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2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks @ Jazz – Suck It, Ainge!

There’s no real animus between the Knicks and the Jazz, so I will settle for them beating Danny Ainge’s team. Now…will that just help Ainge tank? Yes, but…well…it still feels good to beat Danny Ainge!

So let’s go, Knicks! I am feeling great about 58!

226 replies on “2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks @ Jazz – Suck It, Ainge!”

Deuce still out and Jazz getting back Kessler and Clarkson for this game. Not expecting a blowout just win the game.

Oh good, was afraid after that last thread that I’d be in here all alone, talking to myself. Good to see y’all — and Go Knicks!

Oh good, we got Jamal again. My first time listening to him. After the accolades, I’m looking forward to it.

Tonight I had to choose between the Utah’s announcers and the italian ones and I went with the latter…

First comment was “if you play drop with KAT your defense suffer” and the second “only on the NBA Markannen can do that and not be whistled for traveling”….

No doubt they had a better start than the Knicks… 😀

Yeah as I feared Knicks have come out not giving a shit and Utah is playing their asses off.

Imagine how good our offense would be if we learn to hit bunnies and layups…

And they’re killing us under our glass…

They’re huge. Two seven footers and John Collins is like their small forward at 6’9″.

Clearly let OG shoot the threes today, not Mikal.

Kolek in super early.

6-0 edge in turnovers in that quarter. The Jazz turn the ball over a lot in general and we don’t, so let’s hope this continues.

I wonder if we could get 5 second round picks for Bridges now. 🤮

Role players will never be worth 5 first. Just got to hope he ups his play if they ever want to deal him for good value

I’m a fan of Bridges, but he’s a comedy of errors out there. It’s like he’s hung over.

Nobody is playing well today. We will probably get it together and win this game eventually but once again this does not look like a team that is well coached.

The word “bum” is starting to become a fair description for Mikal Bridges.

We’re taking a lot of threes and making barely any of them.
Then OG makes one. Way to screw up my point, OG.

What the hell Knicks?! I was expecting to be ahead by a healthy margin when I turned it on.

I’m convinced we can get 5 Knickerbloggers together and we’ll put up 120 pts on the Knicks.

Cam Payne won’t ever be my favorite player

Why do I feel like E will turn out to be 6’7 with a pure stroke

The ESPN Bet commercial was filmed at Devocion in Flatiron

OG looks good.

Mikal’s trifecta form is barely this side of “Abandon hope all ye who enter here” territory, if in fact it actually is.

I’m convinced we can get 5 Knickerbloggers together and we’ll put up 120 pts on the Knicks.

i just tripped over an eight year old

Worst loss of the season?

I love it when I check the score to find we’re down 6 and then find we’re down 12 buy the time i even get the game turned on

We should be able to clamp down and get some stops against this horrible Utah offense. Thibs is screwing the pooch this season, this team just can’t defend at all.

We should be able to clamp down and get some stops against this horrible Utah offense. Thibs is screwing the pooch this season, this team just can’t defend at all.

Thibs without rim protection has lost his defensive rep

Sometimes you can just tell a team showed up to the gym but didn’t come to play. Maybe they were overconfident. Hopefully Thibs will read them the riot act at halftime and they can get back into it, but this one may have already gotten away.

The Knicks best defensive wing duo might be Dadiet and OG. They need to play more minutes together

Remove OG from the equation, and the Knicks are shooting 15.7% from three. On 19 shots.

Ain’t gonna win an NBA game like that.

Fire the coach. You want to win anything with this roster, fire the coach. His defensive approach with this personnel sucks.

oh man, missed the start time, for some reason thought it was later today…

i see the score – so um, instead of “start from the beginning”, thinking i’ll be joining live…and hope for a better second half…

Remove OG from the equation, and the Knicks are shooting 15.7% from three. On 19 shots.

Ain’t gonna win an NBA game like that.

Doesn’t excuse the defense from a defensive coach

One if the worst half of the year so far,
the Jazz made an habit of starting like cannonballs and fade down the stretch but we’re playing like shit…

Also of note, I can’t survive a full season of Cam Payne, it’s factorial… ☠️

Problem is no coach is available and Thibs doesn’t have his full roster so the media will blast Rose for the move

Rose will eventually have to make a play on Thibs, but I don’t think it happens until the season ends. He put the roster together and if he thinks it’s under achieving he will have to make a move [ See Jets with Rodgers]

They showed a Ben Simmons missed uncontested layup from last night that was so bad that if I’d done that I’d just retire.

Yeah, Cyber, every time he shoots a three I think it’s a pass to the corner, but then the ball goes toward the basket. Gives me whiplash.

