Man I'm not gunna lie I am actually a bit worried *cue kid cudi instrumental* don't eem care if its just one preseason game.
I hope we get the Melo from our one season we were actually good. Where dude wasn't dancing and chucking long 2s unless he was feeling it and played more efficiently. But dude is old and those bad habits might just be a part of him. Son will have to evolve and transition his game this season like we've seen many great players do before. It also seems being Mr. USA did nothing for him to gain any respect from refs because he was officiated just as unfairly as ever.
I'm also worried that Noah is THAT important, like that season where chicken legs got DPOY and we were giving up 25 more points without him. Even if we were playoff bound, our seeding would be lowered because you sense that Noah will be rested for the playoffs.
The team needs to realize Kristaps' greatness he has in him and needs to do their best to get him to emerge. Another instance where Noah is important because dude is a nasty interior passer, and is truly an unselfish team player, but once again the odds are dude will be MIA for parts of the season. I'm not sure the other dudes see da young budding phenom in Kristaps to run plays for him as often as they should to get him going. And I'm not sure if they're ready to move and make way for him to be the guy, because they might be super team prime superstars still in their own minds.
In addition to the normal Knick reasons, this team is going to have me on edge because of the injury prone players and their playing styles. When you see how hard and aggressively Rose attacks the basket contorting himself, you just feel it's not sustainable and that human beings aren't meant to be able to do that. Jennings is also a rail thin dude who attacks the basket fast and worries me.
"Billy" needs to go through an intense Joakim Noah big man camp before the season starts because son looked like food defending the interior. Wouldn't be surprised if he winds up being a "he giveth he taketh" type player word to Clyde.
I actually like Jennings and his enthusiasm. Dude is without a doubt a better pure PG than Rose. He has real PG vision and ability to make a quick pass for a dime. He sucks at shooting, but if he can find himself in the rotation with more starters that won't be an issue. A third string PG on the roster would be invaluable for us to push BJ up the pecking order, and as an insurance policy. I always thought of it the other way around, but I'd love to see some Jennings as the PG and Rose playing off the ball.
As stated, KOQ is trash but dudes contract isn't the worst in this market. His trashness will be less noticeable when Joakim is back (damn this dude is important in too many ways and so much depends on his health.)
Another concern I have is the modern NBA is about playing very direct and getting as many easy buckets as possible. And we seem to have a lot of guys that have it ingrained in them to do things the hard way. This teams' X-factor for me aside from the obvious of health, is will they be able to get easy scores. In transition, layups, threes, etc. Last night we didn't see any of that. This is one thing I won't look too deeply into because it was just the first preseason game and will take time, but it was a little bit disheartening for them to not even show a single flash of resembling Hornceck's Suns or even attempting to resemble them.
Obviously the team isn't nearly as bad as they looked last night. A lot of dudes are working themselves back into game shape and need to find their confidence/belief and rhythm back.
I think we also gotta give props to Harden and Pringles. It was their first preseason game too and they also have a new coach and many new faces. Harden opted to not play with USA and came out focused and Pringles had the innovation to change his role. This can pay massive dividends for the Rockets because dude is a baller and clearly worked in the offseason on something other than drawing fouls. Son has a natural feel for the game and could have a big season. Andersen will never be that open in a regular season game though
And yes this is all just off 1 preseason game, come at me brahs.