Chandler wrote:

VDesai wrote:

Chandler wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

VDesai wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:Bridges with 35 seconds, wow

KAT fouling out was huge. Duren is trying to box out Mitch and is out of the position and Mikal sneaks in. Mitch then makes a huge defensive play on Cade's shot the other end. Mitch in the last min makes a big difference.

Mitch was ghastly ALL NIGHT LONG --- a -10 in 13 minutes with 3 boards, 0 blocks and 1 point ---- plus fact Pistons targeting him via hack.
I forget sometimes but then Mitch quickly reminds me how bad he is at basketball -- he's challenging Duece for biggest disappointment in playoffs.

Kat +8 and 15 boards but was crappy on offense.

Mitch had a couple of good moments, but I agree a huge disappointment. He should have been feasting on the boards. And however many years later he still brings the ball down after offensive rebounds instead of keeping it high. And it's not like he lacked time to improve his FTs

Kat hit a couple of tough buckets. He will be MUCH better in the next series. I don't know how Boston will guard him. their bigs are softies

They will guard him with Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum as we have seen all year- which means he needs to establish low post and if Hart is guarded by KP, Hart has to draw him away from the basket to not allow him to just feast on blocks at the rim. The Knicks countering this defense will be the difference between losing another 4 straight and making this a competitive series.

hart isn't drawing anyone outside until he knocks down some threes consistently.

7/14 this series. Needs to take a few more, but also can draw defenders as long as he's making a quick read to drive or pass as well. I thought he had a really good series and brought the most consistent effort. It will be a huge challenge for him against Boston.

martin wrote:

Chandler wrote:

martin wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:Thibs made adjustments after game 2 and after game 5. Give him SOME credit. After game 2 he started hiding Brunson on Thompson on defense which helped us big time in games 3 and 4 until Pistons figured out how to exploit it in games 5. Thibs made adjustments after that because we rarely saw any high low baseline dunks from Duren to Thompson last night.

Also I rewatched the last couple mins and Josh Hart’s help defense was REALLY good on our last few defensive stops. Those stops were all schemes the way we navigating the Cade PnR and rotated the help. So give Thibs a little credit where it’s due. I don’t think he’s right for this team going forward but he had some bright spots in this series along with some sour spots.

Thibs isn't maximizing this roster I agree, but I don't think he's the problem either. I start to see more and more it's KAT's defense and just clumsy offensive game.

Ugh I still haven't watched all of the losses and didn't catch last nights game so I'll start there.

I'm super curious to see how Leon handles this offseason and if he continues to build around Brunson and KAT or deviates.

The 3 guys I'd guess are untouchable are Brunson, Hart, OG.

KAT is untouchable. So is Mikal. it's just their first year. those guys get 2 and I expect continued improvement

biggest issue IMO is our assistant coaches who are Thibs' call. they are dinosaurs.

Next biggest issue, and this is a big one, is you need at least one guy off the bench with real swagger and clutch gene.

If thibs wanted my advice, I'd say Mitch and McBride are talented and valuable assets for a trade. We need someone like Donte or SHroeder. They can suck all game, or all year, but will show up for the real battles. right now Mitch and McBride are wilting in the moment. I love both guys but they don't have that killer instinct we need

I think that both of those guys have a TON of upside even within the current starting and rotation of players.

I'd also add that I don't think they are untouchable in the right roster adjustments and what is available on the trade market.

I'm still wondering if Leon is building around KAT and Brunson or more Brunson and what he needs.

Maybe this is not a straight line but Leon didn't think Randle/DDV were the right mix, even with how much both gave. iHart leaving had some to do with this move too but I think the underlying was there.

you can quibble on starting 5 but we have good chemistry and great talent

our bench is missing the most obvious piece: a bone fide 6th man with chops. we can even go the veteran route for guys who still have game. Not going to happen but imagine a Derozan.

martin wrote:

Chandler wrote:

martin wrote:

Chandler wrote:

martin wrote:

DLeethal wrote:FWIW Monica’s radio call credits the “fly by screen” from Bridges to cause Thompson jump and overplay the left side which Brunson used to put him on skates.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJJrp7xxv16/?igsh=b2pweTRpaWU4d3l3

I’ve been dogging Thibs all series so you have to give him credit when 1) we haven’t seen this particular action all year up until now and 2) it worked.

Monica is so expressive when watching. I love her calling games.

yes but does she want to enter the existential fray of whether that was a ghost screen or not.

She's a Thibs lover so that makes her biased and thus cannot have a basketball opinion.

if Clyde retires she should get the call. Send Wally out to pasture at this point

Yes to this. For whatever reason I don't mind Wally in the studio but hate him on game call.

Feel like Hahn is angling for it too. What about random announcer guy standing up for that call. I love it.

HofstraBBall wrote:

Clean wrote:

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/LakeShowYo/status/1918130825130065929

This is the perfect example of the coach drawing up an amazing play. The player fumbled but the coach got him an open shot. Look at this play vs the Thibs play we were talking about before. If you can't see the difference in quality I can't help you.

