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

[storyteller]

There's going to be growing pains BUT the chemistry for the first time was actually really good. I know they botched defensively in the 3rd but, in the real season the starters would be playing more. It was clear the team eased up at the end Pacers weren't beating us so they just took their foot off the gas. You already know Thibs will put his foot in their ass anyway so I expect a more focused game 2 against Washington.

Rose wasn't even looking to score by the late third. He was just trying to feed Jericho Sims to get his confidence up. There was so much little "floor general" ish happening between Rose and Kemba that even the brief slip-ups felt explainable.

 

[storyteller]

Quick rundown bullet points:
- The biggest shift was in pacing. New York's line-ups always had 4 players that could take a defensive rebound the length of the court and they virtually always had at least one runner. Even in the half-court, the ball moved quicker with better ball handlers out there.

- The defensive effort in a preseason game was really nice to see. We'll have to see how it holds against genuinely better offenses but the way they swarmed inside and against the PnR was promising.

- Rebounding...coulda been better but Indy's bigs always do us like that. I think Mitch changes the equation but we'll see in time.

- Kemba looked like he could do more if he wants but shared the wealth and picked us spots...as did Randle...and Barrett...and even Fournier.

- As much as we hype the Kemba/Rose combo for 48 minutes; I think the Fournier/Burks combination is sneaky good too. There's always a third ball-handler who can space the floor or go on his own scoring run out there to relieve stress for the back-court.

- Jericho Sims looked like a rookie in terms of knowing where to be and who to switch with, but he's such a freakish athlete and so eager to get inside that he still had an overwhelmingly positive impact. Our fourth string C is pretty damned impressive.

- RJ really might take a leap. He was more comfortable with his jumper than ever, everything looks more fluid and he's assertive in finding the rock. Even his first step looked more lively.

- IQ's late game passing was exciting to see.

- Grimes and McBride had nerves and also ceded the offense to IQ and Knox.

- Knox looked good actually...not rotation good but ready if someone needs a rest day good.

- Randle looked a lot like last year but with easier looks...this is great news.

- Rose is gonna be a nightmare following Kemba. He didn't even have a great game but you could feel his impact even shooting poorly.

 

[Ironman]

Quick rundown bullet points:
- The biggest shift was in pacing. New York's line-ups always had 4 players that could take a defensive rebound the length of the court and they virtually always had at least one runner. Even in the half-court, the ball moved quicker with better ball handlers out there.

- The defensive effort in a preseason game was really nice to see. We'll have to see how it holds against genuinely better offenses but the way they swarmed inside and against the PnR was promising.

- Rebounding...coulda been better but Indy's bigs always do us like that. I think Mitch changes the equation but we'll see in time.

- Kemba looked like he could do more if he wants but shared the wealth and picked us spots...as did Randle...and Barrett...and even Fournier.

- As much as we hype the Kemba/Rose combo for 48 minutes; I think the Fournier/Burks combination is sneaky good too. There's always a third ball-handler who can space the floor or go on his own scoring run out there to relieve stress for the back-court.

- Jericho Sims looked like a rookie in terms of knowing where to be and who to switch with, but he's such a freakish athlete and so eager to get inside that he still had an overwhelmingly positive impact. Our fourth string C is pretty damned impressive.

- RJ really might take a leap. He was more comfortable with his jumper than ever, everything looks more fluid and he's assertive in finding the rock. Even his first step looked more lively.

- IQ's late game passing was exciting to see.

- Grimes and McBride had nerves and also ceded the offense to IQ and Knox.

- Knox looked good actually...not rotation good but ready if someone needs a rest day good.

- Randle looked a lot like last year but with easier looks...this is great news.

- Rose is gonna be a nightmare following Kemba. He didn't even have a great game but you could feel his impact even shooting poorly.

 

[RickyGQ]

NOT SAYING WERE GOING TO WIN IT ALL, but there are a lot of parallels between this team and the 04 Pistons. Julius is the closest thing we have to a star and he’s got real help now. Love the chemistry we have, i can see nobody averaging over 20 pts a game but having 5 guys avg 15+.

 

[Ironman]

NOT SAYING WERE GOING TO WIN IT ALL, but there are a lot of parallels between this team and the 04 Pistons. Julius is the closest thing we have to a star and he’s got real help now. Love the chemistry we have, i can see nobody averaging over 20 pts a game but having 5 guys avg 15+.

