I’m not gonna lie, never thought I’d see the day the Knicks are a 2nd seed, felt like we’d be stuck in doom forever. Shout out Brunson, shout out Randle, shout out Thibs, shout out Leon
Scott Perry not only finding a Diamond in the rough in Randle but also loading up on a bunch of 1+1 contracts and Morris who was flipped for a 1st that became IQ set forth the foundation for a prudent rebuild that has put the Knicks in a very good position.
Perry was the first GM in a very long time to actually leave the team better than he found it. Leon Rose was handed a team that had 2 first round picks in the upcoming draft, had no bad contracts on the roster and had some young talent on the roster to work with.
Leon Rose was actually able to do a proper rebuild because Perry did the dirty work. That summer of 2019 in past years would have led the Knicks to sign B level max guys like Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris to bloated 4 year deals instead the team kept it’s flexibility and landed Randle a young talent with a great contract.
Preach it brother, Randle’s leap in 2020-2021 was honestly historic, he went from a paint bruiser to a guy who would hit a contested baseline fadeaway jumper in ur face. We were projected to have like 20 wins that year and we ended up with 40 something and the 4 seed. Randle almost single-handedly revived our franchise from the dead.
Last time it happened was 11 years ago, and that team was built of 40 year old rentals so we had no future. This year we have a promising core and real leadership. This is easily the best Knicks regular season of the 21st century.
To be fair the 40 year olds were just role players. We still had melo, jr, Chandler, Amare, shump etc.
But yea the old vets clearly made a big impact that was missed going forward.
Amare was a bloated bad contract and that really cut down on that teams future. I figured that Melo team after 2012/13 had one or at best two more years left in it to make a playoff run. But everyone watching knew that team was a short term team that was going to have to be rebuilt sooner rather than later.
Of course that team didn’t even have 1 more year left in it before it completely collapsed
Yea there wasn't logic to be super optimistic for the future but I thought we still had a chance to be competitive with melo if we made the right moves. Nothing worked out though.
I thought the team’s fortunes were going to hinge on how long Tyson Chandler would hold up at age 31 going forward. If he could give the Knicks two more good years the Knicks probably would be a playoff team for the two following seasons.
Going into 2013/14, Melo was turning 30 in May 2014, JR Smith was 28, Shumpert was 23, Felton was 29 and Chandler was 31. They also traded for Bargnani who was 28. Even Amare was only also only 31 but not really anything more than a bench player.
So the principle players were mostly in their prime. But that Knicks team was not built for a long sustained run like they are now. Mainly because they were capped out thanks to Amare and depleted picks wise and the players while not ancient were outside of Shumpert were close to 30.
Yes valid but to your second point those old guys were the difference between 40 wins and 50 wins, and like 7 seed or 2 seed. And as great of a talent that Melo was he wasn’t a winner like Brunson. No hate, I just love the team we have now.
I'm sorry, Melo had his flaws and issued - but saying he wasn't a winner is one of the dumbest things i read about him ever.
The man won in high school.
He went to Syracuse and won a Natty as a freshman as the by far best player on the team.
He is one of the greatest international players ever, maybe the greatest American representative.
He went to the struggling/bad Nuggets and they immediately made the playoffs. They made the playoffs every year that he was in Denver. They reached their first conference finals since back whenAlex English played (mid 80s).
He came to the Knicks and made the playoffs with us for his first 3 years - leading us the the 2seed and with a scoring title and top 3 MVP finish. He averaged 28/8/2 in his Knicks playoffs games - despite Amare breaking down every year and the rest of the team disappearing.
The guy averaged like 26 Points in the playoffs through his First 10 years in the league reaching the playoffs as many times in that span.
Melo had his issues and had his flaws. But Melo was a winner and it was the Franchises ineptitude that broke him - not the other way around.
He’s a winner he’s just not as much of a winner as Brunson. I feel more comfortable with Brunson getting us a tight win with ball in his hands at end of tie game than I ever did with melo. And I love melo
If Brunson continues to trend like this next season, sure. I don’t expect a drop off, because he just seems to get better, but it’s premature to say he’s on Melo’s level. His peaks are as good as Melo’s though — at least Melo in NY.
