[New York Post] – Sat, 25 May 2024 16:19:00 GMT
NBA Mock Draft 1.0: Alex Sarr is No. 1, Knicks nab front-court depth with both picks
[New York Post] – Sun, 26 May 2024 02:05:00 GMT
- Knicks are about to learn that next year’s success is never guaranteed
- Knicks offseason storylines: Julius Randle’s extension, NBA Draft musings and more
- NBA Trade Rumors: Knicks Remain in Pursuit of Star to Pair with Jalen Brunson
- New York Knicks Increased Value For Desired Stars
- Next steps for Knicks: Hope for health and re-sign stars
[Sports Illustrated] – Sat, 25 May 2024 11:00:04 GMT
Knicks Named Landing Spot for Bronny James
[Sports Illustrated] – Sat, 25 May 2024 12:00:02 GMT
Could Knicks Next Star Be Zach LaVine?
[Daily Knicks] – Sat, 25 May 2024 12:00:02 GMT
- Grade the Trade: Knicks acquire beloved Villanova piece in three-team proposal
- 3 trade options to give Mikal Bridges a new home
- How can Philadelphia 76ers acquire Mikal Bridges from Nets in a trade?
- Longtime Boston Celtics talking head convinced Knicks will trade for Mikal Bridges
- Expert Predicts Knicks Trade for Another Villanova Star
[Sports Illustrated] – Sat, 25 May 2024 19:07:40 GMT
NBA Champion Calls Out Draymond Green For Trolling Knicks
[Sports Illustrated] – Sat, 25 May 2024 13:00:00 GMT
New York Knicks Could Sign 76ers ‘Glue-Guy’
[Awful Announcing] – Sat, 25 May 2024 20:30:11 GMT
New York Knicks president Leon Rose still not talking to media
[Sports Illustrated] – Sat, 25 May 2024 12:50:58 GMT
- Former Raptors Wing OG Anunoby’s Free Agency Future isn’t ‘Cut and Died’
- Reports: OG Anunoby an offseason target for the Sixers
- Knicks Rumors: OG Anunoby May Test Free Agency, Consider Contracts from Other Teams
- OG Anunoby To Hear Rival Offers In Free Agency?
- 3 teams that can outspend the Knicks to steal OG Anunoby
[Heavy.com] – Sat, 25 May 2024 15:19:43 GMT
Proposed NBA Trade Has Knicks Swap Donte DiVincenzo for $163 Million Star
116 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.05.26)”
Blech. So I’ll either have to root for Kyrie or root for the goddamn Celtics. Sports were a mistake.
Lol.
We can still root for the Wolves! They won 3 games in Denver, they can win 2 in Dallas.
If the Finals are Celtics-Mavs as it looks, at least i won’t waste time watching any of it. 😛
It continues to boggle my mind that folks here think we had a chance to beat the Celtics this year, especially without Julius Randle.
The Celts are literally toying with their opponents. They still have by far the best starting 5 in the NBA. With KP out, Al Horford has played like an all-star. There is zero chance that the Knicks would have beaten these Celts in a 7 game series unless Randle and everyone else was healthy, and Randle went down with a freak injury that had nothing to do with load management. But even at full health for both teams, they still would have beaten us, and probably in less than 7 games.
I know we get all misty-eyed about our January, but the Celts played at that level every month all year and hardly even worked up a sweat in most games. Yes, they are having a cakewalk to the finals due to some luck, and at times have played down to their competition, but the idea that they don’t have another level to go to is absurd.
I am hoping beyond hope that one of the teams out West can give them a series, probably the Mavs at this point. If Luka was healthy I’d be more optimistic. But Dallas’s front line is no match for the Celts.
I hope I’m wrong, but I’ve been pretty resigned to the Celts hoisting a banner from the moment they acquired Jrue. Seems pretty much like a done deal at this point, barring injury.
They get a week off before the finals, right? Maybe Luka can heal up.