Randle had the easiest 20 he's had since getting here and he didn't finish the game. Rj had 17 and also didn't finish. They have the best chance especially cause I think Kemba and Ev are consciously making the effort to be more of playmakers instead RJ all star year is slowly coming whether the league likes it or not

 

[storyteller]

Zone defense? Not a problem this year:

 

[Wargames]

It’s a control issue for sure. But it’s trying to control the spread of the shyt. They can’t control who comes into the city, and they clearly can’t afford not to let tourists in with their money so the next best thing you can do is have everyone you know in your city that will have to interact with those tourists get vaccinated as a requirement of their employment. So yes, Beal could have Covid, but if everyone he came across is vaccinated, he’s much more likely not to spread it amongst the rest of the city than he would of only half the team and staff was vaccinated.

Yeah but Beal shouldn’t play either. Like correct me if I am wrong because I haven’t really researched this, but tourist have to show they are vaccinated before they eat in indoor restaurants? Shouldn’t that carry over to this? I could even see a justification that if it was worker based Kyrie could be kept from going to practices, but the logic of the whole thing falls apart if Beal can play in Barclays, but Kyrie can’t. It doesn’t make sense. Both should be kept out for their own safety. Especially because breakthrough cases means Beal is just as dangerous to everyone else as Kyrie.

 

[Ironman]

Zone defense? Not a problem this year:

NBA teams running around talking about they zones, but fall a part when they hear them shots shots shots

 

[Wargames]

Zone defense? Not a problem this year:

Early on Zone was a real headache. Later on they got better at it not being a Knicks killler, but Zone would mess up their offense and keep them from taking advantage of their defensive efforts.

Yesterday they just looked unstoppable. Obviously better teams are going to give them issues, but they should be able to hang with just about anyone.

 

[storyteller]

NOT SAYING WERE GOING TO WIN IT ALL, but there are a lot of parallels between this team and the 04 Pistons. Julius is the closest thing we have to a star and he’s got real help now. Love the chemistry we have, i can see nobody averaging over 20 pts a game but having 5 guys avg 15+.

I think Randle gets above 20 ppg but sees a dip in assists. But that's a good thing and will coincide with Randle's efficiency bumping a bit from easier looks.

Early on Zone was a real headache. Later on they got better at it not being a Knicks killler, but Zone would mess up their offense and keep them from taking advantage of their defensive efforts.

Yesterday they just looked unstoppable. Obviously better teams are going to give them issues, but they should be able to hang with just about anyone.

It's hard to imagine the types of scoring slumps this team was prone to last year. They got away with those because of elite defense but they won't have to this year.

 

[N.Y. State of Mind]

I'm so damn hyped for this season! This is such an easy team to root for....a squad full of high character, hard-working guys. No a$$holes, no divas, no anti-vaxxers, no flat-earthers, just dudes ready to grind and build something special. And a coach that's gonna have them prepared and hold them accountable. As long as we can stay healthy, we're gonna surprise a lot of people again.

Let's get it my Knickas.....go NY go NY go!


P.S. I see some of y'all like myself can't catch some games live because of work....the site in the spoiler shows replays of all NBA games. They usually have them up the day after so it's a good way to catch up on Knicks games you may miss, free of commercials, or you can check games from around the league.

Spoiler

Watch NBA Full Match - NBA REPLAYS FULL GAME Online Free

 

[Ironman]

I think Randle gets above 20 ppg but sees a dip in assists. But that's a good thing and will coincide with Randle's efficiency bumping a bit from easier looks.



It's hard to imagine the types of scoring slumps this team was prone to last year. They got away with those because of elite defense but they won't have to this year.

Randle didn't seem to move the roc as muchMaybe as the season goes I mean sure as a finisher like that play in your post is great. We don't want him reverting to needlessly chucking either so hopefully he can maintain this level. Playing with Kemba specifically he doesn't seem as aggressive

 

[Geordi]

Zone defense? Not a problem this year:

Maan, I forgot all about the zone defense baffling us all year, I must have blocked that out.

It was refreshing to see Kemba casually hit a confident midrange jumper instead of the flattest jumpshot clank off the rim you'll ever see.

 

[RickyGQ]

Yeah but Beal shouldn’t play either. Like correct me if I am wrong because I haven’t really researched this, but tourist have to show they are vaccinated before they eat in indoor restaurants? Shouldn’t that carry over to this? I could even see a justification that if it was worker based Kyrie could be kept from going to practices, but the logic of the whole thing falls apart if Beal can play in Barclays, but Kyrie can’t. It doesn’t make sense. Both should be kept out for their own safety. Especially because breakthrough cases means Beal is just as dangerous to everyone else as Kyrie.

Can’t argue it. Whole pandemic has been a series of contradictions.

 

[RickyGQ]

NBA teams running around talking about they zones, but fall a part when they hear them shots shots shots

That mixtape was my shhhiiiiiittttt