I have long been in the “Thibs agnostic” camp, didn’t really have a strong opinion about him one way or another. But he’s doing a poor job with this team. The measure of a coach should be whether or not he is getting a team to play up to its talent level and he’s not getting it done.

Thibs is a coach that gets the most out of teams nobody expects anything from like getting the Burks, Randle, Bullock team to the 4th seed that eventually got exposed due to lack of talent.

When he has talent, he usually comes up short in playing up to expectations

cam’s shot isn’t quite as fugly as it looks. he points his feet at an extreme 45 degree angle and brings the ball up on the opposite side of his body, but after all that the extension and release are pretty aligned and clean

In the NBA you can often make up deficits like this because of all of the three point shooting.

But not if you can never get a stop.

Jeez, I was about to give Mikal joke props for getting a rebound and then he throws it away…

Knicks should bring up Chuma Okeke from the G League team. I think Thibs would play him because he plays defense.

I think JK is right, Thibs is doing a poor job this season. Let’s hope he (and the team) gets it together.

Let’s hope you bring good luck. 😉

Guess not.

Does Mikal have a newborn this year, too? 😉

KAT stopped at the rim a few times, even with a head of steam. Don’t like to see that at all.

But I agree with Jamal. Chip away and let’s see.

Knicks should bring up Chuma Okeke from the G League team. I think Thibs would play him because he plays defense.

Probably better than having a cheerleader on the bench in Ryan.

Ok, like the Bulls, we have ’em right where we want ’em

Ha! But seriously, this game has the same vibe. Wouldn’t be surprised if they come storming back and it could go either way the final minutes.

This fire Thibs conversation is delusional. 🤪

There’s a 0% chance that makes any sense or that it will happen.

Leon will take a look at the team once Precious and Mitch are back and could make some kind of move, but the problem is not Thibs. They didn’t come to play with any sense of urgency, the 3s aren’t dropping, Utah came to play and their 3s are dropping. I’m not sure why it would happen in a place like Utah. It’s not like they were out partying last night. But this has little to do with Thibs. They didn’t come to play like this is a real game that matters. They just showed up at the arena and expected to win. They have to up the intensity.

Cam and Jericho (and Kolek and Dadiet) are playing with energy and desire, some of the starters not so much…

Lotta people in the threads hating on Payne. I don’t know the guy that well but every time I tune in, he’s performing well. The shot looks weird, but …

This fire Thibs conversation is delusional.

I don’t think its wishful thinking at all. Thibs will get the full season and if the team underachieves Rose will have a decision to make.

Well we never should’ve let it get to this point but it’s nice to have the kind of talent that can just kinda wake up like this

The Thibs defensive system doesn’t work without Rim protection gets stronger.

This fire Thibs conversation is delusional. 🤪

If you’re talking about me, i never said to fire Thibs, i just said i agree he’s doing a poor job.

I don’t hate Payne, he’s just not my cup of tea. 😁
75% of the time he shoots when I’d rather pass and passes when I’d rather shoot, but I like his energy on defense and his pace of play.

Bridges 3-14 , but the other starting wing we traded for leads discussions on KB.

SLC is actually a surprisingly active party town. It gets wilder there than you’d think.

The kids who break away from being Mormon go wild

Fake comeback over sooner than usual. Man, Bridges… Literally a 500% overpay. That trade has fucked us into the 2030s. I really think it’s worse than any Isiah move.

Signing Cam Payne, a guy with a long history of doing NBA caliber stuff, to a minimum contract was one of those things that was weirdly controversial

I feel like the announcers are gonna say next, “If they can just get the lead at the final buzzer, the Knicks will be in good shape.”

Bad 3pt % and a ridiculous number of missed layups (that usually go down) are conspiring to doom us!

Signing Cam Payne, a guy with a long history of doing NBA caliber stuff, to a minimum contract was one of those things that was weirdly controversial

just the nature of cam payne finance. waiter!

It’s really frustrating how a 12 point lead from a garbage team like this is so much more secure than our 12 point lead would be with half the time remaining. For such a good offensive team, how are we so unthreatening?

Maybe trading five first rounders for “Nova Vibes” wasn’t the best idea. Mikal Bridges looks like an unmitigated stiff out there.

I don’t want to go all doomer here, but it’s time to start worrying. This looks like an ill-conceived team that is a poor match of personnel and coach, and they’re not improving, in fact this is the worst they have played all year. They look worse than they did in week one of the season.

Instead of Mikal

That doesn’t make any sense, the timing of those two trades is very far apart.

Mikal’s going to be under 20 percent from downtown ex-corners and really doesn’t do much else. He’s barely a starting caliber player at this point and actually probably isn’t.

We’re just not very good is what the problem is.

