disappointment in the playoffs, but what did we really expect? the air was going to come out of the balloon at some point.
put it this way, how many of us knew before the season started that we would finish in 4th place, behind the milwaukee bucks and host a playoff game with home court advantage? realistically, I thought we might have a shot at 8th, especially early in the season when knicks were playing like trash and rivers got benched. So, yes they far exceeded anyones expecations, and not getting swept doesn't hurt as much (even though it does) as laying over and dying [ knicks were in the first two games at home, winning the second ]. I do believe two things about randle though:
1- leading the league in minutes is extremely inconducive to the knicks success when it matters most- the post season. You can see julius struggling while D Rose is excelling since thibs monitored roses minutes most of regular season.
2- randle is not a superstar. He had a good season yes, and he still holds a lot of trade value, which i think Leon & world wide wes would be smart to explore. Obi looked good in limited minutes, and with more playing time I think he can be better than julius as obi is younger, more athletic and can windmill crazy dunks. Trade julius, start obi and quickley, get rid of bullock, let the young bulls lead.
My only issue looking ahead to 2021-2022 season is the expecations. Can we repeat as 4th place or better? I do not think so (probably a strong 6th seed contender).assuming 76ers,Nets,Bucks in whatever order top 3. Boston is probably going to fix themselves (tatum is a fucking monster) and Miami is a problem (remember JButler missed 20 games, Oladipo [besides a few games] didnt play since the trade). Atlanta is loaded with talent as we can all see as well.
That is 4/5/6 in whatever order.
That leaves the Knicks, Hornets, Pacers to fight over the last two seeds, with the latter two teams having more talent on paper to my summation. I think have thibs as our coach leads us to a top 5 defense again, so we should hopefully battle atlanta/boston for that 6th spot. All I know is that expectations will be sky high for the knicks [as they should be, welcome to NY] which may put unnecessary pressure on the youngins we have + whatever we do / whoever we bring in with our two draft picks [ours and dallas from KP]. The good thing is the PG Luca Vildoza signing, bring back rose get rid of elf and we have our back court ready.
I don't think I will tune into the funeral tomorrow, as watching Julius and bullock act like little children and pushing and shoving the hawks [ did you see julius push galinari? dude looked like he was trying to take galinaris hand to prom and got assessed a technical with reggie high fiving him like they won the game] childish. immature. mentally weak. all words to summarize what i feel about the two veterans who should be leading our team but go a combined 7-23 and a -33 plus/minus together in game 4. Mental toughness is one of the things Kobe always preached, and i always thought it was just gibberish. I guess thats the difference between a championship mentality, and one that resembles elementary school recess. Also,hearing Mike Breen say "BANG!" each time the hawks hit one of their 35 threes hurts me in ways I didn't think was possible, after watching every knick regular season game.
lets hope to a better 2021-2022 season. NYK foever.