As we patiently wait for the Knicks to host the Wiz Kiz on Thursday…
…here are the latest quotables from around Tarrytown and elsewhere.
On the Knicks’ lack of physicality against Philadelphia:
“What bothers me is our lack of physicality throughout the ball game, and that’s the whole roster up and down. We weren’t great on the ball physically and we weren’t great with our defensive positioning physically.
“The rest of the [issues are] coach talk. It’s real, but it’s coach talk that we’ll clean up watching film and all that stuff. I can’t help with the physicality. That they’ve gotta find individually, which will then turn into collectively, and that’s how you find minutes. That’s how you make the team. That’s how you contribute in a way where some of those other mistakes can be ‘OK, we’ll get better in that area and we’ll get better in this area.’
“But the physicality, we have to do a better job of that from top to bottom.”
On the Knicks making the game easy for the 76ers:
“They got to wherever they wanted to when it comes to getting to their spots and getting good shots. We didn’t contest, we didn’t rear-view challenge and we made the game easy for them. We just turned and took a step to the rim and they came right over our back and got the offensive rebound, so that I’m concerned about and I don’t want to see happen.”
On the Knicks’ poor 3-point shot selection:
“I don’t care if we go 0 for 40. We took 41 and 33 of those [threes] weren’t sprays. And that’s not how we play.”
On the importance of the Knicks’ preseason opener:
“[I put] a good amount [of stock in this preseason game]. Obviously being results-based is not necessarily a focus, but it’s like process-driven and making sure the details are there and doing all the right things. I think those are the things you need to be concerned about, results-based not so much. Obviously we want to win but make sure the process is right.”
On the second apron being used as an excuse by teams when navigating free agency:
“I heard that all summer.”
On being surprised by his diminished free-agent market:
“I was very surprised. I played every single game last year, played meaningful minutes the whole year. Thought I did decently or good enough in my role that I was given. But when free agency started, that wasn’t the case.”
On proving himself while competing for a Knicks roster spot:
“You got to prove yourself every year. I’ve been on eight teams in nine years. Every year you got to prove yourself, prove you’ve gotten better. But with this team obviously the first and second units are pretty set, I’d say. So obviously I’d have to provide a winning attitude. I’m fighting for a job right now. So any role they give me, I’d be happy to do it.”
On returning to New York after previously playing for the Nets during the KD era:
“I love New York. Obviously playing in Brooklyn, they’re little brother to the Knicks even if, at the time, they weren’t that good and we were really good. New York’s always a place I loved, loved winning, loved being around. When I got the call, I was like, ‘Yeah, for sure.’ ”
On wanting to play for a contender:
“As you know, at this point in my career, only contending teams look for me. So I’m just trying to compete for a championship. Go back to back and help them win again.”
On fighting for a guaranteed roster spot:
“It is what it is right now. I thought I played well enough last year to be in the running for a guaranteed job. But now I just got to show my work throughout the summer and my veteran leadership somehow.”
On seeing the 76ers as a threat to the Knicks:
“The Sixers can make a title run. The Sixers are the team to watch out for if you’re the New York Knicks. To me, it’s clearly about the Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers.”
On James Dolan and the lack of extensions for Leon Rose and William Wesley:
“Let me put everybody in New York on blast. That damn James Dolan is getting in the way again. We have some concerns. First of all, I don’t know if it’s news or not. Where the hell is the extension for Leon Rose? Where the hell is the extension for Worldwide Wes, William Wesley? Worldwide Wes and Leon Rose ended a 53-year drought and brought a championship to New York. Where’s their extension? Where is it? That’s number one.”
On the Knicks’ current contract offer to Karl-Anthony Towns:
“Number two, I’m not going to tell you that Karl-Anthony Towns deserves the max. I understand that you got Brunson and Anunoby coming down the pike, but you don’t disrespect that man by cutting him short by $77 million. You don’t do that. You give him a respectable offer.”
“You give him an offer that says, ‘Okay, listen. We need you to take this hit. Jalen Brunson took this hit. We need you to do it, too.’ So, it ain’t $277 million. It might be $225-$227 million, something along those lines because Brunson took a hit, too.”
“You might not like it, but it’s not disrespectful. You’re saying, ‘Listen, I got the cats that you want to keep with you. I’m going to have to touch that second apron. I’m going to have to take care of your other cats.’”
On the Knicks needing to take care of Jalen Brunson first:
“And we know you got to, to use his term, Big Body Brunson. We got to take care of him. That’s what we can’t go to Brunson and ask him to take another cut. The man delivered the chip, and he was the superstar that did it. Okay, he is the franchise. There will be a statue erected outside of Madison Square Garden for that man one day. He erased a 53-year drought.”
“Okay, we got to take care of Brunson. So, we might need y’all to take some hits, but you don’t disrespect him.”
On the Knicks’ history and Towns’ value to the championship team:
“For 53 years, the New York Knicks didn’t do anything but pass gas and try to tell us it was perfume. That’s what they did. They stunk up the joint year after year after year, and they finally won the chip.”
“Karl-Anthony Towns has everything to do with that. I’m not telling you that he ain’t worth—first of all, he’s worth the $277 million in today’s NBA economy. It’s just that, in light of other people you have to take care of, it’s going to call for some level of sacrifice.”
“But you don’t disrespect him. Karl-Anthony Towns deserves more money, and most importantly, he deserves to be respected and appreciated. And I’mma tell you why: New York has a problem.”
On his concerns about James Dolan after the Knicks’ championship:
“They got a problem because that same damn James Dolan that stunk up the joint for years running the New York Knicks franchise finally, after 27 years at the helm, won a chip.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if his mentality is, ‘All right, I delivered a chip. So now we can wait another quarter century before we win it again.’ He’s the kind of person that’ll have that kind of attitude and take that for granted.”
On what he sees as a broader problem with Knicks ownership:
“I’m speaking to a bigger problem. I’m speaking to a level of arrogance and dismissiveness on the part of the ownership that’s focused on the fact that he’s a champion now and not really reflecting on the years of ineptitude that he exercised running this franchise.”
“And if Karl-Anthony Towns isn’t taken care of, it sends the wrong message: ‘we don’t necessarily take care of our own.’ You see what I’m saying? And that’s where it’ll lead to you not winning for the next quarter-century and beyond when you ignore your own.”
“Even when the Lakers struggled, the Buss family always took care of the people who took care of them. That is what James Dolan has to remember.
“Leon Rose deserves his money. Worldwide Wes deserves his money. Brunson and Anunoby deserve their money. Karl-Anthony Towns deserves the money. They clearly made money for James Dolan this past season. Yeah, they made money for him. Let’s be clear.”