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67 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.03.21)”
I’m finding there to be a bit of cognitive dissonance between “Our bench sucks and is paper thin” and “Why aren’t we playing the bench more?”
I’m sort of presuming this means “Why isn’t Kolek getting more run?” Which in fact I’m very much in favor of, not sure any of the other back-of-the-bench guys deserve any minutes. Not sure Kolek does either, but worth spending a bit of time in the middle of the game finding out.
But to me the main problem is neither tired legs nor a bench that sucks, although both are real problems. It’s that our starters aren’t giving professional, NBA-level effort. Nor are they playing smart. In both losses there were consistent, deflating, brain-fart turnovers just when you thought the tide was turning.
We’ve seen them be way, way better, even without Brunson. Weird.
Still trying to figure out why the Lakers made an excuse to give Mark Williams back. He’s clearly 1) not injured, 2) a pretty decent player on most nights (16 points and 11 rebounds on 59.2 percent field goal shooting as a starter), and 3) almost assuredly better than any big they currently have.
Speaking of bigs, I shat upon Precious last night based on eye test that was only partly on the TV as it was sort of too painful to watch closely, but Macri seems to agree:
“Before we get to the stars, I have to say a special word about Precious Achiuwa, who if I didn’t know any better, would swear had money on the Hornets last night. It was, without question, the most pathetic individual performance by a Knick in at least five seasons. It was embarrassing, and Tom Thibodeau should be ashamed of himself for sending him out there in the second half. Quite literally anyone else on the roster was more deserving of those minutes.”
Musical recap of our last 2 games, because this is what we’ve got…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhwSPRY51gs
Knicks ain’t got nothin’ at all
Maybe we are tanking to get the Cavs in the 2nd round instead of the Celtics.
C’mon Cyber, are you just going to:
“Linger onnnnnnnn your failed blue guys?”
Not sure if this is saying anything new but: I saw a clip of Macri interviewing Katz yesterday who was saying Bridges’s uptick in scoring in efficiency is not at all good for the offense. It’s most pull-ups before the rest of the offense sets up. I didn’t watch him much in Brooklyn or Phoenix but it seems like we need more of the Phoenix version and we’re getting the Brooklyn.
Even when JB is injured or on the bench.
Rotation minutes have always been a problem with Thibs, but now I finally believe it is extreme after last night. 2nd game of a b2b, practically a wire to wire double digit deficit, and Mikal played the least minutes out of the starters with 33 minutes? They clearly didn’t have it, SO USE THE BENCH IN THESE SCENARIOS THOMAS JOSEPH! Seriously..Thibs is a smarter coach than this- we’ve seen it. He better not pull this bs against Washington tomorrow.
That’s my rant lol
I think it’s over for Thibs unless he gets to the ECF (I don’t see how, and that’s not his fault btw).
I fully expect him to get the axe a couple days after our 2nd round loss.
And that’s ok by me. Per aspera ad astra.
LOL
We’re playing some of the shittiest, scrubbiest teams in the league, and they’re managing to play their shitty, scrubby bench players a normal amount of minutes and they’re still able to kick our ass.
Bench minutes:
SAS 85 NYK 61
CHA 99 NYK 52
Second game of a back to back, look at those minutes in a game that WE LOST ANYWAY. Quite badly.
Mikal “Iron Man” Bridges, not a guy known for being a malcontent, has complained about it enough where it has leaked to the public. Half of these guys are nursing injuries! They look demoralized and exhausted. Yet every game, no matter the opponent, no matter the situation, there they are, playing Game 7 minutes.
I’ve seen enough. The fatigue and the wear and tear from the excessive minutes have taken a toll, the bill has now come due, and the price is steep. There’s no hope of it stopping until everybody on the roster has gotten Luol Deng’d.
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Fire the coach.
What drives me fucking nuts about Bridges is when he beats his man off the dribble, drives along the baseline and then kicks the ball out to a teammate who’s not even open. I mean, can you actually try to score at the rim once in a while?
He’s 6’6″ and plays like he’s a 5’10” point guard
Howdy Farfa, i think you’re right. But we need the team to be at full health, or else he might get a pass.
What does everybody think are the odds we have to get to the ECF? I think we have a 20% chance to get there, and that’s ok by me. I’ll be rooting hard that our instance of the multiverse is one of those 20%.
