The Knicks are Back in Town

Author: Billy Taylor

Editor: Brian Symons

At the beginning of the year, no one thought the New York Knicks would be where they are now. Yet, here we are nearing the final week of April and the Knicks are on a nine-game winning streak as the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. Just 3.5 games behind the Bucks and 6.5 games behind the first place Nets.

About one month ago I wrote an article on whether the Knicks can make the playoffs. I wrote that they could, but they must learn how to close out games and win against teams who can be beaten. After losing by two points to the Nets and Celtics on April 5th and 7th respectively, the Knicks have caught fire and look more on a page than they ever have before. They have won 3 games in overtime, haven’t let late-game runs get out of hand, and continue to play superb defense in their nine-game winning streak. Yes, they have gotten bailed out by injuries from the likes of Trae Young, Lebron James, and Anthony Davis. But quite frankly, that does not matter. Neither do the disappointments of Frank Ntilikina, Kevin Knox, and Obi Toppin (despite draining 3 threes on Sunday).

Julius Randle is arguably the biggest star of New York right now, RJ Barrett continues to blossom, Reggie Bullock and Alec Burks have turned out to be big surprises, Immanuel Quickley continues to be a key contributor off the bench and Nerlens Noel contributes greatly to the defense. So much has gone right for the Knicks, and lots of the credit goes to potential Coach of the Year winner Tom Thibodeau. He has tapped into almost every ounce of potential this Knicks team has and they still have eleven games left to improve before the playoffs, which the Knicks have a 95.4% chance to make, per Basketball-Reference.

Leon Rose, William Wesley (Worldwide Wes), and the rest of the front office also deserve much of the credit for the improvement of the Knicks. The fact that the Knicks are a top 10 team in the NBA when they would have been lucky to make the playoffs at the start of the season is truly something special. Many Knicks fans haven’t felt this excitement since 2012-2013, and so many more have been suffering since the days of Ewing and Starks. This Knick team is nowhere near the Knicks of the ’90s but when your team’s identity is defense, it surely harkens back to their heyday. There is so much anticipation for May when the playoffs start, and now is the time to buckle in and enjoy the ride. The perfect way to sum up the Knicks season thus far is a quote from Immanuel Quickley after Wednesday’s win against the Hawks: “It is a blessing from God to be a New York Knick.” And right now, it is a blessing from God to be a New York Knick fan.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

The First Week of Baseball

Author: Zachary Patlin

Editor: Brian Symons

Baseball is finally back and well underway in this full 162 game schedule to play out deep into September. Some overlying themes or storylines from the first week of baseball are fun to look at as we continue through the long grind of the season. They include players, teams, and personnel.

The first storyline is Ohtani pitching and hitting at the same time. After coming back fully healthy from Tommy John’s surgery, Ohtani looks to pitch every Sunday, while at the same time hitting approximately 5 days a week, including the day that he pitches. What does he do after throwing 100 MPH in the first inning of his first start? Just hits an absolute laser at 115 MPH out to right. If he can sustain doing both hitting and pitching at a high level, he can be the most fun player to watch in baseball.

The second storyline comes from the same team, and that is the best player in the game Mike Trout. Trout, coming off of arguably his worst year as a pro (which isn’t saying much because he was still top 5 in AL MVP voting) looks to be locked in early in the season. He believes that his swing is back and I cannot wait to see the numbers he is going to put up this season.

Next, we stay in the same state as we move the San Diego Padres, which have two major storylines early in the season. The first of the two is the IL stint of Fernando Tatis JR. Tatis is the face of baseball, and after an awkward-looking swing went to the IL with a shoulder injury (He came back last night and hit a scorcher of a home run against the Dodgers). The second storyline from the Padres is of course the no-hitter thrown by Joe Musgrove. The native San Diego pitcher was stellar last Friday, hitting just one batsman and dominating with 10 punch-outs.

The last storyline is to not get carried away over the two New York teams. Firstly, the Yankees are flat out struggling but are so talented that they will be fine over the long haul. Although their starting pitching and pen look strong, their offense is non-existent thus far. They are primed to bounce back and dominate the rest of the season. Moving on to the Mets, they seem to have been the same old Mets we see every year. DeGrom threw 8 one-run innings and was awarded the loss to the Marlins. Their lack of run support for the best pitcher on the planet is concerning. But, after this deGrom outing, the Mets have turned it around, with great pitching and timely hitting the Mets are in first place in the NL East and have won 3 in a row.

Baseball has been so much fun to watch early on, with many storylines to follow as the season continues. Don’t get carried away over the results, or lack thereof, because it is just the opening stretch of a very long season. This looks to be a great upcoming season and I cannot wait to see how it plays out.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

Who Will Be the Mets Manager By The End of The Season?

Author: Frank Caggino

Editor: Brian Symons

One of the biggest takeaways from Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson’s early-season press conference, was Sandy’s response when asked about Mets manager Luis Rojas. Alderson said the Mets have not picked up Rojas’ 2022 option. This shows that the new owner and new front office will be watching Rojas closely. Luis has not done himself any favors in the first week of the season. Rojas has made multiple questionable decisions that have not been successful. The manager was not terrific last season, but 2020 was a year unlike any other.

Most Mets fans were willing to give Rojas a pass because of the uniqueness of the 2020 season. The season started, then stopped, and then did not begin again until later in the summer. There were only 60 games and the schedule was different than normal year, with every game being against local teams. Last year, Rojas decision-making was not the best and his demeanor was not loved by Mets fans. The front office also did not give him the greatest roster with the tight budget the previous owner had.

While some Mets fans wanted the Mets to get more star players, this team is significantly improved on paper. Their performance in the first week of the season does not resemble a team that is improved. Rojas has not made the most out of this roster and their very first game of the season was a perfect example. Kevin Pillar batted leadoff and Dom Smith was on the bench. Brandon Nimmo leads the league in on-base percentage and batted eighth in the first game of the season. To make matters worse, Rojas took out Jacob deGrom after only 77 pitches when earlier in the day he said Jake could go 100 pitches. deGrom had been pitching well and the bullpen wound up blowing the lead and the Mets lost. The other main head-scratching move by Rojas was having Jonathan Villar bat sixth multiple times and playing him over Luis Guillorme. If the Mets continue to struggle, it will be interesting to see if Rojas finishes the year as the manager.

The one thing that Rojas has to his advantage is the limited managerial replacement options. If the Mets were to move on from Rojas, who will replace him? There are no candidates that stand out which could make replacing him risky. There have been worse managers than Rojas, and the Mets cannot make another mistake with who their manager will be. Obviously, it is still early, but if Rojas wants to be the manager next year, he has to adjust to help get the Mets back to the postseason.

METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE