No, not ready to trade Randle because he went 2-8.
Not ready to give up on JB because smaller guards who apply full court pressure seem to give him trouble and he had little impact versus the Bucks.
Not ready to give up on RJ even though he really thinks he is Kobe despite not shooting like him on most occasions.
Not ready to give up on MR, even though we saw last night how important it is to have five players that can contribute offensively against top tier teams.
Not ready to bench EF for Grimes or IQ. Although much closer to that idea.
Think what the two games against elite teams did show us is that our starting five resort to the one on five mentality. Our starting 5 had 8 assists combined last night. They all played like they were trying out for a ten day contract. Completely different from first 3 1/2 games. We learned that a true contender has guys that are efficient and can all contribute with consistent outside shooting. We also were once again reminded of what a true franchise player looks like.
Another takeaway was which of our players can compete athletically with a top tier team. Thought IQ was up for the task. He showed a wide gap compared to a player like EF. Thought Obi's shot looked real good. Showing that he may be a better complimentary piece in the first unit. Especially with Randle only getting 8 ahots in first 46 minutes of the game.. Was impressed with Rose's quickness. May have underestimated his athleticism. Seemed to be able to get free more than JB at times. Thought Cam's showed a high level of athleticism but once again a low level of Bball IQ.
Like I said at the beginning, not gonna make any major judgements. Clear we need many more games to get an idea of what we truly have. Gonna chalk up this to our guys needing to play together more and build consistency in sharing the ball and playing as a team. Not to mention the Bucks have the pieces to compete for a chip "right now". Thought Knicks hung in despite struggles and bad play in the first half from several players. Hopefully they show they are closer not farther from being able to compete against elite teams on Sunday. Think they will.
On the one hand the Knicks ain't there. Lost to a better perhaps elite team on their home court. The talent level of the Knicks does not match that of the Bucks. Or the Grizzlies. Or the Celtics. Or...
But the team has definitely taken a step closer I'd say. They played tough last night, staying in the game if not making it super close. The talent - with Brunson especially and the younguns a year older - is better if still flawed. And despite the bent of the Thibs haters, the Knicks play hard and generally smarter for him.
A lot can happen but I see a team heading for the playoffs, perhaps not just the play in. I'd call that good progress.
If you look at the stats from last nights games everything was pretty even except the Bucks had more possessions. This was from less turnovers and more offensive rebounds. They also were were better from the charity stripe. They were small differences but enough to add up to the 11 point difference in the game.
The game was closer in the box score than it looked. The Knicks will learn how to close games. They are still looking for their identity. I still think our biggest problem is having both Randle and Barrett on the floor together. Neither one is either a 3pt threat or an efficient scorer. If you had more of a threat from 3 on the court with Randle he would be unstoppable.
Teams are going to pack the paint against us and live with us shooting from 3
These games showed they are a work in progress, but they didn’t look like a bad team would out there aka last seasons loss.
They could use more PG depth and they should look to move Fournier.
Showed us that we were beaten by a better team. Not “Trade EF”, or “trade Randle”, “free Obi”.
Was kind of funny that knicks via the eye test only down 6pts at half yet it looked worse.
Looked to me we could not stop Giannis and it freed up his mates to score.
Looked to me we scrapped back some.
Looked like IQ defense was good. His shooting is improving.
Looked like Cam was Eh.
Looked like Mitch was dumb, but could not guard Giannis and BroPez is big. We looked small vs. Memphis too.
Looked like the two defensive 3 second calls on Bucks defense was forcing knicks out of passing game that has worked and into the big ass interior defense they have. Giannis is quick and long! Brunson dribbled into trouble a few times.
Again, sometimes you lose, sometimes you just beaten. Last night we got taken to the woodshed and taught from a true contender.
Looked like why pundits have Milwaukee as true contender for finals.
Thats what I saw. I did not see blame.
Assuming we're talking about Memphis and Milwaukee:
* We can hang with good teams on the road.
* If other teams play ugly/disjointed ball, apparently we can match that. :) And unfortunately, it's what we've done!
* Desmond Bane is surprisingly legit - might be a better overall player than RJ.
* Giannis is dominant like Shaq. He takes a step and he has enough power to slice through anything to the basket. It's sick. Plus he has some perimeter game too. And Morant is slippery. We may complain about not having an answer to them, but it's not like those guys are like 30ppg type players playing the Knicks all the time. They do this to practically every other team in the league too regardless of defenders. Let's not make this about us.
