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Sorry, not sorry, basically. It is the Brunson conundrum. The only way to contend is to downgrade his role and not feature him as much as before, because he doesn't know how to modify his game correctly.

KAT should have the most shot attempts on the team EVERY GAME. The more the offense flows through him the more you'll see KAT engage his inner Jokic. Guys will run around like they've got bugs in their undies just trying to make a good cut for a KAT pass.

OG was running around KAT on high curls and scooting down the lane for easy buckets, stuff we were not seeing before.

KAT and OG are the two guys you feed on offense to keep them engaged and Brunson adds in his points playing off the ball more and you get a balanced scoring attack.

With motion and sharing the ball comes engagement and you will see Deuce starting to hit his shots and Bridges coming back from the dead.

And when guys are engaged on offense, they come alive on defense.

It was never that complicated, but here I was saying you needed somebody to go alpha on Brunson and it looks like somebody did. Maybe Daddy did spank his son after all, ha ha.

Basically, there was some form of council or intervention, because they went to KAT immediately.

It was do or die so better late than never.

The talent is there.

This issue was Brunson pounding the stuffing out of the ball and becoming less productive while not protecting the ball and making poor decisions.

The next step if this team wants to take it is running options down the stretch to free up other shooters on the team, not just hero ball by Brunson.

Maybe Brown will finally get them to play like he was hired to have them play.

I did not think they could make the switch now, but it happened today so that's a good thing then. They just cannot let Brunson milk the clock any longer. He needs to be happy getting his share of the offense touching the ball less often.

Everyone pegged this series as the KAT series. They have nobody to guard him, while they might have the best mix of talent to guard Brunson. That's what this is, and nothing more.

martin wrote:

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Karlreem Abdul JaTowns
Karleem AlajTowns
Karll Walton
Karlt Chamberlain
Karllis Reed

martin wrote:Brunson, for all of his offensive greatness, is not really that good a dribbler or decision-maker passer

Even his dad knows

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Did Rick say PASS THE BALL at the end there?

martin wrote:Foster!!

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Was hard to blame him on that one - both damn guys wearing YELLOW shoes -- MUDDAFUGGA

DLeethal wrote:KAT turned it on at the end of the year, and right now it's clearly in our best interest to feed the big man non stop. But he was awful for a large part of the season and it wasn't all "not getting touches". He had career lows finishing around the basket, and shooting from 3, was leading the league in fouls / offensive fouls and was a liability with the ball, and half the time he drove he ended up in the first row which almost always leads to a wide open transition 3 on the other end.

Everyone pegged this series as the KAT series. They have nobody to guard him, while they might have the best mix of talent to guard Brunson. That's what this is, and nothing more.

agreed. And Brunson is having a bad series which for him is unimaginable. But still putting up 26ppg.

but yes he's always struggled against intense ball pressure.

blkexec wrote:

ramtour420 wrote:

fitzfarm wrote:Also the starting four runs so freely without Brunson… love our captain… but maybe Jose or miles in with the starting core just gets everyone going and touching the ball… when Brunson went out we really blew the cover off this game to a point of no return for the hawks… no ball pounding just beautiful basketball.

Yep, I noticed that too. Not sure what to make of it other than Brunson needs to apply himself differently. With the same competitiveness, he just needs to channel it towards getting his teammates going first and foremost.

JB was mentored by Kobe. He wears nothing but Kobe shoes for every game. You see it in his dad’s videos as JB was a kid. He was groomed to play like Kobe. Can he change? Yes. Will he change right now? Maybe or maybe not.

KAT is the perfect triangle offense type player. And when KATs involved, everything else he brings steps up (playmaker, defense, etc)

Plus ATL has the right combination of length, youth snd agility to throw at JB and KAT. But what they don’t have is the size. This is why KAT needs to be the ignition to this playoff series engine, if we want to win a chip.

I love JB as a poor man’s Kobe. That’s why he’s Mr. Clutch but let’s not downplay what he does well for us. I love deuce as well, but I’m not benching JB for deuce (as an example).

What we saw in this last game should be the Knicks identity moving forward.

I was actually thinking to myself that the Brunson/KAT duo is a little bit like late stage Kobe and Gasol. Gasol carried Kobe a lot of games during those 3 finals runs.

Give Brown credit. He made adjustments and coached a flawless game. The gameplan at both ends, the timeouts, the challenges and subs were near perfect. Finally we featured KAT and he delivered. Looked like Joker out there with the passing and triple-double! That play where they had Brunson screen for him in the corner led to like 3 dunks alone. And I cannot believe I'm saying it but kudos to the zebras, even though they made some bad calls as usual, for calling fouls when KAT drove the ball and got hit. KAT had 9 attempts at the line and I think it's the first officiating crew they treated him like the All-Star he is in month's. OG has been our best player so far this series. He's ballin' at both ends! Scary fall after that dunk attempt but he finished the game and looked fine but hopefully he doesn't wake up today too sore. Hart's defense was insane and that back to back sequence where he got the layup and immediately stole the ball and took it coast to coast for the dunk was sick! He's got to chill with the techs. I get it's an emotional game but he's a vet and needs to stay cool. Great coaching by Brown going to him and calming him down. Mikal was A LOT better even though he didn't play much in the second half. I was about to lose it if Brunson didn't give him that dunk off the turnover LOL. Got to get Mikal his confidence back! He clearly cares or he wouldn't have yelled "**** you" to that dirty POS scrub Dyson Daniels! I HATE THAT FUCKING SCRUB!

Bench was terrific! Sucks that Shamet has been demoted but he hasn't done his job in this series. He'll just need to wait for his next opportunity. I have no issues starting Mikal if Deuce get's rewarded and finishes the game when he plays well which he did. His three point shooting is such a weapon! Clarkson's defense on Kuminga was key. Keeping Kuminga in check is so important. In both wins we've held him in check and in their two wins he's killed us. Containing him needs to be part of the gameplan! GTA5 played really well. Love love love how he got into that altercation! We needed a guy like that! He also had his trademark steal which gives the entire team a huge boost. Mitch 2/3 from the line!

Brunson wasn't good. He did shoot 3/7 from three including the last dagger but he played pretty much the same. Took bad shots and turned the ball over way too much (6 turnovers, only 3 assists) and I'm starting to wonder if there is any way he can last an entire playoffs cause every other game he goes down and get's hurt. Partially not his fault cause he's not the biggest guy and plays hard and teams hunt him and play extra physical and Daniels is a dirty POS but I worry that he's not durable enough for a long playoff run. I read somewhere that his father yelled at him to "pass the ball" during that heated altercation on the sideline so everyone is aware of the issues. Brunson just needs to trust his teammates and recognize that maybe this is not his series to dominate. Take a step back and let KAT and OG lead us home to the second round. Concentrate more on "setting up the table" as he says.

Expected to be tied 2-2 and this going to 7 but it'd be nice if we can end this in 6! Got to get game 5 at home! Expect Snyder to make adjustments and for Atlanta to up their physicality and intensity!

GET WELL DONTE!