DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

Dragon wrote:We won because we played the players who can defend, as simple as that. we can't outrun Indy on offense, but if we play defense then we can win games.

KAT definitely looked much better defensively with defenders around him. Deuce & Wright were huge and honestly Shamet defended his ass off too.

Might have to stagger the KAT/Brunson minutes a bit so they dont play too much together.

Because its crazy but we look better at times with Deuce out there.

Our wings are much bigger than Indiana’s. Hali, Nembhard, Nesmith are all very small and quick. Deuce has been the only guy who can keep up and fight over screens. So when you add Wright and Shamet we can actually hang with these guys on defense and in the speed / rotation department.

Wright is a keeper man. I hope he sticks next year even as just a depth piece.

I’ve been impressed w Wright. A-hole Reggie didn’t even know his name. Called him Dorian in his first (26 second) game. Harlan corrected him

I hope this wasn’t a one-off, and we will see more of Wright and Shamet going forward. Maybe even a few minutes for Huk so Mitch doesn’t get worn down, and more susceptible to injuries.

I agree about Brunson and ball stopping. All the more frustrating because JB is a first rate floor general when he wants to be one.

Great to see KAT have a strong 4th quarter. Has to hold on to that sense of urgency.

Chandler wrote:

DLeethal wrote:One thing I have noticed is how bad Towns is at setting screens. He’s probably too scared to get offensive fouls. Mitch is better but not great at it either. This team needs a legit screen setter for Brunson. Nesmith has no problem getting over every single screen.

Is he bad or is it the guard’s fault? Honest question.

He sticks his hop out a lot and gets dumb fouls but sometimes I thing the guard needs to brush tighter

Regardless just like he needs to control his hands he needs to stop w the hip. Refs are obviously looking for it and calling it.

Idk but he doesn’t ever make contact or create separation. I’m sure he’s scared of fouling.

DLeethal wrote:After game 2 against Boston is was exhilarating to be up 2-0 but I didn’t feel good about how we were playing, falling down 20 in each game. It didn’t seem like we had legit control of the series and just kind of stole a couple games. Last nights win doesn’t feel good either. But we followed the Boston games up with two of our best games of the season. We can do something similar here and regain control of momentum and get the upper hand again. Next game feels like game 4 against Boston in a big way.

i feel good. the emergence of Wright, and Thibs willing to start Mitch. Hopefully something clicked defensively now.

3 games, 149 minutes and IND has outscored us by 2 points total. This is an even series so far and we could easily be up 2-1.

I don’t think the staggering is as important on defense (I.e., pacers can still hunt whoever is on court) as it has been on offense in terms of getting KAT aggressive. The answer is to feed KAT more, play him w Mitch, and have Brunson more off ball

The extra length of double bigs also helps neutralize siakam who is very effective at exploiting smaller defenders

Would have been nice to see cam hit some shots but he’s been a dud. Wright has been an impactful wrinkle.

GustavBahler wrote:I’m glad Thibs finally decided to use his bench. I believe Thibs doesn’t value enough the element of surprise. Putting in Shamet and Wright made the offense a lot less predictable. Almost immediately the ball started to move like it does with Indy. It’s easier to game plan a defense for 7 players vs. 9 or 10. More variables with a deep bench.

I hope this wasn’t a one-off, and we will see more of Wright and Shamet going forward. Maybe even a few minutes for Huk so Mitch doesn’t get worn down, and more susceptible to injuries.

I agree about Brunson and ball stopping. All the more frustrating because JB is a first rate floor general when he wants to be one.

Great to see KAT have a strong 4th quarter. Has to hold on to that sense of urgency.

I agree with everything EXCEPT the floor general part. JB has the mind of a superstar, mentored by Kobe Bryant. He wants to lead a team, which is great. But he’s not hali. JB is not a traditional playmaking PG and I’m sure you know this, so forgive me if I’m preaching to the choir. He’s a scoring guard first with playmaking potential 2nd. I would love for him to be more of a playmaker, but that take time and experience. But since HS he’s been a scoring guard. Jay wright said he was putting up 50 pt games in HS. Can we win a chip with him, hell yeah.