Farfa, I’m not so convinced. Ignoring the sagacity of firing Thibs, it’s impossible to gauge the front office feel since they have a massive wall up. While I’m sure they’re aware of the flames being thrown at the coach, this is NY after all (see all Yankee fans all the time). And I feel like Rose is not the sort to change coaches just to change coaches. I suspect he’d have to have a clear better choice lined up. Doesn’t mean he won’t, but also suggests he may not.
The part that rankles me, and JK gets to it a bit, is the idea of just whole-sale substituting out our starters when it is super-clear to everyone they’re doing horrible and not going to make a comeback, like say at the 8 or 9 minutes left in the 4th last night. Everyone knew it. Yank the shitty pathetic starters and let the kids roam. They might lose by 25, but it’s still just a loss. And it sends a message to the starters.
That’s, you know, coaching.
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=415&t=2446888
This may be Leon’s next move
Also every time Mitch sits Jericho Sims could be useful and could stop Precious from playing so many minutes of terrible ball, but he was traded away for a guy who never gets on the court.
Sims currently only has one working thumb and is out for the rest of the regular season, so right now he couldn’t help us any more than Wright is, anyway.
I think we’re at 5%. During a playoff series against Boston or Cleveland our warts will be badly exposed, and this team doesn’t seem to have as much mental fortitude as last year.
If Hukporti was healthy, he would be playing over Precious, when Precious is giving that level of effort.
One of two things seems to be happening here:
1)Mikal’s lack of investment — which is palpable both in his play and in stuff I’ve heard second-hand from media people I know — when he’s so crucial to what we’re trying to do on both sides of the ball, is just affecting everything.
2)Thibs’ particular approach has run its course, and these guys are beginning to tune him out.
I suspect Leon’s loyalty will be to Thibs rather than Mikal, that he’ll try to deal Mikal in the offseason to recoup some of what he lost in what seems to clearly be the biggest mistake of his tenure, and will give Thibs one more shot with this group before he considers a coaching change. But I can’t imagine both of them being on the team next year.
And yet again, with Swiss clockwork efficiency, a Thibs-helmed ship goes gasping and wheezing into the playoff spring, as a team that was once +750 to win it all is now +3300.
I also hold him at least half — probably more — responsible for the utterly unappealing Children of Men roster they’re running.
This denouement (*) was baked in the moment they hired Thibs. He’s long run his course.
(*) Including the ceiling-lowering overreliance on hustlebunny in the spring of 2023.
Honestly I’m not sure about this; it looks more like this year additions messed with the chemistry and thus the vibes being off, Thibs can’t get a grasp on the team.
Alan, very curious what you’ve heard second-hand. Mikal is such a black hole to me, it looks like he’s trying hard out there most of the time, but he also seems to operate with a peculiar (and hard to define) low energy level. I’ve tended to chalk that up to just not having the Josh Hart extrovert/bulldog personality, which not everyone has. So very interested to hear there may be something else going on…
Raven, I can’t say beyond that. But he’s clearly not fitting in.
I’m as disgusted with the last 2 losses as anybody, but we need to chill out a little with the gloom and doom stuff. We’re still missing our best player, and just beat 2 decent teams out West without him, and also went toe to toe with the fully healthy Warriors as well.
Let’s calm down a little until we see where we stand in April heading into the playoffs ok?
Why don’t we just have rest days like every other fucking good team in the league? Why?!?!
He should have sat KAT and OG against SA and Mikal and Hart against Charlotte.
Last year’s team had a clear identity, bully ball up front and a borderline magician in the backcourt. This year’s team is a mess.
Also I agree that the players are beginning to tune out Thibs. It’s a veteran team, financially secure many times over, and these guys don’t typically go for harder, harder, harder.
One thing that makes me feel there’s a little chink in the armor with Thibs is that Alan Hahn has gotten on him hard on the MSG postgame (not his radio show) about the minutes. Hahn is a company man who has ridden the wave at MSG. So if he feels comfortable ripping Thibs…
https://x.com/krispursiainen/status/1902917107714523364 another guy who’s around the team
We clearly have an exhausted team and a few guys (Hart and Towns at a minimum) are playing at less that 100% due to minor injuries. Some of it is scheduling. There’s not much we can do about that. But we see how other coaches handle these things. They sacrifice some probability of winning a single game by giving players (especially those less than 100%) a game off here so the team is fresher and healthier later. It’s no different when it comes minutes allocation for individual games. Other coaches will take the starters out when the team is well ahead or behind minutes sooner than Thibs figuring the rest and development of younger players is of greater value than a 1%-2% chance of a miracle comeback.
