Chapter 1: Why is it difficult to judge the Knicks during the regular season?
I haven't talked as much about the Knicks, and this is why it's just very hard to judge a basketball team during the regular season when there's such a wide range of opponents. And I think that even though it's a simplistic thought, it's true. It's like, I need to see what you do next. I need to see what you do next. And that next game, Saturday, against Philadelphia...
I mean, that's what we're looking for. I mean, I know you won by 54 points against the Nets, but you're a team that's supposed to go to the NBA Finals, and you were playing like crap. So what happened last night against the Nets means nothing to me.
It really doesn't, unless you lost. Then I'd have a problem. And you're not supposed to lose at home on MLK Day against a team like the Mavericks, even with Cooper Flagg back in the lineup. Exactly.
So, it's just, will this team continue to build off of what happened last night and get to a point before the trade deadline where Leon Rose, Jim Dolan, World Wide West, Mike Brown, whoever the hell else... feels like this team can go win a championship or do they have to make a massive change?
We're about two weeks away from the trade deadline. Yeah, I know. It's creeping up. It's right here, man. And maybe that's one of the reasons why the team is not playing that great. Maybe they're thinking that they're hearing the buzz or maybe the agents are involved and... You know, you never know what goes on. I mean, like, they've ruined the Ranger culture about two years ago.
Yeah, with all that stuff. You just got to wonder if that's happening to the Knicks right now.
Yeah, and that's something that I mentioned.
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Chapter 2: What does the Knicks' recent victory over the Nets signify?
Frank Isola, of course, has covered the Knicks in New York basketball forever. You know, his opinion on it was that he thinks that Carl Anthony Towns is having a down year for him, in part because of all the Giannis chatter prior to the season and during the season, how he would be a part of that.
thinking that I came here, I'm supposed to be a part of this team that wins a championship and brings a championship back to New York. I was on a team that got to the conference finals last year, and now you're trying to ship me out of here. From his perspective, Carl Anthony Towns' perspective, he's like, well, what else do you need me to do?
But from us, we're like, well, what we need you to do is be more of a championship player and not take dumb fouls and not lay on the ground forever and not have these nights where you disappear offensively. So maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe he is playing sort of in this malaise because he thinks there's a chance he gets traded. But none of that's an excuse.
I mean, if anything, that should motivate you more.
I thought he was motivated. I thought, you know, when he first started and we were talking about him, he said himself that he wasn't sure where he fit in this new offense. Yeah. And then they went on that little run about 10 games into the season. They went on that run, and they were playing really great basketball. We said, okay, he's figured it out.
And, you know, Mike Brown kept talking about how well they were playing defense, how they were connected. And, of course, last night he says the same thing. We were communicating and all that. But when they started to lose players due to injuries, you know, one guy would miss three games here.
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Chapter 3: How are the Knicks preparing for their upcoming game against the Sixers?
Another guy would miss. Brunson with the ankle. Josh Hart was out. And then the team, like, they had no direction. But on Monday, they were all healthy. They were all there. And their top six players were in minus differential numbers, double digits, which was ridiculous. And so, I mean, you can understand the frustration that is surrounding the team.
And you could also understand the chatter that is surrounding the team. And sometimes chatter works. and you incentivize your players to play better. And other times, depending on who you're dealing with these days, it could send the team the other way.
Yeah, and last night is just a building block and to try to get them back into looking like one of the better teams in basketball, which they haven't over the last several weeks. You know, and right after that letter came out for the Rangers, Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick, didn't he?
Well, you know, Mika and Artemi both, are two of really the great acquisitions in Rangers history when you look at it. you know, who they traded Mika for to bring him here and all the production he's given his team.
And then when you look at Artemi Panarin taking less money as a free agent coming here and all the production he's given his team, maybe not so much in the playoffs, but Mika has been a central figure for this team. And so has Artemi Panarin since he came here. And I can imagine, like, he wants a contract extension. They don't want to give it to him.