How did it turn out?

Every fan has this dream of drawing up fancy plays. But if you have played or coached you would know plans usually change with every pass and additional detail. Reason why so many coaches like ISO and PnR. Simple play that has few working parts.
ImHO, a play with this many passes was a bad call. One, for reason I just mentioned above. And 2 with 4 seconds left you do not draw up a play that has that many components. You end up getting a rushed shot.

I've watched this "play" probably 20 times now. Malik is curling around the arc (literally following the arc from one side of court to the other), through a scrum (initiated by McBride channeling his football instincts and holding some guys up) and is moving sideways/backwards for the pass. I'm not buying that this was the play so much as what materialized out of the scrum

I think the play was Cade all along and he got small nads, and rattled by Mikal's blitz. And even if Malik caught the ball he was going to need to get his feet under him and I'm not sure he'd be so open by then

the difference in this series is even if Cade played well he'd miss or fumble that critical shot, and JB and KAT did not

Detroits biggest shots were from others, e.g., Schroeder.

That said, as I urged before the play we needed to cover Beasley and Harris because I didn't fear Cade (would live with that), and we somehow let Beasley get free

nycericanguy wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

VDesai wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:Bridges with 35 seconds, wow

KAT fouling out was huge. Duren is trying to box out Mitch and is out of the position and Mikal sneaks in. Mitch then makes a huge defensive play on Cade's shot the other end. Mitch in the last min makes a big difference.

Mitch was ghastly ALL NIGHT LONG --- a -10 in 13 minutes with 3 boards, 0 blocks and 1 point ---- plus fact Pistons targeting him via hack.
I forget sometimes but then Mitch quickly reminds me how bad he is at basketball -- he's challenging Duece for biggest disappointment in playoffs.

Kat +8 and 15 boards but was crappy on offense.

I'm not a huge fan of +/- for 1 game sample sizes but if you want to use that he had 13/11/2/2 and a team high +9 in just 23 minutes the previous game.

Don't think he's 100% in game shape, feels like things are moving a bit fast for him, but we need him.

I don't blame Mitch as much as his teammates. I feel we went years with Mitch and recognized his limitations and didn't put him in crappy positions. This current team is constantly passing him the ball in spots he should never get passed too. Maybe it's a chemistry thing and also a big shift playing with KAT to Mitch in terms of where you can hit the big man with the ball, but it's mostly not a Mitch problem. We know Mitch can't do that stuff. We got by for years with him just fine.

martin wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:Thibs made adjustments after game 2 and after game 5. Give him SOME credit. After game 2 he started hiding Brunson on Thompson on defense which helped us big time in games 3 and 4 until Pistons figured out how to exploit it in games 5. Thibs made adjustments after that because we rarely saw any high low baseline dunks from Duren to Thompson last night.

Also I rewatched the last couple mins and Josh Hart’s help defense was REALLY good on our last few defensive stops. Those stops were all schemes the way we navigating the Cade PnR and rotated the help. So give Thibs a little credit where it’s due. I don’t think he’s right for this team going forward but he had some bright spots in this series along with some sour spots.

Thibs isn't maximizing this roster I agree, but I don't think he's the problem either. I start to see more and more it's KAT's defense and just clumsy offensive game.

Ugh I still haven't watched all of the losses and didn't catch last nights game so I'll start there.

I'm super curious to see how Leon handles this offseason and if he continues to build around Brunson and KAT or deviates.

The 3 guys I'd guess are untouchable are Brunson, Hart, OG.

I think the KAT experiment can work, but we need the right big off the bench that can play on/off with him. Someone like Naz Reid who can play 25 mins and play backup C and play PF/C with Towns. I don't think Mitch is that guy. But I think Towns has shown enough that you keep this core intact unless your making a move for Giannis. There are many gaps we can fill on this team around the margins, I think we try to fill those first.

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

VDesai wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:Bridges with 35 seconds, wow

KAT fouling out was huge. Duren is trying to box out Mitch and is out of the position and Mikal sneaks in. Mitch then makes a huge defensive play on Cade's shot the other end. Mitch in the last min makes a big difference.

Mitch was ghastly ALL NIGHT LONG --- a -10 in 13 minutes with 3 boards, 0 blocks and 1 point ---- plus fact Pistons targeting him via hack.
I forget sometimes but then Mitch quickly reminds me how bad he is at basketball -- he's challenging Duece for biggest disappointment in playoffs.

Kat +8 and 15 boards but was crappy on offense.

I'm not a huge fan of +/- for 1 game sample sizes but if you want to use that he had 13/11/2/2 and a team high +9 in just 23 minutes the previous game.

Don't think he's 100% in game shape, feels like things are moving a bit fast for him, but we need him.

