OG Anunoby threw in a rare clunker in a nine-point Knicks loss to Philadelphia on Friday. Anunoby had just two points on 1-of-9 shooting and wasn’t much of a factor defensively, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes.
“I thought he was aggressive on his drives, he didn’t get any calls,” coach Mike Brown said. “It’s a weird game and the officials, they got a tough job but I don’t know if I’ll ever understand what’s a foul and what’s not a foul. Because guys, especially quick guys, they’ll put their head down and they’ll drive from point A to point B and if you lead with your chest, and they’re able to flop or fall off you good enough, it’s a foul. OG is a big, strong guy. When he drives, he doesn’t do that, he’s trying to attack the rim. He’s getting rerouted on his drive, but he can’t seem to get a call. “
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Tyler Kolek regressed after some strong performances, Schwartz notes. The reserve guard finished with two points, two assists, four turnovers and five fouls in 15 minutes.
- Notoriously poor free throw shooter Mitchell Robinson only missed one of his eight attempts on Friday after changing his routine. “We’ve just been working on a lot of arc on the free throws,” he said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “We went in there this morning actually like 10 AM but it paid off tonight. So I guess we’re gonna put that in the routine now.” Robinson also said he’s changed the mechanics. “It feels way more comfortable,” he said. “Getting my elbow under it. Getting it up in the air a little more. It’s been great.”
- The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak but might have been predictable, according to Schwartz. Following their NBA Cup triumph this week, they had to play a back-to-back. New York won at Indiana despite being shorthanded on Thursday. “These guys are human,” Brown said. “But at the end of the day, we try to pride ourselves on being a no-excuse team. We’re gonna go out and play to the highest possible standard, or the highest possible level. Most times, we’ll probably have it, but tonight we didn’t.”
- Miles McBride is doing on-court work but has yet to practice since spraining his ankle, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post tweets. The Knicks haven’t practiced or held a shootaround since Monday.
Happy learned how to putt! Uh oh
Crazy how Philadelphia had so much time off between games and the Knicks didn’t after winning the cup.
Not even the Knicks are acting like the trophy is a big deal because only thing that matters is a championship. The non-all stars love the extra bonus.
Some of these quotes man… guy making 13 million this season, who can’t make a free throw to save his life, talking about starting to put arc on his shot in the middle of his 8th season in the NBA
One bad game is regression. Then again, it’s Schwartz.
Isn’t *
It’s not a weird game. It’s a weird league, headed by people with little to no interest in the game. They’ve made officiating very difficult, assuming the goal is a comprehensible work product.