I was going to wait until after the 10th game to do a "State of the Knicks" address but regression seems to be happening faster than anyone wants to acknowledge.
Reggie Jackson, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin all sat out last night against the Point Guard-less Knicks. Elfrid Payton and Dennis Smith would likely not have made enough of a difference in this game to pick up a W, however could have made it a touch more competitive than losing by 20.
The FIRST thing that everyone needs to stop doing is thinking that firing Fizdale is going to solve this teams problems. They guy is still sifting through the muddy waters of a brand new team trying to figure out who plays well with each other. He is also not the guy that is missing open shots, making bad passes and trying to put a terrible spin move on a double team down in the post (I'm looking at you, Julius).
I am not saying that Fiz is the answer, but I know that Mark Jackson is not. So let's all just take a breather with that. Who is out there that is a better option right now that needs to be coaching? Seriously, tweet me. I want to have this debate.
Second: Free Throws... when did these stop being guaranteed buckets?! It's not like they moved back the line and made it harder like a PAT in football, its 15 ft for God's sake. Maybe less 30 foot 3pt attempts and more suicides and free throws to end practice and we actually pick up a win or 2.
Third: #JuliusRandle has some obvious needs.
Help when he gets double teamed - Poor guy has never seen defense like this since he's been in the NBA. He is "the guy" for this team and he needs to be a threat. That means looking for help and having teammates around to BE that help.
Stop trying to run the point- Put a body on a guy down on the post early in the shot clock, back him down, pass the ball when you get doubled. Remedial math suggests that if the game is 5v5 and two people are guarding you... SOMEONE is open- find them.
A better spin move- I mentioned it earlier in the post and I swear this move is going to be the death of me. He looks like a mix between a manatee spinning around in the ocean and a sloth doing... anything. Yes, this is the same spin move that could have helped beat the Nets, but he fell to his knees and lost the ball instead. This is one of the youngest teams in the league, have someone teach you a proper move.
This is going to be a very frustrating and volatile year. I just hope that nothing terrible happens that makes the franchise look like more of a trainwreck and keeps Free Agents from wanting to sign here.
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