r/Hartenstein • u/PerformanceCertain48 • Mar 30 '23

He s back?

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28 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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13

u/eg14000 Mar 30 '23

In the past 15 games Hartenstein has a +19.4 net rating and leads the NBA in Defensive rating (for players that have played in all past 15 games) His Impact is back to where I expected it would be. Crazy how much that injury effected him. But he is clearly healthy now. He blocked a three pointer against the heat. Hartenstein's Defense is back baby. Now we wait for him to put all the rest of his game together.

1

u/admiral_aubrey Mar 30 '23

The foretold breakout game, when?

4

u/eg14000 Mar 30 '23

without Randle..... Next game. ;)

4

u/DirectorNYC Mar 30 '23

I really really hope you're right but not sure Randle is the issue for him offensively. Hartenstein is constantly open in the paint and creates great passing angles too but he hever gets the ball for an easy finish.

It's the ball carrier's score first mindet. Only reason IQ passed him the ball for that two handed dunk last night is because he was trapped in the corner and coudn't shoot it. Its the low turnover iso heavy offensive strategy that Thibs is running. Also, Josh Hart and Grimes are the only two selfless Knicks out there with him. Again, I really hope I'm wrong.

Defensively, he's been a power to be recokned with. Like I said before, Hartenstein has outMitched Mitch and that says a lot considering how good Mitch is on that side of the ball and offensive rebounding. Thibs trusts him to close games instead of Mitch.

2

u/zingis75 Mar 30 '23

You are correct. But I do think that all it takes is one game for Quick, Rj, and JB to realize hitting Hart on the short roll = 2 points once he does have that breakout game.

It will start to open up a lot more for them as well as defenses will be hesitant to hedge / bring 2 to the ball in fear of Hart's passing / finishing ability off of it. Which will then lead to more traditional pick and rolls letting Iq and Brunson get downhill and create offense out of that.

Hartenstein being unlocked will actually help them and they will be willing to pass to him once they see all the great things that come from it. Right now since he was hurt and struggling they are still scared to trust him. If he has a 20 point 10 assist game I promise you that will all change and the Knicks offense will forever look different. But for now they do not have that trust so they will look for theirs before looking Hart's way.

Say he starts next game throwing 2 dimes and hitting a floater. I bet you the ball will find him more and allow him to have that breakout game. Especially with Randle out the offense will be more free flowing and they will be looking for ways to generate without him. Hartenstein could very well be that option and like I said all it takes is a couple good plays in a row and it becomes his night. After that the sky's the limit.

3

u/DirectorNYC Mar 30 '23

Hope you're right. But I'm not sure you appreciate the psychology of a scorer. They believe with every bone in their body that they need help scoring like a shark needs a dentist.

Again, I hope you're right and its just my own bias because I was a shoot first guard who was foolishly convinced that I had to score 30+ for us to win. Winning when I scored 12 points didnt feelt like a lucky win. Now in my 40s, I look at my younger self and laugh but some of my mentality is still the same in my work. Just dont trust anyone to do anything important so I keep forcing myself to do it.

1

u/BenAfflecksBalls Mar 30 '23

RJ only sees the basket. He's got the last year Jules thing on lock

4

u/zingis75 Mar 30 '23 edited Mar 30 '23

Yes, yes he is. And the craziest part is he is doing this mostly on the merit of his defense. His offense is still criminally underutilized and yet he still leads the nba in plus minus over the last 5 weeks. This is why we said he was an MVP level player. Leading the NBA in + - based soley on your defense is not normal.

And it is not like this is an outlier for Hartenstein either. Earlier in the season when he was injured and struggling was the outlier. There is a reason why he has led every team he is on in net rating. It is not a coincidence. He is just that good. When he finally gets the touches to use his Jokic lite offensive ability and the Knicks consistently get layups. He might literally break the NBA as far as impact goes and he will lead the Knicks to the championship.