Baseline to Baseline: November 7th
- Malik Monk shooting daggers at MSG.
Monk wanted to get drafted by the Knicks — this was a well-documented narrative around draft day, and made too much sense at the time. With regards to Jarrett Jack and company, New York arguably has the worst point guard situation in the league. Although Monk is more of a combo guard than a traditional point, his ability to dart and weave through a defense would have made for a nice marriage with Lord Porzingis.
Monk is really good! It remains to be seen whether he is going to be a turbo-charged version of Lou Williams or something more, but Charlotte has to be juiced that they were able to swipe him up with the 11th pick. He is unconscious, and already a top “league pass alert” heat check guy.
(For the record, Frank Ntilikina looks good too, just in a different fashion. He has defensive instincts not normally associated with someone of his youth and he has been unselfish to a fault thus far. Maybe the Knicks got it right — Monk and Tim Hardaway Jr. could have been repetitive.)
2. Giannis on the prowl.
This was just mean:
It’s almost as though Giannis let Derrick Rose squeak by him just to give him a glimmer of hope that he could get to the basket unscathed. This is why length is so coveted — it can mask mistakes and give a player unparalleled room for recovery. Glass-smacking blocks like these not only protect the paint, but also unlock transition sequences that more times than not will present a good offering. (Malcolm Brogden canned an open three on the other end.)
Giannis a freak in every sense, and even had the Black Mamba scowl painted on his face for most of the game last night. Please give us a Cleveland-Milwaukee matchup come April or May …
3. Boogie Cousins and the art of gravity.
Typically, when gravity is brought up in the NBA sense, it is associated with mighty-mites and wing players that are regarded as lock down shooters. Few big men carry enough of a threat from the arc to bend a defense and require an opposing big to venture out from the friendly confines of the paint. But when a team has it — Dirk Nowitzki has uplifted Dallas’ offense for years merely by standing around the arc — it forces a defense to make difficult decisions on the fly.
Watch as Myles Turner gets caught in the middle when deciding to halt Anthony Davis’ rampage to the rim or to stick with Cousins, who had been hot from three-point land all night:
Turner tries to accomplish both defensive tasks, and instead does neither. The defender’s choice becomes easier if Cousins is not finding the mark from deep, but he is chucking a hefty 7.5 attempts from three per game and hitting 34 percent of them, a number strong enough to warrant attention.
4. Kristaps Porzingis brings back memories of Patrick Ewing.
Tell me these two plays aren’t identical …
OK fine, Porzingis may have had a bit more space in the lane and it wasn’t game 7 of a playoff series. But still … the resemblance was eerie. New York is rightfully losing their minds over Porzingis — I hope he carries them to the playoffs and we can have the mystique of a roaring MSG in our lives again.
