That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

nycericanguy wrote:two games without OG, 97.5ppg allowed.

That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

Pride before the fall. Pat yourself on the back for beating Charlotte. Westchester would have given them a run and we left it interesting for the first half. Utah is a volatile team - volume shooters with low eFG. When they hit, they win. When the miss they lose. 50/50 ish team that’s supposed to be tanking.

Tomorrow night’s game against Indiana will probably blow up our PointsAgainst. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if we had OG locking down one of their shooters. They gave Boston a run without Mathurin.

Then we have the Lakers. They get more foul calls than us.

I’m impressed with our teams wins, but they weren’t particularly pretty even if they grinder out double digit gains.

You could say the removal of Barrett on defense was a large portion of the change.

nycericanguy wrote:two games without OG, 97.5ppg allowed.

That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

This team without Randle can really load up on defenders at every position. If OG was out there we would have held CHA and UTAH to 80 points.

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:two games without OG, 97.5ppg allowed.

That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

This team without Randle can really load up on defenders at every position. If OG was out there we would have held CHA and UTAH to 80 points.

ehh UTAH came in averaging about 118 per game, no one's holding them to 80.

Something has clicked with this team, maybe it was the OG trade, but we are back to defending now regardless of whos on court.

can't discount Grimes, Miles and DDV playing more, those 3 can really defend.

Thibs deserves a lot of credit! He's got this team playing team basketball and most importantly, defending! In a league where teams are routinely giving up 120, 130 and 140 points, we are holding teams under 100 on average during this win streak!

Leon deserves a ton of credit too! Second offseason in a row he's had the very best FA signing in the entire league with Brunson and DVo, who has looked like prime Klay the past 2 games. And kudos to Leon for acquiring Achiuwa too! He's looked really good the past few games!

SergioNYK wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:two games without OG, 97.5ppg allowed.

That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

This team without Randle can really load up on defenders at every position. If OG was out there we would have held CHA and UTAH to 80 points.

ehh UTAH came in averaging about 118 per game, no one's holding them to 80.

Something has clicked with this team, maybe it was the OG trade, but we are back to defending now regardless of whos on court.

can't discount Grimes, Miles and DDV playing more, those 3 can really defend.

This would have never happened without the trade. Just accept it. Of course subtracting Randle, RJ, IQ with heavy doses of Precious/Hart/DDV/Grimes/Deuce will make our D better. OG sat when Randle sat, and we all know Randle is the biggest weak link in our defensive rotations. They have 8 defense-first guys playing with Brunson right now.

Reminds me a little of those Sixer teams with Iverson surrounded by Mutombo, Snow, McKie, Hill, Lynch and Bell.

Yep, that's how DAL should build around Luka tbh. Not to get too off topic. Same with Hawks and Trae. When you have a ball dominant elite iso player you surround them with defenders, rebounders, shooters. But not a bunch of offensive players.

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:two games without OG, 97.5ppg allowed.

That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

This team without Randle can really load up on defenders at every position. If OG was out there we would have held CHA and UTAH to 80 points.

ehh UTAH came in averaging about 118 per game, no one's holding them to 80.

Something has clicked with this team, maybe it was the OG trade, but we are back to defending now regardless of whos on court.

can't discount Grimes, Miles and DDV playing more, those 3 can really defend.

This would have never happened without the trade. Just accept it. Of course subtracting Randle, RJ, IQ with heavy doses of Precious/Hart/DDV/Grimes/Deuce will make our D better. OG sat when Randle sat, and we all know Randle is the biggest weak link in our defensive rotations. They have 8 defense-first guys playing with Brunson right now.

OG is responsible directly and indirectly, but my main question was, there's no way one player alone changes our defense that much. There's alot of indirect correlation going on right now.

Right now us playing so well without Mitch and Randle... I mean Randle is due a new contract in 2 years, and maxing him at 32 years of age for his declining years is something that we may not have to do. We might be well positioned to just move on from the Randle era at that point unless the money makes sense.

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:two games without OG, 97.5ppg allowed.

That's why I struggle to say OG was the only reason our defense got so much better. Sometimes a long season is just ebbs and flows, and we just happened to have a much easier schedule after the OG trade. but it does make me keep wondering if RJ was a problem on both ends.

Crazy how bad we looked the 2 games Brunson was out, and how great we look even without Randle... Feels like you can surround Brunson with some shooters and defenders and he's good enough to win even without a 2nd star. he's just a winner, period. Amazing watching this guy night in and night out.

we have winners on this team, high IQ guys that just make the right plays, very refreshing. Brunson, DDV, Hart, you just can trust them.

This team without Randle can really load up on defenders at every position. If OG was out there we would have held CHA and UTAH to 80 points.

ehh UTAH came in averaging about 118 per game, no one's holding them to 80.

Something has clicked with this team, maybe it was the OG trade, but we are back to defending now regardless of whos on court.

can't discount Grimes, Miles and DDV playing more, those 3 can really defend.

This would have never happened without the trade. Just accept it. Of course subtracting Randle, RJ, IQ with heavy doses of Precious/Hart/DDV/Grimes/Deuce will make our D better. OG sat when Randle sat, and we all know Randle is the biggest weak link in our defensive rotations. They have 8 defense-first guys playing with Brunson right now.

OG is responsible directly and indirectly, but my main question was, there's no way one player alone changes our defense that much. There's alot of indirect correlation going on right now.

Right now us playing so well without Mitch and Randle... I mean Randle is due a new contract in 2 years, and maxing him at 32 years of age for his declining years is something that we may not have to do. We might be well positioned to just move on from the Randle era at that point unless the money makes sense.

You wanna know why Thibs doesn't take starters out? In both of the last 2 games we had large leads at the end of the 3rd/early 4th and let both teams make inconsequential runs to get into the teens. But both were as a result of some intensity slippage on D. Uncontested layups, free cutters etc. And being in the arena yesterday, I could see Thibs WAS PISSED. He was barking at the team to pick it back up and he left them in the game IMO because he wanted them to make sure they kept working.

Its a culture, its a mindset and it has to be something that you keep doing consistently. I don't personally AGREE that the Knicks needed to have Brunson, DDV, Hart out there for close to 40 mins on the 2nd of a back to back, with a mathmetically insurmountable lead, but at the same time I think I see exactly why he did it.

Knicks don't have a single player in the top 10 in MPG, and we have a grand total of 3 players in the top 100.

This is a young team and if guys like Hart and Ihart have to step up and play 40 minutes because of numerous injuries so be it. Only in NY and only b/c "Thibs" is this under the microscope.