* Our bench on paper and in reality looks better than other teams'. In spite of this, we're still prone to stretches of ugly offense. We need to figure this out. I'd like to see Quickley and Obi bring the star swagger they did in their short stretch as superstar starters last season. Obi plays like he's just trying to do the little things. He should be able to take charge and be a featured scorer when he comes off the bench.
* RJ looks like he really worked on his game, BUT so far the results have not been good, especially regarding his 3pt shooting. I think he'll eventually go through a stretch where he's regularly going 3/5 or 4/7 from 3 to get his 3pt% up. I'm worried that we haven't seen much propensity for playmaking.
* iHart is a really impressive player. He brings more to the table than Mitch/Noel. He's got more all-around game than Mitch. Tho the things that Mitch does well, he's about as good as anyone.
* My impression before the season was that Reddish wasn't a rotation player. I'm still not sold on Reddish. His game vs Memphis was spectacular, that much is indisputable. But it's like he's playing worse each successive game. He was solid enough vs Detroit and the Magic, but vs CHA and Milwaukee he didn't provide much value.
Nalod wrote:Showed us that we were beaten by a better team. Not “Trade EF”, or “trade Randle”, “free Obi”.
Was kind of funny that knicks via the eye test only down 6pts at half yet it looked worse.
Looked to me we could not stop Giannis and it freed up his mates to score.
Looked to me we scrapped back some.
Looked like IQ defense was good. His shooting is improving.
Looked like Cam was Eh.
Looked like Mitch was dumb, but could not guard Giannis and BroPez is big. We looked small vs. Memphis too.
Looked like the two defensive 3 second calls on Bucks defense was forcing knicks out of passing game that has worked and into the big ass interior defense they have. Giannis is quick and long! Brunson dribbled into trouble a few times.
Again, sometimes you lose, sometimes you just beaten. Last night we got taken to the woodshed and taught from a true contender.
Looked like why pundits have Milwaukee as true contender for finals.
Thats what I saw. I did not see blame.
Agree.
IQ looked great.
Lopez manhandled our front line. As did Adams.
Greek Freak made it look easy.
However, more sharing of the ball (team ball)and of course hitting a few more of our open shots may have given us the win. OR then again maybe we just ain't shit. 
One fact is that our starters did not play well. Interested to see a rematch in which they do.
Guess that is something to feel good about.
We have learned the Knicks are a solid team that probably can’t beat the great teams very often. But they are a tough team for anyone to face.
We're a star away from making some noise. If we dont gut the team to close a deal.
I think the Bucks game if anything showed that the coaching staff could have done a better job in preparing for the game. Against the Bucks' big shot-blocking frontcourt and suffocating interior defense going to the hole was not going to be a winning strategy. More emphasis should have been put on perimeter shooting and fast breaks.
The game has also exposed the limitation of Randle/RJ, once the opposing team packs the paint on defense, these guys just cannot finish at the rim, and Randle's fumbling of the ball becomes chronic. It is good that this Knicks team has a lot of depth, we have been able to stay in the game for most of the time thanks to people stepping up when Randle and RJ could not get it going early on.
I also had a feeling that the Knicks did not have their legs under them, they looked a bit gassed, wonder if it was due to the travel. To beat a quality team like the Bucks, we needed to be more energetic and more alert because a quality team always punishes you for careless mistakes, leaves no margin for error.
Played well @Memphus. Average versus bucks
Philc1 wrote:Played well @Memphus. Average versus bucks
Once again the team resorted to individual offense in the 4th quarter when the pressure was on.
Randle had 7 assists as did JB. Others....?
Also, biggest factor in today's NBA is 3pt shooting.
Other than EF and RJ, the team was 7 for 27.
As I have mentioned in last three years, we will be as good as our 3pt percentage.
This game showed once again that we do not have a franchise player and what a difference it is for teams that do.
HofstraBBall wrote:Philc1 wrote:Played well @Memphus. Average versus bucks
Once again the team resorted to individual offense in the 4th quarter when the pressure was on.
Randle had 7 assists as did JB. Others....?
Also, biggest factor in today's NBA is 3pt shooting.
Other than EF and RJ, the team was 7 for 27.
As I have mentioned in last three years, we will be as good as our 3pt percentage.
This game showed once again that we do not have a franchise player and what a difference it is for teams that do.
