Post by New York Knicks on Mar 14, 2023 11:26:30 GMT -6
Who's Hot
The Utah Jazz and LA Clippers have been the talk of the West for most of this season, but the San Antonio Spurs are starting to remind everybody who the defending ITP Champions are. They have won 12 of their last 13 games, and are now just 2 back in the loss column of the #1 seed Jazz. They actually slaughtered the Jazz about a month ago @ Utah by FORTY-ONE points. Swen Nater had 45 and 15 in that one. And most recently they've defeated the Blazers (twice) and the Clippers. The Clippers 117-111 victory is pretty impressive, considering how great of a defensive team LAC has been this season (2nd in OPPG + 1st in opponent FG %). Yet the Spurs still scored 117 on a 47 FG % while going to the free throw line 55 times. That's who the Spurs are. They're a human battery ram. They just keep hammering you and hammering all game long as you rack up the fouls, and they rack up the FT attempts. They're 2nd in the ITP with 39.9 FTA/game. For comparisons sake the Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets COMBINE for 41.6 FTA/game. Now is that perhaps some Championship bias by the refs? Are they "kissing the ring"? Can't be a coincidence that the team's #1 and #2 in free throws are San Antonio and Portland, the league's only two Champions. But regardless of the friendly calls they get, the Spurs have been playing great basketball. Can they keep it up? Their next game is @ LAC, as the Clippers are going to be looking for revenge.
Who's Not
While the Spurs are representing the state of the Texas beautifully, the Dallas Mavericks have been an utter embarrassment. They have now lost 15 of their last 16 games. Their only win came against the the LA Lakers. And once again the Lakers are DOG SHIT. So what's that say about the Mavs? What the hell is wrong with them? Just a month ago they were on a 6 game winning streak. They got Mickey Johnson. How are they losing every single game? 2 of their previous 3 losses were by 30+ points. They lost to the Bulls by damn near 20. Bulls just had the #1 pick in the draft for a reason. They're not very good. And you get blown out by them too? It's obvious what's going on right now. This team has quit. Everybody. From the bottom players to the top players. Including Mickey Johnson. Mickeys out there just chucking at this point. 2 years ago he shot nearly 50% from the field. Last year it was around 47 %. This year he's down to 42.5 FG %. He's not playing within the flow of the offense. And he's not playing a whole lot of defense neither. NOBODY is. That's why they're dead last in the league with a 48.7 opponent field goal percentage. I think we all know what needs to be done. 2 Texas teams are enough in the ITP. It's time to contract the Mavericks. Its time to erase that entire franchise. Erase Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Bradley, Eduardo Najera. All of them. The Mavs gotta go.
Injury News
Slick Watts - And Slick Watts is already gone. The Mavs starting point guard is done for the year with a torn ACL. Watts final statline is 13.4 PPG 8.2 APG 5.0 RPG 2.6 SPG (1st in the league in steals). Obviously his injury has contributed to the Mavs demise. He suffered the injury in a game @ Miami. Since that point the Mavs have gone 1-11 (including the Heat game). John Lucas will continue to run the point. And continue to run the team into the ground. While rookie off ball guard Jordan Clarkson might get a little more playmaking opportunities.
Foots Walker - This feels like a Spurs/Mavs article. Because just like Dallas, SA also suffered massive injury to their starting point guard. Foots Walker is going to miss the next 2 1/2 months with a broken leg. Foots isn't an all-star. He's not a big name. But he does his job and He was a starting point guard for a championship team. He kinda reminds me of Avery Johnson back in the day with Duncan + Robinson. Foots plays defense, doesn't take many shots, and feeds the ball inside to the bigs. Phil Smith will step in for Foots. Phil provides alot more scoring ability. But can he be that floor General that the Spurs need?
Elfrid Payton - Another injured Western Conference point guard. Is somebody in the West intentionally injuring all the point guards to get their guy into the all-star game? Well now it's 3 down. Elfrid Payton has a dislocated knee, which puts him out for the next 13 days. Payton has already missed 11 games this season. But despite the injuries, he has a bright spot (16.1 PPG 7.3 APG) for the struggling Suns (8-24 W/L Record).
Andrew Wiggins - Wiggins is out 5 days with Blurred version. Lakers just had a very anti-tanking victory vs the Nuggets. So now Klomper wants to make sure he and his players are seeing eye to eye . So Wiggins will sit out and get his vision in order. So the Lakers can keep the tank in order.
More News Around The League
- Congratulations to the 3 time, 3 time, 3 time player of the week winner Michael Carter Williams. In a league with so many great players, it's pretty amazing to see 1 guy win the award for 3 straight weeks. MCW is a special all around talent that's doing it all for Miami. He's leading the team in scoring with 22.5 per game. He's leading the LEAGUE in assists with 9.9 per game. He's 3rd in the league in steals (2.1). And most importantly, he's winning. The Heat are 24-8, and are tied for the highest winning percentage in the East.
