Pre-season or not, it’s a great pleasure to find the depth of these endless nights. A very atmosphere “Pyjamas, beanbag sofa and Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii », while the rain beats once morest the skylight of the bedroom and the parents stick to the tarama in the kitchen. This Knicks – Pistons had as much charm as the Christmas holidays.
The pretty homemade boxscore is HERE!
Lots of confirmations, we didn’t learn much. We list this for you in a hurry then we take the time to dissect a little lower: Jalen Brunson does a lot of good on the Knicks’ attack, Bojan Bogdanovic does a lot of harm to the Pistons defense, no one is ready for season 4 of RJ Barrett, Jaden Ivey is a good slasherKillian Hayes didn’t spend his summer eating Mister Freezes, Cade Cunningham loves to hold the ball and do nice things with it, Julius Randle is doing better, Immanuel Quickley was born on Venice Beach, Isaiah Stewart continues to work his shot at 3-pointers, Mitchell Robinson was born 30 years too late, the 2022-23 Pistons will still take 115 points per game, Obi Toppin slams more windmills than lay-ups and the Knicks’ Evan Fournier – by his shooting role posted in the corner – has absolutely nothing to do with the Evan Fournier of the Blues, twelve times more manager.
We may come back to the great premiere of Jaden Iveythe « John the Fearless from Michigan. Although Mitchell Robinson calmed him down twice at the start of the game – with a severity that forces intimidation – the 5th choice of the 2022 Draft has never lowered his gaze. And we’re not selling you the overly perfect story of the kid who gives it to himself despite obvious shortcomings, no no. Jaden went for 16 points at 6/9 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 interception and 0 lost ball. A match sheet that lives up to what we have heard. We also top a big one at Jalen « Rodman » Duren – 13th choice of the Draft 2022 – who ends the meeting with 2 points and 14 rebounds. This kind of vertical profile was missing from Dwane Casey’s squad, now let’s see what he will manage to do with it. Small pride that the meeting of Killian Hayes, much more uninhibited in the second half and author of a statistical line at 11 points at 5/12 in shooting, 1 rebound, 5 assists and 2 lost balls. We felt he was having a hard time on his first choices, too hesitant, very reluctant as he knows how to do with rare and off-tempo shots. Then justified his nickname of « Kill » in the second half (absolutely no one calls him that), with pick and iso played with confidence by a Killian convinced that the defender was his thing. That’s how we like him, and that’s how he has to play in the next 82 regular games.
Jaden Ivey’s first #NBAPreseason basket… SWISH!
Watch Now on TNT pic.twitter.com/X4x4xiOREg
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On the Knicks side, the trio Jalen Brunson – R.J. Barrett – Julius Randle was in charge of the “perform hands in the falzar” part. The three men compiled 52 points at 21/33 shooting, never showing the slightest sign of difficulty. However, we felt the insistence of Julius Randle on certain possessions, with always this damn situation of iso which leads to nothing. The longer he holds the ball, the less likely possession is to succeed. Imagine that no one has dared to tell him since last season. We winnow we winnow, but Vavane remained very discreet with 5 points at 1/3 shooting in 17 minutes of play. You don’t have to be Pep Guardiola’s nephew by marriage to draw up the saddest of observations: the 2022-23 system by Tom Thibodeau is still not designed for Fournier. He is only an archer posed in his corner, waiting for Julius Randle to deflate the ball to consider receiving it. Finally, if this allows him to register a little more his name on the list of the best shooters in the history of New York, great good for him. It’s just a shame that 90% of Knicks fans think he’s one-dimensional.
Great pie of 20 points in the snags of Dwane Casey but great promises scattered by his rookies. We light a candle so that Killian Hayes manages to survive in the middle of this pool of talents: his greatest adversaries finally wear the same jersey.
