Dennis Smith Jr.

Why did the Mavs make the trade for KP when the Mavs team were playing close to .500 ball through first half of the season?
The KP trade will put the Mavs in the 2019 draft lottery to hope for their protected 1-5 pick.
Mavs owner Cuban and head coach Carlisle lied about wanting DSJr. The Mavs organization really wanted Frank in the 2017 draft for factual reason of adding defense-depth in the guard rotation for all the high-scoring PG/SG in the western conference that DSJr 2nd season in the West could not match-up against.
DSJr.'s 2nd season performance and work ethic was not up to par for coach Carlisle, nor was in up to par against the Mavs western conference opponents guards.
For 30 minute playing time DSJr. average to get to the foul line once per game being the ball handler, plus the 4 to 5 assist per game never made up for the 2 to 3 turnovers in the 2nd half of each game.
Plus DSJr. poor defense performance vs Harden/CP3/Curry/Klay/Lilliard/McCollum/Westbrook/Paull/and the other young top guards in the West had to be nerve racking for coach Carlisle.

How well will DSJr. do in New York, under coach Fizdale?
Well, coach Fizdale 50 games (10-40 TANK) coaching the Knicks has not improve or develop any player or young-core player on the Knicks roster yet.
DSJr. may feel at home under Fizdale's half-court isolation system without any demands on the defensive-end.
Fizdale has refuse to build a team-ball system by not selecting two guards as a backcourt tandem to lead the (starter/finisher) lineup, nor did Fizdale select a center and PF as the main frontcourt tandem in the starter/finisher lineup throughout the 52 game rotation .. Fizdale change-change lineup and change-change rotation never letting the players get familiar in a certain lineup or rotation.

I thought the Knicks had found their future small-quick play-maker in the un-drafted Alonzo Trier.
I'm still waiting to see the 2nd season Frank & Dotson tandem-up to run the point in a lineup for the Knicks.

Some Knick fans are happy n boasting bout DSJ scoring 25 points last night vs the Pistons.
Some fans started putting DSJ high scoring performance above Frank and Mudiay all-around performance.
What these fans were not paying attention to were the Knicks never took the lead in the game where DSJ lead the Point for 40 minute of his playing time, plus took 25 shots to score 25 points, and only went to the foul line once (ex-Knick Derek Rose type of performance, or Iso-Melo performance when the refs dont give him the call). I guess this type of game losing performance are alright for Fizdale TANKING chemistry.
Having DSJ run the point for 40 minute the Knick team shot 40% from the FG, plus the Knick as a team only went to the foul line 7 times.
I looked at DSJ stats in his 2 season in the league he has average one trip to the foul line per 30 minutes.
As a shoot-first PG taking 10 + shots per game DSJ has to learn to get to the foul line more than 1 time per game.
I'm sure DSJ performance at the PG for 30 minute per game had to pester the Mavs coach Rick Carlisle a lot.

Frank is a pass-first PG that has average 5 FGA shots per 20 minute .. we drafted Frank for his high IQ on the defensive-end of the court, and his passing-skills. At the time we drafted Frank the Knicks had three Ball-Hogs on the roster that never passed the ball (Iso-Melo, D.Rose, and Tired-KP).

I'm still in doubt why the Knicks front-office of Mills/Perry traded for Mudiay, when practically all the western conference teams guards took advantage of Mudiay's low b.ball IQ for 3 seasons.

Mudiay is ass vomit.

DSJ is a lot more talented than I thought, and his pace and decision making are a real surprise.

I have to give the Knicks win over the Hawks .. Game-Ball win to DSJ first win as a Knick .. his 32 min performance (19 pts, 2 rb, 7 ast, 1 stl, and 1 turnover off of 7-10 shooting) stayed in winning-mode from tip-off till buzzer.
DSJ stayed two steps ahead of the Hawks rookie star Trae Young with a glove at certain times CTFU
Great all-round game from DSJ .. under Fizdale-18 Tanking-system !!!

https://youtu.be/LWEjZ14wRFI

Go DSjr bring the dunk title home to NYC!!!

jimkcchief88 said:

Go DSjr bring the dunk title home to NYC!!!

Click to expand...

He might win, look at at the guys in it. That dunk contest gets weaker every year.

• Dennis Smith Jr., New York Knicks (+175)
• John Collins, Atlanta Hawks (+225)
• Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets (+225)
• Hamidou Diallo, Oklahoma City Thunder (+350)

DSJ .. should have been first to bring Shaq on the court .. he did score a 50 having D.Wade/Curry on the court thou CTFU

Some nice dunks by our boy DSJ. Diallou with the Superman uni under his OKC jersey and hanging on the rim with his elbow through it was the best dunk of the night though.

tiger0330 said:

Some nice dunks by our boy DSJ. Diallou with the Superman uni under his OKC jersey and hanging on the rim with his elbow through it was the best dunk of the night though.

Click to expand...

I was enjoying the dunk contest until Reggie Miller opened up his mouth and began to give snarky comments about NY and the Knicks. TNT needs to get rid of this schmuck as he is more irritable to the human senses as a commentator than he was as an NBA player.

knicksin60 said:

I was enjoying the dunk contest until Reggie Miller opened up his mouth and began to give snarky comments about NY and the Knicks. TNT needs to get rid of this schmuck as he is more irritable to the human senses as a commentator than he was as an NBA player.