On another note, I think that Mikal would totally change the equation for us in a way that no other target would. Currently, our only positional advantage over the C’s is Brunson, and that’s even marginal when you consider play on both ends. Both Jrue and White are close to as much better on defense than Brunson as Brunson is better than them on offense. Both are without question first-team all-defense caliber players. DDV is a nice player, but he’s not in that stratosphere.
KP is a weapon that can be neutralized if the other guys don’t need to be double-teamed. And that’s where Mikal comes in. Now WE would have two first-team all-defense caliber wings to offset their defensive advantage at the guard position. And now you would have DDV and Hart coming off the bench, along with whoever was left after the Mikal acquisition (probably two of Mitch, Bojan and Deuce would have to go out, no?)
The only other guy who might be available who fills that void is PG13, but that seems highly improbable. Based on the statement that Tsai made this week, they just have to outbid everyone for Mikal and roll with that team as a finished product. At least that’s how it seems to me.
Z-Man, since I’m bored I’ll fight you — actually not really (well I am bored), since I basically agree with you on the Celtics. However, I do think there’s a universe where a healthy Knicks team beats this Celtics team, mainly because as you mention they tend to play down to the other team, while the Knicks mostly play up.
The reason that universe is unlikely is because, much like the old canard of the brontosaurus having neural network similar to another brain way back in its ass, Jrue, White, and Horford provide a back-end brain that seems to keep that team upright despite itself.
Out of all the unrealistic trade targets I’ve seen floated, I think the one I’d really push for is Giannis. The move would be something like Randle/Mitch/5 or 6 picks for Giannis. Of course we’d also need to bring all of Hartenstein, OG, and Achiuwa back. Maybe if we give them their first back, they’d let us keep our picks in this draft lol. Of course- with Laurence Fishburne at the helm, they’d never move Giannis unless he creates a Harden-level stink. I’m just saying..with this team as currently constructed- I wouldn’t be the slightest bit bothered by that kind of overpay.
Obviously if Giannis becomes available you have to go for him, but I just don’t see it happening. And even if it did, I fear that the price would be crippling.
“…Jrue, White, and Horford provide a back-end brain that seems to keep that team upright despite itself.”
Brad has built a team with an enormous veteran leadership/b-ball IQ/talent combination. Leon is well on his way towards building that kind of team. Honestly, I think a guy like Giannis is not necessarily the way to go in that regard. That Bucks team bullrushed its way to a title. I don’t think that is really feasible any more.
Now if you can figure out a way to get Giannis for Randle, etc. and all the picks, but keep Brunson, OG, iHart, DDV, and Hart, I guess you have to do it. I like the Mikal route better just because it would be easier to build a 10-12 deep team. But if it happened, I’d be very excited.
I don’t think it’s much of a shock that Boston is playing so well without KP. I’m obviously a huge KP fan but even I said before the playoffs they weren’t going to miss him that much.
I said that because I knew Horford was still really good and could also stretch the floor.
Horford is not going to give you as much scoring on a consistent basis or as much rim protection as KP, but the Celtic perimeter defense is excellent and they have “surplus” scoring in the starting lineup. By that I mean there’s so much potential scoring in their lineup, it wasn’t going to be that tough for Holiday, White, Brown and Tatum to make up any gap in the scoring left by KP being out. What KP does is add depth because Horford can go to the bench, even more of what they already have/need on offense to take the pressure off the others, and rim protection backing up up the already solid perimeter defense. He makes a great team even greater.
Situationally, Horford is a much smarter player than KP. It’s arguable that the starting lineup is even better with Horford at C. My feeling is that the main issue with KP out is that it makes the C’s bench very thin up front.
The Celtics’ opponents:
Miami without Butler
Cleveland without Mitchell
Indiana without Halliburton
We might have had Randle if we didn’t try to rush him back.
“We might have had Randle if we didn’t try to rush him back.”
What?!
