What happens when Kristaps Porzingis comes back? Do they trade him? If they sign Kevin Durant — what then? Porzingis had better come back prepared to raise his game a level.

Luke Kornet and Noah Vonleh

Last night, Luke Kornet not only started, but played 34 minutes, scored 23 points on 7-11 from 3. Noah Vonleh (15 pts, 13 rebounds) was his power forward sidekick — playing great defense on Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first half — at the break they were near even in points and rebounds. Enes Kanter only played 14 minutes off the bench.

During the game on MSG they played some highlights of Luke Kornet‘s dad — former NBA player Frank Kornet who played for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1989-91.

Milwaukee pulled away in the second half and you never felt the Knicks had a chance, although they stayed within 10 points most of the night. Greek Freak got on a roll in the 4th and finished with his usual 30+ points anyway, making Vonleh’s terrific defense on him in the first half a forgotten tidbit.

The Greek and The Turk at War

Antetokounmpo plays with a Russell Westbrook-like FIRE but he sometimes goes overboard and plays too aggressively — and tries to block a shot on a runaway slam dunk that risks injury to the other player, or gets into altercations with players on the court. A month ago he had the altercation with Mario Hezonja after trying to block his runaway dunk — everyone wants to be Lebron James blocking Stephen Curry in the 2016 NBA finals game 7. In this game it was Kanter who Antetokounmpo got into an altercation with. Kanter got ejected in the 4th for taking down Antetokounmpo hard, and then the chest-to-chest words between the two. But it was Kanter with the bloody red eye from a Thon Maker elbow.

The Greeks and the Turks go way back.

How did Ntilikina Do?

Frank Ntilikina played well in this game — 21 minutes, 5 pts, 5 rebounds and looked smooth, confident and aggressive on the court. Emmanuel Mudiay played ok — 13 pts on 6-15, and Kanter did his thing (8 pts on 4-9 and 5 rebounds in those 14 minutes). Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer has the Bucks playing a Tough defense and some Knick shooters had poor nights: Kevin Knox was 4-15 for 12 pts, Damyean Dotson was 1-9 for 4 pts, and Allonzo Trier was 2-10 for 7 pts. Trier got fouled but no call on two drives — and complained to the ref each time causing him not to get back quickly enough on defense. Coach David Fizdale pulled him for that in the 4th.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was nowhere to be seen, on the court or in the boxscore. He is either injured or the Knicks traded him.

For Milwaukee, Khris Middleton had a good game (25 pts) after a poor game on Christmas against the Knicks and Brook Lopez was tough. Malcolm Brogdon, Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and D.J. Wilson all played well.

The boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071189

The post Game Log — Dec 27, 2018: Milwaukee 112 NY 96 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Fizdale said after the game, “Frank has been struggling, Trey (Burke)’s back — Let’s look at it… One guy hits a certain amount of games where he’s struggling, next guy up.”

Fizdale also benched Mario Hezonja to defuse the rematch of Hezonja vs Giannis Antetokounmpo, wherein last game Antetokounmpo tried to block a runaway slam dunk by Hezonja, risking injury, and Hezonja stepped over Antetokounmpo after the dunk, prompting Greek Freak to say after the game that “I’m going to punch him in the (groin) next time.”

Even at the Half; Milwaukee Took Control in 2nd Half

The Knicks played even with the Bucks for the 1st half but then Milwaukee opened up a 10 point lead in the 3rd and won rather easily. Knicks looked like they had no confidence to win in the second half.

Highlights:

• Allonzo Trier was back from injury and was a joy to watch as usual, slicing thru the defense (8 pts in 18 min on 4-10).
• Kevin Knox looked good before the national audience, finishing with 21 points on 8-20 shooting.
• Noah Vonleh 14 pts (4-8), 15 rebounds gave Giannis Antetokounmpo a hard time in the first half but Giannis did well in the second half and ended up with 30 pts and 14 rebounds anyway.
• Luke Kornet was 3-6 from 3 for 9 points in 14 minutes and blocked a shot. He is now first man off the bench.
• Emmanuel Mudiay with a so-so 11 point, 5 assist performance. He had a slam dunk that made the highlights.
• Damyean Dotson played 19 minutes but inexplicably took only 2 shots (1-2 for 2 pts)
• Tim Hardaway Jr was dreadful again — 4-18 for 14 points. There have been so many games where the Knicks were playing even or ahead and then Hardaway has gone into a shooting funk and before you know it the Knicks are down by 10. This game was no different.

