2021/22 New York Knicks Player Power Rankings – Week 3

The Knicks went 3-0 this week and are tied for the best record in the league at 5-1. The best part about that is I feel like the Knicks aren’t even playing up to their potential so there’s room to get even better as the season progresses.
Rank Player Comments Last Weeks Rank
1 Barrett, RJ Barrett had his best game of the season against the Pelicans, maybe even his career, netting 35 points. He’s playing defense at an extremely high level and now his shots are falling. 2
2 Randle, Julius Randle has forced some shots lately and has made a few bad decisions but seems very willing to distribute (almost 7apg ghis week) and sacrifice for the greater good. 1
3 Walker, Kemba Kemba’s knee looks fine so far, and he’s balling, averaging 20ppg this week and looking very confident (and happy). 8
4 Robinson, Mitchell Robinson still isn’t scoring a lot but he doesn’t need to with all the options the Knicks now how. The shots he does take are money. He hit ever single shot he took this week. A perfect 10-10. His defense has been huge as well. 4
5 Fournier, Evan Evan was a little off against the Bulls but looked great against the 76ers and Pelicans 5
6 Rose, Derrick With Kemba playing as well as he has it was inevitable Rose would take a step back. It’s nice having someone like Rose as a backup. 3
7  Gibson, Taj Taj has found the fountain of youth, looking real good in the backup role. Probably won’t see as much of him going forward with Noel due to come back very soon. 10
8 Burks, Alec A quiet week like this from Burks last season would have been a disaster for the Knicks, this season Burks is more of a luxury than a necessity. I’m confident he’ll still have big moments, just not as many. 6
9 Toppin, Obi Last season Obi looked overwhelmed. This year he looks like he belongs, it’s just that there are a lot of guys playing really well ahead of him. He’s shown flashes of being really good, excited about his potential. 7
10  Immanuel, Quickley Quickley is looking like a 2nd round pick this year. It’s still early, the Knicks have depth but would like to see him turn it around. 9
11  Grimes, Quentin Looks like Thibs has settled on a 10 man rotation so not much to comment about from here on. 11
12 Sims, Jericho Once Noel is back I can probably safely tuck Sims away at the bottom of the list. 12
13 McBride, Miles I think McBride was in for one play last game. 13
14  Noel, Nerlens Almost back, maybe this week. Or not. Who knows? 14
15 Knox, Kevin Will Knox join all the other ex Knicks in Dallas next season? 15

2021/22 New York Knicks Player Power Rankings – Week 2

The Knicks went 2-1 the first week of the season, which normally I’d be excited about but they really should have beaten the Magic on Sunday. Still this is a fun team that is going to give most teams in the league a fight, they just have to work out a few kinks.
Rank Player Comments Last Weeks Rank
1 Randle, Julius By far the best player on the team and playing at an all-star level. Tried to do a little too much hero ball on Sunday. The Knicks have a ton of capable shooters now, he doesn’t have to do it all. 1
2 Barrett, RJ Barrett is doing that thing he did last season where he disappears in the first half and goes off in the second. Needs to be more consistent on offense, but his defense seems much improved. 2
3 Rose, Derrick I can’t believe it’s 2021 and Rose is playing at this level. His shot looks better than ever. 5
4 Robinson, Mitchell After not playing for almost 7 months and bulking up in the gym his conditioning seems to be much better than expected. Only took him 3 games to foul out, but he’s been a huge presense under the basket. 8
5 Fournier, Evan Fournier was huge in the first two games. Was a bit off in game 3, but so was just about everyone not named Rose. 4
6 Burks, Alec Burks isn’t getting as many minutes as last season and isn’t shooting as well but it’s early and I think he’ll bounch back. 7
7 Toppin, Obi Toppin is much improved from last season and has had a few stretches where he looked legit good. 9
8 Walker, Kemba A little concerning that Walker has posted a negative plus minus in every game, even one that the Knicks won by 25. Not really distributing or scoring very much. Shows flashes but very underwhelming so far. 3
9  Immanuel, Quickley Quickley looked pretty decent until game 3 where he looked like a disaster. 6
10  Gibson, Taj It’s so nice having a guy like Taj as a 3rd option at center. 2nd lately due to Noel being out. 10
11  Grimes, Quentin Looks OK in the limited time we’ve seen him. We’ll be seeing more due to all the games the Knicks will be blowing out their opponents, right? RIGHT? 12
12 Sims, Jericho Got to see Sims way earlier in the season than I expected, and by that I mean at all.
13 McBride, Miles Another garbage time standout. 13
14  Noel, Nerlens Coming back any time soon? Could use 48 minutes of elite defense under the basket. 11
15 Knox, Kevin Looks like the Charlie Ward curse won’t come to an end this season. 14

