he's a must return. Only question is does he take what we can offer. Leon and Co are pretty slick. Fingers crossed
That pass to Brunson was a thing of beauty
Throw him the bag, trade Mitch for some assets or useful player, resign Precious, draft a young big.
I would be really sad if they didn't resign him. He's a quintessential Knick. Love him on this team. Mitch is good, but iHart is next level. Facilitates the offense in ways that Mitch could not sniff at. I'd part with Mitch to keep iHart.
I feel like the following players are all high IQ on this team: JB, DDV, jHart, iHart, OG and Precious (aside from his 3's).
Its a pleasure to watch these guys play together.
Deuce hi-IQ on D, adequate on O.
You can't qualify JR as high IQ but he brings a different beast-mode wrinkle that is needed as discussed in the other thread.
Bogs: TBD
Burks: nope.
Mitch, eh, does what he does well (rebounding and blocking), but you can't say he's high IQ.
This guy is so amazingly important to the team and has been since about March or so of last year when he really got comfortable on both ends.
On offense - without Randle, he is the secondary playmaker. He is the key to Brunson beating doubles. He is the dump of option anytime Brunson sees a blitz or trap. He is either open in the paint and can get a dunk, get fouled or hit one of his floaters (He's doing way better with these) or he is the passer. What the Knicks are doing against the Brunson blitzes is either someone find a corner spot or makes a hard cut and Hartenstein finds them. And he finds them almost everytime. His passing is precision! Without Hartenstein on the floor, Brunson has a way harder time fighting the blitz (except possibly last night, when Josh Hart started getting more aggressive on his assistance and what he did with the ball afteward).
On defense- this guy is so smart. A) he doesn't foul needlessly, b) He understands the Thibs concept of verticality as well as any body could. He creates real rim protection without leaning in. He doesn't block every shot, but he prevents a ton of baskets at the rim. Its really impressive.
He is so valuable to this team its crazy. We played well in the wake of losing OG and Randle, but when he went down for a few games we were kinda toast, because it became way easier to double Brunson.
Obviously everything we do hinges on Brunson, but I see iHart as being a crucial piece. Would be devastating to let him go. Pay this man.
fishmike wrote:he's a must return. Only question is does he take what we can offer. Leon and Co are pretty slick. Fingers crossed
I'm encouraged by the fact that he was willing to take a pay cut to stay with the Clippers. He seems to be vibing here. Of course, it only takes one team to blow the plan up in FA.
BigDaddyG wrote:fishmike wrote:he's a must return. Only question is does he take what we can offer. Leon and Co are pretty slick. Fingers crossed
I'm encouraged by the fact that he was willing to take a pay cut to stay with the Clippers. He seems to be vibing here. Of course, it only takes one team to blow the plan up in FA.
All key. He knows he will be a long term starter on a team that should be contenders. I hope that does it.
For me, iHart does same for Knicks and that is AWESOME