For Milwaukee, Malcolm Brogdon (17 points), Eric Bledsoe (11 pts), and Brook Lopez (20 pts) and Thon Maker (12 pts) played well. Knick-killer Kris Middleton with a poor performance (2-12 and 1-7 from 3 for 6 pts).

On twitter after the game, Andrew Claudio (@Claudio_GSN ) posted: ”

The post Game Log: Dec 25, 2018: Milwaukee 109 NY 95 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Orchestrated by:

• Dave DeBusschere became Knicks GM, and there was an in-flight rebuild.

Highlights:

• Hubie Brown was brought in as coach, stressing Defense.
• Micheal Ray Richardson was traded for Bernard King. The trade made sense at the time as it seemed the Knicks were getting a slightly better player; by then it was known Richardson had a drug problem and King had an alcohol problem. We didn’t know how much better this trade would make the Knicks until King quickly rose to become one of best players in the game.
• Maurice Lucas was traded for Truck Robinson at the end of the 1982 season — at the time this didn’t make any sense at all. Lucas averaged 16 pts and 11 rebounds for the Knicks. But new coach Hubie Brown may have preferred Truck Robinson‘s defense.
• 30 years later we learned the 1983 Knicks were under FBI investigation for fixing games to pay for their cocaine habits. You can only wonder if the trades the Knicks made in the 1982-83 time frame were due to management knowing they had a cocaine problem. The whole league had this problem, but Knicks management may have been getting rid of their more notorious imbibers.
• Bottom line — the dynamic duo backcourt of Ray Williams & Michael Ray Richardson was gone — a new course was set with Bernard King and Hubie Brown.
• Rory Sparrow was acquired to run the point.
• Trent Tucker (#6 overall pick in 1982 draft) was the young stud shooting guard — defense & great 3-pt shooter but the wait was on to see if he could learn to penetrate to basket, which he never did.
• Minor trade for Louis Orr turned out great as he became key reserve forward, along with high 1st-round draft pick Sly Williams.

Results:

• The Knicks went 44-38 the first year under Hubie Brown, and then 47 wins in 1983-84.
• Bernard King led the Knicks deep into the playoffs in ’84, beating Detroit and Isiah Thomas in a fantastic 7-game series.
• But the Knicks really had no chance against Boston — the Knicks would edge out home playoff wins, then get smashed in Boston.

The End:

• In 1984-85, Cartwright was lost for the year with a fractured foot. Truck Robinson went down for the year with a toe injury. King — leading the league in scoring — went down with a horrific knee injury. Before you knew it the Knicks had Ken Bannister and Eddie Lee Wilkins as their big men and a horrific season — which resulted in the famous Dave Debusschere lottery pick and the #1 pick in the draft, and rebuild #4…

Your Thoughts? 

Your thoughts on any of the above? Additional comments? Please feel free to provide your feedback below.

The post The 13 Knicks Rebuilds Since their Last Title in 1973: Rebuild #3 appeared first on Knicks.City.

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Orchestrated by:

Still Eddie Donovan in command.

Highlights:

• Bob McAdoo, in his prime at age 27, was traded to Boston for three (3) 1st-round picks in the 1979 draft, which ended up being Bill Cartwright at #3 overall, Larry Demic at #9 overall, and Sly Williams at #21 overall.
• Spencer Haywood was traded for Joe C Meriweather.
• Micheal Ray Richardson, picked #4 overall in 1978, blossomed into an elite guard in 1979-80.
• Ray Williams, picked #10 in 1977, teamed with Richardson to produce an elite, athletic young backcourt.

