#3 seed in East, 2.5 games behind BOS

#2 ORTG
#18 DRTG
#5 NET RTG

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?dir=A&sort=NET_RATING

You know what to do!

Overall:

Offense:
Defense:

Starters:
Bench:

Front Office:
Thibs and coaching:

KAT:
OG:
Hart:
Bridges:
Brunson:

McBride:
Payne:
Precious:
Shamet:
Hukporti:
Mitch:
Kolek:
Dadiet:
Ryan:

Offense: A-
Defense: C-

Starters: B+
Bench: C+

Front Office: A-
Thibs and coaching: B+

KAT: A-
OG: B
Hart: A+
Bridges: B+
Brunson: A

McBride: B-
Payne: B
Precious: B-
Shamet: C-
Hukporti: C
Mitch: INC
Kolek: INC
Dadiet: INC
Ryan: INC

Overall: A-

Offense: A+
Defense: C-

Starters: A
Bench: Inc

Front Office: C+
Thibs and coaching: B-

KAT: A+
OG: A
Hart: A
Bridges: C-
Brunson: A+

McBride: B
Payne: C (for Chucking!)
Precious: B
Shamet: C
Hukporti: A+
Mitch: Inc
Kolek: B
Dadiet: B-
Ryan: C

Midway through the season, I am giving the Front Office a C+. I have generally given them high praise. But, this team- for as good as they have been this year- are all in, and not good enough to win a championship and I don't see any move they can make that will change that reality. I loved the Bridges move, but the dude is just a glorified role player, And for all those draft picks, we needed a difference maker.

Kat was a great move, and maybe had they been able to make that move before Bridges, they don't trade for Bridges.

There is no bench, but then I've argued Thibs should have had Bridges or Hart on the bench, and started Prescious or someone else.

Thibs is great in terms of the offense and getting a bunch of new guys playing great ball, but the constant belittlement of the concern about the over use of the starters is really old school and the modern NBA has left that attitude behind. We're lucky we haven't lost OG or Kat or anyone else for a longer stretch.

I also have to ding Thibs for the horrible defense.

Kat, JB - simply awesome - not sure you could expect more from them. The hurt finger is a concern.

I think Hart and OG have been great - I probably should ding OG more because the dude signed huge money, and while the team is awesome with him on the court, he just doesn't score like someone with his athleticism and pay SHOULD.

Bridges probably deserves an F. He is a great role player, but we needed a difference maker.

McBride- too hurt and maybe yes we should look to trade him in the right scenario.

Payne is wonderful- he gets the team moving, the chucking is disconcerting, but he contributes positive #s.

Hukporti is an A+ in my book- he has looked solid when placed out there.

Kolek and Dadiet have shown flashes and skill. I can't fault them for not playing more- any other team might be giving them more minutes.

Offense: 🍕🍔🍩🥞🍰
Defense: 🧀

Starters: 🤔
Bench: 🥱

Front Office: 🤷
Thibs and coaching: 👿⏲️

KAT: 🐱
OG: 😐
Hart: 🤡
Bridges: 👽
Brunson: 🦔

McBride:
Payne: 🤪
Precious: 🤧
Shamet: 💩
Hukporti: 💪
Mitch: 💩
Kolek: 👦
Dadiet: 🙂
Ryan: 💩

Offense: A- : Offense has been great, but I think it can be better. Fall into stretches of shooting blanks from 3, instead of moving the ball, setting picks.
Defense: C+ : No where near the level of last year. Literally an average defense in the NBA. JB is what he is, and KAT needs to be able to defend without fouling. Bridges not passing the eye-test as a DPOY finalist.