- The team theyre tied with are the Philadelphia 76ers. The city of brotherly love should show plenty of love to Rasheed Wallace. He's been very valuable to their ascension in the Eastern Conference standings. But the man really deserves credit is Greg Ostertag. This man gotta win defensive player of the year this season. He's leading the league in both rebounding (12.9) and shot blocking (3.9). Let's start putting respect on Ostertags name. Even if he has a funnyass name.
- Another defender that's making a name for himself this season is Theo Ratliff. Theo is in an environment where he has Hayes, Roy, and Embiid to do all the scoring. That allows Ratliff to focus on defense and rebounding. And he's having a career year in both. His rebounding bas leaped from 9.8 to 12 this season. And he's averaging a career best 3.3 BPG. Ostertag is still the runaway for DPOTY. But Theo is looking pretty good.
- The big men always get all the attention when it comes to defense. But guards deserve love too. And Walt Clyde Frazier has been doing his thing this year as the Knicks defensive stopper. The addition of his perimeter defense has elevated the Knicks into top 3 in the league in opponent field goal percentage.
- Speaking of the Knicks, they recently made a dramatic change in their rotation. They decreased the minutes of former #2 overall pick LaMelo Ball, while increasing David Thompsons minutes. Thompson, a former all-star, seems like a more logical fit into that 6th man role. He's a pure scorer. But he didn't perform that way in Sim 7. In 5 games he shot just 17 for 52 from the field (32.6 %). Gotta do better than that DT.
- You know who else gotta do better? Anthony Edwards. The top of that 2001 draft class isn't looking all that hot. #2 pick LaMelo is losing his minutes. #3 pick Tyrese Haliburton should probably lose his minute as well. And the #1 pick Ant Edwards is averaging just 13.4 PPG and 2.3 APG. This kid looked like a superstar coming out the draft. But we're not seeing a whole lot of progress from him.
- His teammate Julius Randle has a lot more dog in him than Edwards has. You can see the aggression every time Randle tries to bulldoze through the defender. But he gotta learn that he cant just bully his way through the league. He's got the most turnovers in the league at 3.8 per game. He gotta slow his game down a little bit and cut down on turnovers. Because the rest of his game has been brilliant. He's averaging 16.7 PPG 8.8 RPG 4.4 APG and shooting over 38% from downtown.
- The Boston Celtics had the opportunity to draft Julius Randle. Instead they opted for Marcus Smart. Smart has struggled early on. He's shooting just 39.3 from the field with 5.8 APG against 3.3 turnovers. But Hooper will improve his boy Smart as much as possible. While Kings GM Vlade is still a question mark. So who will end being the better ITP Player? Randle or Smart?
The Utah Jazz and LA Clippers have been the talk of the West for most of this season, but the San Antonio Spurs are starting to remind everybody who the defending ITP Champions are. They have won 12 of their last 13 games, and are now just 2 back in the loss column of the #1 seed Jazz. They actually slaughtered the Jazz about a month ago @ Utah by FORTY-ONE points. Swen Nater had 45 and 15 in that one. And most recently they've defeated the Blazers (twice) and the Clippers. The Clippers 117-111 victory is pretty impressive, considering how great of a defensive team LAC has been this season (2nd in OPPG + 1st in opponent FG %). Yet the Spurs still scored 117 on a 47 FG % while going to the free throw line 55 times. That's who the Spurs are. They're a human battery ram. They just keep hammering you and hammering all game long as you rack up the fouls, and they rack up the FT attempts. They're 2nd in the ITP with 39.9 FTA/game. For comparisons sake the Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets COMBINE for 41.6 FTA/game. Now is that perhaps some Championship bias by the refs? Are they "kissing the ring"? Can't be a coincidence that the team's #1 and #2 in free throws are San Antonio and Portland, the league's only two Champions. But regardless of the friendly calls they get, the Spurs have been playing great basketball. Can they keep it up? Their next game is @ LAC, as the Clippers are going to be looking for revenge.
Who's Not
While the Spurs are representing the state of the Texas beautifully, the Dallas Mavericks have been an utter embarrassment. They have now lost 15 of their last 16 games. Their only win came against the the LA Lakers. And once again the Lakers are DOG SHIT. So what's that say about the Mavs? What the hell is wrong with them? Just a month ago they were on a 6 game winning streak. They got Mickey Johnson. How are they losing every single game? 2 of their previous 3 losses were by 30+ points. They lost to the Bulls by damn near 20. Bulls just had the #1 pick in the draft for a reason. They're not very good. And you get blown out by them too? It's obvious what's going on right now. This team has quit. Everybody. From the bottom players to the top players. Including Mickey Johnson. Mickeys out there just chucking at this point. 2 years ago he shot nearly 50% from the field. Last year it was around 47 %. This year he's down to 42.5 FG %. He's not playing within the flow of the offense. And he's not playing a whole lot of defense neither. NOBODY is. That's why they're dead last in the league with a 48.7 opponent field goal percentage. I think we all know what needs to be done. 2 Texas teams are enough in the ITP. It's time to contract the Mavericks. Its time to erase that entire franchise. Erase Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Bradley, Eduardo Najera. All of them. The Mavs gotta go.