Come on, guys. Why y’all act like Randle’s admission that he reinjured his shoulder in a full-contact practice doesn’t exist?
https://sny.tv/articles/julius-randle-reinjured-shoulder-knicks-setback-full-contact
“The Celtics’ opponents:
Miami without Butler
Cleveland without Mitchell
Indiana without Halliburton”
The Celtics would have been heavy favorites against any of these teams with those players healthy and likely would have beaten them convincingly. Same against the Knicks with Randle. But if folks want to fantasize about how vulnerable they are and float silly narratives about Tatum and Brown being dumb overrated chokers who just got lucky, whatever. They had the best record in the NBA by 7 games. not to mention 8 games over the TWolves, 14 games over the Mavs (and Knicks), and 17 games over the Pacers. And that was without ever breaking a sweat.
Sadly, the TWolves would probably have the best chance of knocking them off. I don’t see any way they win 4 of 5 unless Doncic goes down. And I don’t think the Mavs have any chance of beating them.
Randle’s shoulder was clearly surgical from the moment he injured it. It’s nice that he tried to come back and all, but it wasn’t going to happen. Anyone with any understanding of shoulder dislocations knows that. All the “re-injury” proved was that he had a torn labrum that needed to be surgically repaired. Cartilage does not heal on its own.
Man the Mets are unfathomably bad in almost every conceivable way. The major league roster can’t hit at all, their top two hitting prospects stunk to start the season and then both got hurt, and all of the rest of their hitting prospects look like garbage. The top pitching prospects look like mid-to-back of rotation starters.
Edwin Diaz is washed, Senga keeps having injury setbacks, Brett Baty and Kevin Parada are busts, and the only promising young hitter who looks like he could be a potential All-Star, Francisco Alvarez, also got off to a slow start then got hurt.
If they don’t do a complete fire sale and move
Alonso, Lindor, Severino, and anything else that might bring back prospects, they are nuts. This is as bad as their situation has looked in quite some time.
Unless Cohen is willing to eat a bunch of salary, the Mets are stuck with Lindors contract.
On Diaz – I think you have to give him more time. He didn’t pitch at all last season.
Come on, guys. Why y’all act like Randle’s admission that he reinjured his shoulder in a full-contact practice doesn’t exist?
Yes it did exist and that is why we would never have a healthy Randle for an EC finals. Your statement makes sense if all of the following are true: (1) he was rushed back either because the medical staff got it wrong or were overruled; (2) if they had waited longer, he would have been able to have full-contact practices without any set-backs; (3) all the games he then plays in before the EC finals he works his way to play to his pre-injury intensity level and doesn’t re-injure himself.
Admittedly you used the word “might” which allows for the above to happen, but the connotation implies it was the Knicks fault when it is not warranted.
The Mets have nothing resembling a shortstop prospect in their system other than Jeremy Rodriguez, who is like 18, so they might as well just let Lindor stink it up out there until they find one. If you can trade him, great.
His glove still plays, so he’s still probably like a 4 WAR player even in this horrible season he’s having. Contract runs through 2034 though. Don’t nobody want that.
My statement is that we don’t have enough information to blame or acquit anyone for Julius Randle missing the playoffs.
Statements like this:
Are just not based in any facts that we have.
I don’t know, and neither do you.
We do know that four players (Randle, OG, Mitch, Grimes) suffered serious reinjury during the regular season either playing or practicing when it wasn’t prudent to do so. I don’t know where the line between player, coach, and medical staff responsibility exists. Suffice to say it’s an organizational issue that needs to be fixed.
“Are just not based in any facts that we have.”
We don’t have specific facts about the extent of the damage to Randle’s shoulder. We have extensive knowledge about anterior shoulder dislocations and the significant likelihood of instability in such shoulders that are not surgically repaired. It was an extreme long shot that Randle could return this season. Everyone knows that. He decided to give it a shot, hoping he could be an outlier, especially because there was enough time to make a full recovery before next season even if surgery was delayed. It predictably didn’t work. If you can find a single reliable source that says that Randle would likely have been fine for the playoffs if only he had gotten more rest, please provide it for us. Otherwise, you’re just trolling.