This reel with jay wright talks about JB and how much of a killer he is. But I’m glad Thibs staggered their mins together. Two alpha players who excels when they both go into tunnel vision mode (aka RJ ). As a playmaker JB is good. But as a 4th quarter closer, he’s a superstar. Hopefully Thibs doesn’t repeat old mistakes and now sees the recipe to beat Indy. Play your defensive guards. Find room the the rotation for wright and shamett. 9 man rotation all the way to a chip. If our top 7 is working fine. If not we have a backup plan.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJK1SQeRhcT/?igsh=MTB3NjhncDVweWwyMQ==

blkexec wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:I’m glad Thibs finally decided to use his bench. I believe Thibs doesn’t value enough the element of surprise. Putting in Shamet and Wright made the offense a lot less predictable. Almost immediately the ball started to move like it does with Indy. It’s easier to game plan a defense for 7 players vs. 9 or 10. More variables with a deep bench.

I hope this wasn’t a one-off, and we will see more of Wright and Shamet going forward. Maybe even a few minutes for Huk so Mitch doesn’t get worn down, and more susceptible to injuries.

I agree about Brunson and ball stopping. All the more frustrating because JB is a first rate floor general when he wants to be one.

Great to see KAT have a strong 4th quarter. Has to hold on to that sense of urgency.

I agree with everything EXCEPT the floor general part. JB has the mind of a superstar, mentored by Kobe Bryant. He wants to lead a team, which is great. But he’s not hali. JB is not a traditional playmaking PG and I’m sure you know this, so forgive me if I’m preaching to the choir. He’s a scoring guard first with playmaking potential 2nd. I would love for him to be more of a playmaker, but that take time and experience. But since HS he’s been a scoring guard. Jay wright said he was putting up 50 pt games in HS. Can we win a chip with him, hell yeah.

This reel with jay wright talks about JB and how much of a killer he is. But I’m glad Thibs staggered their mins together. Two alpha players who excels when they both go into tunnel vision mode (aka RJ ). As a playmaker JB is good. But as a 4th quarter closer, he’s a superstar. Hopefully Thibs doesn’t repeat old mistakes and now sees the recipe to beat Indy. Play your defensive guards. Find room the the rotation for wright and shamett. 9 man rotation all the way to a chip. If our top 7 is working fine. If not we have a backup plan.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJK1SQeRhcT/?igsh=MTB3NjhncDVweWwyMQ==

Ive seen stretches where JB played like a traditional PG and was as good as anyone in the league. I agree that JB has the mind of a scorer. But he also has the skills of an elite PG..

technomaster wrote:Not sure what to expect out of the Knicks… but we sure seem to get it done on the road. Hoping we come through to tie up the series.

vs Detroit:
1-2 at home
3-0 on the road

Vs Celtics:
2-1 at home
2-1 on the road

Vs Pacers:
0-2 at home
1-0 on the road

Overall:
3-5 home
6-1 road

Wives and gfs at home, mistresses on the road.

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

Dragon wrote:We won because we played the players who can defend, as simple as that. we can't outrun Indy on offense, but if we play defense then we can win games.

KAT definitely looked much better defensively with defenders around him. Deuce & Wright were huge and honestly Shamet defended his ass off too.

Might have to stagger the KAT/Brunson minutes a bit so they dont play too much together.

Because its crazy but we look better at times with Deuce out there.

Our wings are much bigger than Indiana’s. Hali, Nembhard, Nesmith are all very small and quick. Deuce has been the only guy who can keep up and fight over screens. So when you add Wright and Shamet we can actually hang with these guys on defense and in the speed / rotation department.

Wright is a keeper man. I hope he sticks next year even as just a depth piece.

Wright sold me last night, didnt look scared of the moment. just came in and hustled, defended, ran the team, and like Mitch is so great at, stayed completely within himself.

Mitch, OG, Mikal, Deuce, Wright... even Hart, this team is loaded with defenders we gotta stagger KAT & Brunson more.

The key to this team going forward might be a deeper rotation of defenders and less mins the starters and just more staggering in general. There are some killer combinations on this team but just overloading the 5 starters who don’t play well together isn’t it. Is Thibs the guy to run a deep rotation and ride the hot units on a nightly basis like Carlisle does even if it means sitting his top guns from night to night depending on flow?

not even sure its a deeper bench thing. Honestly just Wright over Payne and staggering Brunson and KAT more is enough. Shamet played well but he's prob just a spot minutes guy.

I didnt think we could defend at that level with KAT on the floor and the difference was no Brunson. Both is a bit much to overcome at times.

It's a wild move but KAT off the bench could make sense and let him dominate the opposing benches.

I was gonna joke about it but glad to see someone else think of it too