Categories
Game Thread

2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks @ Cavaliers: Paths of Victory

Whoops, didn’t know this game was starting so early.

Let’s go, Knicks, show the Cavaliers that the Knicks aren’t to be trifled with! Let’s kick some Cav ass!

58 will still be great!

The Dylan song is, of course, “Paths of Victory.”

110 replies on “2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks @ Cavaliers: Paths of Victory”

From today’s morning news thread…

The Boss is rolling over in his grave.

I thought Bruce Springsteen was alive and kicking! 😛

Not sure Precious can eat innings against these guys…maybe he’ll prove me wrong but he just looks out of place in this matchup

This was gonna be an uphill battle if we were at our best. If we can’t throw the ball in the ocean from the beach I might catch up on The White Lotus before it’s over.

I think the high point of the evening might end up being the 5-0 start

Too bad i missed the start 🙁

can’t turn the ball over and can not have bad shot attempts…

cavs look legit…

good to see shamet and huk getting minutes…

even better if shamet can score…

Cannot air ball a layup (Precious)

Cannot shot when no teammate is there for the rebound (KAT’s three, Mikal’s last midrange)

Cannot miss an easy fastbreak layup (Deuce)

Cannot make dumb mistakes against good teams, or you look like the little brother playing against the much bigger brother (i.e. the games against the Celtics and the second one with OKC).

I really don’t get how much worse teams than us can play the contenders and aren’t always getting blown out by the end of the first quarter, but somehow we are every single fucking time.

And Towns did it again. Doesn’t look like that’s gonna work for the Cavs.

Unfortunately it looks like everything else does.

So far the Little General is the only thing standing between us and a memorable ass whupping.

lmao 17-23 from the field and 14-17 from 2 point range.

Let me guess: they can’t keep shooting like this all game?

Most dunks in a quarter for the Cavs in 25 years…

It’s nice when analytics confirm eye test… 🤣

Let me guess: they can’t keep shooting like this all game?

Ron Howard Narrator Voice: they could.

Even Cam’s floater motion is weird looking. Getting a feeling this one is going into the L column

My son (who is 6, and does not know the female anatomy) keeps calling them the Clits for some reason, and I’m not correcting him bc it’s funny.

Didn’t they used to call SNL The Not Ready for Primetime Players?

That might be a good name for the Knicks

This team is NOT a finished product. We can all agree that we’re not expected to win this season. Of course we should try to win, but we’ll have the summer to improve the team and come back stronger next season.

Hukporti is raw but he often gets a bad whistle, a classic example of zero reputation = easy target for the refs.

I’m just enjoying the Hukporti Experience. No real other reason to watch.

This is an interesting approach. Injure all the Cavs.

Should really save that strategy till the playoffs like Embiid did

This team is NOT a finished product.

It is a finished product because there is no realistic path to improving it.

You can’t pretend a finished product is a work in progress just because it’s shitty.

It’s not just that we lose to the good teams, it’s that we’re so plainly outclassed by them that not losing is unimaginable. We look like the Wizards against them. When playing the top 3 teams I’d much rather be the Pacers or the Hawks.

The starting 5 is a finished product, but we need the bench. Right now we might have 2 good players off the bench and one is injured and hasn’t played yet this season. But you believe in what you like to believe and i’ll do the same.

Kind of agree pags…it’s alarming how noncompetitive we are in these last few “big” games…

Just one caveat Pags, losing by 20 with the top teams is far better than having to root for Rat Young 🤓

Well they’re down to 66.7% shooting, 53% from three.

Meanwhile Precious is 0-6.

This first half outcome, as embarrassing as it is, should not surprise anyone. A lot of people have been screaming their lungs out about this team’s defense from game one, while ‘pundits’ were only policing the minutes. Probably nine out of every ten of my own posts in this forum were about defense, even at times when we were winning. In my view, the most important critique of Thibs is that, for whatever reason, he does not hold the players strictly accountable on the defensive end. Defense is mostly effort and awareness, not talent. I am wondering whether it makes sense to call Thibs a defensive minded coach anymore.