2021/22 New York Knicks Player Power Rankings – Week 1

Let’s take a look at what the Knicks roster looks like going into the first game of the season. This one was hard for the opposite of past years; the Knicks actually have a lot of good players. I usually have trouble after number 3 because the rest of the roster stinks, but now I have trouble because I think so many players are going to contribute.
Rank Player Comments Last Weeks Rank
1 Randle, Julius Randle was the best player on this team last season and I don’t see that changing this season. After his poor playoff performance I see him getting motivated and playing even better.
2 Barrett, RJ Nice year two jump for Barrett, I’m expecting a year three jump as well, the question is how big will it be.
3 Walker, Kemba The ceiling of this season rests on Kemba’s questionable knees. Let’s hope he has a couple more season left in them.
4 Fournier, Evan Going to lose a bit on defense, but Fournier can spread the floor and even handle the ball a bit.
5 Rose, Derrick Really nice having someone like Rose as insurance if Kemba goes down. Also great to have someone this talented to run the second unit. Also an injury concern but looked pretty sturdy last season.
6  Immanuel, Quickley If IQ takes a leap in year two the Knicks are all of a sudden pretty deep in the backcourt.
7 Burks, Alec This is a guy who can drop 20 on any given night and I have him ranked 7th. Wow things have changed.
8 Robinson, Mitchell What a pleasant surprise having Robinson ready to go for the season opener. Everyone in NY is hoping for a healthy season from the big man.
9 Toppin, Obi Obi looked pretty good in the preseason, and rumor is he’s been putting in a lot of work in the offseason. Hopefully his flashes in pre-season carries into the regular season.
10  Gibson, Taj Taj showed in preseason that there’s still gas left in the tank. Great to have a 3rd option at center that can hold his own when needed.
11  Noel, Nerlens Noel has been injured all preseason and will miss game 1, I’m not too worried but if he’s not playing by next week that’ll change.
12  Grimes, Quentin At first I thought McBride would get playing time over Grimes but Grimes played in crunch time in the last preseason game against the Wizards and looked pretty good.
13 McBride, Miles Probably won’t see much of McBride unless there are a few injuries, might be a good idea to give him some G-League run.
14 Knox, Kevin Knox looks like he puts in effort, unfortunately for him he’s at best the 3rd option in every position he can play.
15 Selden Jr. Wayne Looks like Wayne got the last roster spot. He’ll probably get even less run than Knox.

Episode 540: Free Agency Reaction

In the most positive episode since the show started Marc and Jay talk about the free agency moves, retaining the core, adding Kemba and Fournier, and Randle doing the Knicks a huge favor

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Episode 530: Updated Roster Power Rankings

Marc and Jay talk about the beginning of the west coast trip, Randle winning player of the month, Thibs not winning coach of the month, and the updated Knicks roster power rankings

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The New York Knicks Show – Episode 523: All Star, Above 500, and 4th Seed

Marc and Jay talk catch up on what was a great week for the Knicks
They are above .500 and currently the 4th seed
Randle is an All Star and Obi is in the dunk contest
Overrated/underrated
The rise of Noel
The reappearance of Frank

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New York’s Offense and the Erasing of the Fizdale Effect

David Fizdale seen here mimicking everyone watching the game.

Written by: Austin Snyder

In order to fully understand the following jumble of words about America’s favorite target for uninformed sports opinions some backstory is needed. The enigma at the center of the story? David Fizdale (finally, a twist worthy of Stephen A. Smith). The general consensus about the Fizdale hiring from those who, like myself, actually pay attention to the Knicks is that Fizdale was brought in with the sole intention of being a lure for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and was probably never thought to be a solid choice to lead a team on a complete rebuild. So why does it matter?

Anyone who watched the Knicks with Fizdale at the helm would have been hard pressed not to notice the lack of an offensive system (or defensive one for that matter) under his guidance. Instead, the most valuable franchise in the NBA, worth an excess of four billion dollars, sported an offense reminiscent of watching my 7 year old nephew’s elementary school games on a nightly basis. No ball movement, no plays, and certainly no consistency. So why did Fiz ever get the job in the first place?

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2019/20 New York Knicks Player Power Rankings – Week 3

Three games, three different starting lineups, three losses. The Knicks are now 1-6. Lets see who is playing well and who isn’t.
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Barrett, RJ Barrett is the only player on this roster that hasn’t been a disappointment so far. I guess Fizdale feels the same way, he’s played JR 39 and 41 minutes the last two games. 1
2 Morris, Marcus Slow start to the season but had very good games against the Celtics and Kings. Maybe this’ll be the start of a nice run for him. 3
3 Robinson, Mitchell Robinson only had one foul against the Magic, but for some reason only played 19 minutes. Fizdale is making some weird decisions. 4
4 Portis, Bobby Portis looked decent the two games he came off the bench. When he started against the Kings he looked terrible. 6
5 Knox, Kevin Every time I get excited about Knox he has a game like he did against the Kings. At least he’s showing some signs of improvement. 5
6 Randle, Julius Randle has been a big disappointment so far. He’s been getting a lot of assist, but has a ton of turnovers and surprisingly has had two straight games in which he scored 8 points. I think he’ll be much better when Payton comes back as playing point forward is clearly not working. 2 Continue reading

Episode 470: Free Agency Reaction

Marc and Jay react to not getting anyone they wanted but instead get Julius Randle and Taj Gibson. Surprisingly it’s not an entire hour of ranting.