That’s what I keep coming back to. I’m on the opposite side of the Thibs take this year. I don’t think he’s been good or anything I just think this roster was so poorly conceived that it’s going to make any coach look bad.

That doesn’t make any sense, the timing of those two trades is very far apart.

If Rose was willing to move 5 first and maybe a young player like Grimes you don’t think Ainge would do that deal?

Yeah I don’t think we’re bad, but one thing we’re not used to is having a team that decidedly cannot lean on its defense when the offense isn’t clicking.

Thus far, not much of a Plan B if KAT and/or Brunson don’t have it.

missed most the second half also, thankfully…

i’ll check out the box score later…

later: wow, josh hart had a plus/minus of – 34…KAT – 32…fugly boxscore…

The only offense that looked effortless today was OG’s and they went away from any more of that in the 4th (eye test).

Also, Sims brigade got us back in the game, but the starters came back and woof.

Neither “not very good” nor “poorly conceived” means “bad.”

When we’re good we’re really good. But when the offense isn’t rolling all the problems just flood forward.

Also, Sims brigade got us back in the game, but the starters came back and woof.

Going away from Sims is on the coach. One of my Thibs issues is he can’t read adjustments in game.

I will say that OG gets beat backdoor more than he should. Plays too aggressively at times. KAT should probably be helping on those too.

But obviously not the problem tonight.

Leon Rose traded five first round picks for a guy who stinks it up every night on both sides of the ball. If he doesn’t start playing better that is a fatally bad trade for Leon.

BRidges himself may force Leon to fire Thibs if it doesn’t click with him. Jay Wright is available

If they came out with the defensive energy they finished with there may have been a different result.

Payne has flat out been a better player on both sides of the ball. That’s not remotely an exaggeration.

He has, but trading five first and benching the guy is trying to kill his value. Better figure it out

When he plays, it kills his value even worse. He has no value right now. He’s terrible every night.

Don’t we usually suck in day games?

Only shot 12 free throws total and only by 3 guys. Suggests passive offense.

And I love the three ball, but when we went down again after our run, the offense looked terrible — just guys hanging out beyond the arc taking turns. Still gotta cut. Still gotta pass.

Not excusing our guys, but they looked tired, bored, and disinterested. Is there a stat for that? 😉

It’s shaping up to be one of the worst trades in NBA history, but politically I can’t see Leon throwing in the towel on him without first trying a new coach. He’s at risk too.

The idea of extending him is unthinkable. Leon has a big decision there.

The Jazz were 25th in the league coming into tonight with a 33% 3P%. They shot 56% from 3 tonight.

Kessler was plus 34.

I was forced to go play a game of spite and malice which my daughter quit in tears despite being in the lead and then we had to read a chapter of The Thirteen Treasures that took 35 minutes.

Apparently it was for the best.

I felt Bridges was an overpay but I thought he would at least play great defense again not having to carry so much offensive load. Doesn’t seem to be happening.

I still think we are ok and would benefit greatly if Mitch and Precious can come back and be cromulent. We desperately needed more size out there.

And yeah, Kessler was dominant

Bridges worst 3 point shooting season was his rookie year. Currently below that.

He shot 37% from 3 last season in the full 82 games

maybe he needs a game off…

He’s also like the third or fourth option here. In Brooklyn he was the number 1 option. Maybe they should get him into the action early in the game.

Also, this Jericho Sims apology form was pretty funny and a reminder that we haven’t even played twenty games yet….

if we do a “will jericho sims be an nba rotation player in 2026-27” put me down for nay

this Jericho Sims apology form was pretty funny

Hahaha. Yes.

He (Bridges) is also like the third or fourth option here. In Brooklyn he was the number 1 option. Maybe they should get him into the action early in the game.

It looked like they were indeed trying to do this during the winning streak. Calling his number in set plays on purpose.

Conversely, ride Bridges on the second team, let him be #1 option for big minutes with Sims, Payne et al. Morale-wise, I think he could benefit from a big game.

Final thought. This felt like one of those games where we needed Deuce. Nearly always aggressive and urgent at least. I hope he’s on the mend.

Mikal is just playing the softest, most non-impact, losing brand of basketball. Doesn’t ever take the ball to the rim, doesn’t play aggressively on defense, gets vaporized on every screen, just stands around looking to shoot midrange jumpers. This loss wasn’t entirely on him but he seemed like the worst player on the floor tonight from the jump.

He does indeed play with a lack of energy . Playing with some anger could help him on both ends. Rose, Thibs and Mikal need to have a sit down on how he’s going to be used in this offense and show him his crappy defensive highlights. Just letting him play through the motions isn’t the best thing to do.

