Alpha1971 wrote:

Knicksfan wrote:

martin wrote:Old school, to get the blood flowing

When perfection happened

2 thumbs up and a few inches too. I fell asleep during the game and missed it. Old man energy !Had I only had seen this picture pre game.

Damn man how could you fall asleep during this game! It was fire

DLeethal wrote:IMO a big strong dude like Duran that has a little bit of ball skills who can play 25mpg and play next to Towns a bunch is exactly what we need to find for next year along with some better bench help (which might already be on the roster with Pacome and Kolek). Love Mitch but he's not the answer, clearly we need someone who can catch the ball and move it around just a little bit on offense. Maybe we finally get Walker Kessler over here. I think were at the point where you can trade McBride for him if you have to.

It's wild to me that 2 things haven't happened over the years: barely anyone does the alley oop thing to Mitch when he is just right there. And, why does anyone thing Mitch will catch a pass in traffic? Like EVER

nycericanguy wrote:Mikal in a vacuum is a better player than Donte on both ends, but fit wise I can see how Donte could fit this team better.

Donte is such a dawg - its not really about his skill level, but its about his mentality. He is one of the most fearless/confident players in the league and he backs down from literally nothing and no one. A lot of hustle/grit/toughness that goes with that shooting. That said he also had a pretty good bball IQ and disrupted passing lanes, moved the ball, made good cuts, found good space to shoot etc.

NYKBocker wrote:I love the subtle change in how they defended Cade. Game 2, OG was fighting over screens to get back to be the primary defender. Last night, they switched right away when it was Mikal or Josh and forced that fooker left. OG also when it was KAT or Brunson was on the PnR defense with him would sprint under to a spot and meet Cade there instead of fighting through pick. This is important since Cade doesn't have that quick release to make you pay when you go under. Simple adjustments. I love it.

You are right about this. Cade was seeking out Mikal on the switch in Game 2 and getting him, but Mikal did a way better job this this game and used his long arms to disrupt. He was more physical in general. I think Josh has also done a great job on these switches and gets right in Cade's face. He's forced some turnovers/passes. Cade is maybe the best in the NBA with that one handed floater in the paint, but he's not great on a pull up/step back 3 and he tends to get engulfed closer to the basket. He still will cough up some turnovers as well. As he cleans all this up, he is gonna be a monster, but for now we have to exploit what he can't do or makes mistakes on.

VDesai wrote:

martin wrote:

DLeethal wrote:IMO a big strong dude like Duran that has a little bit of ball skills who can play 25mpg and play next to Towns a bunch is exactly what we need to find for next year along with some better bench help (which might already be on the roster with Pacome and Kolek). Love Mitch but he's not the answer, clearly we need someone who can catch the ball and move it around just a little bit on offense. Maybe we finally get Walker Kessler over here. I think were at the point where you can trade McBride for him if you have to.

It's wild to me that 2 things haven't happened over the years: barely anyone does the alley oop thing to Mitch when he is just right there. And, why does anyone thing Mitch will catch a pass in traffic? Like EVER

I feel like we keep trying to throw him alley oops and they all look bad. I don't know, maybe these are bad passes, but maybe we have to accept that Mitch kind of has bad hands/ball awareness. For as much as he's a beast on the boards, its been a pattern in his career where rebounds slip out of his hands. he misses tips, can't convert alley oops, etc.

I think Mitch did some nice things last night, but Paul Reed gave him fits. Have to admire Reed's hustle and pursuit of the ball. I feel like the board keeps talking about Duren, and Duren had a good stretch of pick and roll, but Reed really hurt us last night and was key to their 4th quarter run after we went up 11 mid way though. Reed was beating us to all the 50/50 balls. 8 rebs in 16 min and he had a pretty massive block on OG.

Our bench has some good players but pretty much all of them are just not the right fit. I would even include Deuce in there as a very undersized 2 who cannot run an offense. Shamet is too small for what we need in the wing spot off the bench. Payne is just a vet min journeyman, not the answer as Brunson's backup. Deuce is a good spark plug but not an ideal backup 2 due to his size. Mitch isn't the right guy at the big man spot to play on/off with KAT and blend into both units.

I think moving Hart to the bench next year gets us a legit versatile bench weapon and we start from there. But we pretty much need to address all bench spots next year IMO. Maybe Kolek and Dadiet develop into spots, both have the skillset to replace Payne and Shamet.

MIN could use another consistent scorer and defender who can start next to Ant. DDV off the bench for 25mpg is kind of a waste on that team.

but the Knicks would need more.

Maybe Mcdaniels and DDV for Mikal?

nycericanguy wrote:the crazy thing is a Mikal for Donte trade actually would make sense.

MIN could use another consistent scorer and defender who can start next to Ant. DDV off the bench for 25mpg is kind of a waste on that team.

but the Knicks would need more.

Maybe Mcdaniels and DDV for Mikal?

McDaniels probably too valuable for them to do that. Maybe they would S&T Alexander-Walker to us with DDV for Kal. That could work well for both teams and Alexander-Walker is an excellent perimeter defender.

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

VDesai wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:Mikal in a vacuum is a better player than Donte on both ends, but fit wise I can see how Donte could fit this team better.

Donte is such a dawg - its not really about his skill level, but its about his mentality. He is one of the most fearless/confident players in the league and he backs down from literally nothing and no one. A lot of hustle/grit/toughness that goes with that shooting. That said he also had a pretty good bball IQ and disrupted passing lanes, moved the ball, made good cuts, found good space to shoot etc.

Mikal isn't soft though, just different skillsets

Mikal is definitely soft lol

I think he's quiet, like Allan houston was, but I don't view him as soft. he's not afraid in big moments, not afraid to guard the best opposing player. He's a guy you can trust to make right plays down the stretch.

Randle was a guy that LOOKED tough, but did you trust him guarding the best player? did you trust his mental late in games not to panic and keep his head on straight?

I think Mikal is easily shakeable. He loses his confidence quick and gains it back quick, but it's fickle. He's definitely not a fearless player IMO like Dante. Also, he is allergic to physicality.

I think you are putting many qualities of "being a good basketball player" into the "tough versus soft" conversation. Mikal is a very good basketball player. But he's got a shaky makeup and he's a big reason we are a team that got punked a lot this year by physical teams. Also, he gets cooked all the time nowadays on D and allows teams to put small nothing burger defenders on him and more often than not does not make them pay a big price for it.