Short and sweet

Thibs has grown on me.
Randle has improved.
I’m fine with Thibs management over the Randle.
I’m fine with IQ not starting.
And I’m fine with grimes starting (for now)

Win or lose, my trust in Thibs rotation is growing, and he’s managing Randle just fine.

GO KNICKS

GustavBahler wrote:

blkexec wrote:It’s interesting to read past posts. I also noticed I ramble too much, so I apologize for that.

Short and sweet

Thibs has grown on me.
Randle has improved.
I’m fine with Thibs management over the Randle.
I’m fine with IQ not starting.
And I’m fine with grimes starting (for now)

Win or lose, my trust in Thibs rotation is growing, and he’s managing Randle just fine.

GO KNICKS

Captured by the Deep(Thibs)State! Gentlemen start your rambling..

Thibs was patient with Randle, knowing he was fighting his way back from ankle surgery. Which was the right thing to do. I give Randle more credit for his performance this season than Thibs. Although the coaching staff was right to try to get Randle to give his ankle more time to rest.

Randle looked comfortable vs. Detroit putting all of his weight on his surgically repaired ankle for the first time this season. The knee soreness might be from his knee not being used to working that hard. His takes to the rim this season look like Randle's has been at three quarter speed, until recently.

I still believe Thibs is too willing to pigeonhole some players to make his system work at times. He likely sees it as being for the greater good of the team. Sometimes it looks to me like its limiting the player's potential, as well as the teams'.

I hope that Grimes is benched no later than the all-star break, if this is more or less what we see from him on the court. Grimes plays too much like Frank in his third year in the league. He should be going in the opposite direction.

For his sake and the Knicks, I hope he gets there. Grimes is a more frustrating player for me to watch than Randle has been in the past. Because he's so damned passive.

HofstraBBall wrote:

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

cooch2584 wrote:Quick must start our 3 starters can score, mitch can rebound but we have a GAPPING HOLE at sg. This is what i call an idiot easy thing for thibs to see. We cant keep losing the first qt by 10 points and clawwing back the rest of the game.

I'm curious as to how much more slack Thibs gives Grimes before he relents and starts IQ or DDV? Also, how long before the FO starts leaning into the discussion?

Probably all year.

Let's not forget the business side. IQ getting the starting nod gives IQs agent more leverage in contract talks.

Here is my guess and someone over at KFS mentioned this and it rang true for me: The restricted free agent market is limited. Witness Austin Reaves and others. Sure, there will be a team or 2 with enough cap space but not enough to scare the Knicks.

It's easier for the Knicks to let the market dictate IQ's next contract than it is to negotiate against themselves. If he spikes, then it's a win-win for team. If he makes a gradual climb in performance, Knicks are probably more in line with the $18M per they offered than $25M per IQ's team may have asked for.

Austin averaged 17ppg and shot 44% from downtown across 16 playoff games for the Lakers. His contract starts at $12M.

Gabe Vincent? $11M for 3 years.

Max Strus? Starts at $14M for a 4 year $62M contract.

jaydh wrote:

martin wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

cooch2584 wrote:Quick must start our 3 starters can score, mitch can rebound but we have a GAPPING HOLE at sg. This is what i call an idiot easy thing for thibs to see. We cant keep losing the first qt by 10 points and clawwing back the rest of the game.

I'm curious as to how much more slack Thibs gives Grimes before he relents and starts IQ or DDV? Also, how long before the FO starts leaning into the discussion?

Probably all year.

Let's not forget the business side. IQ getting the starting nod gives IQs agent more leverage in contract talks.

Here is my guess and someone over at KFS mentioned this and it rang true for me: The restricted free agent market is limited. Witness Austin Reeves and others. Sure, there will be a team or 2 with enough cap space but not enough to scare the Knicks.

It's easier for the Knicks to let the market dictate IQ's next contract than it is to negotiate against themselves. If he spikes, then it's a win-win for team. If he makes a gradual climb in performance, Knicks are probably more in line with the $18M per they offered than $25M per IQ's team may have asked for.

just curious, but who do you think has been more important to this team's success, RJ or IQ?

Hard to say quite frankly. I would not put either in the driver seat for team's success, that belongs to Brunson, Randle, Mitch IMHO.

They both have secondary roles with the Knicks and are inconsistent to me. Both are not fully developed and have a ways to go to get to that next level of impact.

jaydh wrote:IQ has been a better player so far, which is backed by stats. I think it's odd and sends the wrong message when RJ gets the bag that IQ wants.

Impact, role, and (trade) value to team. I think those 2 players are different.

It's really hard to compare those 2 cause they are like apples and oranges IMO

As well, you are trying to determine (with the contract) unfulfilled potential in both, not just present value stats.

martin wrote:Do not **** with something that is really really working well. That’s the golden rule

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

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At this stage of the season, keeping arguably the worst starter in the league, in the lineup, might not be a drag on the team now. But in the playoffs? Grimes lack of a handle, aggressiveness will be exploited. If he's still playing this way.

Our record is based in no small part to teams missing one or more stars when they played us. And we still had to pull out all the stops to win them.

Its a long season, I'd like to see either IQ or DDV be given a shot to start. It would also send a message to Grimes that he didnt inherit the job. He has to put in the work to keep it. I dont see that on the court. I do see two guards behind him who are.

There is more than a good chance that Grimes might not get his starting job back if he's benched. Thibs might also be giving Grimes every opportunity to remain a starter.

Teammates are starting to look for Mitch, but its still three on five on offense, for the most part. Again, that will be exploited in the playoffs, if its still the case.

The next stretch will be a good test of how good we are. Hopefully Grimes will step up. If he hasnt by the all star break, then its on Thibs if our record suffers against better, tougher opponents.

From the Post..

Yes, the Knicks have already played an inordinate amount of back-to-backs (five sets), prompting coach Tom Thibodeau on Friday to crown his team “the king of the back-to-backs.” But they’ve also benefited from head-to-heads against terrible teams (Wizards, Hornets thrice, Spurs, Pistons) and long stretches at home.

Not in December.

From Dec. 5-30, they have three games against the Bucks, quite possibly the premier team in the East. As of now (before the In-Season Tournament shakes out), they’re scheduled for nine of 11 games on the road for the rest of the month.

Eight of the 11 opponents are at .500 or better. They hit all four time zones.

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