Maybe they should get him into the action early in the game.

ugh, i’m getting the slow bad vibe like with RJ…where there was all this talk about how he was taking on the toughest defensive challenges and whatnot…

it was all talk, he was slow footed…

in all fairness to RJ though, on a recent raptor game he was the point of attack defender, and moving well…

unfortunately mikal’s stat page is seriously trending in the wrong direction…

maybe instead of 28, he’s more like 38 with all the games he’s played…

There’s nothing new or surprising in tonight’s debacle. This Knicks team is as unreliable defensively as it has been since the start of the season. They are very potent on offense and, when they win, people get carried away. However, when they don’t have it offensively they are exposed. They cannot sustain any defensive intensity or urgency, they are not able to get consecutive stops when needed, they have no paint and rim protection, and so on. This is not a Thibs team! I have seen very little progress the last several games, but even that was not there tonight. We got crushed on the boards by 20, we allowed the third worst shooting team in the NBA to shoot 56% from long distance, etc. These are humiliating stats. It was tough to watch.

If Towns does not have it offensively, he is a liability. Tonight he looked like he was on another planet – he was worse than Sims. I cannot believe how easily he gets lost on switches. As of Bridges, I am still trying hard to keep my mouth shut. I still hope he finds himself again. Hart and OJ command respect but they cannot stop the opposing team by themselves.

We are going nowhere unless we fix our defense. Period.

Mikal is just playing the softest, most non-impact, losing brand of basketball. Doesn’t ever take the ball to the rim, doesn’t play aggressively on defense, gets vaporized on every screen, just stands around looking to shoot midrange jumpers. This loss wasn’t entirely on him but he seemed like the worst player on the floor tonight from the jump.

He is A LOT better than what he has shown so far. The sooner he finds his game, the better.

He is A LOT better than what he has shown so far. The sooner he finds his game, the better.

Was. He was a lot better. Two years ago.

The Markitan-Kessler front line had me thinking about what Towns & Mitch could be together. Still think that’s the jumping off point for this team.

mikal has 7 made free throws in 612 minutes. he made 7 or more free throws in one game 30 times in the last two seasons.

Definitely an “everything that could go wrong, did go wrong” kind of game. They shot 56% from three, we shot (without OG) 25%. Our ‘big three’ (Brunson, KAT, Mikal) shot 16% (4-25). We had bad energy and played crap defense; their size crushed us. Mikal was on ketamine.

His FTr has fallen off a cliff, his 3 pt% ex-corners has fallen off a cliff, his defense has fallen off a cliff. Red flags everywhere. He’s shown very little since the first minute of preseason.

mikal has 7 made free throws in 612 minutes. he made 7 or more free throws in one game 30 times in the last two seasons.

Sounds like somehow who doesn’t know how they fit in the offense. Jay Wright incoming.

I haven’t been at all worried about Mikal (okay, maybe a tiny bit). But this was the game that leads to “Maybe it’s time to worry about Mikal.” He embarrassed himself out there.

I still think he figures it out, but man oh man.

I think Hart’s great season is cannibalizing Bridges’ offensive opportunities. There’s just nothing available for him as the 5th option. That’s more of a Bridges problem than a Knicks problem, though.

The free throw decline for Bridges is mind boggling and I don’t think it can be wholly attributed to role. His first couple seasons in the league he had no offensive role whatsoever on Phoenix (12% usage his rookie year) and he was still taking and making free throws at 2-3x the rate of this year so far. He just isn’t playing physically at all on offense, he’s too in love with that little leaning jumper in the lane which looks great when it goes in and is a decent shot for him but not if it’s replacing rim attempts and trips to the line.

You trade five first round picks for a player, you should probably try to figure out some ways to get him going. Whatever soft bullshit he is doing right now is not adding a lot of value. Cam Payne is pretty clearly outplaying him. I don’t really know where to place the blame but I’m looking in Leon/Thibs/Mikal’s direction. He just doesn’t seem to fit in with this team at all.

Good teams still lose to shitty teams all of the time. The thing is that Thibs teams tend not to lose to shitty teams, so that is concerning in terms of this team not having the profile of older Thibs teams, but at the same time, the offensive firepower on this team can easily hang with any team in the league, which is nice, and they’re doing all of this without Precious or Mitch, which could make the defense look worse than perhaps it will be come playoffs time.

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I couldn’t watch most of the game, but I saw some towards the end and read the box score. Except for Rough, the posts are focusing on how bad Bridges was. But KAT is more to blame. He couldn’t hit from outside or score inside. Utah’s big front court made him stink.

I do agree that the trade for Bridges is looking like a total debacle. But that does not mean losing this game badly was mostly his fault.

Added Note: KAT’s defensive shortcomings were also fully on display against Utah’s front court

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