Timberwolves 115, Knicks 104: “Fizdale and his Mudiay obsession”

You ever wonder how much it sucks to recap a shitty game when you’re semi-hungover on a Saturday morning? Well, it sucks. A lot. Just not as much as that shitty ass Knicks game last night.

I mean I got through it. The tallboys of Bud Heavy (I’M A TRUE AMERICAN) and the bottle of wine I consumed definitely made it possible.

I don’t have a single meaningful takeaway from this game. I could blame it on being inebriated, but I’d much rather blame it on David Fizdale’s bullshit. If you came here looking for anything meaningful keep lookin’. I got nothing for you so uhhh let’s get to the notes!

Notes:

• Damyean Dotson got off to a hot start. Pretty sure he made his first six shots and then spent the rest of the game bricking. Probably would have helped him stay in rhythm if he played with a point guard who actually had a clue of how to set guys up.

• That’s not a knock on Dennis Smith Jr. He wasn’t good, but he didn’t totally suck last night either and his drive-and-kick ability is by far the best on the team. He really needs to tighten his handle though. With his athletic ability he should be way more capable of getting to the rim than he is, but he’s just a little too loose off the dribble. He’s a little to casual with it, but if he gets serious it’s going to make him turn those moments of dynamism into games of dominance.

• Maybe not dominance, but you catch my drift.
• Yesterday was the first time since he’s been a Knick that I thought DSJ’s defense was noticeably shitty/non-existent. Less of that, Dennis.
• I liked the bench unit a lot more when Kadeem Allen was running it.
• Emmanuel Mudiay just fucking sucks. I don’t even want to get into the specifics, but when he comes into the game the offense just seems to devolve into chaos. It’s not like the Knicks’ offensive flow is amazing otherwise, but Mudiay makes it palpably worse while also being a total shitshow on defense.
• Fizdale’s obsession with Mudiay is genuinely concerning. Did he have to play him last night with Kadeem helping Westchester in their playoff push and Frank Ntilikina still out injured? Yeah, sure. Did he really need to basically play him the entire second half over DSJ? Nah. Fuck that.
• His reasoning was, well, bullshit. At no point in that poop stain of a game did Mudiay get it going or whatever the hell Fizdale thought. The dude sucks. I know he sucks because he somehow managed to fuck up ‘ooping it up to Mitchell Robinson. If you can’t throw it in a manageable radius for Mitch to dunk on everybody’s stupid face when he rolls to the rim you suck ass and are not an NBA point guard.
• Honest question: Even if Kadeem and Frank were ready to go last night do you trust Fizdale to give them minutes over Mud? I don’t.
• DeAndre Jordan played well, I think. Idk. You tell me.

• Mitch had a tough night. Derrick Rose sonned him to death every time he got a switch. Whatever. That’s going to happen to him every now and then.
• Kevin Knox would be about 2482349238x better if he’d stop playing defense with his hands and use his chest a bit more. Worse than that even though he’s super handsy, he fouls like a little baby and constantly gives up the weakest and-one opportunities possible. Foul ‘em like you mean it, Kev!
• I’ve always liked Anthony Tolliver, but if he’s sonning you to death you’re fucking up.
• Ryan Saunders looks like he just finished undergrad.
• Allonzo Trier did some cool stuff last night. I’m happy he seems to be getting back his shot creation rhythm again.

So that’s what a mailed in, hungover recap looks like. Quoth felinequickness: “fizdale and his mudiay obsession”. For real! That shit sucked, but not as much as this recap!

The Knicks get back to action on Sunday night against the San Antonio Spurs. I’m prepared for a genuine beatdown. See you then, losers!