Knicks Are 2-0 Against the Mavs Despite Current Awful Run

Welcome to the B-Ball Brunch. Enjoy reading about my NBA musings about last night during your brunch hours.

The Knicks are 3-9. 2-0 against the Mavs, though!

(PHOTO CREDIT: NBA.)

The New York Knicks are… not a great team in the NBA. They haven’t been for years. They were pretty great before, though; they had a 14-year streak of making the playoffs that included two trips to the NBA Finals. They last made the playoffs in 2013 when Carmelo Anthony (more on HIM in a separate entry!) played in the most optimal spot with a bunch of battle-tested veterans. Since then, it’s been pretty brutal.

People in the NBA Twitter circles have talked about Lakers exceptionalism. And for a few years, that didn’t work. But the Southern California weather was always going to be a factor. Being near Hollywood and Disneyland could be enticing to go along with that sunny weather. Plus there was that immense history. While the Lakers toiled in mediocrity, LeBron James finally joined the franchise in the summer of 2018.

The Knicks think of the same thing. It IS New York City, after all. Playing in Madison Square Garden is a thrill. The Knicks do have history but the people behind the team think it’s richer than the reality. And while the Knicks did score Amar’e Stoudemire in 2010 (after failing to get LeBron then), they haven’t been the greatest at getting the free agents or even trading for great players. As a result, they have struck out year after year and hastily put together a roster with role players or starters that need to stick to an NBA team (and apparently, putting together a team with a bunch of power forwards).

There’s hardly any system. There isn’t much continuity. After Jeff Van Gundy left in late 2001, no coach except Mike D’Antoni has been able to helm the team for three full years. Who is the longest-tenured player on the squad? Frank Ntilikina. He was drafted in 2017. They couldn’t keep their own stars like Kristaps Porzingis (yeah, yeah, I know) because of the team’s ineptness.

The front office has talked patience but they seem to be ready to oust current head coach David Fizdale. The same front office even held their own presser and I don’t think that did anyone any good.

Hopefully, they could build through the draft, be patient with some sort of five or six-year-plan with a coach (like the Sixers did with Brett Brown although that was some EXTREME rebuilding), and keep their potential stars happy. In a way, maybe they should treat themselves like Sacramento; remember when Buddy Hield famously asked to name one big free agent that went to Sacramento? Build within and stay the course.

That may not matter, of course, if James Dolan is still installed as owner.

Well, at least, they’ll have this 2-0 record against their former star and the Mavericks.

Bullet Passes

Paul George is back! And it was actually a hell of a debut! He went for 33 points and 9 boards in just 24 minutes!

Somehow, though, they lost to the Pelicans. That team was missing Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and Jahlil Okafor in addition to missing Zion Williamson. Yikes.

Luka Doncic and his team may have lost but it’s tough to ignore that Doncic got his fifth triple-double of the season. Because we’re jerks and we like to compare everything, Russell Westbrook got his fifth triple-double in his record-breaking season of 42 trip-dubs in Game 14. Luka has just played Game 11. Hmmmmm.

We’re still kind of waiting for the Suns to set but they are now 7-4 on the season. They’ll be off for the next three days before having a tough back-to-back against the 9-1 Celtics and then on the road in Sacramento. They’ll have another back-to-back on the next weekend as they go on the road against the Wolves and the Nuggets. That schedule is BRUTAL and could decide the fate of the season. No, I’m serious here.

So how about these Orlando Magic City Edition duds?

(PHOTO CREDIT: Josh Robbins.)

I dig it. But I admit I don’t have the greatest eye on these things.

I know that it feels like all I do is gush over Trae Young. But this is the second straight game he successfully did the nutmeg on a player. This time, he got Ricky Rubio.