Grimes kept playing in Detroit until they shut him down, but only after he almost singlehandedly beat his old team, looking pretty spry while doing it.
OG’s elbow was not an issue heading into the playoffs and had nothing to do with his hamstring injury. The only time he was actually rushed back in any meaningful way was for game 7 vs. Indiana. It’s certainly fair to criticize that one, as he was clearly nowhere near the prescribed length of rest and rehab for that one. Same for Josh Hart. And possibly, same for Brunson…the foot, not the hand.
Mitch’s situation is more murky. The prudent thing to do would have been to keep him out for the season. However, he might have had the same issue had he returned for training camp next year. It could be that the surgery did not fully take, or that he re-injured the foot in a way that was inevitable. We’ll never know, but that one is at least arguable. Not so in Randle’s or OG’s (elbow) case.
The Eternal, Never-Ending 2024 Narrative:
Raven injured hamstring.
Takes time off. Feels better.
Goes for run. Re-aggravates hamstring.
Blames Thibs.
hubert i agree that zman is overstating the extent we can know that randle’s shoulder was clearly surgical. at the time i asked one of the leading orthopedic surgeons who has literally done shoulder procedures on well known athletes if surgery was inevitable and he said it was too hard to know and might well be too hard to know even on the inside.
but you are also playing confidence games here. randle said he got reinjured taking full contact. but thibs said it was controlled contact with pads. i don’t have a contact genie but thibs was more specific and has a lot to lose from specifically lying about this so his version is probably more likely.
he also seemed to quietly dispute randle’s claim that he in fact got reinjured. he responded to randle’s reinjury description by saying that “some days he felt better than others” and “he had to trust his gut.” it’s perhaps fair to wonder if thibs is spinning an actual reinjury to protect the knicks from looking bad for rushing him back or if thibs is just such a maniac that he thinks even a clear reinjury should be described like a kid who’s not in the mood to do homework. but it’s also true that if he just genuinely thinks randle’s version of events aren’t quite accurate, he has to be pretty circumspect to avoid alienating randle (i mean if it were me and i clearly injured the shoulder that quote would already be pretty annoying, so it’s interesting thibs went that far). it’s pretty hard to know what happened, but i don’t think we can say with confidence that whatever randle did before the “setback” was imprudent.
The only positives the Mets have is that Stearns signed a group of rentals ( Sevvy, JD Martinez, Bader) and has some pitchers ( Quinnones, Ottavino) who collectively can help reseed the farm system. Trade Alonso and do not resign him for Boras $’s as he does not fit the win curve, which right now is infinity. Maybe the Yanks would swab Gleybar for McNeil, who should retire from baseball and join the PGA tour.
I’m willing to give Diaz some more time. Yesterday, he blew the save before throwing a slider. His velo is down, so I don’t know what Nido and Diaz were thinking. The team is unwatchable as currently playing.
pt, if your point is actually that you couldn’t know “with certainty,” that’s one thing. If it is that you couldn’t know within a reasonable degree of probability, that’s another. In addition to talking to orthopedic surgeons about it myself, I perused a bunch of articles, ranging from scholarly to more layperson-oriented ones. All suggested the following:
-Complete dislocations are almost always accompanied by collateral damage to the shoulder cuff, most often involving some degree of a labral tear. (unless your buddy looked at the MRI and saw the degree of damage, he’s just speculating about what he might have thought, using couched language like “might well be too hard to know”.)
-shoulders that are not surgically repaired are highly susceptible to re-dislocations
-subsequent dislocations can be catastrophic to the shoulder
-whether shoulders are surgically repaired or not, some loss of pre-injury function is more the rule than the exception
-surgery mitigates, but does not eliminate the increased propensity for re-injury.
