Posting and Toasting

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via It’s been three years and we still don’t know who Toppin is. “Classic rock” was the first genre I learned. My pops grew up in the 70s and reared me on the best his decade offered. It all started when he told me to search for the Led Zepplin album with “the old man carrying sticks.” That album was Led Zepplin IV, considered one of the greatest rock albums ever. I would find Queen, The Stooges, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, and Death through the rabbit hole. But the band that had the most profound impact on me was The Who. The...

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/ We already have one! Not to be outdone by the NBA Finals, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is going on yet another one of his “I’m not leaving Portland...but if I was...” media blitzes. He made waves on social media Wednesday by appearing on a podcast and choosing a hypothetical trade to the Miami Heat. Riveting stuff. But let’s pause for a moment after the very first sentence of this clip: Damian Lillard says Miami is ‘obviously’ his first choice over Boston, New York and Brooklyn in a hypothetical trade “Bam is my...

Photo by Mark Blinch/ The fourth-year forward improved in areas like around the basket, while his outside shooting still held him back Something I like to do when the New York Knicks season ends is look at different players' stats to see what areas they improved or regressed in. You have your standard categories of field goal, three-point, and free-throw percentages but there are closer ways to look at it. The first player I wanted to look at was RJ Barrett. Barrett had an up-and-down fourth year filled with high highs and very low lows. Improvement: Inside...

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports We already knew it, but it was still nice hearing The nearly-perfect union of Josh Hart, the city of New York, the Knicks, and head coach Tom Thibodeau has been on full display ever since Hart’s arrival. He’s a player that plays with the kind of tenacity and energy the fans love, he provides the kind of elite rebounding from the wing position that Thibs loves, and he is incredibly close with star point guard Jalen Brunson. So it made a lot of sense when Hart, not too long after arriving in New York, made it clear that he wanted to call...

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports The savior we needed. While Jalen Brunson has become the most reliable basketball player in New York, that wasn’t always the case. Less than a year ago, there were people around the league who believed that the Knicks had overpaid for the young floor general and questioned just how good Brunson could be. It’s not like pundits and analysts thought that he was bad, but given his short stature, defensive limitations, and lack of experience as the go-to guy, many thought that his ceiling and potential were somewhat limited. And they...

Photo by Elsa/ Brunson will become the first Knick since 2016 to make the USAB squad New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is expected to make the final USA Basketball 12-man squad named by Steve Kerr to play in the 2023 FIBA World Cup scheduled to take place later this summer in Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines. Basketball insider Marc Stein broke the news in a Tweet published on Sunday, and he confirmed his report on Monday morning as part of his latest newsletter ($). The Knicks' Jalen Brunson is among the 12 expected roster members for @usabasketball at...

Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via The sophomore joined the starters and the league took notice. Quentin Grimes had a lovely summer in 2022. He dominated at Summer League, averaging 22.6 points in five games. And he escaped the Donovan Mitchell trade-a-palooza unscathed. The Tik Tok star (if having almost 150,000 followers qualifies someone as such) and 25th pick of the 2021 draft had distinguished himself as a player the New York Knicks were committed to developing. A sore left foot sidelined Grimes for the first six games of the most recent campaign. In his...

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via He should be ready to resume basketball activities this summer New York Knicks forward Julius Randle had a surgical procedure on Friday to repair his left ankle. Julius Randle underwent successful arthroscopic surgery yesterday on his left ankle. He will resume basketball activities later this summer.— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) June 3, 2023 Randle originally injured the ankle late in the regular season when Bam Adebayo — in what would become a disturbing pattern for him when facing the Knicks — fell on Randle’s leg....

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via The Knicks point guard excelled in his first season in New York The New York Knicks made the big move before the 2022-23 season to sign former Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson. Brunson was coming off a decent regular season in 2021-22 that saw him average 16.3 points, four rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. The 2022 playoffs is when the scrappy Villanova guard started to turn heads. He would average 27.8 points per game in the first-round series win over the Utah Jazz. Most notably and the game that you could say changed the...

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports A look into the RJ experience As I sat down to write this piece, I tried to think of one word to describe the rollercoaster ride that was RJ Barrett’s 2022-23 season. While some words — inconsistent, confusing, and volatile — came to mind, nothing really did the trick. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Barrett’s latest season, much like his first three in the league, was filled with both distinct strengths and weaknesses. It was overall an unpredictable, up-and-down campaign that was very difficult to measure and in turn...

Photo by Eric Espada/ The most divisive Knicks coach in years takes the team to the second round To the outside world, meaning those NBA fans who watch the game, including teams outside of their own, the Knicks look legitimate. The team is finally out of the headlines for institutional ineptitude, terrible trades, and whiffed draft picks. Instead, the Knicks have reached the playoffs for the second time in three seasons under head coach Tom Thibodeau. But when you dive into the Knicks fan community, there is a schism caused by Thibodeau, devoid of nuance, middle ground,...

Photo by Paul Bereswill/ Perry leaves New York after six years at the helm of the Knicks The New York Knicks won’t extend the contract of General Manager Scott Perry once his deal runs out in June. The news broke late Tuesday and was first reported by Steve Popper of Newsday, whose post caught everybody a little bit by surprise. While Perry’s deal was expiring, few fans were expecting the Knicks to lose their GM after he spent the last six years at the helm of the organization. Perry arrived in New York all the way back in 2017 and had already signed an extension in...

Photo by Elsa/ Kind of surprising! Last week we posed the question to readers: Should the Knicks retire Carmelo Anthony’s jersey? Well, the results are in, and I must say I’m a bit surprised! I knew Melo was a polarizing player, but 38% seems a little low to me. I thought his jersey retirement would get a bit more traction with the younger crowd. To them, the Melo (and Amar’e Stoudemire) years were their first exposure to an even slightly relevant Knicks club. Older fans, like me, have memories of players like John Starks, who arguably have a better...

Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/NBAE via Can they? Yes. Should they? No. For the first time since 2016, the New York Knicks won’t have a draft pick in the annual NBA Draft scheduled to take place on June 22 inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY of all places. If you’re wondering why, the reason for that is very simple although it goes all the way across the globe as it’s related to a little big fella from the Eastern region of Europe: Kristaps Porzingis. Back in 2019, the Knicks traded Porzingis, along with Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Courtney Lee to the...

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Another turn on the Randle Rollercoaster We saw the best of Julius Randle, we saw the worst of Julius Randle. Charitably, we begin on the sunny side of the 2022-23 campaign. Once again, Julius led the New York Knicks in scoring (25 ppg) and rebounds (10 rpg) yet again. He placed second on the team for assists (4.1), behind only point guard Jalen Brunson. Julius also logged his most effective field goal percentage (54%) since coming to New York. Great stuff so far. Recognizing that the team lacked shooters, associate head coach Johnnie...