So this will be my somewhat weekly blog where I will give my thoughts on how the Knicks season is going. Honestly, it’s a good place to yell in the void because I have much to complain about with this team. As I said, this blog will be somewhat weekly. I’ll try my best to blog about the Knicks for all 82 games, plus the playoffs, but I’m not sure how long that will last. With that said, let’s talk about what happened this week with our Knickerbockers.
Let’s start with the most glaring problem. Julius Randle has become a complete shell of himself. It’s honestly shocking how bad he’s been this season. It’s a joke that Randle is an every-other-year player, but even he isn’t this bad during his down years. In the down years, Randle was averaging +19 PPG and was shooting higher than 40% from the field. Randle isn’t even coming close to those numbers, averaging 13.2 PPG and shooting 28% from the field. The Knicks need Randle to get out of this funk because he is hurting this team tremendously. Years prior, we would get mad at Randle for the stupid shots and turnover, but he had the numbers to back it up. Now, he is costing the team wins. I would say it’s a confidence issue, but he is still taking +15 shots a game. It’s the same old Randle. He gives minimal effort on defense, and when he messes up on offense, he huffs and puffs his way down the court. Randle needs to fix something because this isn’t going to work. Injuries aside, Randle is playing like a bum.
With Randle stinking, it becomes more apparent the Knicks need RJ Barrett. Barrett has looked great to start the season. All his shooting numbers look great, and he’s playing the best defense of his career. Players are having difficulties shooting when Barrett is defending them. Players are shooting 16/44 from the field (36.4%) against RJ and 5/17 on 3-pointers (29.4%) against RJ. The Knicks need RJ back, and they need him back soon. Hopefully, the knee injury isn’t too serious because after yesterday, I’m getting concerned.
The game last night against the Cav’s was embarrassing. Eighty-nine points in today’s NBA should never happen. If Brunson is our only high-volume scorer, the Knicks will be dead in the water. The Knicks need RJ Barrett to return soon or players like Quickly and DiVincenzo to step up big-time. It was nice to rant for a little, but now I will give my grades on all the players and the team.
Grades:
Knicks: C
Jalen Brunson: B
Julius Randle: F
RJ Barrett: A
Mitchell Robinson: A-
Quinten Grimes: C-
Immanuel Quickley: A
Donte DiVincenzo: B+
Josh Hart: B
Isaiah Hartenstein: B+
Now, let’s see what the Knicks have up next for the coming week.
The Knicks start the In-Season Tournament tomorrow as they play the Bucks for the 2nd time this season. If the Knicks want to be taken seriously, they need to get a home win against the Bucks. I don’t care if it was for the tournament or not. The Knicks need to beat the Bucks. If RJ is playing, we should have a good chance because Milwaukee hasn’t looked too hot to start the season. They are 2-2 and lost to the Hawks and Raptors, two teams that aren’t very good. Get a home win, and I should be able to relax a little. After that, the Knicks go up against the Clippers on Monday. It should be James Harden’s first game. The Knicks will probably lose because the Clippers might be the best regular-season super team of all time. Finally, they play Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. It will be nice to watch Wemby finally. I’ve seen some games, but I will finally get to pay attention to the game and see how Wemby it. The Spurs are a fun team because of him, but the Knicks should 100% beat them
SmallDog Sports 
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