So Rose, Melo, Horford, Crowder and Thomas didn't play...which gave us the gift of watching two teams full of young, hungry and developing players go at it while a handful of vets had the opportunity to work into a rhythm. This was one where the entire Knicks team played well and I'm not gonna go crazy on the evaluations except for a few cats.
Jennings: A little more out of control than previous games and a little is all it takes to be too much. Made some nice passes but had a bad moment showing up Ndour after he'd fumbled a couple of passes.
Lee: The guy people probably slept on in this one...11 points in 14 minutes on 5-7 shooting and he wasn't even forcing anything.
Lance Thomas: We got a lot of the good Lance with the weird herky, jerky scores and dirty work plays. But the scary thing about his preseason...has he made a three pointer yet? He's attempted plenty.
Noah: His passing added a dimension to the offense that we hadn't really seen before this one. Guys will cut and move when they know even the big men will reward them. The best part of this game for him though...the coaching he did. On dead balls, you're more likely to catch him giving pointers to KP or Willy than you are to see him sitting down to catch his breath.
KP: Last year, when smaller cats bodied him up he would settle for jumpers and poor position. In this one, he ate them alive by attacking the basket and boards. On his gathers, he was holding the ball over his head which was out of reach even for PF's like Mickey and Amir Johnson. He shouldn't be forced to ISO, but every player should be looking for him because he's cutting, getting position and finding openings all the time. He looks more and more poised to show heavy improvements.
KOQ: When he's focused...he's a strong bench big. If he can be an effective PF, he'll be a great value. At C, there's competition.
Willy: Not many minutes, just one attempt that was blocked (cool to see a rookie use a drop step into a hook but he didn't create enough space), but his motor saw him fill the sheet everywhere else. I really like his game.
Kuz: Cheese clearly has defensive short comings but he also has a ton of effort and a really well developed offensive repertoire. I hope he gets a chance in meaningful minutes early in the season.
Sasha: Strong game when he sticks to the script. He cuts well, knows where to pass and go plus he never slows down. Defensively he's an absolute sieve, showed some poor communication and really just doesn't do well. He also forced some shots for no good reason. As much as he helps get everyone moving in the triangle, he has a weird habit of taking a bad shot every few minutes.
Baker: Did what Sasha did but without the bad shot selection and with better (not good but better than god awful) defense. His off ball motion is fun to watch, I missed some PG play watching him curl through screens. He HAS to make the team imo.
Holiday: Do it all mentality, but easy to sleep on his impact on both ends. Courtney Lee-lite imo.
Ndour: We need a PF and his motor is great. He's raw everywhere but also shows at least some potential too. His hands were awful but he's yet another player who low key does positive things. Since we have more skilled guys who do that already, he's expendable but as we need a true PF...we may want to hang on to him.
Plumlord: Runs the floor REALLY well, never stops working, fairly smart player, even hit a jumper...I'm still skeptical though
Tokoto: Played really well, but too little too late and still hasn't shown enough to make the roster. Could have upside if his work ethic and maturity show.
Amundson: No clue why we brought him back with such a glut of good young bigs. I hope he doesn't steal one of those young bigs' spots.
We have a luxury of numerous bigs and God forbid Noah gets injured but we also have Willy and Quinn who are damn good as well. Due to those two Noah doesn't have to play crazy minutes every night. Our 2 guard spot is an issue though
When Courtney Lee hits the bench Vua comes in anf Ron seems to be our third pg. Brandon will definitely hold it down as well and may have to as Rose hasn't played yet
how all that height & length translates to defense, especially from a Euro is even more shocking.
