| As usual the first rankings of the year has a ton of new faces. 9 to be exact. Since the season hasn’t started yet this weeks rankings are mostly based on past performance and expected performance. I’m not weighing preseason very heavily. Randle was a 21 and 9 guy over the course of an 82 game season, a few underwhelming preseasons games aren’t going to drop him. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Morris, Marcus | Morris put up 14 and 6 last season as the 4th or 5th option. I expect he’ll look even better on a team with no clear cut #1 option. | – |
| 2 | Randle, Julius | If Randle averages 21 and 9 again for the Knicks does he make the all star team in the east? | – |
| 3 | Robinson, Mitchell | We know he can block shots, but can he stay on the court? Foul trouble is a huge concern. | – |
| 4 | Barrett, RJ | Barrett is hard to rank right now. He’s supposed to be very good, but his shot looks a little clunky. One thing is for sure, with the Knicks sketchy backcourt he’ll have every opportunity to show what he’s got. | – |
| 5 | Gibson, Taj | Gibson has been consistent for a decade now. He’s getting up there in age but he’ll be a solid piece off the bench. | – Continue reading |
roster
Episode 476: 5 Questions Entering The Season
Marc and Jay ask each other 5 questions about the Knicks as we head into presason.
2017/18 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 5
| A 2-1 week that should have been a 3-0 week. If you told me the Knicks would be ahead of the Cavs in the standings 14 games into the season and LeBron was healthy I would have asked you to share whatever drug you were on. Oh and farewell to Kuz. We hardly knew ye. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Porzingis, Kristaps | Porzingis efficiency was down a good amount this week. I hope it doesn’t have to do with his elbow as that probably won’t get better any time soon. The good news is that even with lower efficiency KP still averaged 25 and 7. | 1 |
| 2 | Lee, Courtney | Lee had a great week, especially agains the Kings. He’s been an underrated part of the Knicks success. | 7 |
| 3 | Hardaway Jr., Tim | Hardaway had monster games against the Cavs and Jazz, which makes up for the turd he layed against the Kings. He’s showing some good signs like improved defense and passing. If he can get his consistency up he’ll be worth his contract. | 3 |
| 4 | Ntilikina, Frank | Not only did Frank have 6 steals against the Cavs, he stood up to LeBron. He’s going to be really good. Dennis Smith Jr. who? | 4 |
| 5 | Kanter, Enes | Kanter can score and he can rebound. What he can’t seem to do is defend and that was exposed against the Cavs and Jazz. Still, he’s an emotional presence. Standing up for Frank like he did in the Cavs game is important. | 2 |
| 6 | Jack, Jarrett | Jack averaged over 5 assists per game this week. I’ll take it. | 9 |
| 7 | McDermott, Doug | No one on the bench really stood out this week. Doug was the only one to have a positive +/- in all 3 games. | 6 |
| 8 | O’Quinn, Kyle | Quiet week from KOQ. Not terrible, but not as good as the last few weeks. | 5 |
| 9 | Thomas, Lance | I’m glad I didn’t bow down to the pressure and issue a Lance apology. | 8 |
| 10 | Dotson, Damyean | Dotson looked really good against the Kings and then played 1 minute over the next 2 games. | 10 |
| 11 | Beasley, Michael | Has the Beasley experiment come to an end already? | 11 |
| 12 | Noah, Joakim | Coach said he’s bringing back Noah slowly. Zero minutes over the first two games is an excellent pace if you ask me. | 16 |
| 13 | Hernangomez, Willy | Now that Noah is back I think the only way Willy is getting on the court is if he leaves hundreds of marbles in the locker room in the hopes of multiple sprained ankles. | 13 |
| 14 | Baker, Ron | Baker is out of the rotation. At least we’re paying him twice market value! | 12 |
| 15 | Sessions, Ramon | I remember really wanting Sessions on the team. That was about 7 years ago but still. | 14 |
2017/18 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 4
| Another 3-1 week with the only loss coming in a game that Porzingis (get well VERY soon) missed. The Knicks also came back from double digits to win in back to back games for the first time in franchise history, which is a lot more fun than the fake comebacks we saw in previous years. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Porzingis, Kristaps | Against the Pacers Porzingis had 40 points on 24 shot attempts with 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. A stat line Melo wouldn’t have even in the wettest of dreams. | 1 |
| 2 | Kanter, Enes | Kanter looks like he’s improving on defense. He’s got a long way to go but he looks like he’s putting in effort and getting some stops. Very good news for the Knicks. | 2 |
| 3 | Hardaway Jr., Tim | With Porzingis out Timmy stepped up with a nice 26 and 11 game. He’s been very inconsistent with his shot but at least he’s contributing in other ways. He’s more than doubling his average in assists, rebounds, and steals than he did his first time with the Knicks. | 8 |
| 4 | Ntilikina, Frank | Over the last 3 games Frank is averaging 8 assists per game while playing some of the best defense on the team. He’s only 19. Be excited. | 5 |