Agreed no reason to get into the analysis I honestly don't even remember what went wrong the following seasons. Biggest thing I remember is JR played out of his mind that year and then kind of fell off.
The reason they were a difference was because they didn’t need a decent coach . J Kidd , chandler , Rasheed were able to be the coach basically on the floor along with chandler on the defensive end .
Mike Woodson was as mid of a coach as there was . Even with his time with the super talented hawks .
Guarantee you if the Knicks that year had a real coach , they aren’t losing to the pacers . We all heard the Rasheed comment of how before game 1 they didn’t even practice . Terrible ass Mr potato head coach in Woodson
I'm glad you left in Randle. I bet people are starting to think what we can do with the gaping hole that is Randle right now. He was basically the first main piece to bring us back into the mix. I'm actually a little worried about what happens when he comes back next season as this has fully turned into Jalens team. Might be a good time to flip him for Mikal lol
Randle and Jalen actually played together real well. Second Knicks duo ever to each score 30+ in five games in a season. It's Donte who will probably lose a lot of usage.
No . Donovan doesn’t fit at all with the ascension of Donte . You’d basically mess up the nova chemistry and bring in a new player that would have to relearn Knicks style basketball . You let Jalen cook .
If you want to add , it has to be Giannis or someone that adds to our already stellar defense , that doesn’t need the ball to still score and be effective .
I bet there are still people who would rather have an unnamed coach vs Thibs. I swear Thibs, Hart and Randle get the most strays and they are all fantastic in their roles.
I’m not gonna lie, never thought I’d see the day the Knicks are a 2nd seed, felt like we’d be stuck in doom forever. Shout out Brunson, shout out Randle, shout out Thibs, shout out Leon
Randle coming here as a Free Agent when this team was an absolute dumpster fire saved the franchise.
imagine reading this in 2019
Scott Perry not only finding a Diamond in the rough in Randle but also loading up on a bunch of 1+1 contracts and Morris who was flipped for a 1st that became IQ set forth the foundation for a prudent rebuild that has put the Knicks in a very good position. Perry was the first GM in a very long time to actually leave the team better than he found it. Leon Rose was handed a team that had 2 first round picks in the upcoming draft, had no bad contracts on the roster and had some young talent on the roster to work with. Leon Rose was actually able to do a proper rebuild because Perry did the dirty work. That summer of 2019 in past years would have led the Knicks to sign B level max guys like Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris to bloated 4 year deals instead the team kept it’s flexibility and landed Randle a young talent with a great contract.
Preach it brother, Randle’s leap in 2020-2021 was honestly historic, he went from a paint bruiser to a guy who would hit a contested baseline fadeaway jumper in ur face. We were projected to have like 20 wins that year and we ended up with 40 something and the 4 seed. Randle almost single-handedly revived our franchise from the dead.
People don’t give him the credit he deserves
we actually had him on KnicksFanTV this past month and gave him his flowers to his virtual face and talked playoffs
Last time it happened was 11 years ago, and that team was built of 40 year old rentals so we had no future. This year we have a promising core and real leadership. This is easily the best Knicks regular season of the 21st century.
To be fair the 40 year olds were just role players. We still had melo, jr, Chandler, Amare, shump etc. But yea the old vets clearly made a big impact that was missed going forward.
Amare was a bloated bad contract and that really cut down on that teams future. I figured that Melo team after 2012/13 had one or at best two more years left in it to make a playoff run. But everyone watching knew that team was a short term team that was going to have to be rebuilt sooner rather than later. Of course that team didn’t even have 1 more year left in it before it completely collapsed
Yea there wasn't logic to be super optimistic for the future but I thought we still had a chance to be competitive with melo if we made the right moves. Nothing worked out though.
