Post by New York Knicks on Mar 15, 2023 10:58:01 GMT -6
Who's Hot
The Brooklyn Nets just had their 9 game winning streak snapped, but at 9-1 they got the best record in the league over the last 10 games. The Nets do things differently than the rest of the league. They play a unique brand of small ball, with no player above 6'8 in their rotation. The small ball Nets. It kinda suits them considering they're always gonna be the New York Knicks little brother. But back to the Nets. What makes their style unique is that usually smaller teams will shoot and score more. However, the Nets prioritize defense. They're 10th in the league in points allowed (99.8) and 9th in opponent field goal percentage (43.6). They have multiple versatile wing defenders in Bill Robinzine and Truck Robinson. Truck at only 6'7 averages 2.5 blocks per game to go with 10+ rebounds. He's kinda like Shawn Marion without the ugly jumpshot (without any jumpshot actually...0/1 from 3PT for his career). Millsap is protecting the paint as well with a career best 1.9 BPG. But defense wouldn't mean much if you can't score the ball, and that's where Brian Winters steps in. He's having an all league 1st Team caliber season (27.3 PPG 9.5 APG). And he's been the MVP for a Nets team thats now 25-17 on the season. Problem is they've already played 25 home games. That means there's gonna be a ton of road games in the second half. Nets are just 7-10 on the road this season. Will they do better after the all-star break?
Who's Not
Earlier in the year I asked if the Charlotte Hornets would finally crack 20 wins in a season for the first time in franchise history. So far it's looking like a NO. Charlotte, with a record of 6-33, is currently on pace to win 12 games this year. Charlotte now has an all time record of 34-169 (.167 winning percentage). 34 wins in 3 years. The Utah Jazz have 31 wins this season and it's not even the all-star break. Damn the Hornets have been one sorry tanking franchise. And it all started with the dispersal draft, where they were given the worst talent in the league. And 2 years later not much has changed. Tyrese Haliburton is looking like a massive disappointment as a #3 overall pick. A weak C Inside/C+ Outside offensive repertoire that caps his ceiling as a career role player. This year they ended up with the #3 pick again, and missed out on Embiid and Jokic. But #3 pick Rick Barry (13.4 PPG 4.3 RPG 3.0 APG) is showing some promise. He and Steven Adams are the only real bright spots in this deformed Hornets nest. Everybody else gotta go. Cause this is sad. 6 wins half way through a season? A 12 game losing streak? A negative 16 point differential? A league worst 84.3 points per game on offense? 3 years into a rebuild and this is where they stand? The Mavs aren't the only team that should be contracted.
Injury News
George Gervin - George is gonna out over a month with a broken jaw. Who would've thought that the Iceman would have a glass jaw? But all jokes aside, this is a tough loss for the Clippers. Gervin is the teams 2nd leading scorer (18.2 PPG) despite coming off the bench. That's alot of firepower that's now missing. The good news is they got Ron Boone, a former all league 1st teamer, as their third stringer. So they're gonna be just fine
Arsalan Kazemi - Blurred vision will sideline Kazemi for the next 8 days. The Raptors had just acquired Kazemi from the Suns to balance out their starting lineup. He was able to fit in at SF, and allow Brandon Roy to shift to his natural SG position. Sucks to lose Kazemi now just as they were attempting to build a little chemistry with their new piece.
Kim Hughes - A Broken nose has kept Kim Hughes out the lineup the last 3 games. Over that span the Knicks have give up nearly 117 points per game on defense. Hughes has emerged into a nice versatile defender, and his injury has highlighted his importance to the team.
More News Around The League
- We mentioned Brian Winters earlier in the article. He was just honored with the player of the week award. Winters scored 25+ in each of the 5 games this week. That includes a 52 point 14 assist performance vs the Houston Rockets, and their defensive guru coach Joshhouston.
- The Rockets have now fallen to 17-20 on the season. Earl Monroe has been playing fantastic. In that game vs Winters, he dropped 32 points in 29 minutes. He's now averaging 26.8 PPG and 6.1 APG. But he's 33 years old on a 5 year deal, and the Rockets are going nowhere. When will see the Monroe/Houston divorce?
- Speaking of divorce, the Bucks had placed Paul Westphal on the trade block earlier in the year. Since that moment Westphal has went NUTS on the league. He's averaging a career best 24.4 PPG on 48 % shooting. The price on Westphal has definitely gone up. Assuming he's still available? Or will the Bucks try to win this weak central division?
- Another central team with some potential moving pieces are the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their new proxy general manager posted his trade block, which included guys like Oladipo and Hilton Armstrong. But one name you didn't see on the list is LaMarcus Aldridge, who is becoming a BALLER. 19.5 PPG 10.5 RPG 2.8 BPG. All three are new career highs for LaMarcus.
- Here is a daily reminder that the Denver Nuggets are pretty good at basketball. Remember when they started the year 7-7? They have gone 21-4 in their last 25 games. Clb signed on for a day. Pretended like he was gonna trade you his best players. And then said FUCK YOU instead. Good for him.
- Here's your daily reminder that the Chicago Bulls, Clbs former team, are pretty bad at basketball. The Bulls have given up 110+ points in each of their last 6 games (All losses). Dorito Boy Nikola Jokic is not doing a very good job of protecting the paint. In the last 2 games: Big Country Reeves had 28/12 vs Chicago, and Billy Paultz had 45/15 in the previous game. If Penny had a Penny for every layup Jokic allows. He's have alot of pennies.
- The All-Star Game is approaching. East vs West. West has won the first two meetings. But the Eastern Conference has improved this season. Will this finally be the year the East wins? Or will the West make it three in a row?