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Chapter 4: What impact does the trade deadline have on the Knicks' performance?
And if you're him and you took less money to come and play for the Rangers, that's insulting. I'm just telling you, it's insulting.
Whether you want him still here or you don't want him here, he's going to fetch a very good return on the open market for sure, and I think Vincent Trochak's actually worth more on the open market simply because he has term left on his deal, which would fit in certain teams' salary cap structure moving forward if the Rangers are able to acquire a top-end talent like a Jason Robertson from Dallas.
I keep saying this. But anyway, yeah, I think the trust has been eroded in the Ranger locker room. That goes back to the Barkley-Goodrow stuff.
Yeah, and I wonder about the trust with the Knicks right now and their front office and the players and how they feel and their relationships and all of these things that matter. I mean, all of those things matter when you're trying to win a championship. And I think that there's a ton of great camaraderie with this team. Obviously, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart and... Rick Brunson being there.
These guys couldn't be any closer.
But now you've got expectations. The expectations are high, especially with what went on in Boston, the injuries, the injuries in Indianapolis, Indiana. So, I mean, it's like the expectations, like you better get to the finals. And that's where this team sits. It's supposedly built for the finals. And they went out in the offseason, and they acquired other guys to support this team.
And some of those guys, like a Tyler Koik or a Clarkson or a Landry Schammett, have done pretty much their part, for the most part.
Yeah, Gershon Yabasele has not. He was a guy that I was very excited about coming here because of what everybody talked about in Philadelphia, and he's been a non-factor on the team. But yes, drafting Tyler Kolek a couple years ago, bringing in Shamit before last year. Yeah, all those things are great. And obviously Jordan Clarkson has been very, very good.
I feel like Cat is where Julius Randle was at the end of his tenure here.
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Chapter 5: Why is Carl Anthony Towns' performance critical for the Knicks?
Like, wondering, wondering, wondering.
Yeah.
Not wanting to leave, loving it here, loving playing in front of the fans, and he's probably wondering what's happening to me. And these next two weeks are going to be really interesting to see whether or not, you know, they're going to pull, you know, like what the Hawks did or what the Grizzlies did with their top-end players, are they going to dump salaries?
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you've got a lot of things that are trending toward, you know, we've been talking about the weather models and this low-pressure system, this high-pressure system, this Arctic air.
There's a lot of that going on with a Giannis trade and the Knicks, where you've got down here, you know, the low-pressure system of the Knicks underachieving in a year where they have to make it to the finals. And then you've got Giannis coming down with his bombogenesis and his Arctic blasts.
that's coming down and meeting the low-pressure system over here, and that is him wanting out of Milwaukee, his own fans booing him, and then saying to the front office, the only place I really want to play in is New York.
And the question you have to have, because it can't be a straight-up trade, it's going to have to be a third or fourth team involved in this. And they're going to have to be able to sweeten the pot in some way, shape, or form to be able to get Milwaukee to bite on this.
Yeah, and another team's going to have to trade draft picks because the Knicks don't have any draft picks.
And then on top of that, you're going to end up losing Cat. You're most likely going to end up losing Bridges. And you're going to add one player. Maybe another back-end player or something to make the money, right? if it does happen. But it's complicated, it's convoluted, and there are going to have to be other teams involved, it looks like.
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Chapter 6: How do injuries affect the Knicks' team dynamics?
You know? And he came back, and he's the same exact guy.
And that's actually worse. He's having his worst year statistically. That was like the Makai Becton that the Jets had. Now, Makai didn't have a great year with the Chargers this year, but he did have a good year last year with Philadelphia, and he does have a Super Bowl ring. But, you know, that was the Luka Doncic situation in Dallas, too. Just put on way too much weight.
And then all of a sudden, you know, he gets traded to the Lakers, and... He goes on this off-season kind of like health binge to get himself in great shape, and he comes back, and now he's back to being Luka Doncic again.