Injury News
Slick Watts - And Slick Watts is already gone. The Mavs starting point guard is done for the year with a torn ACL. Watts final statline is 13.4 PPG 8.2 APG 5.0 RPG 2.6 SPG (1st in the league in steals). Obviously his injury has contributed to the Mavs demise. He suffered the injury in a game @ Miami. Since that point the Mavs have gone 1-11 (including the Heat game). John Lucas will continue to run the point. And continue to run the team into the ground. While rookie off ball guard Jordan Clarkson might get a little more playmaking opportunities.
Foots Walker - This feels like a Spurs/Mavs article. Because just like Dallas, SA also suffered massive injury to their starting point guard. Foots Walker is going to miss the next 2 1/2 months with a broken leg. Foots isn't an all-star. He's not a big name. But he does his job and He was a starting point guard for a championship team. He kinda reminds me of Avery Johnson back in the day with Duncan + Robinson. Foots plays defense, doesn't take many shots, and feeds the ball inside to the bigs. Phil Smith will step in for Foots. Phil provides alot more scoring ability. But can he be that floor General that the Spurs need?
Elfrid Payton - Another injured Western Conference point guard. Is somebody in the West intentionally injuring all the point guards to get their guy into the all-star game? Well now it's 3 down. Elfrid Payton has a dislocated knee, which puts him out for the next 13 days. Payton has already missed 11 games this season. But despite the injuries, he has a bright spot (16.1 PPG 7.3 APG) for the struggling Suns (8-24 W/L Record).
Andrew Wiggins - Wiggins is out 5 days with Blurred version. Lakers just had a very anti-tanking victory vs the Nuggets. So now Klomper wants to make sure he and his players are seeing eye to eye . So Wiggins will sit out and get his vision in order. So the Lakers can keep the tank in order.
More News Around The League
- Congratulations to the 3 time, 3 time, 3 time player of the week winner Michael Carter Williams. In a league with so many great players, it's pretty amazing to see 1 guy win the award for 3 straight weeks. MCW is a special all around talent that's doing it all for Miami. He's leading the team in scoring with 22.5 per game. He's leading the LEAGUE in assists with 9.9 per game. He's 3rd in the league in steals (2.1). And most importantly, he's winning. The Heat are 24-8, and are tied for the highest winning percentage in the East.
- The team theyre tied with are the Philadelphia 76ers. The city of brotherly love should show plenty of love to Rasheed Wallace. He's been very valuable to their ascension in the Eastern Conference standings. But the man really deserves credit is Greg Ostertag. This man gotta win defensive player of the year this season. He's leading the league in both rebounding (12.9) and shot blocking (3.9). Let's start putting respect on Ostertags name. Even if he has a funnyass name.
- Another defender that's making a name for himself this season is Theo Ratliff. Theo is in an environment where he has Hayes, Roy, and Embiid to do all the scoring. That allows Ratliff to focus on defense and rebounding. And he's having a career year in both. His rebounding bas leaped from 9.8 to 12 this season. And he's averaging a career best 3.3 BPG. Ostertag is still the runaway for DPOTY. But Theo is looking pretty good.
- The big men always get all the attention when it comes to defense. But guards deserve love too. And Walt Clyde Frazier has been doing his thing this year as the Knicks defensive stopper. The addition of his perimeter defense has elevated the Knicks into top 3 in the league in opponent field goal percentage.
- Speaking of the Knicks, they recently made a dramatic change in their rotation. They decreased the minutes of former #2 overall pick LaMelo Ball, while increasing David Thompsons minutes. Thompson, a former all-star, seems like a more logical fit into that 6th man role. He's a pure scorer. But he didn't perform that way in Sim 7. In 5 games he shot just 17 for 52 from the field (32.6 %). Gotta do better than that DT.
- You know who else gotta do better? Anthony Edwards. The top of that 2001 draft class isn't looking all that hot. #2 pick LaMelo is losing his minutes. #3 pick Tyrese Haliburton should probably lose his minute as well. And the #1 pick Ant Edwards is averaging just 13.4 PPG and 2.3 APG. This kid looked like a superstar coming out the draft. But we're not seeing a whole lot of progress from him.
- His teammate Julius Randle has a lot more dog in him than Edwards has. You can see the aggression every time Randle tries to bulldoze through the defender. But he gotta learn that he cant just bully his way through the league. He's got the most turnovers in the league at 3.8 per game. He gotta slow his game down a little bit and cut down on turnovers. Because the rest of his game has been brilliant. He's averaging 16.7 PPG 8.8 RPG 4.4 APG and shooting over 38% from downtown.
- The Boston Celtics had the opportunity to draft Julius Randle. Instead they opted for Marcus Smart. Smart has struggled early on. He's shooting just 39.3 from the field with 5.8 APG against 3.3 turnovers. But Hooper will improve his boy Smart as much as possible. While Kings GM Vlade is still a question mark. So who will end being the better ITP Player? Randle or Smart?