None of these statements are “certainties.” They are about probabilities. I think your source is correct that if the injury is in the grey area (i.e. not so obviously surgical that it isn’t even a discussion) you can’t know with certainty, even with an mri. But you can know what the probable outcome is. The probable outcome for Randle’s shoulder from the moment he injured it was “highly probably off-season surgery, small chance of enough recovery via strenghtening enough to lower the risk of re-dislocation until that time, worth taking that chance because delaying surgery is not likely to compromise next season (although that wasn’t a certainty either.) And the outcome is very much in line with those probabilities. Suggesting that he was on the road to recovery and only reinjured it because he was rushed back is nonsense.
Idk the contexts here, but the discrepancy makes me wonder if there are any ill feelings between Thibs and Randle over the injury.
That would obviously not be great, and maybe Leon is shopping Randle a little more because of it? All speculation on my part, of course…
sounds like his shoulder made full contact with the pad – and it hurt – a lot…
next…
Here’s a fairly recent and lay-friendly article on anterior shoulder dislocations.
After reading that a bunch of academic articles all I can tell you for certain is that 5G towers caused coronavirus
After whiffing on Yamamoto their plan was to get some decent enough short term vets in and contend for the wild card and the vets they got like Severino and JD Martinez have atually worked out pretty good. But Lindor, McNeil & Pete are all hitting like the low end of their projections and Diaz sucking has stressed the bullpen.
Ptmilo, I’m not gonna lie, it seems preposterous to me that Randle was practicing in February, 4 weeks after the injury, and two months before the playoffs. What was the rush? Why not give him time to heal before even attempting a comeback?
With no unreasonable deduction, it seems the Knicks eschewed a “let’s get him back for the playoffs” approach and went with “let’s get him back on the court as soon as possible.”
The Yankees find themselves in a similar situation with Cole but they don’t have the Knicks’ organizational shortsightedness. They know October games are more important than current ones, so they shut him down and will give him all the time in the world to recover. If given a million chances, the yankees wouldn’t use a single one trying to get Cole back faster to improve their regular season position. The Knicks on the other hand seem all too happy to mortgage the future for an advantage today. And I find it hard to believe this fault didn’t play a role in Randle’s reinjury.
Here’s another one.
There’s nothing in those Randle articles that indicates his contact session was rushed. They put together a plan to maybe get Randle back in time to contribute in the playoffs. Part of that plan is obviously going to be him taking contact and it didn’t work. Rehabbing his shoulder without surgery didn’t work.
“And I find it hard to believe this fault didn’t play a role in Randle’s reinjury.”
Why is this not surprising?
“There’s nothing in those Randle articles that indicates his contact session was rushed. They put together a plan to maybe get Randle back in time to contribute in the playoffs. Part of that plan is obviously going to be him taking contact and it didn’t work. Rehabbing his shoulder without surgery didn’t work.”
When your starting point is “The Knicks are criminally negligent at managing injuries” it is pretty easy to use the “WE DON’T HAVE DEFINITIVE PROOF IT WASN”T THEIR FAULT” to conclude that it must be their fault.
The Mets should be able to flip a lot of their short-term guys like JD Martinez, Severino, Manaea, Ottavino, Bader, et al. They seem to have a million of those guys who have no value to a .420 team like the Mets but could help a contender. There are vanishingly few exciting prospects in the farm system so I’m hoping for an epic fire sale.
Lol the Mets won
In other news, Luca Vildoza and OAKAAK Jerian Grant just became Euroleague Champions.
Also, you may remember the start of the season when Randle played after some surgery and he, what’s the word, sucked. So if you want him back for the playoffs, you probably don’t plan to have him play his first game as Game One of the playoffs, because odds are, he’ll um, suck.
Nothing other than the date and the result.
beating former Knicks legends Mario Hezonja and…Sergio Rodriguez!
Z-Man, you’re the one starting from a fixed position, namely: “Randle’s was a freak injury and nothing we could have done would have made a difference.”
You don’t have the facts to support that statement.
I’m merely taking the more reasonable approach, i.e. it’s too murky to know for sure, but I have a suspicion.
Cole got hurt 8 months before the start of the baseball playoffs. If Julius hurt his shoulder 8 months before the start of the basketball playoffs he would have just had surgery right away.