The bucks are the only eastern conference team that I think would absolutely wreck us in a 7 game series. The Cavs needed the refs working for Vegas to bail them out against us, Celtics we split with last year, nets are a mess, hawks we could probably take to a 6 or 7 game series
Just get to the playoffs. We have more talent than 2021
Philc1 wrote:HofstraBBall wrote:Philc1 wrote:Played well @Memphus. Average versus bucks
Once again the team resorted to individual offense in the 4th quarter when the pressure was on.
Randle had 7 assists as did JB. Others....?
Also, biggest factor in today's NBA is 3pt shooting.
Other than EF and RJ, the team was 7 for 27.
As I have mentioned in last three years, we will be as good as our 3pt percentage.
This game showed once again that we do not have a franchise player and what a difference it is for teams that do.
The bucks are the only eastern conference team that I think would absolutely wreck us in a 7 game series. The Cavs needed the refs working for Vegas to bail them out against us, Celtics we split with last year, nets are a mess, hawks we could probably take to a 6 or 7 game series
Just get to the playoffs. We have more talent than 2021
That's the slogan for every fringe playoff team in the east. Yes, the reffing sucked. But the Cavs are also trying to figure it out and they didn't even have Garland.
shows us we have a lot of work to do... We are a very young team and I expect us to improve in literally every area as the season goes on.
fishmike wrote:shows us we have a lot of work to do... We are a very young team and I expect us to improve in literally every area as the season goes on.
Agree.
Thing I am looking at is fit.
Brunson style seems like he needs a PF that stays out of the paint and can shoot a three at high click. Don't think Randle is that.
Brunson additionally needs a C that stays out the paint, finishes on PnR and can also pop off PnR
when defender goes under screen. Hart seems closer to that than MR.
Brunson also needs a SF that shoots higher than 25% from 3pt and a SG that can do more than EF does.
Think things can get better but feel Knicks front office will be keeping an eye on this as well.
BigDaddyG wrote:Philc1 wrote:HofstraBBall wrote:Philc1 wrote:Played well @Memphus. Average versus bucks
Once again the team resorted to individual offense in the 4th quarter when the pressure was on.
Randle had 7 assists as did JB. Others....?
Also, biggest factor in today's NBA is 3pt shooting.
Other than EF and RJ, the team was 7 for 27.
As I have mentioned in last three years, we will be as good as our 3pt percentage.
This game showed once again that we do not have a franchise player and what a difference it is for teams that do.
The bucks are the only eastern conference team that I think would absolutely wreck us in a 7 game series. The Cavs needed the refs working for Vegas to bail them out against us, Celtics we split with last year, nets are a mess, hawks we could probably take to a 6 or 7 game series
Just get to the playoffs. We have more talent than 2021
That's the slogan for every fringe playoff team in the east. Yes, the reffing sucked. But the Cavs are also trying to figure it out and they didn't even have Garland.
The only way to stop getting treated like dog crap by the refs is get W’s so we aren’t underdogs according to Vegas anytime we play a good team
Silver is never fixing the officiating problems in the nba.
We're a .500 team and need a star to counter their star.
HofstraBBall wrote:fishmike wrote:shows us we have a lot of work to do... We are a very young team and I expect us to improve in literally every area as the season goes on.
Agree.
Thing I am looking at is fit.
Brunson style seems like he needs a PF that stays out of the paint and can shoot a three at high click. Don't think Randle is that.
Brunson additionally needs a C that stays out the paint, finishes on PnR and can also pop off PnR
when defender goes under screen. Hart seems closer to that than MR.
Brunson also needs a SF that shoots higher than 25% from 3pt and a SG that can do more than EF does.
Think things can get better but feel Knicks front office will be keeping an eye on this as well.
You can say all of those things about every PG in the league not named Stephen Curry. We did not sign JB to be a Derrick🌹 in his prime breaking the d and scoring at will. JB is superb in the PnR. Where are the PnRs? I don't know. Seems like there needs to be an offense built to maximize JB. We have the players. Randle would be freaking sick as a PnR roller. So would Obi, perhaps even better. iHart has a sweet floater to do PnPop. Mitchell Robinson can finish those plays too if he doesn't need to dribble. We need more PnR.
RJ has to become the player his contract says he is. As of now that deal is looking super iffy. If Knicks can get on track tonight it's all forgiven.
Maybe showing us that RJ is playing out of position.
That we need more scoring in the paint from our bigs.
That we need to run more P&Rs when the pace slows down.
That we need better 3pt D. What the Cavs did shouldnt happen again. No easy looks.