Click to expand...

That?s interesting. I wasn?t listen to the commentary, so I missed this. I?ve found in the past that Reggie Miller has actually been surprisingly supportive of New York and Knicks fans.

In his 7 games as a Knick, DSJ is averaging 17 points and 6 assists per game on 43% shooting from the floor. His 3 point shooting has been atrocious. He could easily be a high 40% FG shooter either by working on his outside jumper for next season or just accept his outside shooting game is not what he should be doing. I am encouraged.

ahahahahahahahahahahah. nice post. pause.

Crazy⑧s;318786 said:

Mudiay is ass vomit.

DSJ is a lot more talented than I thought, and his pace and decision making are a real surprise.

Click to expand...

DSJ is what Mudiay *should* be

But Mudiay has 4 years in the league and is not very good given his athleticism and height and length

Remember when scouts thought Mudiay would be the next John Wall? lmfao

SSj4Wingzero said:

DSJ is what Mudiay *should* be

But Mudiay has 4 years in the league and is not very good given his athleticism and height and length

Remember when scouts thought Mudiay would be the next John Wall? lmfao

Click to expand...

I'll give the clear edge to DSJ based on peak/ceiling...

Mudiay has better numbers in key areas...FG/FG(3pt)/FT/REB

DSJ has better AST/STLS(roughly 6/2 respectively, areas in which some were skeptical on about his game)

Keep in mind Mudiay never played 1 game of College Ball. Went overseas in a mid level Chinese league for about 12gms and he's only 1 1/2yrs older than DSJ


I want to keep them both if possible and want DSJ to be our lead guard, although I have a feeling Mudiay might be better running our sets

Broadway said:

I'll give the clear edge to DSJ based on peak/ceiling...

Mudiay has better numbers in key areas...FG/FG(3pt)/FT/REB

DSJ has better AST/STLS(roughly 6/2 respectively, areas in which some were skeptical on about his game)

Keep in mind Mudiay never played 1 game of College Ball. Went overseas in a mid level Chinese league for about 12gms and he's only 1 1/2yrs older than DSJ


I want to keep them both if possible and want DSJ to be our lead guard, although I have a feeling Mudiay might be better running our sets

Click to expand...

The only way I would want to keep both DSJ and Mudiay are if the Knicks hired head-coach Mark Jackson or Jason Kidd. Why?
Because Curry & Klay both were shoot-first individual guards causing havoc for being raw n clueless on how to win a game in the NBA, before Mark Jackson took over the GS Warriors coaching-staff, the locker-room, and practice sessions.
DSJ, Kyrie, and Curry first 2 season in the NBA has practically the same winning record and stats, until Mark Jackson turned Curry into a winner, and Lebron turned Kyrie into a winner. The Knicks has no-one to help DSJ become a winner !!!
I'm not thrilled bout Knicks wanting FA Kyrie in the ofseason, and I'm not thrilled bout the Knicks last four head coaches not implementing team-defense or team-offense in their one on one isolation system. The Knicks last 4 head coaches could be called LOTTERY head-coaches !!!

Kiyaman said:

I'm not thrilled bout Knicks wanting FA Kyrie in the ofseason, and I'm not thrilled bout the Knicks last four head coaches not implementing team-defense or team-offense in their one on one isolation system. The Knicks last 4 head coaches could be called LOTTERY head-coaches !!!

Click to expand...

agreee.. irving did'nt do dick in clev till 'bron came back... n in boston they seem to play better when he's hurt... i don't see where he elevates the players around him...

I was happy bout DSJ winning performance vs the Atlanta Hawks 2 games ago shooting 7-10 for 19 pts, 2 rb, 7 DIMES, 1 stl, and 1 turnovers ..
But last night Game vs Spurs DSJ provided the best play-maker performance in his NBA career shooting 8-17 fga for 19 pts, 6 rb, 13 DIMES, 2 stl, and zer0 turnover for a Knicks 130 -118 WIN over Spurs!!!

Some nice stats from an article on Film School about Smith's play making since joining the Knicks.
Pretty sure this is based on stats prior to last nights game.
Playmaking Vision
It would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking DSJ is a shoot-first gunner who doesn’t make his teammates better. Smith is not the archetype of a “pure” point guard, but it would be a mistake to underestimate his passing vision and playmaking ability. The guy is far from a black hole when he takes it to the rim. Per NBA.com, Smith passes the ball on 47.2% of his drives. That’s the 9th-highest percentage among the 64 players to record at least 400 drives this season. Even more impressive, The BBall Index ranks DSJ in the 97th percentile league-wide in their Playmaking category. Check out this montage of five skip/ cross-court passes:

Before the trade to New York, Smith was posting a league average efficiency on pick-and-rolls including passes, per Synergy. Considering Smith’s age and high-volume usage on pick-and-rolls, the fact that he is already average is extremely promising. In addition to kick-outs, Smith also keeps the bigs fed on lobs and dump-offs. DSJ has recorded 49 assists for the Knicks so far; 10 of those have been on alley-oop dunks (8 to DeAndre and 2 to Mitchell Robinson).

https://knicksfilmschool.com/2019/02/24/how-dennis-smith-jr-fits-with-frank-ntilikina/
Smith is just 21 years old. If he was 8 months younger I am sure that would be a talking point for some.