Thib’s is short term oriented to such an extreme imo he’s a detriment to our long term chances of a title both because our teams will be more worn down and hurt than they could be late in the year, our youngest players have less seasoning and the peak of some of our players could actually wind up being a year or two shorter. OK, so some of that is just an opinion or assertion, but I find it hard to believe that will all the data out there on optimizing player health that virtually every other team/coach has it wrong and Thibs is right.
Just found this an interesting escape from the Thibs sucks drumbeat (whether it is right or wrong, it’s sort of been clubbed like a baby seal).
https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/486083274_1454891109285631_670125573816649144_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p600x600_tt6&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=Xm8fKwNjz2kQ7kNvgHGT2aM&_nc_oc=AdlAZl1oI9gxmEPdZxLg649x2HLtkLrurJGe8HEa-yOuv7JIOoIxliZgcCOq13ym-DM&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-2.xx&_nc_gid=MnXhBvvxvffdNl0O1ueKFg&oh=00_AYGBp81eXDnTYm6cokqm2vVLBL266lOP7cyg4stlPRRWlw&oe=67E37542
We seem extra bad in back-to-backs. Normal teams are bad, but feels like we always play replacement level ball in these games.
Steelers or retirement it seems
I think the depth solution is our 4 rookies, it’s just not a solution for this season. The team was made for a multi-year run and year 1 was always going to feature a sparse bench.
I also find the objection that they don’t play as not terribly effective as Thibs rarely plays rookies, but they’re ready when he does despite the lack of playing time.
However, this is not a solution for a starting lineup not being up to snuff. They’ll need to move someone to fix that.
I get that last night was a back to back and maybe a schedule loss but people were saying SA was a schedule loss. Why? They had to travel from home but they had a day to do it.
The vibes are off, man. Not sure if that’s players being exhausted, injured or starting to tune thibs out. I’m not saying they don’t like Thibs anymore but it could be time for a new voice/perspective.
It feels like HART has been untouchable but is now grumpy for some reason. Players are upset (even if they’re not expressing it) about roles, minutes, etc. The team isn’t playing team ball, not coming out hard to start games and coasting on their natural talent to win games, which is always dangerous in the NBA no matter who you play.
Hey, maybe it will be fine. Maybe Brunson comes back with a few games left, they get a week off before the first round starts, get some rest and practices in and come into the playoffs ready to go. But it sure doesn’t feel like we’re ramping up to the playoffs and going into April with momentum.
I’ll also note that everybody has basically been shitting the bed simultaneously (well maybe not KAT, at least on offense). We shot 30% and 25% from three the last two games, while our competitors shot 46% and 47%.
If you go back to the last game we won, against Miami, it was exactly the opposite, they shot 26% from three while we shot 47%. That kind of discrepancy is really hard to overcome.
I suppose you can blame that on tired legs, but Payne and Shamet, neither of whom get enough run to be tired, shot 14% and 27% from three in those two losses.
Not sure where the “Hart seems grumpy” sentiment is coming from. He *always* seems grumpy out on the court, which is part of his charm, and part of why I enjoy him so much.
Until he starts complaining on The Roommates podcast or in some other public way, I’m not ready to assume that he any specific issue other than losing.
Yes, “*has* any specific issue.” Again, multi-tasking is not my forte.
I’m not a minutes police guy, and the back of the bench probably does suck, so I get not playing them much normally. But the team is clearly exhausted right now, you’ve got a back to back against two bad teams, just pick at least one of those games and play some fucking bench guys real minutes and see what happens.
He might give the Giants a chance to offer him 2 years
Bronny James played 30 minutes last night…lol
I think the Giants have a better chance to get Wilson on a 1 year deal and draft a rookie QB. Giants not really close to competing and HC/GM on the hot seat. Sounds similar to the team he just left.
