How do I keep optimism after a game like the Knicks @ Boston last night? The Knicks came in on the second half of a back to back but Boston was down Irving and Smart. It didn't matter, our back court got absolutely dominated by a back-up PG, a sophomore and a rookie. Our big FA acquisition had his worst game this season and the Unicorn was physically overwhelmed for what feels like the umpteenth time against Boston. To make matters worse, the tank that many of us felt was necessary is likely too little too late. The top 6 or 7 slots in the lottery seem locked in while the Knicks will be in that spot where busts become more common and stars are just out of reach. It's a tough pill to swallow, but so goes the life of a Knicks fan. Screw optimism at this point, I'm just taking what feeble victories I can...at least we're not the Nets, there's a win.
KP: Hard to look at his performance last night, even with 3 blocks, and avoid the term "soft." The C's always play KP physically and have had guys as small as Marcus Smart be forceful on him but KP hasn't really figured them out yet. 16 pts, 4 boards, 3 asts and 3 blocks over 35 minutes. He was 7/18 from the field and 1/5 from three, settling for contested jumpers far more often than his recent hot streak had shown. All the face-up, crossover to a jumper swag was gone in this one. Defensively the early portion of the game saw the C's target Jack and KP to set up switches and get Rozier wide open three's when KP wouldn't slide over and commit to chasing the kid off that three point line. Porzingis has been showing a lot of signs of life but he looked confused in this one. On the brightside, he's still way better than anyone the Nets have and I'm punching down because that's all we've got.
THJ: 1/10 from the field, 4 pts, 1 ast and 1 rebound in 27 minutes. He's better than this but there really wasn't a positive to glean out of the way he played last night. He played sophomore year THJ defense, shot like crap and didn't impact the game in any other way either. If he was signed to be the Robin to KP's Batman, what we got last night was more like Blankman and the Other Guy. There are no brightsides to this one...but hey, did you see Allen Crabbe the other night? He's at least better than that guy.
Courtney Lee: Lee can't guard Jaylen Brown. Let's start there because that mismatch played out the same way the first time they matched up. 8 pts, 1 board, 3 asts, 2 stls over 29 minutes where his defense was mostly bland and forgettable. By the way, he wasn't efficient either...2 for 8 from the field. So there was just nothing to get excited about but I did find out a cool fact. Demarre Carroll actually gets paid more than Courtney Lee. Can you imagine being stuck with Carroll instead of Lee? My God this entire recap is a big crying Jordan Meme but you know; the Nets and stuff.
Kanter: If you follow these recaps, you've probably realized I'm not Kanter's biggest fan. But last night I was thanking God for his presence since he was the only one with any toughness for us. 17 pts, 17 boards and a block but he did have 5 TO's. The turnover thing is frustrating but it comes with him drawing doubles in the post because he was 7/10 and just unstoppable inside without help defense coming over. He worked hard, his lack of defense was camouflaged well by everyone else being trash at D and virtually all of my positive vibes came from plays involving Kanter last night. And at least for this season, he's better than any Nets Center so let's keep riding that wave.
Jack: I've stopped spending words on Jack's awful defense and I'll keep it short here. Rozier's first career start saw him guarded by Jack for a large chunk of the game and he turned in a triple double. Jack was 1 for 5 from the field but it felt like more because he looked off KP with a mismatch on every brick. 2 pts, 4 asts, 3 boards and Spencer Dinwiddie is WAY better than this dude so I'll just point out that we swept the Nets with this dude Jack as a starting PG instead.
Beas: 12 pts, 5 boards and 3 TO's in 12 minutes. Whether it's good or bad, Beasley fills up a statsheet in short time. He got off 11 FGA's in 12 minutes without an assist or doing much defensively either. It's a better performance than the numbers though because everyone else played scared. So the fact that he just kept shooting whenever he was out there is somehow endearing. He was the least worst on a bad night (besides Kanter) and...idk...uhmmmm, Caris Levert is overated or something.
Lance: Why the hell did Lance play 18 minutes last night? It's not like the defense was markedly improved by his presence. 1 for 7, 3 pts, 3 boards and a steal. When he plays increased minutes I imagine the bewilderment on my face is similar to a Nets fan watching Nik Stauskas check into a game.
Frank: Frank had a good first half. Rozier cooked Jack and Frank got an early shot to slow the dude down; it worked. Unfortunately, all of Frank's production came in the early portion when he rocked with the more talented starting unit. As subs came in, his efficacy dipped and then Hornacek inexplicably used Burke ahead of Frank in the second half. That left Frank checking in and playing some of the most neutered basketball you could ask for. 5 pts, 3 asts, 1 board and 2 TO's over 22 minutes with 2/8 shooting. A promising start turned into a bad game...which is the tagline of every Nets game (yes I'm running out of steam on this gimmick).
Doug: Did a Lance impersonation minus the defense. 2 rebounds in 13 minutes and absolutely NOTHING ELSE. It's starting to feel like Quincy Acy is a better three point shooter than this dude...nah I'm exaggerating, but needed to get a Nets player into this. This Nets trolling is harder than I thought.
KOQ: 9 minutes 1 assist and 2 TO's but he had a positive plus/minus so there is that. If you'd like me to tell you what he did out there, I apologize...because he kinda did nothing besides that usual one glaring TO we get from him per game. Would I trade him for Okafor though? Hell no!
Burke: This is one of those famous Hornacek opportunities where a guy has 3-5 minutes in the middle of a broken up unit and then takes a trip back to the bench before he catches any rhythm. 0/2, 1 point and 1 board in five minutes for Burke. I watch a lot of basketball, but seriously who is Milton Doyle? Trick question, he's some guy on the Nets and I'm out of ways to trash them for laughs.
Dotson: The stat-line isn't special but he had more heart than most of the others and showed some aggression in looking for his shot. That included a nice drive for his only make. 1/4, 3 pts, 4 boards, an assist and a steal in 14 minutes. His energy and aggressiveness stood out even with the lighter production. Give him minutes, that type of energy can translate into fast development for some players and if it doesn't...we'll still be better than the Nets.
Willy: 3 points and 2 boards in 8 minutes. He took an inexplicable top of the key three point attempt with 6 seconds left on the shot clock but besides that it was just a generic performance from a guy stuck playing in garbage time. He'd get way more garbage time on the Nets is what I'm saying...this Nets thing didn't go as well as I'd hoped but I'm committed.
Hornacek: I don't think there were many adjustments he could make to salvage this but it'd start with putting good defenders on Rozier instead of Jack for so long and than Burke for a spell as well. The C's went big on the wings and SMACKED us around but our big wings weren't the answer so a pass on that one. My biggest complaint is switching the PG rotation when Frank had played a solid first half. Frank hadn't played great or anything but he didn't do anything to miss the whole third quarter. He shoulda been paired with Burke if they wanted to get Burke minutes imo. It really feels like guys are developing way more in the G-League than with our coaching staff. Honestly, the team has regressed under his watch and that's especially true of youth like Frank, Willy and even KP. Hopefully we bring in a coach that can really develop the youth next season because we have our draft pick this offseason and if you want a blueprint for greatness, you've gotta keep your draft picks.
and his brother doesn’t seem to be doing him any favors. I mean Kurt “I got hacked” Rambis ain’t no damn role model.
There's just a talent deficit there, and for a while they were playing above their heads. Who knows, maybe they get hot again. But this was a key year for the rebuild, and they're not taking advantage of that.
squad