Starters: A
Bench: B- : I think the bench hasn't been great, but really they a) haven't had much opportunity, and b) is missing an athletic scoring forward

Front Office: B : Great move for KAT (eating crow), still not convinced Bridges was worth the price, and I still think OG is not worth $40+M
Thibs and coaching: A- : Love that he has all the team bought in. Hoping he can up the defensive level

KAT: A- : Offensive juggernaut, makes everything easier for everyone else. Kind of the inverse on the defensive side.
OG: B : as has been said a million times, he's a terrific defender. Offense is stunted as either a spot-up shooter or a cutter, but cannot dribble or create.
Hart: A : I'd love to give him an A+ but that's relative to expectations and contract. He's not an Allstar, but a selfless guy that just makes everything work. He's our Pippen.
Bridges: C+ : Dude disappears a bit too much for the amount we paid for him, on both sides of the ball. When he's on I love the midrange. I expected more as a secondary creator and more as a lockdown defender.
Brunson: A : Also would love to give him an A+, except that his defense prevents that. However this guy is an ultimate warrior and so often puts the team on his back and carries them over the finish line. If he can take his assisting to the next level, I'll overlook the defensive limitations and give him an A+ anyway. Dude may break multiple team records. And I think he retires a Knick.

McBride: B : I'm one of his original fan, but he's taken a little step back from last year.
Payne: B : You never know what you're going to get, but for $3M off the scrap heap, he's been an amazing find/bargain. Great energy.
Precious: B : Love his tenacity, does a bit of everything from the 4. Not enough from the 5. I hope he'll find his role better with Mitch back.
Shamet: C : I really want to like this guy, and I think there is more potential there, but so far, just a bit below average.
Hukporti: B+ : Love the potential, but he hasn't had the minutes or impact for an A
Mitch: Incomplete
Kolek: C+ : Hopeful, but not sure he has the size to compete at this level. Hope I'm wrong and he proves to be John Stockton.
Dadiet: C : Not feeling it. No intensity. He's going to have to develop mad skill to overcome his lack of energy.
Ryan: F : move on.

Wishlist: a scoring SF or PF from the bench.

gradyandrew wrote:Let's not overthink this. Knicks season has been a huge success except for those two blow out losses to the Celtics. Knicks win one of those and it's A+ across the board. If the goal is to compete for a championship, we're in D territory until we can beat Boston.

The Blowout losses to OKC were pretty bad too.

Nalod wrote:28 games left in an 82 game season, You all fail. This is long past midway.

Knicks are in the 3rd seed and perhaps grades are based on expectations. All Subjective.
Only one question is really important:

Are you entertained? I sure as **** am!!!

May have a better record, but I still was more entertained last year.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/BenRitholtzNBA/status/1892597636055613487

VDesai wrote:Basically a 2/3 of the way report card.

Overall: B+ The record is great, but the team has some bouts of inconsistency that are driving me crazy. I think last year you got a really consistent effort with the occasional crap shooting night, but it felt like they were maximizing in every game. Somehow it feels like they leave something on the table at times. We also see a lot of the same mistakes repeated on both ends of the floor which can be maddening. The inconsistency from OG and Mikal have probably annoyed me the most - they are playing too many minutes, but their bouts of going hot and cold shooting have had the most direct effect on the results not being as predictable as hope. The reality - if both are hot, we can wreck teams.

Offense: A- I think the stats are fantastic, but it doesn't feel like pure A, because there has been shooting consistency. Id like to see more volume on 3 pt attempts (Makes obviously, but I don't think we're putting up enough volume). Spacing still issues exist when OG or KAT go down. I feel like we've done better at releasing Brunson from the traps lately, but that period of the season where teams would throw size and numbers at him and we couldn't get the offense started was somewhat maddening.
Defense: C The defense isn't horrible, but it can be horrible on occasion. Would like to see more switching on the perimeter and less drop, though the drop look shouldn't go away completely. Mikal has been up and down, but overall better lately. I think there's another level from OG, but we need to keep him healthy. Mitch for 10-15 mins a night, even just playing back up 5 for a defensive look will help.

