fishmike wrote:Uptown wrote:Great post!! We have 4 potential All NBA defensive players on this team. OG, Bridges, Deuce and Mitch (when he's in shape and healthy). Only 2 of them are playing over 25 minutes per....we definitely need to figure out a way to get Deuce and Mitch more playing time when JB is back.
Deuce's point of attack defense has been elite, paired with OG who is an elite off ball/help disruptor and Bridges off ball has taken this defense to the next level. Over the last 10 games, we have the 2nd best defense in the league, right behind Detroit our potential 1st round opponent. I agree that Hart is the best candidate to get moved to the 2nd unit as a change of pace player....I like the idea of Deuce, OG and Bridges sharing the court together. We wont have rim protection to start the game but at least we will have elite point of attack defense.
let me just stop you there.... it's really simple. It's NOT a Thibs thing either. They simply need to be healthy. When McBride is a 100% he's getting huge minutes in the 28-30mpg range. He's not been. He's a very sporadic offense player. His handle at best is mistake free but he's not really breaking anyone down off the dribble. He's got a little bag... pull ups, mid range, little shake and bake but in general he's not hard to defend. He's had some terrible shooting stretches and when the knee was acting up his defense was OK at best.Mitch is Mitch. He's simply elite in what he does and can do. We are a really different team with a healthy Mitch playing his regular 25-28mpg.
There's no way McBride is knocking Josh out of his starting spot. Only Mitch is doing that, and I dont see Thibs doing that just because of the minutes thing. He will stagger them, bring Mitch off the bench and use him together with KAT down the stretch for size.
I love McBride but I hear that he should start over Hart on Reddit every day and its not happening for like 40 good basketball reasons. Also his play is over hyped. He's really good when he's hitting shots. He had 2 months of shooting like 27% from 3 and some very average defense. When he backs up Brunson, Hart usually runs the offense
Suggesting that Mitch and Deuce need more minutes when JB is ready to go, wasn't an idictment on Thibs...The hope is when the Captain gets back, Thibs will have a healthy roster at his disposal. Most of our top net positve lineups, defensively and offensivey include Deuce....
I agree and diagree on your Deuce take. Agreed that he can be inconsistent on the offensive end...his best trait is as a spot up 3 point shooter and floor spacer...I also agree that Thibs is not inserting Deuce into the starting line up in place of Hart. I diagagree that he is overhyped, at least not by me. A healthy Duece is one of the best point of attack defenders in the league. When Deuce is guarding the ball at top, he ampliphies the other defenders around him. He allows OG to play to his strenghts which is as the ultimate help defender. He is also taking the pressure off Bridges and allowing him to play the passing lanes which he does well and it seems to have energized him on the offensive end as well. There were several plays on the defensive end where Deuce and Bridges swistched, seemlesly and completely shut the water off on the Heats offensive sets. It was beautiful to watch....
Hart is a throw back player and is one of my favorite Knicks...but, sometimes, Harts presence makes us easy to game plan for. Teams are consistently guarding Hart with their center which is clogging the lane as they dare him to shoot the 3. A confident Hart that shoots the 3 with confidence, inserts himself into the game by cutting, constant motion and or setting picks makes us dangerous. He just needs to be more consistent and confident in the half court....