ToddTT wrote:I turned on MSG just now.

Pickleball.

MSG celebrity Pickleball? Whose playing? Oakley/starks vs Spree/Larry?

Nalod wrote:

ToddTT wrote:I turned on MSG just now.

Pickleball.

MSG celebrity Pickleball? Whose playing? Oakley/starks vs Spree/Larry?

That I would watch.

My money's on Oak and Starks. Spree isn't looking very athletic these days, and Larry I assume needs a backectomy.

nycericanguy wrote:IND's full court defense was pretty delibatating. I wonder, why cant we ever do the same?

Our two best players suck at D but we’re hunted down and bused. Their best player sucks at D but we gave him a free pass and had JB try and advance the ball against their best defenders. Go figure

houston20 wrote:

gradyandrew wrote:Seems kind of ridiculous to me that people are talking about players when the Knicks were clearly less than the sum of their parts. To whit:

1. Why did it take so long for Robinson to start? After he entered the starting lineup, the hack a Mitch defense never happened again.

2. Why did it take all season + 15 playoff games for their to be any non injury adjustment to the starting lineup, despite them clearly not being a dominant group?

3. Why did it take a similar amount of games to play an 8,9, 10 player rotation? Once committed too, the bench played well.

4. Why weren't any in game adjustments made to stop the Pacers from scoring off of made fg's?

5. Why was KAT's 3 point shot downplayed for much of the season and then ignored the deeper the Knicks went in the playoffs?

6. Why waa Deuce not given more opportunity as a PoA defender despite him being part of 4/5 best net rating lineups

I think the Knicks were extremely lucky this year to basically be healthy the entire season. I think the huge comeback games were a result of grit and talent- grit and talent that could have been better employed getting and maintaining leads. While KAT might have his defensive limitations, the key factor is that the Knicks didn't practice switching all year. Not easy learning a new defensive scheme halfway into the playoffs.

I have been a big supporter for years but,Thibs has got to go. I hope Knicks can bring in Budenholzer.

I don’t Mike budenholzer is the answer he did terrible with the suns . If the Knicks make a change at coach it’s either Taylor Jenkins or Mike Malone.

The issue in Phoenix was lack of balance in the roster. Outside of KD they didn't have any defenders. Knicks have a great roster, they just lacked a system on defense or offense they could fall back on. Bud has shown in both Atlanta and Milwaukee that he can be successful with deep and balanced rosters like the Knicks have.

LivingLegend wrote:

houston20 wrote:

MS wrote:I would try to move KAT for Sabonis, which is an upgrade for this team. As presently constructed the team doesn’t fit together.

They are wildly talented, but we need to prevent health breakdowns going forward and he helps solves the ball movement we are lacking. He is a better IHart which is where this team excelled in the playoffs last year.

You’re paying $40MM to a guy you literally don’t feature offensively and has another level.

After Draymond Green kicked sabonis ass in the playoffs couple of years ago sabonis has sucked. Sabonis defense has sucked more than kat defense. Sabonis was never same player after those playoffs fell off cliff. Sabonis is soft couldn’t even defend after draymond green destroyed his lung.

I don't remember the whole Draymond kicking Sabonis ass (not saying it didn't happen).

I will say Sabonis would be the type of player that could get the ball out of Jalen's hands more often and dude has averaged ~ 19/14 and 7 assists the past 2 years. Also doesn't feel like a foul machine like Kat (~3 per game for Sabonis).

It's a least an interesting idea because a guy like Sabonis can open up other guys on the roster like Mikal/OG with his passing.

He's obviously an issue on D but maybe just brings less of the mental immaturity Kat brings. Also seems maybe a more durable player.

Sabonis without an offensive system would be even sadder to watch than KAT. At least KAT can , will and is excellent at ISO.

Chandler wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:IND's full court defense was pretty delibatating. I wonder, why cant we ever do the same?

Our two best players suck at D but we’re hunted down and bused. Their best player sucks at D but we gave him a free pass and had JB try and advance the ball against their best defenders. Go figure

I think that was the case vs. Boston but not so much this series. Pacers did most of their damage on the offensive break and defensive full court press. Neither of those were directed at specific personnel.

To compete for a championship you need some flexibility in play style. Unfortunately, playing the same lineup for 800 regular season minutes doesn't allow you to do that. If Robinson/ Hart are going to hit the offensive boards, and you know the Pacers like to run, OG and Mikal need to be running back as soon as the shot gets put up. That's tiring to do so there needs to be more Shamet, McBride, Precious, Payne minutes to help them. I don't think this was emphasized at all. Pacers would get the go ahead basket and there was no timeout to solve it. Pacers would force a turnover off the press and there was no timeout to solve it.

Thibs is a great coach, but I think his best attribute is just getting the guys to play harder. Now Knicks have a veteran, talented team. Playing harder doesn't cut it anymore.

Chandler wrote:

VDesai wrote:The Katz article says it all....the team never consistently communicated well. Brunson is a bad defender, but if he follows his assignment and gets beat that is something you can work around. If you dont't know what the F KAT is doing out there you are scrambling. OG and Hart found themselves rotating to multiple players every posession all year.

Once in a while they would reset, or talent could overcome, but looking confused every 3rd or 4th game was reality.

Can you teach KAT discipline within the system after a full season and full offseason? What does he need for this to be a realistic possibility?

The one positive I can take from the answer is that maybe it isnt all a talent issue and they just need more chemistry. But I also question whether KAT can do it.

Read the article. Clearly Katz must have had two articles, one for each outcome. Wouldn’t mind seeing the other.

Definitely points the finger at KAT but doesn’t provide specific solutions. Of course one is KAT communicating better and understanding what to do better. I didn’t see him discuss the point you made that somehow JB’s mistakes were more recoverable than KAT’s. Not doubting your point. Just didn’t see it

Also it seems to suggest we lost because of our defense. I think we lost because of their defense. We went in thinking JB would cook Nembhard alive, but he gave JB problems. They covered everyone tight and made them uncomfortable. And we only had ISO in reply. If OG didn’t play well on offense it could have been very ugly

(To be clear I’m not saying our defense was good)

KAT is specifically mentioned and Brunson is not. Brunson has spent 3 years in the Thibs defensive system. I think the implication is clear. There is a difference between being limited on defense and not running the right coverage. You can accept your teammate getting beat, but can't account for a teammate who is not running the expected coverage or is not in the right place.

Also we are not just talking about Indiana - its the whole season
Defensive consistency was a massive issue. Fred interview here with a good explanation. Says the issues werent people getting along, but purely basketball communication. I think its open question on whether you can get KAT to consistently run the coverage, but thats at least something you can teach, learn and correct.