Starters: B+ The counting stats are great, but the net ratings are medicore, mainly because of the wing inconsistency. If Mikal and OG can both shoot, especially from the corner, with the kind of consistency they have had in their career, it will be better offensively. The defense is the main issue, part of it schematic and part of it is effort.
Bench: B- I actually think the 3 players who play off the bench - Payne, Achiuwa and McBride, have collectively given really good minutes. They just haven't been available enough or haven't played enough minutes. I think McBride should be playing 25-30 a night. Maybe he hasn't because he's had nagging injuries all year, but maybe this is on Thibs. I think Payne has been a god send at league minimum. He brings legitimate scoring punch and energy and runs the offense reasonably and with a nice faster pace than Brunson to give teams another look. Achiuwa missed a lot of time, and his effectiveness is basically matchup dependent. He was exposed vs. Boston, but makes a difference in other games. He is just so limited in what he does offensively, which can make him a disaster at the 4. His lack of size means he can't play the 5 against every team.

Front Office: A- I continue to believe in this office, and the Mikal fit conceptually seemed seamless, but it hasn't been exactly what was expected. We did give up 5 firsts so we have to look at it with a critical lens. KAT trade was a win as he is a real upgrade on Randle. Losing DiVo's shooting gravity has been tough - though when KAT is willing to take the 3 you see what is possible. Payne signing, Precious re-sign + draft picks were a huge win.
Thibs and coaching: B I love Thibs as a coach, but I've been frustrated with a handful of areas. Traps/Pressing - we should have a better solution for Jalen getting trapped in the corner past the timeline. AT minimum it costs us 10 seconds of clock in getting the offense started. Inbounding the ball under pressure - we've made multiple mistakes here and this is a fundamental basketball play. Atlanta game the latest example. Too much KAT drop on D/lack of Switching. I think in today's game we need to be able to adjust mid game if they same coverage is getting repeatedly exploited. Overall the team is well prepared and in some games the ball movement and shooting we have seen is truly amazing. There are spurts of strong defense that we can't seem to sustain. Minutes is an issue - maybe not the major issue some make it out to be, but can you please just use the bench more? Some of these guys are playing really well and you can get away giving them an extra 3-5 mins to keep the starters fresher.

KAT: A I have my quibbles, but he's been way more than expected in most respects. The rebounding has been magnificent, the deep 3 point shooting a thing of beauty and he's been unstoppable going to the basket and finishing for the most part. Yes he can't rim protect and teams have killed us on that, but we knew we had to cover for that and honestly he's mostly been more aware than Randle. When the thumb really hurt him initially and the shooting went away, we saw the worst of KAT, but he seems to have figured out his shot now.
OG: C+ Perhaps I'm harsh, but this guy just got the biggest contract in Knicks history, and he's held up the biggest end of the bargain, which was availability. However, I feel like his play has been maddeningly inconsistent. He looked like he was gonna exceed his contract value for about a 3 week period and then after he had his peak game, we went into the toilet offensively for a long time after that, and his defensive impact was somewhat lessened. Overall there's a lot riding on him and I want to see the beastly defensive monster we can use to closeout games with the corner shooting consistency we saw last year.
Hart: A+ I think we are getting maximum Josh Hart. Not sure how much more he can do. He has not been an all world defender, but the guy plays almost every minute at
Bridges: C+ Hot and cold shooting and hot and cold defense...I've already said enough. Really dissapointed that he hasn't been able to help as a creator off the dribble - this part of his game in Brooklyn seemed decent
Brunson: A- The guy is close to my favorite Knick player of all time, so he can do no wrong generally. That said I want to see him do more to unlock KAT's pick and pop vs. his pick and roll. I heard ton a KFS podcast today that he's only assisted KAT on a handful of 3's. Overall, the only real flaw in his game is that his FTs should really take a step up right now.

McBride: B- I almost gave him a C+, but I'm being nicer because of injuries. He started the year off shooting hot, but injuries cooled him off. I love his on ball D and agression, but we need him to get hot from 3 and with volume to do damage in the playoffs.
Payne: A- What else can you ask from Payne at 3mm min salary? He has provided a spark in many games and is a ball of energy that helps keep the spirits up. Really helpful piece.
Precious: B- Looked so horrible vs. Boston, but has had his moments. Has some unique strengths and some major limitations. A useful bench piece, but I'd like to see him add more on offense.
Shamet: C- Injury killed this guy, but he's here to shoot 3's and he can't make them
Hukporti: B+ Playing above expectations so far, given his draft position. I'm really high his future.
Mitch: INC
Kolek: B I think we are higher on him than his play so far would indicate, but there's reason to be optimisitic.
Dadiet: C+ I like his size and potential to shoot. His defense seems better than was advertised. 2 years away though.
Ryan: D I mean this guy kinda sucks right?