I don't blame Mitch as much as his teammates. I feel we went years with Mitch and recognized his limitations and didn't put him in crappy positions. This current team is constantly passing him the ball in spots he should never get passed too. Maybe it's a chemistry thing and also a big shift playing with KAT to Mitch in terms of where you can hit the big man with the ball, but it's mostly not a Mitch problem. We know Mitch can't do that stuff. We got by for years with him just fine.

100%... very frustrating. Especially considering he's clearly not 100% in game shape and a step behind. Let him defend and rebound!

Chandler wrote:

martin wrote:

Chandler wrote:

martin wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:Thibs made adjustments after game 2 and after game 5. Give him SOME credit. After game 2 he started hiding Brunson on Thompson on defense which helped us big time in games 3 and 4 until Pistons figured out how to exploit it in games 5. Thibs made adjustments after that because we rarely saw any high low baseline dunks from Duren to Thompson last night.

Also I rewatched the last couple mins and Josh Hart’s help defense was REALLY good on our last few defensive stops. Those stops were all schemes the way we navigating the Cade PnR and rotated the help. So give Thibs a little credit where it’s due. I don’t think he’s right for this team going forward but he had some bright spots in this series along with some sour spots.

Thibs isn't maximizing this roster I agree, but I don't think he's the problem either. I start to see more and more it's KAT's defense and just clumsy offensive game.

Ugh I still haven't watched all of the losses and didn't catch last nights game so I'll start there.

I'm super curious to see how Leon handles this offseason and if he continues to build around Brunson and KAT or deviates.

The 3 guys I'd guess are untouchable are Brunson, Hart, OG.

KAT is untouchable. So is Mikal. it's just their first year. those guys get 2 and I expect continued improvement

biggest issue IMO is our assistant coaches who are Thibs' call. they are dinosaurs.

Next biggest issue, and this is a big one, is you need at least one guy off the bench with real swagger and clutch gene.

If thibs wanted my advice, I'd say Mitch and McBride are talented and valuable assets for a trade. We need someone like Donte or SHroeder. They can suck all game, or all year, but will show up for the real battles. right now Mitch and McBride are wilting in the moment. I love both guys but they don't have that killer instinct we need

I think that both of those guys have a TON of upside even within the current starting and rotation of players.

I'd also add that I don't think they are untouchable in the right roster adjustments and what is available on the trade market.

I'm still wondering if Leon is building around KAT and Brunson or more Brunson and what he needs.

Maybe this is not a straight line but Leon didn't think Randle/DDV were the right mix, even with how much both gave. iHart leaving had some to do with this move too but I think the underlying was there.

you can quibble on starting 5 but we have good chemistry and great talent

our bench is missing the most obvious piece: a bone fide 6th man with chops. we can even go the veteran route for guys who still have game. Not going to happen but imagine a Derozan.

We could use Derozan off the bench but he’s under contract with the kings 2 more years. He isn’t better than Hart at this point of his career(Hart might be better) but the Knicks need bodies especially ones that can function in the playoffs.

nycericanguy wrote:I don't think KAT or Mikal are untouchable at all, heck neither is OG IMO. Especially if Giannis becomes available, I could easily see us offering KAT and either Mikal or OG. Brunson is the only untouchable.

That would be too much even for Giannis. I’d offer Mikal and Hart tho.

Supposedly Spurs are the favorites. They have a lot of draft picks next several years and are way under the cap plus Silver wants to put Giannis with Wemby together and create another international superteam

DLeethal wrote:

martin wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:Thibs made adjustments after game 2 and after game 5. Give him SOME credit. After game 2 he started hiding Brunson on Thompson on defense which helped us big time in games 3 and 4 until Pistons figured out how to exploit it in games 5. Thibs made adjustments after that because we rarely saw any high low baseline dunks from Duren to Thompson last night.

Also I rewatched the last couple mins and Josh Hart’s help defense was REALLY good on our last few defensive stops. Those stops were all schemes the way we navigating the Cade PnR and rotated the help. So give Thibs a little credit where it’s due. I don’t think he’s right for this team going forward but he had some bright spots in this series along with some sour spots.

Thibs isn't maximizing this roster I agree, but I don't think he's the problem either. I start to see more and more it's KAT's defense and just clumsy offensive game.

Ugh I still haven't watched all of the losses and didn't catch last nights game so I'll start there.

I'm super curious to see how Leon handles this offseason and if he continues to build around Brunson and KAT or deviates.

The 3 guys I'd guess are untouchable are Brunson, Hart, OG.

I think the KAT experiment can work, but we need the right big off the bench that can play on/off with him. Someone like Naz Reid who can play 25 mins and play backup C and play PF/C with Towns. I don't think Mitch is that guy. But I think Towns has shown enough that you keep this core intact unless your making a move for Giannis. There are many gaps we can fill on this team around the margins, I think we try to fill those first.

I think Naz kind of exacerbates the issues we already have with KAT defensively. I think they need more of a JJJ type player. A four who can also protect the rim. Unfortunately, those players don't grow on trees