Factor that in with Frank being a 19 year-old kid playing nightly on the biggest stage possible under a microscope, and the shooting struggles basically all other 19 year olds from his class are currently dealing with in the NBA as well (literally all of Fultz, Ball, Fox, Dennis, and Monk, you can throw Josh Jackson in there as well), and you should understand that he can be a great shooter.



Frank was a 40+% 3-point shooter as an 18 year-old in Europe last year. He has great form and touch. You can see it start to come around with increased confidence and experience. Shooters don’t forget how to shoot the ball, there's just a adjustment period to being a 19 year-old Euro in the NBA due both to confidence and a further 3-point line.



I can say with complete honesty that I have followed Frank as a prospect for years. Not “followed” as in I actively tracked him and/or watched his games (shout out Strasbourg, France: BIG time FOP), but I did follow him as a prospect, watching videos and reading scouting reports/articles and that kind of thing for probably 1-2 years before he was drafted.

Two years ago he was considered to basically be a taller Rondo. A crafty PG and great defender with a HUGE wingspan, who couldn't shoot the rock for shit and wasn't a scoring threat.



Then last year he started shooting 40+% from 3 and had the dumb ass analysts at the NBA Draft, who are just consistently awful at evaluating Euro prospects year after year and probably just heard his name for the first time that week, claiming that he doesn't have a true position and might be better suited to play the 2 in the NBA. Despite the fact that he was considered to be as pure of a PG prospect as they come until he started shooting well.



Frank will be fine as a shooter. Honestly, and this isn’t IKFT I swear, it’s nothing to worry about when he struggles with it at this point. You saw it in Europe when he went from being a non-shooting threat to 40+% from 3. You're seeing it now with increased confidence, and you will likely continue to see it once he grows into his game even more and gets used to the NBA and bright lights of MSG.

Anyway, our Wandering Albatross led the Knicks in 4th quarter scoring with 7 points and dropped some absolute DIMES with 4 assists and 0 turnovers. His vision is astounding and even a lot of his turnovers are due to his teammates not being in the right spot. Particularly Beasley, because he is a Bucket getting Neanderthal who has no idea what to do without the ball in his hands trying to accumulate another Bucket (editor’s note: lost in all of his play, Frank is absolutely, undeniably SAUCY as a passer).

He would also serve the Lakers in general and Lonzo in particular some piping hot French ONION Soup (get it?! lol) with some huge crunch time buckets down the stretch, including a ICE COLD 3-point pull-up from the mothafucking logo with just over 4 minutes left and the Knicks up by 2.

Franky Nicotine was smoking hot on his way to a career high 13 points with 5 boards and assists to boot, playing a very complete overall game under control as well with only 1 turnover on the night. Lonzo, by comparison, had a nice game as well with a 17/7/6 statline, but had 0 points in the 4th quarter with Frank on his case for the full 12 minutes after lighting up Grandpa Jack in the 3rd.

KP would pick up where Frank left off with some clutch shots of his own in the homestretch to seemingly put this one away, but they would let it get away in the final minute as the Lake Show still had a little SHOWTIME magic left in them and their best rookie, Kyle Kuzma, sank a fast break three to tie the game at 99 with just under a 24 second shot-clock left.

KP would go on to brick a contested tough 3-point attempt at the buzzer, which was actually much closer to going in than it should have been considering the look he got. This has been one of my main gripes with the Knicks dating back to Carmelo.

They have been WAY too reliant and predictable in just giving their go-to option the final potential game-winning looks without any sort of creativity going into it to create open looks. This is why Melo and Porzingis have missed a ton of last second shots over the years.

It was never because someone like Melo got less clutch or something, but rather because we always gave him the ball for contested super low percentage looks. When you get low percentage looks you are going to convert at a low percentage, I don’t care how much time is left on the clock (editor’s note: flashback to the game against the Hornets in KPs rookie year. Everyone thought the ball was going to Melo, they gave it to KP - the second option at the time - for a wide open 3 that he sunk, just to get called off because the ball was on his fingernail when the buzzer sounded).

With 23 seconds and change on the clock there was no excuse for Hornacek to not be able to run something better than holding the ball for 15 seconds or so and allowing the Lakers to use their last foul to give with just over 4 seconds left, and then inbound the ball to Frank who could only get the ball to KP with enough time to shoot the ball without even gathering himself properly.

Anyway, this led to our first overtime of the season. The overtime period belonged to one man and one man only. Well not even a man, technically. If Nas Is Like the Afrocentric Asian, Half-Man-Half-Amazing, this guy is Half-Man-Half-Buckets. This man does two things. He walks and he gets Buckets. This man is Michael Beasley. And he was put on this Earth by the Bucket Gods themselves to do none other than get Buckets.

Beas Mode finished this game with 13 points in 22 minutes, not exactly a "point a minute" AKA “Walking Bucket Status.” But Beasley did play basically every single minute of crunch time for the first time all season. He was noticeably giving max effort on defense, and I feel like he has been buying more and more into the team concept as opposed to going out there with the mindset of just getting buckets and reviving his career… Which ironically should help him get buckets and revive his career, as he forces the issue less and lets the game come to him while he showcases to the League that he can be a serviceable Bucket getting role player within a team concept.

But. BUT. Hold on a sec. In OT, Beasley DID accumulate 6 points on 3 Buckets in 3 attempts in 4 minutes… That ECLIPSES “point a minute” AKA “Walking Bucket Status” (editor’s note: Double “Walking Bucket Status”? Scary stuff) as he put the Knicks on his back and played the Hero. Sound the mothafucking “Walking Bucket Status” siren ladies and gentlemen, Beas Mode is BACK!

The Beas also picked up an assist, offensive rebound, and steal in overtime as he was simply too dominant for the Lake Show to overcome. The win did not come without a little help from Luke Walton, who had one of the most preposterous non-fouling sequences I have seen in a long time when he let the Knicks run the clock down with 28 seconds left in OT up by 4. KP chipped in with 4 points as well in the extra period and Lonzo was once again held without a field goal with Franky Wingspan on his case.

Not much more I can ask for than SHOWTIME at the World’s Most Famous Arena in a W with my 3 guys (KP, Frank, and Beasley) leading the charge. What more is there to say? I still don’t think the Knicks are very good, and this was a home game against a not so good NBA team, but this game was definitely exciting and fun to watch. I still don’t take back anything I wrote in my last rant, but I was definitely drawn in the entire time by this lively game on the floor and the hectic MSG atmosphere and drama off the floor.

Even Nasty Nas came out of the woodwork to shout the Knicks out on Instagram after the game, an obvious shot at the disrespectful BBB clan (editor’s note: A+ trolling with the LeKnick-esque grudge-holding by the GOAT). KP made sure that the Knicks went out and got it done for Nasty the Villain.

I mean, this W wasn’t just for the Knicks; it was for all of NYC. For all the boroughs and people in this great city that Represent the New York State of Mind.

This goes out to Manhattan. The Island of Staten. Brooklyn and Queens is living phat, and the Boogie Down, enough props enough clout.

Ill Will rest in peace yo, I’m out.

... EXCEPT for Nets fans. This W does not go out to any of those hipster bastards. Fucking BROOKLYN on deck for tonight. I really hate the Nets. Stay tuned…

As always, go Knicks, go Orange and Blue, and Stay Faithful… GO NY GO NY GO!!!!

- Michael Lenok