Knicks are 52-20 with OG on the floor since he was traded here. Thats a .722 winning %. over a full season thats 59 win season. I think your being harsh. His presence is not always easy to measure in the box score, but when he plays we are near elite.

VDesai wrote:

Nalod wrote:

VDesai wrote:Basically a 2/3 of the way report card.

Overall: B+ The record is great, but the team has some bouts of inconsistency that are driving me crazy. I think last year you got a really consistent effort with the occasional crap shooting night, but it felt like they were maximizing in every game. Somehow it feels like they leave something on the table at times. We also see a lot of the same mistakes repeated on both ends of the floor which can be maddening. The inconsistency from OG and Mikal have probably annoyed me the most - they are playing too many minutes, but their bouts of going hot and cold shooting have had the most direct effect on the results not being as predictable as hope. The reality - if both are hot, we can wreck teams.

Offense: A- I think the stats are fantastic, but it doesn't feel like pure A, because there has been shooting consistency. Id like to see more volume on 3 pt attempts (Makes obviously, but I don't think we're putting up enough volume). Spacing still issues exist when OG or KAT go down. I feel like we've done better at releasing Brunson from the traps lately, but that period of the season where teams would throw size and numbers at him and we couldn't get the offense started was somewhat maddening.
Defense: C The defense isn't horrible, but it can be horrible on occasion. Would like to see more switching on the perimeter and less drop, though the drop look shouldn't go away completely. Mikal has been up and down, but overall better lately. I think there's another level from OG, but we need to keep him healthy. Mitch for 10-15 mins a night, even just playing back up 5 for a defensive look will help.

Starters: B+ The counting stats are great, but the net ratings are medicore, mainly because of the wing inconsistency. If Mikal and OG can both shoot, especially from the corner, with the kind of consistency they have had in their career, it will be better offensively. The defense is the main issue, part of it schematic and part of it is effort.
Bench: B- I actually think the 3 players who play off the bench - Payne, Achiuwa and McBride, have collectively given really good minutes. They just haven't been available enough or haven't played enough minutes. I think McBride should be playing 25-30 a night. Maybe he hasn't because he's had nagging injuries all year, but maybe this is on Thibs. I think Payne has been a god send at league minimum. He brings legitimate scoring punch and energy and runs the offense reasonably and with a nice faster pace than Brunson to give teams another look. Achiuwa missed a lot of time, and his effectiveness is basically matchup dependent. He was exposed vs. Boston, but makes a difference in other games. He is just so limited in what he does offensively, which can make him a disaster at the 4. His lack of size means he can't play the 5 against every team.

Front Office: A- I continue to believe in this office, and the Mikal fit conceptually seemed seamless, but it hasn't been exactly what was expected. We did give up 5 firsts so we have to look at it with a critical lens. KAT trade was a win as he is a real upgrade on Randle. Losing DiVo's shooting gravity has been tough - though when KAT is willing to take the 3 you see what is possible. Payne signing, Precious re-sign + draft picks were a huge win.
Thibs and coaching: B I love Thibs as a coach, but I've been frustrated with a handful of areas. Traps/Pressing - we should have a better solution for Jalen getting trapped in the corner past the timeline. AT minimum it costs us 10 seconds of clock in getting the offense started. Inbounding the ball under pressure - we've made multiple mistakes here and this is a fundamental basketball play. Atlanta game the latest example. Too much KAT drop on D/lack of Switching. I think in today's game we need to be able to adjust mid game if they same coverage is getting repeatedly exploited. Overall the team is well prepared and in some games the ball movement and shooting we have seen is truly amazing. There are spurts of strong defense that we can't seem to sustain. Minutes is an issue - maybe not the major issue some make it out to be, but can you please just use the bench more? Some of these guys are playing really well and you can get away giving them an extra 3-5 mins to keep the starters fresher.