That is a surprise, but what’s even more a surprise is that his stat line looks great.
Re: your Bronny comment (not you, cyber), aren’t you one of the folks who didn’t like it when I used to post boxscore stats from players who are not currently on our team, have never been on our team in the past, and have no reason to be thought of as a prospect for our team in the future? Please excuse me if you are not one of those posters.
I stopped doing it, and now predictably others are doing the same exact thing and no one is having a problem with it.
I never complained about you doing that.
OK; cool. Thanks, and I apologize. I obviously don’t see a problem with it, either.
Ugh, let this stuff go man. You get held to a different standard because you do everything x10 and it makes the site bad. Besides, Bronny getting minutes and playing well is a lot more interesting to read about than T. Jemison III stepping on a basketball court. You gotta understand the difference.
I’m not a minutes police guy, but every other coach in the NBA would have seen last night’s game as an opportunity to play the end of the bench guys significant minutes.
We’re pretty much locked into the 3 seed, so wins and losses really don’t matter at this point. Losing last night because Dadiet and Kolek sucked would be way, way easier to swallow.
Yeah, I was going to post about Bronny’s game from last night earlier today and then made a specific point not to because that’s what I was asked to do (sometimes politely; sometimes not so much). And for the record, I’ve never posted anything about a player simply stepping onto the court. I’ve only posted about good performances.
But what I definitely will not abide is the “different standard” thing just for me specifically. That’s bullshit, and even you know it.
There is no different standard for you.
Bronny James having a good game is actually a sort of interesting topic, because he is LeBron James’ son, and because he has been terrible, only holding down a roster spot because of rank nepotism. That guy having a good game is interesting enough to merit a post or two. Hell, if YOU had made that post nobody would have had a problem with it.
Making a dozen posts every morning about no-name scrubs who had 10 points and 7 assists is inherently uninteresting, much like everything else you post here.
Donnie, while I agree with you almost entirely, the point where we diverge is that if I never again see another piece of information about Bronny, it will still be too much.
Although to be honest, Bronny doing well is definitely man bites dog news. However I still don’t like to see it…
Donnie literally posted that I am held to a different standard only to have JK post right after that that there is no different standard for me. Jeezus.
It’s not bullshit. It’s why everybody here complains about you and not about anybody else.
You want to make this site about you, which is lame because you are far and away the least interesting thing about this site.
You always point out how you’re not doing the stuff people have asked you not to do, which is, of course, the same as doing that stuff in the first place.
False. E is someone else you complain about, as is Pags. Those are just a couple of examples.
And it’s beyond idiotic to write that my pointing out how I am doing what has been asked of me is the same thing as not doing what has been asked of me. Ludicrous, to be sure.
(And I only point out that I am complying when others are not complying with the same exact edit. So it’s not “always.”)
edict
https://c.tenor.com/U2V0j-qzX-gAAAAC/tenor.gif
Oh G-d yourself. LOL
Is that from Breaking Bad?
Shifting to Musicblogger, if there are any Bob Mould fans in the house — I’m a massive one (*) — his new album is fantastic. Three of the songs, IMHO, are his best stuff since Hoover Dam in his early Sugar days. Dude’s 64 and still cranking. Smile plastered to face.
(*) Give me 10 desert island albums, Workbook is on the list easily.
Sometimes I wonder if you guys are secretly conspiring to only mention musicians I’ve never heard of but then I remember that I’m on the young end for this blog and also have a very boring taste in music.
Re: Bob Mould, yes i’m a fan of Hüsker Dü, because of my punk past. And present, i still listen to punk of the old days.
I have to say i don’t know very well the rest of Bob Mould’s career, but i’m going to put on the list to know more about it.
By boring you mean not eclectic? Give it time, when i was young i only liked punk and similar genres, and now i have a wide taste in music.
Copper Blue is a perfect record, one of the best records of the 90’s in my opinion. I quite liked Bob’s last album Blue Hearts, haven’t heard the newest one yet but I just added it to my library. Glad to see him still out there kicking ass.
Only album of his i ever had was workbook…I listened to it all the time…kick ass vinyl..
Giants signed QB Jameis Winston to a two-year, $8 million contract.
I don’t know why we resigned Tucker. Moses Brown sounds better
McCullar me impressed.