Results:

• With Red Holzman back as coach, the Bill Cartwright/Micheal Ray Richardson/Ray Williams Knicks won 50 games in 1980-81 but lost in the 1st round of the playoffs 2-0 to Chicago Bulls.

The End:

• Ray Williams left as a free agent with the NY Nets — and the Knicks received power forward Maurice Lucas as compensation.
• The Knicks plummetted to 33 wins in 1981-82 and it was on to Rebuild #3..

Your Thoughts? 

Your thoughts on any of the above? Additional comments? Please feel free to provide your feedback below.

The post The 13 Knicks Rebuilds Since their Last Title in 1973: Rebuild #2 appeared first on Knicks.City.

• Rebuilds based on free agents,
• Rebuilds based on youth and the draft,
• Rebuilds built on sign-and-trades and the draft,
• Rebuilds based on new GM’s and regime changes, new coaches, etc.

The current one under Scott Perry is based on youth and the draft — so far — and perhaps a sprinkling of an elite free agent coming. Over the next 13 days, we’ll take a look at the Knick rebuilds since 1973.

1. The Bob  McAdoo Rebuild

One of the best rebuilds on paper was the Bob McAdoo rebuild of 1975-77. The 1st rebuild.

Orchestrated by:

• Knicks GM Eddie Donovan.

Highlights:

• On paper one of the greatest Knicks teams ever — in 1976-77 they had, all in their prime:
  • C: Bob McAdoo (age 25)
  • PF: Spencer Haywood (age 26)
  • SF: Jim McMillian (age 24)
  • G: Walt Frazier (age 31)
  • G: Earl Monroe (age 32)
  • Reserves: Lonnie Shelton (21), Ray Williams, Toby Knight, Glen Gondrezick
• After the entire Knicks all-star front line retired at the end of the 1974 season (Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, and Jerry Lucas) — the Knicks needed to rebuild their front line. They started by signing George McGinnis to a contract even though he was property of the 76ers after the ABA dispersal draft. The Knicks were hammered in penalites and denied McGinnis.
• Knicks then signed Spencer Haywood, still in his prime at age 26, in 1976 — a 20 pt/12 rebound power forward, hero of the 1968 Olympics and first superstar of the ABA where he scored 30 ppg in 1970.
• Midway through the 1976-77 season, the Knicks made the big McAdoo trade — getting him and Tom McMillen for almost nothing (John Gianelli)! McAdoo was 25 yrs old coming off 3 consecutive scoring titles and was a league-leading rebounder.
• They then got Jim McMillian (the next Bill Bradley) from Buffalo for cash.
• That new, elite front line was added to the Hall of Fame backcourt still in their prime of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe.
• Just-drafted Ray Williams came off the bench with Lonnie Shelton, Toby Knight and Glen Gondrezick.

Result:

• After a half season of the McAdoo trade not propelling the Knicks (they finished 40-42 in 1976-77) the Knicks signed Jim Cleamons and gave Cleveland Walt Frazier as compensation. (Word at time was Frazier had lost a step defensively and GM (and friend) Willis Reed wanted to trade him before he lost value.)
• On paper one of the best Knick teams ever, the 1977-78 Knicks won 43 games — Haywood was injured and missed most of the season. The Knicks blew past Cleveland in the 1st round. Then Philly double-teamed McAdoo and swept the Knicks in 4 in the 2nd round.

The end:

• The Knicks finally had McAdoo and Haywood playing together in 1978-79, but started badly, and gave up on the McAdoo/Spencer Haywood team — trading Haywood in January and McAdoo in February.
• Knicks were deemed to have offensive individual players that didn’t jive, and not enough defense. It was on to rebuild #2..

Your Thoughts?

Your thoughts on any of the above? Additional comments? Please feel free to provide your feedback below.

