Clean wrote:I love the idea of starting Precious in place of Hart. He rebounds, plays D, is mobile and can hit an occasional outside shot. This means Thibs can gives the starters a rest because he actually trusts Hart.

This but it's hard to believe Thibs changing Hart out of the starting unit ---- I'd be surprised but I do want to see Precious.

Knicks have 3 new starters in the starting unit and one of the main guys is the C, who also happens to be lean towards those defensive capabilities of Brunson.

Uptown wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:

Clean wrote:I love the idea of starting Precious in place of Hart. He rebounds, plays D, is mobile and can hit an occasional outside shot. This means Thibs can gives the starters a rest because he actually trusts Hart.

I keep saying that Hart at 4 and Bridges at the 2 is not a chip team.
However, like Precious but him at 4 is farther away from chip than Hart.
Hart pushes ball extremely well, is a glue guy and rebounds decently.

Feel Bridges and Hart in second unit is where we want to be.
With upgrades at 2 and 5 , KAT at 4.
But how do we do that if we are paying KAT what we are and after giving up so much for Bridges?
(Here is where all the guys that claimed those were good moves with options can chime in?)

I agree that Hart would be an ideal 6th man on a championship team. A player that can come in and change the tempo, and be the ultimate utility guy. We all watched Bridges start @ the 3 on a Suns team that went to the finals and almost win the 'chip. Unless you are telling me he has regressed from his 3rd year in the league, I disagree with the need move him to the bench.

I also agree that we need an upgrade at the 4. A defensive minded, 4 that can guard the 5 and at the very least hit the 3 point shot at an above 32% clip. I mentioned Isaiah Stewart in your other thread as someone that would make sense next to KAT. Stewart rebounds, is a good shot blocker for a 4, and is a career 34% shooter from 3.

Suns getting to finals was more a Booker and Paul thing than a Bridges thing. But yes, agree he was a part of it.
Point is more that he would be great on a second unit and would allow him to be main scorer on it. Which may be the role for him. IQ type.

LivingLegend wrote:

martin wrote:I always have looked at defense as a combo of individual defensive talent and then 5 guys being cohesive.

Knicks have 3 new starters in the starting unit and one of the main guys is the C, who also happens to be lean towards those defensive capabilities of Brunson.

Yep and while we had 2 poor defenders in Randle/Brunson last year we did have anchors in Mitch/Hart at center. Kat may be a better rebounder that those guys but he really looks like he doesn't want to foul in drop coverage.

Me personally think a big driver is our best perimeter defenders haven't played well and there is much confusion on switches. Both those issues can be improved dramatically even with Kat/Jalen out there.

It's weird seeing Mikal/Josh/Deuce playing subpar D thus far - I don't get it.

It's why I think the rookies get the quick hook on easy defensive reads, it messes up rest of the team a lot when they make rookie mistakes on D.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/benritholtznba/status/1855829697801650325

Also, Brunson and KAT gotta do better and figure it out. They don't have to be standout but they gotta know what to do.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/DJAceNBA/status/1856417881208058070

Clean wrote:

martin wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

martin wrote:I always have looked at defense as a combo of individual defensive talent and then 5 guys being cohesive.

Knicks have 3 new starters in the starting unit and one of the main guys is the C, who also happens to be lean towards those defensive capabilities of Brunson.

Yep and while we had 2 poor defenders in Randle/Brunson last year we did have anchors in Mitch/Hart at center. Kat may be a better rebounder that those guys but he really looks like he doesn't want to foul in drop coverage.

Me personally think a big driver is our best perimeter defenders haven't played well and there is much confusion on switches. Both those issues can be improved dramatically even with Kat/Jalen out there.

It's weird seeing Mikal/Josh/Deuce playing subpar D thus far - I don't get it.

It's why I think the rookies get the quick hook on easy defensive reads, it messes up rest of the team a lot when they make rookie mistakes on D.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/benritholtznba/status/1855829697801650325

Also, Brunson and KAT gotta do better and figure it out. They don't have to be standout but they gotta know what to do.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/DJAceNBA/status/1856417881208058070

The problem is everyone is making mistakes on D. We are bottom of the league is all defensive stats for a reason. You take out Kolek and the next play Bridges makes a misake. If Kolek can help you why would you sit him when we are already low on players. Thibs always say the only thing that matters is winning. The problem is he forgot to say unless he has to play a rookie. Then winning is no longer the only thing that matters.

Thibs says a lot of things. One of them is that he and team focus on NET rating.

Do you want to watch and look for development or do you want a coach who is win-only all the time?

It seems to me a lot of fans will label a coach as not playing yutes or not developing yutes and also say he only coaching for wins and that’s what they expect and look for. AOK by me but there are other takes that are probably closer to reality.

There were some very very good reasons to not just throw IQ and Deuce into starting PG roles when the first got on the scene.

