This team is way too young to be having those "we got caught napping but we'll turn it on later" type games fam. The three point defense is alarming at times and there's been more miscommunication with our bigs lately. All that said, I legit spent the whole game thinking "they're fine" instead "same ole Knicks." This team has young scorers just learning how to be closers and the ability to lock in and play shut down defense when they focus. It's hard not to get wrapped up in all this, the surprisingly quick growth from these guys feels a bit...dare I say Yankee-like?
KP: Started this game ice cold and spent most of the first half that way. The thing is, he's still able to impact a game when he's not shooting well because he's drawing fouls at an absurd rate. He sells the hell outta contact and is starting to get superstar consideration. 22, 8, 2 and 2...dude did not shoot well but he did pass out of doubles pretty well. He's getting better at seeing the double team and making a decision; attack or find somebody. Defensively...struggled to find his man at times and also struggled on some switches to guards. He held up a lot better at Center where he didn't have to chase or switch as far.
THJ: I've always said that when dude's shot isn't falling, he has to impact the game elsewhere. But right now he's impacting every facet. First half slip ups defensively aside, he pumped in 26, 6, and 6 with a gang of clutch plays in the fourth. The way you sometimes see a bit of Melo mentality in a KP move, you see some JR Smith in this dude's shot selection. If he's confident, he'll risk all of the momentum on a take. If it falls, he's a hero and if it bricks we're probably giving up a fast break. That gunner mentality though means that teams focus on him and he can make plays for others. He can draw a defense and find his man.
Lee: 19, 7 and 3 with Courtney Lee being the life of the offense when they started off really sluggishly. While KP and Timmy both have a bit of streaky scoring going, Lee has been steady and increasingly attacking. It's a side of him that's refreshing and his presence really has been felt everywhere. He looked hurt at the end which could be painful for the team as he's got a glue piece feel to his game.
Kanter: 13 and 4 in a game where there was a lot of small ball played. Honestly, it felt like the Knicks should have been feeding him all first half. He was eating Favors up in the post and made a couple of nice passes. Surprisingly, his rebounding didn't assert itself but he did get some tap outs to others. This was far from his best, but the personnel on the floor didn't make it easy for him.
Jack: 7 pts on 3 of 5 shooting which I'm stressing because dude has been pretty inefficient shooting but when it falls, he does get more passing lanes. He notched five assists in a game where the team isolated pretty often so the ball wasn't in his hands as often to create. Defensively...I'll just say it wasn't his best performance.
Frank: Foul trouble made him ineffective in the first half but the team felt completely different when he got in there in the second half. Rodney Hood had been lighting EVERYONE up and Frank's first possession was a switch onto the guy. Frank forced him into a bad shot and it just felt like a shift from there. 7 points, 4 boards and 2 steals; he had a few assist opportunities where guys missed (lookin' at you Doug). In the first half, he actually attacked inside of the arc some but still hesitated as the gaps got tighter when the paint approached. Dude is like the kid at the swimming pool that gets his toe wet, then his leg, then his waist...and you just wanna shove his ass in the pool because he'll be fine. In the fourth, he pulled up and made the defense pay on back to back possessions in a major momentum builder. If he starts to pull up and make defenders pay, dear lord it's a problem. Hard to demand a change in rotation with the Knicks winning so much, but he probably should start as the best PG on this team.
McBuckets: Doug got a lot of minutes in this one in spite of only going 2 for 6 and 5 points. The reason? 7 boards, a block and generally good defense. He has just enough height to fit the modern SF/PF tweener role which means when we go small, he can be a stretch 4 that opens everything up. I really appreciate his game.
KOQ: Much better than that last performance in Cleveland. 4 points, 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks in a game where his defensive intensity was really good. He fared a bit better against the smallish Utah line-ups although he had his fair share of missteps. Didn't get to flash his passing in this one, in fact he picked up an ugly TO forcing a pass but I only bring that up because it's rare that he doesn't have at least one slick assist in a game.
Lance: Every time Frank gave this dude the rock in the fourth, I held my breath. Honestly, his pump fake and drive specialty that usually ends in a TO wasn't so bad in this one. He got to the free throw line and finished once. Defensively, he's steady as it gets. 12-15 is the money spot for effective play for dude and he was solid tonight.
Jeff: Made a halftime adjustment to address the horrendous three point defense and then utilized his bench to address it doubly. Small ball in the fourth worked out to close. I was worried he waited too long to put Frank in there in the third, but saving the fouls for the fourth proved really intelligent. Ditto for pulling Hardaway when the kid was starting to take over. Timmy came back into the game later on and was fresh enough to close strong. I'm far from high on Kanter but my biggest complaint is that he didn't utilize the big guy more. Favors was overwhelmed in there and we should have taken advantage, maybe even forced the Jazz to go bigger. He's putting faith in guys too, that fourth quarter run with our main scorers resting was ballsy...but it worked.
+
. Pyscho serial killer weirdo cac from a sundown town type vibes.......
tank or nah they might fukk around and get a seed
thank god he's showing he belongs on defense and there's flashes of what he might become offensively, dudes would be asking for trades and shyt if that wasn't the case 
he might make adjustments in December or might take him a couple of years. I get the "call it like I see it" mentality but let the kid learn first.