Sounds more like a forgone conclusion in search of facts, and in the absence of facts, suspicions suffice.
Fact 1: Randle reinjured his shoulder in practice.
Fact 2: the practice occurred in February
Conclusion: the Knicks were trying to get Randle back for the regular season when he reinjured himself.
Don’t think there’s too much crazy there. Certainly nothing as wild as suggesting the Knicks allowed Randle to practice with a shoulder that definitely needed surgery on Jan 27.
Sure there isn’t.
Yeah no shit dude he tried to rehab his shoulder without surgery so he could come back and it didn’t work.
I think I’ll name this the “Hubert Argues with Himself While We All Stare Dumbfounded” thread.
The least honorable folks I ever have known are those who tend to ascribe the worst motivations in situations rather than give them the benefit of the doubt.
Zman he’s just making a bad argument because he has an internet grudge it’s fine
I’m making an unassailable argument that you’re too dug in to comprehend.
…so he could back in the regular season. The timing of his full contact practice (late February) indicates they were targeting a quick return.
If we had been willing to forsake the regular season and target a playoff return, he would not have been participating in a full contact practice in February.
I can pull a 9 year old off the street and they could track this argument easily, but the combined intellect of Z-Man, DRed, and Raven can only watch it zoom past them on the back of a turtle.
Right, we’re sooooo dumb!
“Zman he’s just making a bad argument because he has an internet grudge it’s fine”
I see it as a window into character. Others are free to see it differently.
Why not find out how long the body will heal a shoulder before it won’t anymore without surgery? That would probably help settle some of this.
Basketball players don’t practice wearing pads, it’s not football. Randle was likely hitting a pad with his shoulder and he either reinjured it or realized it wasn’t healing.
I can actually give a personal example. My father dislocated his shoulder when I was young. Maybe his mid thirties or so. It was his right shoulder. He was left handed though. It was never the same but he didn’t want to get surgery while working because he would have been out for months and he was a boilermaker. No paid time off. He never dislocated it again but there was weakness. He eventually had pins put in to help support it and it was fine after that. Now that was about 35 years ago so I’d imagine treatments are better now. The chance of Julius playing again without surgery were probably slim to begin with. My guess was that he wanted to rehab to help the team, it healed as much as it was likely to heal and it wasn’t going to hold up no matter what. Could another month maybe helped, it may have. It’s also as likely, if not more, that nothing but surgery was going to be able to get him back on the court.
If the Knicks medical staff is so awful as some would assume I think we’d be hearing something different than Thibs complaints about minutes and it would be leaking out from players and other sources.
“The chance of Julius playing again without surgery were probably slim to begin with. My guess was that he wanted to rehab to help the team, it healed as much as it was likely to heal and it wasn’t going to hold up no matter what. Could another month maybe helped, it may have. It’s also as likely, if not more, that nothing but surgery was going to be able to get him back on the court.”
Right, but you don’t know for sure so it must be incompetence on the part of Leon, Thibs, the medical staff and whoever else you want to blame.
Another thing. I think OG would ditch Leon’s son as his agent if he thought the Knicks handled his injuries terribly. It just wouldn’t make sense to work with the guy’s son who is going to decide what you get paid if you hated his father’s organization’s medical staff.
I don’t have any proof that my wife is cheating on me. But I don’t have any proof that she’s not cheating on me, either. So I am going to write on the internet that she is cheating on me, mostly because… well, I don’t really know… I guess because it’s more interesting than posting about fidelity, even if it makes me seem like an asshole.
Great post, Donnie.