It makes watching the game much easier when you readjust the perspective.

Clean wrote:

martin wrote:

Clean wrote:

martin wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

martin wrote:I always have looked at defense as a combo of individual defensive talent and then 5 guys being cohesive.

Knicks have 3 new starters in the starting unit and one of the main guys is the C, who also happens to be lean towards those defensive capabilities of Brunson.

Yep and while we had 2 poor defenders in Randle/Brunson last year we did have anchors in Mitch/Hart at center. Kat may be a better rebounder that those guys but he really looks like he doesn't want to foul in drop coverage.

Me personally think a big driver is our best perimeter defenders haven't played well and there is much confusion on switches. Both those issues can be improved dramatically even with Kat/Jalen out there.

It's weird seeing Mikal/Josh/Deuce playing subpar D thus far - I don't get it.

It's why I think the rookies get the quick hook on easy defensive reads, it messes up rest of the team a lot when they make rookie mistakes on D.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/benritholtznba/status/1855829697801650325

Also, Brunson and KAT gotta do better and figure it out. They don't have to be standout but they gotta know what to do.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/DJAceNBA/status/1856417881208058070

The problem is everyone is making mistakes on D. We are bottom of the league is all defensive stats for a reason. You take out Kolek and the next play Bridges makes a misake. If Kolek can help you why would you sit him when we are already low on players. Thibs always say the only thing that matters is winning. The problem is he forgot to say unless he has to play a rookie. Then winning is no longer the only thing that matters.

Thibs says a lot of things. One of them is that he and team focus on NET rating.

Do you want to watch and look for development or do you want a coach who is win-only all the time?

It seems to me a lot of fans will label a coach as not playing yutes or not developing yutes and also say he only coaching for wins and that’s what they expect and look for. AOK by me but there are other takes that are probably closer to reality.

There were some very very good reasons to not just throw IQ and Deuce into starting PG roles when the first got on the scene.

It makes watching the game much easier when you readjust the perspective.

I said nothing about developing. I want the team to have a better chance to win. Giving players rest help them play better in the 4th. We are one of the worst teams in almost every stat in the 4th for a reason. If we were not injured I would nt care that Kolek did not play. However, we went with a 6.5 man rotation when we have people on the bench that can help. If you can't see the issue with that we will never agree on this. This is while the Pacers played 2 twoway guys in our game and beat us. Different situations call for different actions but we knw Thibs has never been good with adjustments.

I did. I said you weren’t really paying attention to it.

Either way, Mitch will make our second unit more dangerous. All those second chance shots, big stops.

I think Brunson would be the biggest beneficiary of Mitch's offensive rebounds. It would also make staggering KAT and Brunson's minutes easier.

If Sims keeps improving, he can still play a part in keeping Mitch from getting overworked before a playoff run. Mitch's, D would likely be necessary to get past Boston.

franco12 wrote:I made this point on the Windhorst thread- it’s not so much the defense as the rebounding. Last year, we were top 5 - Boston was #2.

This year - we are 23.

We are ahead of the Cavs this year, but they are crushing it on point differential at #2 behind OKC.

If this team is going to win a championship, and I am increasingly resigned to this not happening, they have to excel at something impactful, like scoring, rebounding or shooting %.

We are 2 on FG% (behind the Cavs) and 6th on 3pt%

giving a team 44 wide open shots out of 46 is a defensive problem. We can't keep ignoring how many random players get career highs against us because tey get a steady diet of open shots.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1857168925491937591

Our problem is that our defenders couldn't score, Randle couldn't score, no one could freaking score outside of Brunson and Reggie Freaking Bullock in the playoffs the past 5 years

Yes the defense has been bad but honestly stop whining and crying and rewriting history in the process. You would have preferred to run out our defensive unit from last year? Fine - well, how do you propose we tinker with the lineup to beat Boston? Indy?

lastly, what the **** did I miss? When the **** could we have matched what iHart got from OKC? Wasn't it collectively bargained that we weren't allowed to give him a competing offer? WHY DOES THIS MATTER SC?? WAHHHHH????? Well because the team was going to be ****ing different no matter what you winy crybabies

I think we have a truly amazing starting lineup that is still learning to play with one another, especially in defense. Is it maddening sometimes when they make mistakes or have their bad defensive lapses? Ohh yeah!! And you think of the talent and you can’t believe it. But that’s the thing: it does take time to get to the point we want them to be, but we already have the talent here. Yes, another piece off the bench would do wonders, but I’m confident that when we get Precious and Mitch back, this team will be a nightmare. To say that and not be talking about my dreams as a fan, but to actually take into account our talent? Damn, it feels great! I just wish them all the health in the world, because talent-wise, this team can accomplish a lot when they get used to each other

And I didn’t mention the rookies! Even they have potential and are already chipping in!