| 5 | O’Quinn, Kyle | I think it’s fair to say KOQ has one of the best contracts in the league. | 4 |
| 6 | McDermott, Doug | McDermott felt like a throw in with the Melo trade, but he’s now a key part of the Knicks bench. | 7 |
| 7 | Lee, Courtney | Lee hasn’t been bad this week, but a number of his teammates have played better. | 3 |
| 8 | Thomas, Lance | Lance had a +/- of +58 in over the last 4 games. Impressive but not quite ready for a Lance apology episode yet. | 13 |
| 9 | Jack, Jarrett | Just goes to show how this team is playing right now. Jack had a decent week and is still ranked 9th. | 6 |
| 10 | Dotson, Damyean | I think we’ll see more Dotson when coach realizes that the Beasley experiment isn’t working. | 9 |
| 11 | Beasley, Michael | With Porzingis out it was time for Beasley to step up and show what he’s got. Except that didn’t happen. | 11 |
| 12 | Baker, Ron | I was pretty high on Baker a few weeks ago and now I can’t see where he gets minutes. | 12 |
| 13 | Hernangomez, Willy | In the limited time we’ve seen Willy it looks like he does the same things as O’Quinn only worse. | 10 |
| 14 | Sessions, Ramon | At this point Ramon’s official position is injury insurance. | 14 |
| 15 | Kuzminskas, Mindaugas | The Knicks are looking to trade Kuz. Probably should have started that process a few games ago. Everyone knows he’s getting waived by the end of the weekend to make room for Noah. | 15 |
| 16 | Noah, Joakim | I mentioned above KOQ might have the best contract in the league. If you don’t count Chandler Parsons the Knicks might have the best and the worst contract on their roster. | 16 |
2017/18 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 3
| I got busy at work so this is coming out 2 days late, which means I have to include the Houston game instead of it being a 3-0 week. A 3-1 week is still way more fun than last weeks 0-3 week. Maybe I won’t have a meltdown halfway through the rankings this time. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Porzingis, Kristaps | Porzingis averaged 33 and 9 in the three wins and 19 and 5 in the loss. Porzingis has now scored over 30 in 5 of 7 games this season. Would like to see him average more than 1 assist a game, but everything else about his game looks pretty great right now. | 1 |
| 2 | Kanter, Enes | Really hoping Kanter can improve on defense. He’s so efficient on offense every night. If he plays over 24 minutes you can pretty much lock in a double double. | 2 |
| 3 | Lee, Courtney | Speaking of consistency, Lee doesn’t light up the box score but he knows his roll. He defends, shoots a good % and does what he’s supposed to do. One of the best signings the Knicks have made in the last 10 years. Of course that’s not saying much. | 5 |
| 4 | O’Quinn, Kyle | O’Quinn has been so good Knicks fans aren’t even grumbling that much about not seeing fan favorite Hernangomez on the floor. One of the best deals in the NBA. | 3 |
| 5 | Ntilikina, Frank | Frank finally got healthy enough to play and the team ripped off 3 wins in a row. His defense is already way above average and he’s had some really nice passes. Not much of a scoring threat but I’d rather defense and passing. We tried a scoring PG with Rose and it didn’t work. | 10 |
| 6 | Jack, Jarrett | Jack gets a huge bump for bringing league average talent to the PG position. It doesn’t sound like a complement but the Knicks haven’t had that in years and the difference was immediately noticable. | 12 |
| 7 | McDermott, Doug | McDermott has been better than advertised so far. His defense isn’t great but hasn’t been the train wreck we were expecting. | 7 |
| 8 | Hardaway Jr., Tim | Two good games this week. And those games were really good. Still going to have to do that more than once or twice a week to be worth that contract. I feel like the inconsistency is going to be absolutely maddening. | 15 |
| 9 | Dotson, Damyean | Seeing minutes for Dotson way earlier than I thought we would. He’s looked pretty decent so far in limited playing time. | 9 |
| 10 | Hernangomez, Willy | Willy looks like he hasn’t improved at all on defense which is probably why he can’t get minutes over O’Quinn. | 6 |
| 11 | Beasley, Michael | I’m beginning to see why so many teams passed on Beasley. | 11 |
| 12 | Baker, Ron | Baker really got injured at the wrong time. I wonder if there will be any minutes left for him when he comes back. | 8 |
| 13 | Thomas, Lance | I almost forgot Lance was on the team. He has two more years after this one on his contract because Knicks. | 13 |
| 14 | Sessions, Ramon | The team looked so much better when Sessions got benched. Not a good sign for Ramon. | 4 |
| 15 | Kuzminskas, Mindaugas | Pretty sure Kuz will be wearing a suit for 4 more games and then will get cut. | 14 |
| 16 | Noah, Joakim | 4 more games and then Noah will take minutes from a more deserving player. | 16 |
2017/18 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 2
