10/19/17: New York Knicks @ Oklahoma City Thunder (L 84-105)

[maxinquaye11]

No mcdermott explosion to make the season interesting. Man...

[Don Che]

Lmao u guys are being hilariously dramatic

I liked our defense the first half....turnovers killed us

[thewatcher]

Lmao u guys are being hilariously dramatic

I liked our defense the first half....turnovers killed us

Love the NYKFP hitting that panic button!!

Briefly: 1 Incredibly happy about KP's improvement, the single most important thing to take away from this game.
2 Kanter was terrible, but his fundementals remain excellent; Kanter and KP actually really sit well with me going forwards
3 I like Baker but he's garbage; I don't like Timmy and he was beyond pathetic vs Paul George
4 Way to early to start trashing Frank; but we won't have good PG play until he matures, so yeah TO's will kill us.

Overall I'm pretty happy about our first half.

[NYGM]

I liked how KP looked, not because he got 30 and 10, but he looked under control most of the time.. Looked like he can be that N° 1 option..

We need to find a way to score and I thing more movement and picks are needed..

[NewlyKnicked]

Just read the whole discussion and it reminded me why I love this fanbase, so dramatic!

As for me:
1. Frank needs more time. 5min? Come on, what kind of confidence can you get when you're pulled out so quick? He'll be awesome down the line, I am sure of it
2. KP was the man, empty production or not. That was not a given so I'll enjoy that
3. Horny has a few games to show that he understood this season is about developing the young guys

[dcapodic]

The best thing about this game was watching Melo play defense for another team KP ate his lunch. The only reason I am not getting too worked up about KP's game is taht he is not going to be playing against Melo every night. Some nights there will be guys that actually guard him.

Other than that....absolutely nothing else to say about this game except I SO agree....if you are not gonna play the young guys then it is not about rebuilding and it is supposed to be about rebuilding.

[KRL]

Good start by Porzingis in establishing himself as a "franchise" player, with no one else
stepping up he was forceful on both ends of the court. As far as Ntilikina is concerned,
when you "baby him" the entire summer and pre-season he's not going to be ready for
NBA level play. Which you saw on display last night

[taowave]

I'm not making judgements until I see alot more of Frank and Willie..

I liked how KP looked, not because he got 30 and 10, but he looked under control most of the time.. Looked like he can be that N° 1 option..

We need to find a way to score and I thing more movement and picks are needed..

[Mr. Glass]

Postgame Notes:

1. I'm looking at the box score...egad. Sans KP, nobody else in the starting lineup even went to the free throw line. Only four guys total went to the candy strip.

2. If all that Beasley can do is score, think about how much closer things could have been had he not gotten hurt? Coach called him in at the right time too.

3. We rebounded the ball pretty well.

4. We need mid-range scoring. Lance and McD need to do better.

5. Baker played 3x as much as Frank.

[Minkaveli]

Rebounded well? OKC had so many offensive rebounds in the first quarter. It was bad. Got better when Kanter wasn't out there and KP was playing the 5.

[Mr. Glass]

Rebounded well? OKC had so many offensive rebounds in the first quarter. It was bad. Got better when Kanter wasn't out there and KP was playing the 5.

For the game we tied them in boards (41). KP with KOQ looked good in flashes.

11 to 13 OREB

[H20Knick]

Well well well....

I'll say that I was THOROUGHLY impressed by krissy franchise tonight. Everyone talking about how they'd be okay with him averaging 20/8 this year needs to take the kid gloves off and demand that we see last night's performance every single night. That's how you EARN the role of franchise cornerstone. That's how you lure free agents to new york. That's how you turn stuff around. Kudos to KP. 81 more games of that to go this year.

With that said.. I'm a little annoyed at the lack of Willy. I had a thought a week ago that hornacek might try to split Kanter and Willy by games. With Kanter playing big minutes for a a week and then Willy playing big minutes for a week. Back and forth so they can play harder without really getting fatigued. But damn. That was hard to swallow considering he was such a bright spot last year. And he rebounds.

Tim Hardaway Jr is going to be a great 6th man. That's what he showed you in Atlanta. Outside of that, he's a poor man's JR Smith at best. I am not going to waste any energy with a typical H20Knick style I told you so rant... because i'm saving that.. for...

