"Death to the Pessimistic State of Mind" - Nas Voice: NYK '23 Pre-Season Thread

[ISO]

Here y’all go drinking the Kool Aid again.

It doesn’t take much for nikkas

 

[Mr. Jack Napier]

Oh shyt. I don’t remember this scene, must've been from season 2

 

[Ironman]

Oh shyt. I don’t remember this scene, must've been from season 2

Wait until 3. Soldier boy fukkery coming

 

[storyteller]

Just adding last night bumps those percentages 1% to 43% from the field and 38% from three.

This leap has lasted 2/3s of the season so far. After his annual slow start, he's been pushing all-star production with good efficiency.

 

[Ironman]

@storyteller Anyone have from January to now?

 

[storyteller]

@storyteller Anyone have from January to now?

I got you fam: Since January 2nd
25 games 37 mpg 24 ppg, 3.7 apg, 6.1 rpg, 2.4 TO. 42.7% FG, 39.1% 3ptFG (attempting 6 per game too, so no low sample bias).

Also, IQ seems like he's broken out of the sophomore slump:

 

[RickyGQ]

Burks was one of our best players during that stretch of time.

Your right. But I’m not a fan of dude.

 

[RickyGQ]

Randle shutting all of us up

salute this man

Still RJs team. No take backs…

 

[dave]

I got you fam: Since January 2nd
25 games 37 mpg 24 ppg, 3.7 apg, 6.1 rpg, 2.4 TO. 42.7% FG, 39.1% 3ptFG (attempting 6 per game too, so no low sample bias).

Also, IQ seems like he's broken out of the sophomore slump:

i'm riding for IQ

if he can up that APG to at least 5

we got ourselves a new starting PG

 

[JMurder]

Still RJs team. Not take backs…

The fact that Randle had a 40 point game and RJ still got chanted in Sacramento HAS to irk his nerves

This is absolutely still RJ's team. Fool me once shame on...shame on you.....fool me once can't get fooled again!!!

 

[Ironman]

i'm riding for IQ

if he can up that APG to at least 5

we got ourselves a new starting PG

Bolded is RJs numbers

 

[dave]

The fact that Randle had a 40 point game and RJ still got chanted in Sacramento HAS to irk his nerves

This is absolutely still RJ's team. Fool me once shame on...shame on you.....fool me once can't get fooled again!!!

yep, i agree that this is RJ's team going forward based off his youth and potential, but there's clearly a bias between who we drafted and who we signed. it's a duality that fans struggle with. we tend to side with homegrown vs recruited players but don't forget, the NBA is a business and you should always try to view it from a player's perspective. there's always politics aside from the numbers.

Randle has a shyt game... it's the end of the world. Randle has a good game... it's crickets.

just be fair. a win is a win. wins pay the players, wins pay the staff, and wins pay the fans.

i give credit to whoever contributes for a win and Randle deserves kudos for last night.

 

[Wargames]

The fact that Randle had a 40 point game and RJ still got chanted in Sacramento HAS to irk his nerves

This is absolutely still RJ's team. Fool me once shame on...shame on you.....fool me once can't get fooled again!!!

He’s making too much money to be this fragile. RJ stays supporting him too.

 

[storyteller]

i'm riding for IQ

if he can up that APG to at least 5

we got ourselves a new starting PG

I prefer him focused on scoring, but he's definitely flashed more playmaking upside than I'd expected. I really like the idea of pairing him with Deuce who has a crazy wing span that should allow them to work off each other. Neither is a true PG yet, but they both have enough of everything to compliment each other.

There's also a sleeper in the wings with Rokas Jokubaitis who we drafted just ahead of Deuce and let spend a developmental year with FC Barcelona (perpetually top-5 team in Europe that he wound up being one of the best players for at 21). He's played so well that I've seen a bunch of scout and mockdraft types say he'd have projected in the lottery of this upcoming draft. He might not come right away, but he's progressed way faster than anyone expected. I clipped out some Knicks bits from this article that just dropped with an interview with him. The kid's got a good head on his shoulders.

Rokas Jokubaitis shares his NBA plans, invaluable Saras and Calathes lessons & national team challenge

The 21-year-old FC Barcelona youngster scores 9 points in the last quarter of the Copa del Rey final against rivals Real Madrid and gifts his team the first title of this campaign.

It sounds like a fairy tale, but in just a few months, we realized that this can be constantly expected from Rokas Jokubaitis, and it is enough to be surprised.


Having considered Zalgiris Kaunas' offer for a long time in the summer and doubted his playing time in Barcelona, Jokubaitis now looks like a veteran of the Catalan club, making elite player's decisions on the court and expressing Spanish vibes outside the basketball floor. Where does such peace of mind come from?