The post The 13 Knicks Rebuilds Since their Last Title in 1973 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Kevin Knox

Kevin Knox

Frank Ntilikina

Wins and loses seem meaningless now as Knicks continue to fall into oblivion at 8-21. But Kevin Knox put on another SHOW in Cleveland. And Frank Ntilikina had his second straight excellent scoring game. Knicks fell way behind in the first half — down by 22 at one point — and then made a second half surge to take the lead with a minute left in the game — on a spectacular team play — Enes Kanter with excellent interior defense, led to a dive-for-loose-ball and pickup by Emmanuel Mudiay, then the outlet to Knox for a SLAM in traffic.

But Knicks fumbled away the lead — as Mudiay tossed away their final chance on an inbounds that he threw into the other team’s hands as Kanter failed to free himself in the paint — the play was intended to get the ball to him with 13 seconds left down by 1, and Knicks were out of timeouts.

Rebecca Harlow tweeted after the game that:

• “Last thought before we take-off: Frank Ntilikina backed up one big game with another. Told me taking over felt ‘natural’ against Charlotte and he realizes he can build from that baseline. Saw the same aggressiveness tonight. Solid breakthrough.”

Before the game, she tweeted:

• “Kevin Knox getting start tonight; tells me he feels like a completely different player since his last start on 11/18/18. Biggest difference? He’s adjusted to the pace; can read defense & overall confidence.”

Boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071087

The post Game Log – Dec 12, 2018: Cleveland 113 New York 106 appeared first on Knicks.City.

But there’s been something gnawing at me for the past month or so. Seems every time the Knicks face an elite point guard — or almost any point guard — that guard has his usual scoring night against the Knicks.

Lock-Down Defender Doesn’t Lock Anyone Down?

So far this season Ntilikina famously locked down Trae Young for 3 quarters and gave Kyrie Irving a hard time in a Knicks win over Boston in November. But in the month before he got benched for 3 games, with Ntilikina either starting or playing significant minutes, the Knicks played:

• Stephen Curry, who had his usual game — 10-18, 29 points on Oct 26
• Damian Lillard, who had his usual game – 29 pts, 8 assists in Portland’s 4-pt win (Ntilikina played 28 min) on Nov 20
• Russell Westbrook who was injured, replaced by Dennis Schroder, who lit up the Knicks for 5-10, 15 pts, 12 assists & a +30. Ntilikina played 21 min, 4 pts and a -11. Thunder won by 25 on Nov 14
• Mike Conley, who had his usual game, 23 pts 11 assists (to be fair Ntilikina only played 13 min, 7 pts a -6) on Nov 25
• J.J. Redick who came around screens all night to destroy Ntilikina. So bad was it Fizdale switched Ntilikina onto T.J. McConnell and penetrated against Ntilikina at will in Philly’s win on Nov 28
• Spencer Dinwiddie who Ntilikina was assigned to in the final moments of the Brooklyn game — and Dinwiddie was calling ISO plays against Ntilikina and scoring on him at will (seen in the tweet below) in the Nets win on Dec 8
• Kemba Walker who was guarded by Emmanuel Mudiay — Ntilikina defended old-man Tony Parker off the bench, who drove on Ntilikina at will for 16 points in Charlotte’s win on Dec 9

There are a number of Knick fans who have picked up on this as well — one being Knicklear Fizzicist on twitter.

His Weaknesses on D?

Looking closely at the film a number of things show up about Ntilikina:

• He often doesn’t use his feet to defend — he overplays and people blow past him. In a flash he is trailing his opponent. This is a basic defensive tenet which I tell my 13-yr-old — USE YOUR FEET TO STAY IN FRONT OF THE GUY. It’s surprising to see Ntilikina constantly chasing a guard because he couldn’t stay in front of him. I mean he’s supposed to be a “lock down defender”.
• He doesn’t fight thru screens. Certainly not the way Ron Baker does. Baker plays an aggressive defense and is a disruptor on the court when he comes in. Ntilikina is more a finesse defender who is good at using his long reach to deflect passes in the paint.

