KnicksTape

After a hiatus, I’m back. I realized one of my biggest problem was always thinking of long, time consuming ideas to write about that always 1) ended up never leaving the drafts, and 2) I just didn’t have time to write. My plan going forward is just to be more consistent writing shorter, more spontaneous stuff. Not sure why I didn’t think to do this in the first place, but the “knickstape.blog” domain is burning a hole in my wallet time to write some more stuff and lower my DCA. Without further ado:

1. Miles McBride is actually coming on; not in a “fun bench player” way, but as a real rotation guy. I always thought he would be a good guy to throw at offensive guards when we needed stops, but the problem with guys like that is it ends up being better on paper, since their offense isn’t good enough to stay on the floor. With him though, it’s starting to seem like his offense is catching up and maybe in the playoffs we seem him get real minutes. Plus he crossed that bum Evan Mobley into oblivion.
2. Josh Hart can never leave this team. 1) it feels like he’s singlehandedly keeping this team alive playing 48min a night, and 2) him and Brunson’s friendship is one of the best parts of the team. I think point 2 is actually important – after years of horrible culture and moody stars (love Melo, but he wasn’t exactly Tim Duncan in the locker room), gaining a perception around the league that the Knicks are an enjoyable place to play is significant. Winning is most of that, but I do think the vibe around the team – starting with the Villanova guys – is part of that.
3. Mitchell Robinson is a weird dude. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy and I know he’s very important to our upside, but he’s an odd dude. The other day he had a moody-teenager Instagram comment about how maybe he should just come off the bench. And seemingly every offseason he makes some random complaint about his role in the offense. Last offseason he did the classic ‘black screen with just text on his story’ about how he wanted a bigger role. I think I pulled that move in high school when I wanted attention. Also, buddy, you’ve been playing basketball for like 20 years, it’s not Thibs fault you can’t shoot outside of 3 inches from the rim. I wouldn’t really think about this if I didn’t know his backstory: he was a top rated recruit who just decided not to play college basketball and take the year off. He then dropped to the second round for that and some vague attitude/character concerns. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal, or that he’s a bad locker room guy, or that he’s ever going to, like, give up on the team. Just whenever he does something, it reminds me he’s a little odd.
4. Not Knicks related, but what the hell is UVA doing. As I write this, I just watched UVA lose to Colorado St. in what can only be described as an affront to the game of basketball. They went over ten minutes of game time without scoring in the first half, and only looked more anemic in the second half. No real point here, just an abomination of a performance.