The Brooklyn Nets just had their 9 game winning streak snapped, but at 9-1 they got the best record in the league over the last 10 games. The Nets do things differently than the rest of the league. They play a unique brand of small ball, with no player above 6'8 in their rotation. The small ball Nets. It kinda suits them considering they're always gonna be the New York Knicks little brother. But back to the Nets. What makes their style unique is that usually smaller teams will shoot and score more. However, the Nets prioritize defense. They're 10th in the league in points allowed (99.8) and 9th in opponent field goal percentage (43.6). They have multiple versatile wing defenders in Bill Robinzine and Truck Robinson. Truck at only 6'7 averages 2.5 blocks per game to go with 10+ rebounds. He's kinda like Shawn Marion without the ugly jumpshot (without any jumpshot actually...0/1 from 3PT for his career). Millsap is protecting the paint as well with a career best 1.9 BPG. But defense wouldn't mean much if you can't score the ball, and that's where Brian Winters steps in. He's having an all league 1st Team caliber season (27.3 PPG 9.5 APG). And he's been the MVP for a Nets team thats now 25-17 on the season. Problem is they've already played 25 home games. That means there's gonna be a ton of road games in the second half. Nets are just 7-10 on the road this season. Will they do better after the all-star break?
Who's Not
Earlier in the year I asked if the Charlotte Hornets would finally crack 20 wins in a season for the first time in franchise history. So far it's looking like a NO. Charlotte, with a record of 6-33, is currently on pace to win 12 games this year. Charlotte now has an all time record of 34-169 (.167 winning percentage). 34 wins in 3 years. The Utah Jazz have 31 wins this season and it's not even the all-star break. Damn the Hornets have been one sorry tanking franchise. And it all started with the dispersal draft, where they were given the worst talent in the league. And 2 years later not much has changed. Tyrese Haliburton is looking like a massive disappointment as a #3 overall pick. A weak C Inside/C+ Outside offensive repertoire that caps his ceiling as a career role player. This year they ended up with the #3 pick again, and missed out on Embiid and Jokic. But #3 pick Rick Barry (13.4 PPG 4.3 RPG 3.0 APG) is showing some promise. He and Steven Adams are the only real bright spots in this deformed Hornets nest. Everybody else gotta go. Cause this is sad. 6 wins half way through a season? A 12 game losing streak? A negative 16 point differential? A league worst 84.3 points per game on offense? 3 years into a rebuild and this is where they stand? The Mavs aren't the only team that should be contracted.
Injury News
George Gervin - George is gonna out over a month with a broken jaw. Who would've thought that the Iceman would have a glass jaw? But all jokes aside, this is a tough loss for the Clippers. Gervin is the teams 2nd leading scorer (18.2 PPG) despite coming off the bench. That's alot of firepower that's now missing. The good news is they got Ron Boone, a former all league 1st teamer, as their third stringer. So they're gonna be just fine
Arsalan Kazemi - Blurred vision will sideline Kazemi for the next 8 days. The Raptors had just acquired Kazemi from the Suns to balance out their starting lineup. He was able to fit in at SF, and allow Brandon Roy to shift to his natural SG position. Sucks to lose Kazemi now just as they were attempting to build a little chemistry with their new piece.
Kim Hughes - A Broken nose has kept Kim Hughes out the lineup the last 3 games. Over that span the Knicks have give up nearly 117 points per game on defense. Hughes has emerged into a nice versatile defender, and his injury has highlighted his importance to the team.
More News Around The League
- We mentioned Brian Winters earlier in the article. He was just honored with the player of the week award. Winters scored 25+ in each of the 5 games this week. That includes a 52 point 14 assist performance vs the Houston Rockets, and their defensive guru coach Joshhouston.
- The Rockets have now fallen to 17-20 on the season. Earl Monroe has been playing fantastic. In that game vs Winters, he dropped 32 points in 29 minutes. He's now averaging 26.8 PPG and 6.1 APG. But he's 33 years old on a 5 year deal, and the Rockets are going nowhere. When will see the Monroe/Houston divorce?
- Speaking of divorce, the Bucks had placed Paul Westphal on the trade block earlier in the year. Since that moment Westphal has went NUTS on the league. He's averaging a career best 24.4 PPG on 48 % shooting. The price on Westphal has definitely gone up. Assuming he's still available? Or will the Bucks try to win this weak central division?
- Another central team with some potential moving pieces are the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their new proxy general manager posted his trade block, which included guys like Oladipo and Hilton Armstrong. But one name you didn't see on the list is LaMarcus Aldridge, who is becoming a BALLER. 19.5 PPG 10.5 RPG 2.8 BPG. All three are new career highs for LaMarcus.
- Here is a daily reminder that the Denver Nuggets are pretty good at basketball. Remember when they started the year 7-7? They have gone 21-4 in their last 25 games. Clb signed on for a day. Pretended like he was gonna trade you his best players. And then said FUCK YOU instead. Good for him.
- Here's your daily reminder that the Chicago Bulls, Clbs former team, are pretty bad at basketball. The Bulls have given up 110+ points in each of their last 6 games (All losses). Dorito Boy Nikola Jokic is not doing a very good job of protecting the paint. In the last 2 games: Big Country Reeves had 28/12 vs Chicago, and Billy Paultz had 45/15 in the previous game. If Penny had a Penny for every layup Jokic allows. He's have alot of pennies.
- The All-Star Game is approaching. East vs West. West has won the first two meetings. But the Eastern Conference has improved this season. Will this finally be the year the East wins? Or will the West make it three in a row?