From CBS:
Kinda seems like this was Randle making a dumb choice
Sorry about your wife, Donnie. But there is proof that Julius Randle reinjured his shoulder during a full-contact practice session in February.
donnie you do know that over time, you’ve pretty much given us clear indication – that you keep the missus pretty busy…
is this like some kind of humble-flex situation?
i’ll just say, my first romantic excursion since about forever – has me very much committed to getting in to much much better shape…
need to strengthen myself in that front leaning rest position…yep, that and maybe start chewing gum again…all sorts of muscles need some work…
got the sound off, but that hit on Lively looked really bad…like how could you not be concussed from KAT ramming his knee in to the back of your head…
that would have been an illegal strike in mma…
KBPR made an interesting comment in regards to collecting an athletes’ personal data in order to optimize performance…
basically just stating that they’re wired a bit differently, the competitive nature they have is pretty extreme…so many would most likely willingly participate…
i thought it was pretty daring for OG to step out on the court dragging his leg…
it was important to him…
i’m telling you – we are just seeing the beginning of OG’s offensive game…
goes without saying – i don’t believe either athlete made a “dumb” choice, they just made a choice…
So now let’s just ignore what medical professionals told Randle because, being a fundamentally angry person with a deeply seated need to lash out and blame, we need to scapegoat someone rather than just accept that Julius himself confessed that two different shoulder surgeons confirmed everything that Z-man said. Because there is proofzz!!!
Hubie go to that BR article and search for the word practice and tell me what you find
I know it’s only an 8 point defficit but Minny doesn’t feel good tongith
E, djphan, and Hubert. Perfect together.
I highly doubt the Knicks medical staff is awful.
You are a very special type of stupid.
“You are a very special type of stupid.”
Maybe. FWIW, I don’t think you are stupid. In fact, I think you are very intelligent. Just terribly damaged.
That was a great dunk by Ant
You guys are so mean to each other! Cut it out!
Meanwhile, I’m just lazing here on the back of a turtle. Geo, you should join me, it’s sweet.
Oh wait, am I instead watching turtles zoom past with 9-yr-olds on their backs? Much less fun…
Ant seems like a dick but he’s really something to watch when he gets rolling
L.J. Washington: I don’t really come from outer space.
Jeffrey Goines: Oh. L. J. Washington. He doesn’t really come from outer space.
L.J. Washington: Don’t mock me my friend. It’s a condition of mental divergence. I find myself on the planet Ogo, part of an intellectual elite, preparing to subjugate the barbarian hordes on Pluto. But even though this is a totally convincing reality for me in every way, nevertheless Ogo is actually a construct of my psyche. I am mentally divergent, in that I am escaping certain unnamed realities that plague my life here. When I stop going there, I will be well. Are you also divergent, friend?
I actually like reading Hubert’s more sober and reflective posts. When he goes full-Pyle on us, not so much.
This game is so much fun to watch.
yeah they’re trading some crazy shots
Luka is hitting some really tough shots
Edit: someone said it first
Karl Towns does not possess that dog
Brunson is great and a blast to root for, but he’s not Kyrie. I would never want to root for Kyrie but I acknowledge his greatness.
The Wolves defense is great, they’re constantly forcing opponents to take tough as hell shots… unfortunately they’re facing a team that has two superstars who are just so insane at making ridiculously tough shots. Some real magical shit from Luka and Kyrie tonight.
Getting Kyrie for pennies in a trade is a great way to rebound
Kyrie doesn’t seem like Kyrie. Next level lately.
Talent wise Kyrie is better. Brunson could’ve stayed with a generational talent, but Mavs didn’t give him the contract he wanted. As great as Kyrie is , his biggest success is playing next to Lebron and Luka..he also played with KD. Ridiculous talent he’s been team mates with.
Yeah he’s better and a leader and he’s reliable.
and people out here want to run with Randle … as the number 2 option
“Yeah he’s better and a leader and he’s reliable.”
And home.
Again, I love Brunson. Kyrie is better.
Z- man are you going to acknowledge the incredible talent Kyrie has played with??
He would do nothing with this Knicks team..
Kyrie is an unbelievable talent, but I think currrent day Kyrie and current day Brunson are on the same level, with Brunson being a better fit for our roster for obvious reasons as a leader etc.
But Luka is just a difference maker, dude is playing on one knee and elevating his game whenever his team needs him the most.
What’s Kyries best season as the clear cut guy on a team?
