Uptown wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

Uptown wrote:not a fan of Thibs HS sub patterns....subbing out 5 for 5 especially when a player is 🔥

Thibs to Uptown: I got this...relax!

It looks like the sub patterns are pretty tight early on, and that lets him play who he wants down the stretch. Last night it was mixing and matching but we saw IQ/Rose instead of Elf/Reggie and it was great. Thibs def does NOT have a set closing cast aside from Randle and RJ, and even RJ sat the other day during a really bad game for him.

I have been pretty high in the koolaid zone with Thibs. We beat the stinky Magic we are 15-15, good for 5thish in the conference and doing it behind guys like Randle, RJ, Mitch and most of the guys we had last year plus some really promising fresh legs. This is a good start to the Leon/Thibs era

The first 3 quarters are definitely scripted. Burks is usually the first one in @ around the 5 or 4 minute mark. Rose, Quick and Gibson will enter at the 3 minute mark or so. Rose and Quick will play about 9 minutes in the first half. Obi will get a quick hook if the score is close. The same sub patterns hold true in the 3rd quarter. Did like that he rolled with Quick and Rose to close out as we needed the offense and floor space late in the 4th.

I would like to see Quick, Rose, RJ and Randle (and Mitch when healthy) get extended minutes together and develop chemistry as I think that's our best, most balanced line up. I'm old school and from the Chuck Daly school of coaching philosophy. Daly would go off script, and ride the hot hand regardless of what quarter it was. But maybe that's coming down the road...

agree but honestly I like it. Takes some of the emotion out of it and adds structure. So far the end of games are def up for mixing and matching and Thibs has shown he will make a lot of subs late in games vs. just riding with his closers.

Cant argue too much with Thib's results so far. He' really pushing the right buttons and has this team coached up. Looking at the east I am starting to think we are ending up 4th or 5th seed which is utterly insane. Our whole offseason was "how the phuck can we trade Julius Randle"

We've won 3 straight and have been playing better over the last 5 games...My complaints are minor at this point, but the line ups I suggested may be necessary down the road when we are playing the top tier teams in the east like the Sixers, Nets, and especially when and if we get to the playoffs.

I think we can definitely lock-up the 5th seed at the very least. The Pacers are struggling right now. They traded Oladipo and never replaced his production with Lavert out.

Remember how most fans felt about Julius the night we drafted Obi? Most wanted to trade him ASAP!! Today, Julius is probably the most untouchable Knick and most beloved amongst Knick fans, after Quickley

BUT

Not I or anyone could have predicted he would play this well. I think RJ and Mitch as well, especially on defense. Those two have been rock steady all year. We had no idea how good they could be. Now we are seeing their limitation, but its in the context of winning NBA games and thats going really well. Soft part of the schedule and practice time is key for the this crew to build chemistry

fishmike wrote:Not I or anyone could have predicted he would play this well. I think RJ and Mitch as well, especially on defense. Those two have been rock steady all year. We had no idea how good they could be. Now we are seeing their limitation, but its in the context of winning NBA games and thats going really well. Soft part of the schedule and practice time is key for the this crew to build chemistry

I can't tell about RJ's defense (or now that I think about it, Randle's either). Doesn't stand out to me and I haven't honed in on it either. Stout rebounder for sure.

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:Not I or anyone could have predicted he would play this well. I think RJ and Mitch as well, especially on defense. Those two have been rock steady all year. We had no idea how good they could be. Now we are seeing their limitation, but its in the context of winning NBA games and thats going really well. Soft part of the schedule and practice time is key for the this crew to build chemistry

I can't tell about RJ's defense (or now that I think about it, Randle's either). Doesn't stand out to me and I haven't honed in on it either. Stout rebounder for sure.

RJ & Randle's defense still stinks .. however their offensive Closer-Game in the 4th qtr. has been tremendously improving to be up to par with some of the league top scorers. Randle has improve the best because he adds scoring, rebounds, assists, plus step to the side to let D.Rose leadership guide the team.
RJ is unpredictable because he have no jumper, he miss 3 layups a game, he cant defend well, but he's a relentless hustler on the court.