No, you’ve not clicked on the wrong link. It’s the third Knicks vs. Heat game in 13 dates.
New York gets its first long road trip of the season going with another matchup against the Miamiamenses, this time in Florida.
Here’s a bunch of stuff we’ve heard in the past few hours.
On Landry Shamet’s fit and impact:
“He plays with really good pace. He doesn’t need the ball in his hands, so he’s a connector. He plays with pace. He’s got to be guarded. And not just pace in the full court, getting to the corners or getting to the wing, but even in the half court, we try to cut and move a lot. When you cut, when you make Canada cuts, he gets from point A to point B really fast. So if you kind of lag or something like that, our guys know where guys should be in different concepts or actions. So you lag and he gets from point A to point B, he’s going to get a wide-open 3 and most times, it’s going to go in. Good dude, too. He’s just a good dude.”
On Shamet’s skill set beyond shooting:
“People can sleep on him if they want, but if you think about him at Wichita State, he was a point guard then, and he was extremely athletic. He’ll dunk on you in a heartbeat, so it’s not just about his shooting. He’ll snap drives because you’re closing out to him, because he can shoot the ball unbelievable, and he’s making great decisions. Is he shooting the pull-up, which he can make, or is he getting to the rim and dunking on you? You could see that on film last year, and so I was definitely a fan of his.”
On the team’s next-man-up mentality:
“It’s about the next man up. Who that next man is going to be — I don’t know. I just know we all know how to play the right way. We have a standard we’re all bought into. We have a way we play offensively and defensively, and if we stay within that, good things will happen most times.”
On Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding:
“I am getting a little jaded. I’m a long-winded guy, as you guys all know, and I felt like I was going too long, so I didn’t want to rehash or revisit.”
“Freaking Mitch Robinson, oh my God. Eight freaking offensive rebounds! Way to go Mitch!”
On the Knicks’ bench readiness and versatility:
“The biggest thing for us is to always be present. If you are present when your number is called, it’s easier to step in and just do what your job calls you to do. I love the versatility that we have. I love the experience we have coming off the bench. And the scoring . . . A lot of different pieces that we have.”
On Rick Brunson’s message about Karl-Anthony Towns:
“We wanted to play through him. It was great. Rick Brunson was the first one to say it. He was like, ‘Hey, keep playing through KAT. Keep playing through KAT. Keep playing through KAT.’”
On Landry Shamet’s value:
“Landry is one of my close friends, and I’ve known Landry since — we were [in] the same draft. I know how talented Landry is, I know what he is capable of. If I’m a GM and I’m building a team or I’m a coach, he’s obviously always gonna be in my rotation. He’s just a smart basketball player that works really hard. You see him in the offseason, he bulks up like 10 pounds, freakin’ running around the court shooting sprint-3s at full speed. Just a hard worker and just a great dude, too. His humility and his character shows as well.”
On adjusting to Jalen Brunson’s absence vs. Miami:
“I don’t want to force trying to get 60 and lose the game. That’s the most important thing: to win the game, so I’m happy that experience has taught me a lot, and I just didn’t force the game. Just being aggressive, being aggressive with the playmaking and getting my teammates open for the betterment of our team.”
On the challenge of playing without OG Anunoby:
“We’re excited to figure this out. When I say excited, it’s not excited that he’s hurt. It’s that we’re excited for the challenge we have to overcome. A lot of guys are going to get an opportunity to show Knicks fans what they can do. Our bench is full of talent. This team is full of talent.”
On the Knicks’ bench strength and sacrificing for each other:
“It shows this team’s depth — and shows we’ve got guys who could start anywhere. They just happen to be on the Knicks. We’re asking them to sacrifice what they could give any other team. Josh has shown that. Landry has shown that. This shouldn’t be surprising to NBA fans who’ve watched their careers.”
On taking advantage of playing the Heat multiple times early in the season:
“It’s a good playoff warmup, practice, playing the same team over two days or three days. You gotta be ready for them to adjust, ready for them to do what they gotta do as a coaching staff to counteract what we do and what we showed them last game. It’s gonna be good for us to have sort of a playoff series style of play where we played them two days ago and now we’re about to play them again and at their house. It’s kind of those momentum shifts you see in Game 2 or 3 or 4 and 5. It’s gonna be good for us to have practice with that.”
On the familiarity with Miami, with three games against the Heat in the first month of play:
“Obviously, we’ve played two games already, we’re already a little familiar with it. You gotta make adjustments. Obviously, [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] is gonna watch the game and he’s gonna have them ready to go. It was a very high-scoring game, so we expect the defense to pick up, the physicality to pick up a little bit. It’s kind of like a playoff series, in a sense. We’ve played them three times in three weeks, so you’re familiar with them. Now, you try to do a couple of adjustments, a couple of counters.”
On the Knicks’ resilience:
“We always preach it — next man up — and games like Friday show we’re not just saying it. Everybody in this locker room is capable of big nights, capable of contributing. When guys go out, obviously we don’t want that — but the next one’s ready to step up and hoop.”
On balancing caffeine, fatherhood, and his NBA schedule:
“It really started when I had kids. I have to try and function. I wake up at 7:30 every morning. The (boys) are in a little school. … If I don’t see them in the morning, I might not see them all day.”
On his love for caffeine and candy:
“I’ve been eating these candies since I was a kid, and I still keep boxes stashed everywhere — at home, in my locker, on the plane.”
On whether he now needs caffeine to play at a high level:
“I don’t think so, but I’m sure it helps.”
