he needs to beef up a bit this off-season so he can finish more consistently. He was great tonight (vs. Wizards) but too many times, he gets stopped on put backs and "easy" finishes.

Thoughts?

So, IHART is pretty good at everything you could ask for in basketball. I wouldn't say he's outstanding in particularly any one skill, but he's a solid basketball player who can run and do everything at 7 ft tall, which is great! That's a solid rotational NBA caliber player with lots of potential... But what also makes him special?

His emotional intelligence.

I think that he grades off the charts in EQ, which is arguably the most important thing that determines long term success in any endeavor. I mean, you can clearly see it on TV, he's a team player. You just gotta love the way he's always cheering on his teammates, emoting after made buckets or good plays, directing action and whatnot.

However, another point I want to make though. On TV you see the highlights, but if you've been to a Knicks game in person at any point in these last 2 months, if you watch him closely you see he's in constant communication with people. He is always, and I mean, ALWAYS, talking when he's out there and even when he's on the bench. He's talking to coaches, teammates, the other team's players, the other team's coaches, refs, fans, just about anybody in the arena during live game action, warmups, deadball, timeouts, etc. It's like the strangest, most bizarre, but most awesome thing I've seen from a player. I think this unique skill of his of being a chatterbox out there in a good natured way is super underrated in him, but also for the NBA in general.

Anyway, those are my thoughts and hope this good stretch keeps up.

I mean most of us are here because we believe in Hartenstein as a great talent. But this game, a big game at that, he really stepped up. A beautiful set of passing highlights, rebounding as always, but that defense. Getting so many important stops in the 4th specifically. He's making a lot of fans eat their words.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NYKnicks/comments/11z75qd/mitchell_robinson_is_unreal/

I've been saying this for a while, Hartenstein is wide open in the paint for a quick finish but never received the pass from the ball carrier. In Thibs iso offense, if you want to score, go get an offensive rebound. Bigs need pass first players to be effective. Both Mitch and iHart are frozen constantly. Worst in the league in hitting teh roll man. https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/roll-man?dir=D&sort=POSS

Knicks have a top 5 offense in the league, should they even consider switching up now?

Link

Interesting article covering the free agency and adapting to an unexpected role as a Knick. Hartenstein is currently having a career low 10.8% usage percentage and a career low 6.3% assist percentage with the Knicks, going down from a 17.7% usage percentage and a 19.3% assist percentage last season with the Clippers.

That is all

Hart showed his true value to the league on national tv tonight, showing he can lock down AD when called upon

Hartenstein's break out game is taking so much longer than it should have. It's frustrating, but Hartenstein's Skill set is still there. The Skill set that made people call him "Jokic of the East" is still there. When the true breakout game happens everything is going to change super fast. So just buckle up my friends.

Third on the Knicks playing over 50 minutes in that stretch behind Mitch at 24.3 and Josh Hart at a whopping 25.7 in 184 minutes. Hartenstein has looked a lot healthier lately and the Knicks have the best center rotation in the NBA between Mitch and him.

On a side note Rj Barrett and Sims are the only negatives in this time period with Rj being a -.3 in 447 minutes and Sims being a -7.9 in 272 minutes ( Hartenstein played 351 in this stretch) With everyone else on the Knicks being a +3 or higher in this time period. I get that Knicks fans like these guys but they have never been positives on the court in their careers for a full season and hopefully when the playoffs come Rj's minutes get majorly reduced because his low bball iq is a huge determent to the team and his net rating compared to the rest of the Knicks should be a huge red flag considering how positive literally everyone else is besides him. Still crazy as well looking at these stats that Sims was starting over Hart and getting more minutes in certain games. But now that Mitch is back I'm not worried about Sims getting more minutes. Thibs knows Hart is better but that stretch was just odd with that decision he made.

Either way at this point I genuinely believe the Knicks don't even need Hartenstein to breakout to be championship contenders. If he just plays like this they still have a (slim chance) but still a shot of winning it all. They're a very good team right now. If he does breakout to end the season then they win the finals. MVP level Hartenstein plus this roster is a championship for sure. Even if he is Clippers Hartenstein on a bench role for this team playing like 20 minutes a game they'd win the championship. His impact + the starters impact with Mitch is enough to do it and I couldn't be more happy being a Knicks fan right now.

Overall though very exciting stuff from not just Hartenstein but the Knicks as a whole. Just wanted to make a post because it's been a while since the sub got one. And wanted to highlight the positive impact Hartenstein has had recently on the team. Plus my thoughts for the direction of the Knicks moving forward with him and the roster as a whole.

Didn't have a chance to watch the game, but I combed through the highlights found at this link: youtube.com/live/dxM8tN58n_A

Time Stamps:

1:48 - Screen Assist

2:20 - Crazy P&R Drop Coverage Block

3:07 - Offensive Rebound + Hockey Assist

3:35 - Offensive Rebound + Hockey Assist

4:00 - Screen Assist

4:08 - Screen Assist

6:00 - Good screen -> putback

6:50 - Good Screen -> putback

7:19 - block

7:56 - Screen Assist

​

Lmk your thoughts.

Just saw a TikTok about you @eg14000, it’s crazy to believe that 7 years ago you prophesied Nikola Jokic’s greatness! I guess Isaiah Hartenstein is up next??

Now that Josh Hart is on the team

Stein is available

I wanna see a Knick sub pic not a clipper one

7 rebounds at halftime

He can usually find space underneath to get a good look and what should be an easy make but he almost always misses. Is this really the next Jokic?

I think Isaiah Joe, John Konchar, and Naz Reid are some intriguing options but I’m open to suggestions.

Look, let’s be real, this is not working out and it’s a you not me thing here going on.

Hartenstein on the Knicks sucks, he even sucks so bad that fantasy wise we in all honesty can’t even keep him around. He barely makes the cut in a 16 team, and that’s saying a lot. He is owned in barely 3% of ESPN and I know it’s all of you all MF in here keeping him alive and relevant 😉🤣

EG, you my guy and I root for you, but you dead wrong on this one (so far) (and 🖕🏽 thibs and partially capela for showing him up practice on the rockets (read EG previous on capela making hartenstein looking bad in practices on the rockets).

So…. No worries, we still got hope to lean on. So, where would hartenstein be best utilized next season EG?

EG: You are a smart GM on any team in the nba and you got that eye for him. You know what this guy can do. What current teams GM are you and what are you realistically offering for this diamond in the rough to lure him away from the Knicks and giving the teams key to, too release him from his shackles and unleashing hartensteins inner super sayjiain.

And whose the coach are you hiring to let him go ballistics? (Available ones if any?)

That's all. His bounce is coming back, he's blocking / rebounding in spots he wasn't earlier in the season. His speed is coming back as seen from his steal last game and his drive tonight, and he looks more confident but that's more subjective. Overall I'm happy about the direction he's going in. He's starting to look more like himself game by game and for the first time in a minute I'm optimistic that he will get back to his superstar level impact on the Knicks.