Since this game sucks, might as well get some thoughts out on NYK/MIA

Fact: NYK needs to play faster. The offense has little shooting, defenses hone in on Randle and it’s just a grind to score.

By getting down court faster here, Randle able to make his move before the D sets.

More evidence of Randle’s ascent- every single time the opponent makes a run, Thibs calls a Randle post up to calm things down. And it seems like he makes the right play every time when he’s called on to do this.

Great patience here to draw the help by turning into the paint.

This is how to totally ruin a transition opportunity that we NEED to take advantage of. Randle pulls back instead of getting forward. Mitch is walking upcourt. Elf is worthlessly spotting up instead of running the floor. WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE.

Quickley needs to hit Burks in the corner on his catch. You can see Thibs throw his arms up when he missed him and dribbled left instead.

Quick has mostly impressed me w his vision, but at times can veer too far to shot-first guard.

Miami really bothered the Knicks w it’s trapping of basically any PnR. One adjustment I’d like to see NYK make on Tuesday is to ensure the roller makes himself available off the screen, either by slipping it or just filling the space behind the trap. Obi does neither here.

Another transition opportunity squandered, resulting in a GRIND of a possession. This needs to result in either an IQ 3 or an Obi dunk.

Burks doesn’t see Obi wide open, and IQ once again fails to properly make himself available for 3 - he needs to learn to b a threat off ball.

This pass by Randle was just smooth as hell. Burks and Randle have developed a really nice chemistry on dribble hand-offs working off of each other.

Again, the roller - here Mitch - needs to recognize the trap is coming and slip or roll into space as an available outlet. This isn’t good enough.

They took RJ out of the game by trapping everything out of his pet pistol action. RJ needs to have other ways to score (POST-UP!)

Randle’s midrange postgame continues to astound. This is his pet move - if you let him swing his arms through and get over his left shoulder, you are dead, probably and 1.

Then, on the next possession, you can see Bam isn’t going to let Randle get to that move. I’ve mentioned that this is where the counter over the right shoulder becomes important.

This is an insanely tough shot over an all-NBA defender. This man is an all-star!!

Obi is a dynamic roller to the rim. Paired with Noel, whose only skill is rolling, Obi just gets too few chances to use his best skill. Taj isn’t much of a threat, but he at least has a midrange shot, made a 3 today, and can pass from the high post. Better pairing for Obi.

THIS is what I want to see more of from IQ. Ready to catch and shoot off-ball, he’s going to attract a lot of attention, and can be a crazy dangerous secondary handler off the catch. This is a perfect catch, drive, and read. It’d be nice if he got to play w Randle to show it more

Miami is flying defensively down the stretch, but IQ and Randle need to do a better job anticipating the trap, and IQ needs to be able to slip a pocket pass to Randle early to get him going downhill. If the passer or roller hesitate even for a moment, Miami has it all covered.