Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wasn’t just upset at Marcus Morris. He was also ticked off at the Knicks organization concerning Morris’ free agent odyssey, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reports. Morris backed out of a verbal agreement with San Antonio and inked a one-year, $15MM contract with New York. “Who signed him? I thought it was the Knicks that signed him,” Popovich said. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
However, Popovich has made peace with Morris, as the two embraced after the teams played each other on Wednesday. “That meant a lot. I didn’t know how he felt,” Morris said. “I spoke to him after I made my decision. So it was good to clear the air.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- While the organization may have been disheartened by Kyrie Irving‘s decision to join the Nets, coach David Fizdale wasn’t caught off-guard by the All-Star point guard’s decision, Ian Begley of SNY TV reports. “Nothing surprises me anymore,” Fizdale said. “Guys are going to go where they feel is best for them,” he said. “He felt that that was best for him. I’m happy with the guys that we got.”
- Fizdale admits he’s still a long way from settling on a rotation, Begley notes in the same story. “I’m sure it’s tough for them (not) being set in a rotation. At the same time, we’re not there yet,” he said. “Some teams have the luxury to know here’s my starting five, here’s my backups. Everybody can just dial into when they’re going to play every single night. But right now we don’t have that luxury.”
- Elfrid Payton has apparently taken the lead in the starting point guard race after the opener, Marc Berman of the New York Post relays. Payton posted 11 points, eight assists and five steals with no turnovers as Dennis Smith and Frank Ntilikina struggled. Rookie RJ Barrett got the start in game one, but that experiment may be over, Berman writes. “By no means is this an indictment on anybody or stuck in stone,” Fizdale said. “I still want these guys to be fighting for that top spot.”
I didn’t know fizdale crossed town
NY is better off without Kyrie, he won’t get a ring in Brooklyn.
Kaylee Irving is the biggest wussy in professional sports, any sport. He sours when losses accumulate and poisons a locker room. He’ll ask to be traded 2 months from now
anyone who hugs popovich should do well to quickly take a bath thereafter and burn your clothes
Is that because you want to wash being the longest serving most respected coach in sports, or perhaps it’s the 5 championships. That’s just a ridiculous uninformed comment .
Thought Payton would win the PG job and he did. He’s a good passer and has improved quite abit as a defender. Atleast starting him next to Barrett takes pressure off Barrett to create for others all the time and it means he can also rest a little more on defence.
I still like DSJ but not in NY he looks down on confidence and don’t like his fit next to Barrett either. He would be good for a team like the Raptors if they go rebuild mode, the Pistons, the Wizards, Minnesota or Portland as a back up. Would be nice to see him with Bradley Beal in Washington maybe swap DSJ for Brown Jr and Schofield and a second or two