Update On The Knicks: Every Single Thing Very Much Sucks Right Now

There's no way to spin it. Everything right now sucks. Top to bottom, every player, the effort, social media, it doesn't matter where you want to start. People will say start with Julius Randle. Fine. I don't know what there is to say about him that people already aren't yelling. It's a roller coaster with him and right now we're at the bottom. His effort, mostly on the defensive side, is atrocious. He's giving up some rec league bullshit closeouts and just flat out getting burnt. 

Yes, he's hurt but that's not an excuse for the majority of this. It's a lack of effort, lack of concentration, however you want to describe it. Part of it is coaching, which, again. Thibs, what the hell are you doing this series? I know you can't make shots for guys, but this goes back to game 1. A game the Knicks were up double digits at MSG in. A game that Jimmy Butler couldn't move for 5 minutes and Thibs just didn't attack him. He's getting his ass kicked every single game by Spo. Sure, Spo is a better coach, but you can't get pantsed like this every game. You've been around too long for this to happen. 

Then there was Quentin Grimes tonight. He gets inserted back into the starting lineup. Great that's what people wanted. 

Played 42 minutes and went 3-for-8. You want to be 'free' make plays. And more importantly go get the goddamn ball on a rebound. That goes for the entire team. We straight up got our ass kicked on the defensive glass. The Heat won that second half because of it. The Knicks shot 70% in the 3rd quarter and didn't make up any ground because of defense + rebounds. The Heat won the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter because they had a legit minute long possession off of offensive rebounds. That can't happen. The Knicks have guards who can rebound, that's Mitchell Robinson's whole thing, Randle, etc. Pathetic effort. 

Let's keep going down the list. Josh Hart - foul trouble all game. Immanuel Quickley - missed game with an injury. Obi Toppin - played 6 minutes and tossed up that many airballs. The bench was flat out atrocious. The two things the Knicks could always count on - the bench being solid and defensive rebounds. That has gone to shit fast. Brunson was fine, he's really the only one I feel comfortable saying that about. 

But it's more than x's and o's or making shots. Okay, maybe it's not more than making shots. Stop shooting 30% from three. It's the body language. The Knicks look like they gave up. It doesn't make sense. A win here and it's a best of 3 with homecourt advantage. Instead they rolled over and died. They let the Heat beat them to every single ball. Any time something went a little wrong, they all sulked. The Knicks would cut it to 5 only to immediately give up a 6-0 run. 

Yes the officiating was bad but it's not even close to the problem. Show some fucking heart and win game 5.