Welcome to Glass Slipper! Only five Saturdays without college football are left. We’re almost there; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

After decades of mismanagement and dysfunction, the Knicks are suddenly one of the most fun teams in sports. Not only does New York have real championship aspirations, but its roster is going to be connected by some unprecedented chemistry.

Imagine getting paid millions of dollars to play a children’s game with your college friends. That sounds like the feel-good ending to a 90-minute summer family flick. With Jalen Brunson deciding to take a massive pay cut, these Villanova guys are in it for the long haul together. Add in OG Anunoby and Julius Randle, and this is a core with a legitimate chance to foil Boston’s dynastic plans.

There’s really only one major problem here. Mitchell Robinson is the starting center, and he cannot make a free throw. Every offseason, a video surfaces of the 26-year-old draining five straight in an empty gym. Knicks fans on Twitter rejoice, believing that his struggles are finally a thing of the past. But when the real games start, the frustrations return.

I’m a big fan of Robinson; he seems like an awesome person. But those are not the numbers of a guy that’s truly focused on correcting his glaring flaw as a basketball player. The most irritating part is that Robinson is an elite rebounder and rim protector, who otherwise makes a profound positive impact on winning.

He simply can’t be on the floor in crunch time, though. There isn’t a coach in the sport that is too proud to play the Hack-a-Shaq game, even on the biggest stages. Don Nelson originated the modern version of the tactic, and Gregg Popovich utilized it in the postseason. We watched Mark Daigneault put Dereck Lively II at the line just a couple of months ago. The 73-9 Warriors hacked Tristan Thompson in Game 5 of the 2016 Finals when Steve Kerr couldn’t find an answer for LeBron and Kyrie. If I was coaching against New York in a playoff series, I’m making Robinson shoot 40 free throws in the fourth quarter of each contest. Oh, you’ve been working on these all summer? Go show me.

Tom Thibodeau has a few options outside of Robinson, but none of them are great. He could slide Randle to the five, where his physicality and rebounding actually make a lot of sense. But the 29-year-old is too small to protect the rim effectively. It’s the same story with Precious Achiuwa, if he even decides to re-sign with the team. Jericho Sims and that freakish 44.5-inch vertical sound enticing on paper, until you realize that he’s not very good at actual basketball. The Knicks need to be looking outside of their own facility to find a guy that can be trusted down the stretch.

Recreating a dominant college squad is really cool, but none of it matters if there’s no center on the roster that can close games. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid both play in the conference; having a big that can hold things down on the interior is pretty important. I certainly hope Robinson buries his free throws and becomes that player; I’m rooting for him to prove me wrong. But I’ll believe it when I see it.

Pressroom

Spin It

“How Bizarre” by OMC. Enjoy the best hook in music history.