I think Kyrie and Brunson are very close. I don’t think Kyrie would make us any better than we were with Brunson. But in a Kyrie-Brunson showdown, as painful as it is to admit, I’m going Kyrie.
“What’s Kyries best season as the clear cut guy on a team?”
That sort of makes my argument that Brunson is unlikely to win a championship as the best player on his team. He and Kyrie are statistically and stylistically very similar.
In a roundabout sort of way, if Brunson is all about winning a championship above all else, he should have stayed in Dallas.
I’m really liking Daniel Gafford. He’s got a bit of a poor man’s Alonzo Mourning vibe.
Towns in this series
Game 1 – 16 points on 6-20 shooting
Game 2 – 15 points on 4-16 shooting
Game 3 – 14 points on 5-18 shooting
That’s Randle level stuff
Jalen Brunson was statistically simliar to Kyrie Irving in the playoffs at almost twice the usage on a team whose second best offensive player was Donte DiVincenzo, Kyrie is playing second fiddle to at worst the 2nd best offensive player in the NBA.
I certainly don’t think you can win it all if Randle is the number 2 guy. You can win the title with Brunson, but the other player needs to be a top 10 ish player
Draymond is one annoying dude.
“I certainly don’t think you can win if Randle is the number 2 guy. You can win the title with Brunson, but the other player needs to be a top 10 ish player”
Isn’t that what you are saying about Kyrie?
Nope, I don’t think you need a Luka level player to win it all next to Brunson
Holy, didn’t realize KD had a 65 TS in the playoffs and they got swept…
KD in place of Randle with the same role players. How far does that team go?
“Nope, I don’t think you need a Luka level player to win it all next to Brunson”
Kyrie already has a game-winning shot against the purportedly best team of all time. I hope you are right in thinking that Brunson can get to the finals without a Luka or LeBron-level player. Although we should remember that the Kyrie-LeBron supporting cast was hardly that impressive, as is this Dallas supporting cast. (I remember how much I was vilified for suggesting that Gafford would be a reasonable replacement for Mitch.) Besides Doncic, who is the supporting cast for Dallas? PJ Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., Daniel Gafford, Derrick Lively, and Josh Green? Imagine Brunson and someone other than Luka or LeBron playing with those guys….
“KD in place of Randle with the same role players. How far does that team go?”
If we could land KD for Randle, sign me up.
Yeah that’s a big part of my reasoning. The supporting cast led by OG would still be on this team. Two stars plus elite role players could do major damage.
You are talking like Kyrie is best player on the Mavs and not the guy who finished 3rd in the MVP voting.
“You are talking like Kyrie is best player on the Mavs and not the guy who finished 3rd in the MVP voting.”
No, I’m talking like Kyrie is the 2nd best player on the Mavs, and better than if Brunson was the 2nd best player on the Mavs.
“Yeah that’s a big part of my reasoning. The supporting cast led by OG would still be on this team. Two stars plus elite role players could do major damage.”
I am with you here, but my point is that if your team has everything else the same except this version of Kyrie instead of Brunson, your team is at least as good and probably better. I’m happy to listen to counterarguments, but the narrative that Kyrie needs LeBron or Doncic and Brunson doesn’t is, well, curious.
When Kyrie went to the Celtics and was the #1 option on a playoff team he shot 38% from the field and demanded a trade in the offseason.
My bad he didn’t demand a trade he just quit the Celtics to focus on anti-semitism and vaccine denial.
That is not this Kyrie. PS did you check Brunson’s TS for these playoffs?
Brunson wins the character debate hands-down. But that’s not what we’re talking about here, is it?
Brunson had a 35% usg rate and a 35% assist percentage playing on a team that had most of the other good players hurt, and he went for 32-7 per game while playing a good chunk of those games with some sort of injury. Kyrie played off the guy who finished 3rd in MVP voting and chipped in 21-5, they had completely different roles. This shit is crazy talk from a Knicks fan
Brunson is better than Kyrie. Kyrie looks great right now. I buy both of those things.