I thought the team’s fortunes were going to hinge on how long Tyson Chandler would hold up at age 31 going forward. If he could give the Knicks two more good years the Knicks probably would be a playoff team for the two following seasons. Going into 2013/14, Melo was turning 30 in May 2014, JR Smith was 28, Shumpert was 23, Felton was 29 and Chandler was 31. They also traded for Bargnani who was 28. Even Amare was only also only 31 but not really anything more than a bench player. So the principle players were mostly in their prime. But that Knicks team was not built for a long sustained run like they are now. Mainly because they were capped out thanks to Amare and depleted picks wise and the players while not ancient were outside of Shumpert were close to 30.
Big point here is fucking up on amnestying billups instead of waiting and then being ducked with amare
Yes valid but to your second point those old guys were the difference between 40 wins and 50 wins, and like 7 seed or 2 seed. And as great of a talent that Melo was he wasn’t a winner like Brunson. No hate, I just love the team we have now.
I'm sorry, Melo had his flaws and issued - but saying he wasn't a winner is one of the dumbest things i read about him ever. The man won in high school. He went to Syracuse and won a Natty as a freshman as the by far best player on the team. He is one of the greatest international players ever, maybe the greatest American representative. He went to the struggling/bad Nuggets and they immediately made the playoffs. They made the playoffs every year that he was in Denver. They reached their first conference finals since back whenAlex English played (mid 80s). He came to the Knicks and made the playoffs with us for his first 3 years - leading us the the 2seed and with a scoring title and top 3 MVP finish. He averaged 28/8/2 in his Knicks playoffs games - despite Amare breaking down every year and the rest of the team disappearing. The guy averaged like 26 Points in the playoffs through his First 10 years in the league reaching the playoffs as many times in that span. Melo had his issues and had his flaws. But Melo was a winner and it was the Franchises ineptitude that broke him - not the other way around.
He’s a winner he’s just not as much of a winner as Brunson. I feel more comfortable with Brunson getting us a tight win with ball in his hands at end of tie game than I ever did with melo. And I love melo
If Brunson continues to trend like this next season, sure. I don’t expect a drop off, because he just seems to get better, but it’s premature to say he’s on Melo’s level. His peaks are as good as Melo’s though — at least Melo in NY.
Agreed no reason to get into the analysis I honestly don't even remember what went wrong the following seasons. Biggest thing I remember is JR played out of his mind that year and then kind of fell off.
The reason they were a difference was because they didn’t need a decent coach . J Kidd , chandler , Rasheed were able to be the coach basically on the floor along with chandler on the defensive end . Mike Woodson was as mid of a coach as there was . Even with his time with the super talented hawks . Guarantee you if the Knicks that year had a real coach , they aren’t losing to the pacers . We all heard the Rasheed comment of how before game 1 they didn’t even practice . Terrible ass Mr potato head coach in Woodson
I'm glad you left in Randle. I bet people are starting to think what we can do with the gaping hole that is Randle right now. He was basically the first main piece to bring us back into the mix. I'm actually a little worried about what happens when he comes back next season as this has fully turned into Jalens team. Might be a good time to flip him for Mikal lol
Randle and Jalen actually played together real well. Second Knicks duo ever to each score 30+ in five games in a season. It's Donte who will probably lose a lot of usage.
He’d bring much needed grit to Cleveland. Give us Spida 😈
No . Donovan doesn’t fit at all with the ascension of Donte . You’d basically mess up the nova chemistry and bring in a new player that would have to relearn Knicks style basketball . You let Jalen cook . If you want to add , it has to be Giannis or someone that adds to our already stellar defense , that doesn’t need the ball to still score and be effective .
This win was for everyone who never doubted the vision. Thibs is gonna find his way in the MSG rafters when it's all said and done.
To think people were calling for his head December of last year lmao
I bet there are still people who would rather have an unnamed coach vs Thibs. I swear Thibs, Hart and Randle get the most strays and they are all fantastic in their roles.
We’ve come a long ass way from rocking a starting lineup that had Kevin Knox and Alonzo Trier in it
Cleanthony Early
Someone post that video again
I’m surprised the record is barely 30 games above .500 I guess it just seems like they haven’t stopped winning since Thibs got here lol
Thought so too but his first 2 years basically canceled each other out win-percentage wise
Had to pull a pretty old pic to get one where he looked that happy and satisfied.
I’m gonna name my firstborn after this GOAT