What the Unnamed Source Scouts Say

Recently an unnamed scout in a Marc Berman article (Berman is the all-time leader in unnamed sources but this one seems legit) said “When he got in the [76ers] game, he was embarrassed by [J.J.] Redick. Redick got loose for two jumpers and then they put him on [T.J.] McConnell and he drove around him. Other scouts tell me he’s a great defender. I don’t see a great defender. He can be disruptive with length, but he’s slow to react. He’s a better-than-average defender, but I think his confidence is shot on offense. His passes aren’t doing anything.’’

The post Frank Ntilikina’s Defense appeared first on Knicks.City.

Frank Ntilikina‘s shot finally falling but his defense is under the microscope these days. Quick guards get by him constantly; his footwork is slow. He doesn’t fight thru screens, even though there’s some fuggazy stat people point to that he led league in PnR defense last year. Might be because Kristaps Porzingis was behind him a good part of year.

Emmanuel Mudiay didn’t have a good game last time out and Trey Burke is out injured, as is Alonzo Trier with a minor day-to-day injury. It will be interesting to see which Knick point guard gets the majority of playing time vs Colin Sexton of Cleveland. The Knicks have had such a revolving point guard situation to this point that “It’s a Hard Knicks Life” podcast created a terrific graphic for it.

Enjoy watching Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, and Alonzo Trier who may still be out with that minor injury. And big man Kanter. Rooting for Ntilikina but we’ll see.

Cleveland enters this game 6-21, with 2nd worst record in NBA (ahead of just Chicago). Knicks are 5th worst.

Matchups to Watch

• Noah Vonleh had a bad game last game (1-5, 3 pts, a -23) — and Knicks suffered. One of this game’s interesting matchups will be Noah Vonleh against Larry Nance Jr — always a joy to watch even from an opponent fan’s standpoint.
• Emmanuel Mudiay — if he is still starting — vs Colin Sexton, or perhaps Ntilikina vs Sexton.
• Knicks will also have to guard Jordan Clarkson, who usually kills them. Damyean Dotson may get this matchup.
• Matthew Dellavedova also always kills the Knicks. It will probably be Ntilikina on him. Anticipate Dellavedova going thru screens and dashing around Ntilikina but we’ll see. Coach should put Ron Baker on Dellavedova if he’s killing Knicks.

Note: Here is the Game Log on this game: https://www.knicks.city/2018/game-log-dec-12-2018-cleveland-113-new-york-106/

The post Game Preview: Knicks at Cleveland, Dec 12, 2018 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox

The talk of the game was that Frank Ntilikina went off offensively (7-11, 4-4 from 3, 18 points). The Knicks were getting shelacked by Charlotte at the Garden when midway thru the 3rd, Ntilikina made a behind the back move at top of the key and then hit a jumper. Next he hit a 3. Then another 3. Then a 2. He kept pouring it in until getting hit with a questionable offensive foul that had Fizdale erupting at the refs. A 6th foul and he was gone.

And Kevin Knox had his best game so far — the 2nd teenager in NBA history (the other being LeBron) to score 25 points and have 15 rebounds in a game (he had 26 points and 15 rebounds). The announcers started comparing him to Bernard King with his quick shot and love of running the floor.

No Defense

But Charlotte scored at will on NY. Lot of people talking about Frank Ntilikina’s offense but those of us watching his defense were not plussed as old-timer Tony Parker dribbled past him at will for 16 points off the bench.  Emmanuel Mudiay started and played the high scoring Kemba Walker.

This one seemed to be on the coach. Knicks don’t seem to have a clue as a team. You couldn’t blame Tim Hardaway because he had a good game (7-13, 3-5 from 3, 21 pts). Mitchell Robinson played well defensively (6 pts, 2 blocks) as usual. And Damyean Dotson with another good shooting game (6-8 for 12 points). Coach was asked about Noah Vonleh‘s poor performance in the postgame — and coach said indeed, when Vonleh doesn’t play well the whole team is affected.

Ron Baker got in the game in the 4th and played aggressive defense. Still there is a noticeable difference to the defensive havoc he creates vs Ntilikina’s finesse defense.

Boxscore:

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071071

The post Game Log Dec 9, 2018: Charlotte 119 NY 107 appeared first on Knicks.City.