Frank Ntilikina. Why? This guy will be fine one day. But you could've just drafted DSJ. I don't want to hear how many other teams passed up on DSJ because no other team has spent the last 10 years looking for a quality PG. I don't want to hear about his court vision because there is no metric you could pull from Frank's overseas days to demonstrate that he's an elite passer. You'd actually find the opposite. Yes, he plays defense... against euro guards that bare zero resemblance to the guys who often run the point in the nba. Everyone talks about Tony Parker from a speed and ball handling stand point. His saving grace is that unlike the last 2 guys that were drafted for their defensive potential... MCW and Emmanuel Mudiay, Frank can shoot the ball.... I think. Maybe. When he came in the 4th quarter and bricked the shot, the response at my apartment was not "damn, he missed again", it was "oh, at least he hit the rim this time!". That's what kind of year this is going to be.

On Kanter, defensively inept. No rim protection at all. But offensively he wasn't bad. Steven Adams is great defensively and there's no one he's more prepared to guard than Kanter. So outside of the travels, which were likely a function of the nerves of playing against your old team in your old arena, I think he was okay. He needs to come off the bench until he plays D.

Overall, I was absolutely ELATED with the game last night. When it was 40-40, someone asked me if I was nervous, and I said "i've been a knicks fan long enough to know that if we're not up by 10 at this point, we're not winning the game". Next thing I know, its 53-42 OKC. Then the second half came along and all of that "knicks defense" TNT was hyping went to the shitter. It was at that moment that Big J and I jumped into the tank, put it into gear, and got this damn party started.

[taowave]

Funny you mention Kanter coming off the bench until he plays D.Thats the exact excuse Hornacek gave Willie, except Willie was actually benched..

With our squad,we need passing out of the 1 and 5 spot,as it's not coming from the 2 and the 4.

FreeWillie..

[Don Che]

1. KP dropped 31/12 w/o a real PG and the last 2 years KP always struggled against stretch 4's. While he did do well tonight he hasnt gone nuts 2 games in a row he usually does it every other game(might be due to him being anemic)

2. First half defense was very good I dont see how anyone watches Ron Baker and feels hes not an NBA player. Hes our Eric Snow...he doesnt wow you in the stat sheet but just watching the game we always do well when he's on the floor...I'm certain his defensive/offensive ratings last night were good with him on the floor.

3. Frank didnt play summer league nor preseason so I totally get why he looked shaky and i also get why jeff kept a short leash on him.

4. I'm upset Willy didnt play but if we are gonna be real about this....we just have too many guys to play at that position its like anything Jeff does...can be seen as a mistake.

5. Tim was a bumb as a rook....bum in ATL and hes still a bumb now. hes another guy that if he isnt dropping 20 on you..hes pointless.

[Don Che]

Dotson might start over Tim by the end of the year

[Don Che]

In 23 minutes w/ Ron Baker: 98.1 OFF RTG, 87.4 DEF RTG, +10.7 NET RTG.

In 25 minutes w/o Baker: 67.4 OFF RTG, 106.9 DEF RTG, -39.5 NET RTG.

like i said.....Rons game isnt pretty and he has issues with turnovers and shooting no doubt but its not a coincidence that we do well when hes on the floor.

[Mr. Glass]

2. First half defense was very good I dont see how anyone watches Ron Baker and feels hes not an NBA player. Hes our Eric Snow...he doesnt wow you in the stat sheet but just watching the game we always do well when he's on the floor...I'm certain his defensive/offensive ratings last night were good with him on the floor.

Agree. I watched the game with a buddy, told him to watch Baker's defense. A split second later Westbrook took two steps and spun to the basket for an easy layup on him. Got a big laugh outta it, but that was only one of a few mishaps with Ron Burgundy. The dude has active hands and feet, plays with a strong base and competes! Should look much better against lesser competition too.

[Don Che]

i agree...Westbrook makes everyone except the warriors look silly

Every franchise wing player would love to play with a guy like Ron...and on offense hes better off the ball anyway.

I'm just waiting to see just how Frank/Dotson to evaluate how the perimeter should be handled.

KP/Lee to me are the only starters i like...I'd also add Willy in there even tho everyone loves Kanter

Baker/Frank/Dotson/Tim can all be interchangable in my book.

[n8 the gr8]

Do you guys remember KP in the games against OKC last year? He got abused. This was a huge step forward.

[Don Che]

Do you guys remember KP in the games against OKC last year? He got abused. This was a huge step forward.

yeh...by Kanter lol