| I thought it would take a little longer to get this down on the Knicks, but they are already one of only 3 teams in the NBA without a win after two 20 point blowouts and one blown 20 point lead. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Porzingis, Kristaps | Porzingis was terrible against the Celtics but he gets a pass for looking pretty incredible in games 1 and 2. | 1 |
| 2 | Kanter, Enes | If you blinked during the first quarter of game 3 you would have missed 8 rebounds by Kanter. He finished with 19. If he could develop even leauge average defense the Knicks could really have something here. | 3 |
| 3 | O’Quinn, Kyle | O’Quinn looked like a solid backup in games 1 and 2, but was only given 6 minutes in game 3. I get Hernangomez needs minutes but I figured that would wait until KOQ hit a slump. | 6 |
| 4 | Sessions, Ramon | Sessions hasn’t looked very good, but he’s ranked this high because I’m taking into account he’s a backup being thrust into a starting role. Considering that he’s been OK. | 12 |
| 5 | Lee, Courtney | Lee’s best days are clearly behind him, but he’s not terrible, which is more than I can say for almost everyone ranked below him. | 4 Continue reading |
2017/18 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 1
| The first player rankings for the season. There are a lot of new faces. Again. Let’s see if we can sort this out. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Porzingis, Kristaps | The best player on the team by a mile. I’m not worried about his talent level, but health is definitely a concern. | – |
| 2 | Hardaway Jr., Tim | A guy the Knicks fanbase practically chased out with pitchforks is one of the best players on the team 2 short seasons later. Will he be grossly overpaid or just slightly overpaid? | – |
| 3 | Kanter, Enes | This list is already difficult to put together. Could #3 on this list really be someone who is an absolute liability on defense? At least he has elite level offense. The Knicks will definitely be looking to outscore teams this season. | – |
| 4 | Lee, Courtney | One of the few guys who can play defense on this team. Which means he’ll probably be traded by all star break. | – |
| 5 | Hernangomez, Willy | Hoping (B)Willing can make a mini-leap this season. The better he is the less we have to watch Noah drag his corpse up and down the court. | – Continue reading |
Episode 393: Getting Hyped
Marc and Jay talk about the Beasley signing, the Kyrie Irving trade, Porzingis summer, ranking the Knicks roster, word on the street, and more
2016/17 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 17
| The Knicks might not be good at basketball, but they’re tops in the league in embarrassment. Since last week we had Oakley get arrested and banned and then unbanned after a meeting with Silver and Jordan. Oh and they played 3 games, losing 2 but somehow beating the Spurs to avoid their first 5 game home losing streak in franchise history. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Anthony, Carmelo | Melo bounced back from his off week, even had a decent game against Kawhi. If Melo’s days are numbered, he’s making the most of it. | 2 |
| 2 | Porzingis, Kristaps | It looks like Porzingis is back. And a collective sigh of relief is heard from the entirety of Knicks Nation. | 5 |
| 3 | Lee, Courtney | I hear some people bash Lee. Not sure what that’s about. He’s doing what he’s done his whole career, and that’s not a bad thing. | 3 |
| 4 | Hernangomez, Willy | Was worried how Willy would look against starting lineups. The answer? Pretty pretty pretty good. Knicks are undefeated when Willy starts. | 1 |
| 5 | O’Quinn, Kyle | Really good week for KOQ. I’m pretty comfortable with a Willy/KOQ center rotation going forward. Continue reading | |
2016/17 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 16
| A 1-3 week after barely beating the worst team in the league. Half the team looks like they don’t even want to be playing basketball anymore and the trade rumors are getting louder. AKA a typical February at MSG. By the way it’s decision time. The Knicks are 2.5 games out of the playoffs with 4 teams to leapfrog, and also 2.5 games out of the 4th worst record and 4 teams to leapfrog. They either need to get their act together immediately or embrace the tank and lock down a top 5 pick. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Hernangomez, Willy | This one was easy. The only player on the team to look decent in every game AND to look like he’s putting in effort. It’s only a matter of time before he is starting over Noah. | 6 |
| 2 | Anthony, Carmelo | Not going to drop Melo too far even though he had a couple stinkers this week. At least not until we see if this is due to being distracted by trade rumors or if it’s something worse. | 1 |
| 3 | Lee, Courtney | Lee is still doing his thing. His +/- is a little disturbing, but it’s mostly due to the fact that the starting lineup almost always spots the other team 10 points right off the bat. | 2 |
| 4 | Jennings, Brandon | Jennings has the most Jennings stat line this week; 1-11 for 6 point, but 10 assists and 5 steals. Unlike Rose, Jennings puts in maximum effort every night. | 5 |
| 5 | Porzingis, Kristaps | Porzingis kind of stinks lately. Lingering injury or time to get on the ledge? Continue reading | |
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