Are the Knicks tanking?

Today, the Knicks starting point guard, Alec Burks, had as many assists as I did. Zero.

Again, in the fourth quarter the Knicks fell apart because there was no one running the ship. I was hoping that Raymond Felton would run out of the stands in his t-shirt, gut and all.

At least Raymond would demand that players are in position and running the sets that the coach knows give the team the best chance to win.

Despite being under powered facing a team with Joel Embiid and James Harden the Knicks kept the game close for three quarters.

But hasn't that been the memo of this team all season?

They have to lead the league in close but no cigar games in the NBA this season.

When will this coach learn that in the fourth quarter Julius Randle is reckless at handling the ball and inefficient from the field?

RJ Barrett was not accurate from the three-point line, but the fourth quarter would be a perfect time to run a two-man game with RJ and a solid point for easy buckets at the rim and mid-range shots.

Julius Randle should be a threat in the paint in the fourth quarter even if it means playing him at center if it forces him to get his rear end in the paint and not thinking about beating guys off the dribble or shooting terrible jump shots.

I mean for goodness' sake the Knicks can't bring up Jordan Allen or Kenneth Savage from the G league to give them a look? Either one would be better than Alec Burks who started at point guard this afternoon and had zero assists. 

Yes, it has gotten that bad with Kemba gone and D Rose injured. 

Are the Knicks tanking? I have a feeling they are. 

If tanking will get them a point guard high in the next draft and a good chance for the morbidly obese Zion Williamson, then this might be the best strategic move they made all season.

Knicks lose again, Sixers 125 - Knicks 109.

The Knicks ain't shit.

The Nets took to court out of sorts due to playing for the first time without James Harden's fat ass in the way and the Knicks took advantage of their indecision.

So much so that the Knicks put up 65 points in the first half and had as much as a 28-point lead on the Nets.

The Garden was rocking, and the game appeared over.

I have no idea what kind of meeting the Nets had in the locker room during the intermission, but I am certain Steve Nash and the veterans were doing a lot of yelling and cursing and talking about how it is us now as a team. 

They can't stand around anymore looking for some has been superstar to save the game.

The Nets have so much talent on this team that anyone can put up big buckets but winning is about sharing responsibility on offense and defense. 

When the second half began you could clearly see that the game was going to be a tale of two halves.

The Knicks' glaring weakness was exposed again, the lack of backcourt talent at the point guard position.

Slowly the Nets whittled away at the huge lead and got the margin down to a respectable fourteen points before the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Nets backcourt of Seth Curry and Cam Thomas destroyed the Knicks and their fans for the last time.

There was not a single spot past the half court line that was not in the range of Curry and Thomas.

Thomas stepped into some threes he had no damn business of taking and hit nothing but net resulting in the Knicks biggest collapse in the history of the team.

The Nets are a TEAM now, not just the James Harden step back show and oh yes, the Knicks ain't shit. 

Knicks lose again, Nets 111 - 106 Knicks.

No love on Valentine's Day for Knicks fans.

Let me tell you, this was one delicious loss to watch last night. Knicks fans, do you still think the Nets are worse off than you?

Last night, a 19-year-old rookie came into the Garden and waxed the Knicks with a triple double. Josh Giddey had 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds as the OKC Thunder went on the beat the Knicks in overtime by the score of 127 - 123.

In fairness, the Knicks stayed close enough to take the game into overtime but only because they had a huge lead going into the fourth quarter which melted away because there is no point guard to control the offense in crunch time. 

It is hard continuing to be upset with Julius Randle. Knicks fans, it was your coach who had Randle mishandling the ball during the last minutes of regulation.

Coach Thibodeau had an entire season to prepare one of the young guards for moments like the end of the fourth quarter and he failed. 

The coach likes to play vets because he simply doesn't know how to teach young players. He counts on vets, even broken-down ones, to carry out his plays. With extraordinarily little success this season.

Do you think it is an accident that Josh Gibson is playing, and Obi Toppin is not?

OKC struggled all season to score one hundred points, except when they played the Knicks. 

If the Thunder is considered a G League team what then are the Knicks who have been swept by OKC this season? 

It means the Knicks suck harder than a G League team.

No love on Valentine's Day for Knicks fans. Knicks lose again, OKC 127 - 123 Knicks.

Your team is a disgrace

So Knicks fans, you still think your team is better off than the Nets? LOL Stop lying to yourselves, your team is a disgrace.

This is your team now, dominate every night

 

The Knicks went into the colosseum against the Lakers guns blazing in the first half. Julius was aggressive and RJ Barrett was channeling Tracy McGrady.

This only lasted a half, however. In the third quarter the Knicks completely collapsed.

It was as if they had their memories wiped at halftime and completely forgot how they dominated the Lakers in the first two quarters.

Maybe at the half the players, including Julius Randle, were able to get access to their phones and allowed all the trade rumors to get to them. I have no idea.

But I do know that the Knicks let Malik Monk play like he was the second coming of Michael Jordan as he almost single-handedly cleared the Knicks lead over Los Angeles.

During the Lakers big third quarter coach Thibodeaux made zero changes to try to cool Los Angeles off. This guy may not be the coach this team needs.

Barrett fought hard in the final period and was able to snatch victory from the Lakers at the end of the fourth quarter and took the game into overtime.

Unfortunately, RJ had very little help in OT and the Knicks fell in defeat to the Lakers.

It is time for RJ to realize that this is his team now. He cannot limit himself to only taking three shots in the third quarter.

When RJ decides to take the game over few teams can stop him it is time that he stops holding himself back acquiescing to Randle.

I hope that at the end of the game when LeBron hugged Barrett and gave him some words of encouragement that some of those words were 'This is your team now, dominate every night'. 

Get RJ a real point guard, let Randle move on to another team and find a center that can score a little and this team changes into a real competitor.

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— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 6, 2022

Knicks lose again, Lakers 122 - Knicks 115.