KAT: A I have my quibbles, but he's been way more than expected in most respects. The rebounding has been magnificent, the deep 3 point shooting a thing of beauty and he's been unstoppable going to the basket and finishing for the most part. Yes he can't rim protect and teams have killed us on that, but we knew we had to cover for that and honestly he's mostly been more aware than Randle. When the thumb really hurt him initially and the shooting went away, we saw the worst of KAT, but he seems to have figured out his shot now.
OG: C+ Perhaps I'm harsh, but this guy just got the biggest contract in Knicks history, and he's held up the biggest end of the bargain, which was availability. However, I feel like his play has been maddeningly inconsistent. He looked like he was gonna exceed his contract value for about a 3 week period and then after he had his peak game, we went into the toilet offensively for a long time after that, and his defensive impact was somewhat lessened. Overall there's a lot riding on him and I want to see the beastly defensive monster we can use to closeout games with the corner shooting consistency we saw last year.
Hart: A+ I think we are getting maximum Josh Hart. Not sure how much more he can do. He has not been an all world defender, but the guy plays almost every minute at
Bridges: C+ Hot and cold shooting and hot and cold defense...I've already said enough. Really dissapointed that he hasn't been able to help as a creator off the dribble - this part of his game in Brooklyn seemed decent
Brunson: A- The guy is close to my favorite Knick player of all time, so he can do no wrong generally. That said I want to see him do more to unlock KAT's pick and pop vs. his pick and roll. I heard ton a KFS podcast today that he's only assisted KAT on a handful of 3's. Overall, the only real flaw in his game is that his FTs should really take a step up right now.

McBride: B- I almost gave him a C+, but I'm being nicer because of injuries. He started the year off shooting hot, but injuries cooled him off. I love his on ball D and agression, but we need him to get hot from 3 and with volume to do damage in the playoffs.
Payne: A- What else can you ask from Payne at 3mm min salary? He has provided a spark in many games and is a ball of energy that helps keep the spirits up. Really helpful piece.
Precious: B- Looked so horrible vs. Boston, but has had his moments. Has some unique strengths and some major limitations. A useful bench piece, but I'd like to see him add more on offense.
Shamet: C- Injury killed this guy, but he's here to shoot 3's and he can't make them
Hukporti: B+ Playing above expectations so far, given his draft position. I'm really high his future.
Mitch: INC
Kolek: B I think we are higher on him than his play so far would indicate, but there's reason to be optimisitic.
Dadiet: C+ I like his size and potential to shoot. His defense seems better than was advertised. 2 years away though.
Ryan: D I mean this guy kinda sucks right?

Knicks are 52-20 with OG on the floor since he was traded here. Thats a .722 winning %. over a full season thats 59 win season. I think your being harsh. His presence is not always easy to measure in the box score, but when he plays we are near elite.

I already said I was being harsh, but $42mm gets him held to a higher standard. This year with 32-17 which is what we're grading on - still really good record wise, but I think a top tier OG is the difference between title contention and a 2nd round exit. His monthly splits are interesting

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/splits/_/id/3934719/og-anunoby

November OG is peak OG - 50/40/80 and nearly 20 ppg. December was a big drop 44/32/73. Jan efficiency nearly recovers, but volume of shooting is less. The win/loss splits are also pretty stark.

I really think the key to this experiment is the Wings. OG and Mikal bringing the best version of themselves consistently is the key to beating the top group of teams. They aren't gonna read my report card, but I'm throwing the gauntlet down on them to improve to get the overall team grade up.

In addition to the money for OG- is his athleticism - he showed in November what he can do. I want that level, or closer to it, more often. For all the ability, he doesn’t have a go to move. He is too good for anyone player to guard him, if he get’s his feet under him and develops the moves needed to attack- off the dribble or in the post.