Knicks Morning News (2023.04.25)

Oh, I forgot, doomed like a mfer! I’m only saying that if we weren’t doomed, we would beat the Heat because we have Josh Hart.

“I love Josh Hart, but he wouldn’t be the main reason to beat anybody, or do you feel confident about winning a series without our best player (BRUNSON)?”

Jalen Brunson is sort of a given at this point (are there still any holdovers from the position that we overpaid for him?) Obviously we are a lottery team without him. So anything positive we accomplished this season is due to acquiring him.

But there are still folks who think we stupidly overpaid for Josh Hart to reach a higher level of purgatory at the expence of a 10-1 chance of landing a difference-maker in the draft. Regardless of the merits of that position (and I think it’s one of the least defensible positions ever taken on this board, but that’s just me) there is zero doubt in my mind that the mid-season acquisition of Josh Hart is the main, if not only reason we are even thinking about beating the Heat in the second round. Without him, we are either already eliminated (possibly in the play-in, but if not, then in a quick first round exit) or would not stand a chance against whoever we faced in the second round. Josh Hart gives us a guy to throw at Butler, just like we’re throwing him at Spida. He has been a huge difference-maker from the moment he got here.

“Just put it on Google translator to listen How it sounds and it was detected as Finnish but sounded as Chinese!”

I thought it kinda sounded like a new snow tire from Nokian…

In an Athletic piece that just came out, Fred Katz interviewed an anonymous assistant coach who is scouting the Knicks-Cavs series. He wrote the following about the Knicks’ defense in general:

I know from a rankings standpoint, they weren’t as high, but from a process standpoint, I think they do just about as good a job as anyone does in terms of just taking away the paint, taking away the rim and free throws and not allowing you to find a rhythm close to the basket. They dare you to make the extra pass. They dare you to make 3s. And I think from a process standpoint, that’s probably the best way to do it.

Sometimes, teams are just gonna make shots and it’s not gonna look as good, but for the most part, they’re playing the percentages.

Hart has added such a dimension for them, too. It was such a great pickup for them, just the way he plays and the spirit and energy he plays with. You can’t quantify that. I just think they have a good process of how they play defense. And sometimes, it’s not gonna be great. You try to win all 82, but it’s not realistic. They played defense enough to win 50 or 60 games. There were probably a handful of games you look at and some teams made 15 to 20 3s, and you’re not gonna win that way. But they take away the high-value shots. They take away the rim. They take away the paint. They take away free throws.

re: Brunson, while he can and will be hunted, he deserves credit for using a) his brains to draw offensive fouls, and b) his strength+low center of gravity combo to “survive” mismatches enough for the help to come.

That said, I really didn’t like how easily Garland was able to turn the corner on him in the 3rd Q, especially going left. He literally got everything he wanted. But at least he didn’t draw Brunson into foul trouble, and by the end of the Q the momentum switched back. I still remember the sense of panic when Brunson had 3 fouls in the first half of Game 1, and it took an heroic effort from Randle to keep that game from slipping away.

“This seems like a pretty stock response, no?”

It’s not “inflammatory” but it suggests that he still is pissed about it and takes no responsibility for it.

And that’s the problem with Julius…he just doesn’t seem very self aware about his on-court mistakes and inconsistent effort level. Compare what he said to Brunson’s response when he got benched earlier in the year: “I mean, I wouldn’t have played myself either, the way I was playing defensively…”

Or the say Donovan Mitchell took responsibility for the loss: ‘I played like shit…”

Julius doesn’t seem to have that capacity, to his detriment.

But credit to Thibs for not coddling him like he has in the past. Not only for Julius’ sake, but for his teammates who see that even the team’s only all-star will be held accountable if he is derailing a game, by poor lpay, selfishness, or both. This is pretty much the first time that has happened, and I don’t think it would have happened if Brunson and the supporting cast didn’t give Thibs the confidence to feel that they could win without him.

Maybe Trae Young is not all that overrated…

Mason Plumlee reminds me of Douglas Niedermeyer from Animal House…

Mazzulla seems way over his head. Even so, maybe the Celts are one of those teams that needs their backs against the wall to play their best. The Bucks might be the same way. In any case, knowing that neither team will have a walkover in the first round is comforting no matter how it turns out.

When all is said and done, I can’t see how you could leave Durant out of the best 10 players of all time. His combo of size and skill is just ridiculous.

So long, Minny…the 2-time MVP has spoken!

DRed, without both Kawhi and PG13, this is a colossal mismatch, no matter what.

“should be a great second round series with the Nuggets.”

And even though it isn’t what some folks want, GSW-LAL would be a very compelling series.