HOLD A LEAD. He knows his lineups for the most part.
IM not suprised Knox is in the rotation even if slightly. Im going to guess he is on a short rope as was Frank last year. He is getting an opportunity but he has to deliver. Thibs plays to win.
Heard on a pod cast interesting take: extend him 3 years at 5mil per but one or two guaranteed. Will his agent thinkk he can do better elsewhere? Perhaps. But we break the Charlie Ward curse and have a minor tradable contract that is not a breaker. Its important to stay in the league because once on the outside looking in its a bitch to get back.
Its not what I think of Knox that matters, its simply I hope he can be an asset on the court or as a trade. Always happy to see any knick succeed first as a knick before moving on!!!!
And yes, his hockey assist was awesome! Fiz, and even Thibs likes his guys who rebounds to bring the ball up. Knox as another poster said here demonstrated court awareness and the ball moved early. To do that and light up the Garden is magical for a player and I hope Knox can be more of that, and be on the court enough to be in the receiving end. This team is showing a quicker pace this year.
Jules really looks like a star out there, something Det doesnt have. Grant is good. A star is that player when things are going ho-hum you go and impress your will on the game. Jules came out in the 2nd half in straight up big bro mode and reminded the Pistons who's got the best player on the court (+19)
Its going to be a better version of last year's formula. We will pound and grind you with our two way bulls RJ/Randle and now the supporting cast so much better.
ToddTT wrote:I cannot pick a favorite player on this team.It’s probably Randle because I feel like he turned the franchise around, but man these guys play with heart.
Mine is Rose. I love him to death. He is not in my level fandom of Patrick but he is in that LJ, Spree level for me.