The most embarrassing aspect of this first half was that at times the Knicks didn’t even try to play hard defense.

Well, looks like i’m the only member of team optimist watching the game, but it’s late here and i’ll save my sleep for games where we look better. Enjoy the doom and gloom. See you tomorrow, good people of KB.

Worst pnr defense vs best pnr offense
Worst 3pt defense vs best 3pt offense

It’s going about as good as we could expect

Glad I went to the game last night and didn’t make a road trip to Cleveland. Brutal. Team has some soul searching to do.

Rough, the KAT-Brunson thing is what it is. No coach is going to bench KAT right now. Brunson is the captain. He’s not getting benched. Both try really hard. They just can’t defend well.

This is not going to improve much until either one of them is gone or they acquire a monster 2-way C. Mitch will help, maybe a lot, more likely a little. But it’s a structural problem.

Worst pnr defense vs best pnr offense
Worst 3pt defense vs best 3pt offense

It’s almost like we have fatal flaws that will be easy for the best teams to exploit.

Mitch Rob won’t be the savior even if he’s healthy and 80 percent of what he was. Leon will need to pull off some magic again this offseason. Nobody is untouchable. As we’ve seen with Luka.

Just an embarrassment. Precious needs to never say he’s an elite defender ever again. OG should have rested another game, and every player not named Brunson is playing scared or like a moron. This team is more offensively talented than last year’s for sure, but last year’s team was smarter, more cohesive and less holes…. Sad to say, but we’re not a contender and likely 2nd round exit. Mitch I don’t think is the answer. Trade for Durant? I don’t know …

This needs to be said loudly for the people in the back who don’t get it yet: the Cavs’ D is handling our offense pretty easily, just like they did in the first game, and just like the Celtics & Thunder did four times, as well. You can cry about the defense (and it’s awful), but our offense is fugazi.

Did I miss The Rock on Smackdown?

My girlfriend is yelling at me because I’m watching wrestling.

This is REALLY an example of a game where Thibs should empty the bench for the entire fourth. I know it’s on national tv, but maybe embarrass your shitty lazy ass starters, and give the kids some run.

Rough, the KAT-Brunson thing is what it is. No coach is going to bench KAT right now. Brunson is the captain. He’s not getting benched. Both try really hard. They just can’t defend well.

This is not going to improve much until either one of them is gone or they acquire a monster 2-way C. Mitch will help, maybe a lot, more likely a little. But it’s a structural problem.

Been saying that for a long, long time. This roster is not properly constructed. I am not sure, however, that Brunson’s and especially KAT’s defensive effort is constant. Even more, it is not just those two. Bad habits are very infectious. And if a coach succumbs to stars’ caprices, this can be catastrophic.

The funny thing was that the commentators were saying thibs said ‘if you play defense and rebound and don’t turn the ball over, youll play”

I almost burst out laughing.

Delon Wright’s on-ball defense reminds me a bit of a mini-OG. He’s kind of a nothing on offense so far, however.

Thibs doesn’t want to play Kolek on national tv and lose him to Hollywood.

Literally the only player on either bench not to see the court.

I think what these games show us is that we are so far off the pace it’s not funny. Being 3rd seed is good and all, but we are just crushed when we face good teams. The answer is clearly more kolek and sack thibs.

He is either unable or unwilling to get this team playing defense, so it’s time to jettison him

I think had more fun than ya’ll. Bruce reprising Teorema by Pasolini. Don’t bring your ten year olds.

Sounds like I made the right choice spending all day and night at the hospital instead of watching this game.

Bob’s band sings a song called Look Out Cleveland. (The Knicks, it appears, do not.)

Leave a Reply

This site uses User Verification plugin to reduce spam. See how your comment data is processed.