"I am very surprised myself how everything is going here, but there are very fun personalities in our team," Jokubaitis told BasketNews. "It seems like an elite club, but the people are very simple - from the administration to the players. Familiar coaches also add confidence. I feel like I belong here. As they say here, the younger brother of all. The Spaniards are fun people, they caught my vibe quickly, and that is reflected on the court. I feel the support of everybody."

The 1.92-meter guard, who is playing his debut season at Barca, is having an even statistically better campaign than last year in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Currently playing for EuroLeague leaders, Jokubaitis is averaging 0.8 points (avg. 7.8 PTS) and 1.6 PIR (avg. 8.5 PIR) more than last season in Zalgiris, although he is playing three minutes less (avg. 17 MIN).

Jokubaitis is shooting on a 58% accuracy from the 2-point zone (65/112) and 58.6% from deep (17/29). These numbers are difficult to explain for the Lithuanian himself.

"It is a strange phenomenon. We all understand that 58 percent are not because I am a dangerous shooter," Jokubaitis admitted. "My shooting selection allows me to cheat stats. Really, I don't even know how I manage to do it, but it's fun that hard practice brings the results."

This week, Jokubaitis will demonstrate his talents in the Zalgirio arena. On Friday, the biggest hope of Lithuanian basketball will be met as an opponent for the first time.

March 11th is outlined in Rokas' schedule not only due to Lithuania Independence Restoration Day but also due to the exceptional evening ahead, until which Jokubaitis counted the days in recent months.

"It is a great excitement," Jokubaitis replied when asked what thoughts he met about the return to Kaunas. "What pleasantly surprises me this season is that the time is flying, and everything is going well. I remember, a few months ago, March 11th seemed a long way off, and now it's the upcoming match. Family friends are coming, it will definitely be exciting. If we manage to get a victory, it will be a fairytale. I look forward to seeing a lot of fans."

BasketNews' presents the conversation with Rokas Jokubaitis - about the unexpectedly successful start in Barcelona, the exceptional relationship with Jasikevicius, the war in Ukraine, the constant contact with the New York Knicks, and the awaiting huge challenge with the national team.

I want to end the conversation in a better mood. You mentioned that the New York Knicks' representatives arrived in Europe in February. Have you met them?
They were in the Copa del Rey tournament, and we talked. They watched all the matches. I think they saw what they wanted to see, and now everything is in their hands (smiles).

In general, how is the communication with the Knicks going during the season?
Not bad. I expected less attention. The Summer League coach writes me, the assistants ask, and also said that there is a lot of talk about me through the agent. It's nice to have that kind of attention and keep in touch.

You said that you only think about moving to the NBA when you get everything from the EuroLeague. What needs to happen for you to think that way?
Some people thought this was my thinking about titles, but I meant something else. It will happen when I feel inside that I have reached my maximum in terms of my improvement.

There are many bad examples, like Kevin Pangos, who dominated in the EuroLeague. It's the NBA where even the best European players don't fit in. Two years or so will pass, and I'll talk to my agent about going to the NBA.


But before that, I'll have to feel 100 percent confident that at least I'll have a chance to fight for the minutes. For example, I come to the US, and they say that you will play in the G League, and sometimes you will be with the main team. Then it's better to improve in the EuroLeague.

There are players who openly say that they are EuroLeague athletes and don't see themselves in the NBA. How do you rate the playstyle across the Atlantic and your options there?
Now it's hard to imagine me there. But I didn't imagine myself in Barcelona before the season or in Zalgiris a couple of years ago. I don't always dream too much, I look at it from a realistic point of view. At the moment, I can't imagine myself in the NBA because there's another world out there, but I'd really like to try to establish myself in there.

 

[dave]

I prefer him focused on scoring, but he's definitely flashed more playmaking upside than I'd expected. I really like the idea of pairing him with Deuce who has a crazy wing span that should allow them to work off each other. Neither is a true PG yet, but they both have enough of everything to compliment each other.

There's also a sleeper in the wings with Rokas Jokubaitis who we drafted just ahead of Deuce and let spend a developmental year with FC Barcelona (perpetually top-5 team in Europe that he wound up being one of the best players for at 21). He's played so well that I've seen a bunch of scout and mockdraft types say he'd have projected in the lottery of this upcoming draft. He might not come right away, but he's progressed way faster than anyone expected. I clipped out some Knicks bits from this article that just dropped with an interview with him. The kid's got a good head on his shoulders.

Rokas Jokubaitis shares his NBA plans, invaluable Saras and Calathes lessons & national team challenge

Leon, make this man Assistant Coach