Reminiscent of the season opener a few years back against the C’s where we won in double OT. In that game Boston needed a 3 to send it into OT and Kemba Walker (in his first game as a Knick) decided to defend against the 2, leaving Marcus Smart completely open for the 3.

The big question I still have is what is Mitchell Robinson’s capacity to play more minutes? And if he can play more minutes does Thibs have a plan to use him with KAT?

Knicks had 14 more rebs, 30 more pts in the paint, attempted 14 more FGA, made 8 more FG, committed 4 less turnovers than Boston and still lost due entirely to the FT and especially 3pt discrepancy.

We can come up with a bunch of different plans and scenarios to possibly beat Boston but none of it matters until the Knicks somehow find a way to change the 3pt discrepancy against Boston. Problem is no team in the past 2 seasons has been able to solve that issue against Boston.

Just please neutralize Horford and KP and I’ll be happy. I can live with Tatum, White, and Brown. Those center 3-point daggers just frustrate me to no-end.

We can come up with a bunch of different plans and scenarios to possibly beat Boston but none of it matters until the Knicks somehow find a way to change the 3pt discrepancy against Boston. Problem is no team in the past 2 seasons has been able to solve that issue against Boston.

This, above all, is my primary grievance with Thibs this season. I think there’s nuance in just about everything else–there are some anecdotal minute distributions I think are inexcusable, but in general I find that conversation oversimplified.

But I see no excuse for why we’re 27th in 3PA per game. It places a hard ceiling on our offense, and we made massive transactions premised on the idea we needed to improve our shotmaking. We did in fact improve our shotmaking, as evidenced by our vastly improved eFG%. Yet we leave points on the table for reasons I can’t discern at all.

I’m aware this is a problem with a more complicated than “just jack up some more” (though I do think there are a few times per game we could truly stand to just jack up some more). You have to create good 3PA. However I will never be convinced that we simply do not have the personnel to create enough high quality 3PA to make taking more pencil out.

I mean, the Chicago Bulls take substantially more 3PA than us and hit them at pretty much the exact same rate. Am I to believe they simply have personnel more conducive to this than us?

We could have won that game. We at least didn’t lose by thirty.

I am surprised by the degree to which my feelings about Brunson have….. modulated. The way OG is on layaway when JB is dominating the ball gives me a little pause. The defense always has. If he didn’t put the ball in so much I’d say that the way he plays is a bit monotonous.

I love Jalen but I am wishing for a bit of an evolution in how these guys work together.

I blame the lost last night almost xclusively on the bad free throws

Somehow KAT’s presence has had a bad effect on the palatability of Brunson’s game.

JB is still a wonderful player, but his narrative (and enjoyability) was much better as the little engine than could instead of the guy who dribbles at a very deliberate pace before starting whatever.

If you take 4 – 5 of Boston’s MADE 3’s and turn them into wide open dunks because your defensive game plan is to take away the 3 first rather than protect the rim 1st you win.

For as great as Towns was offensively, he made the most boneheaded, late, lazy or dumb closeouts defensively that enabled a lot of those 3s. Outside of Kat, I thought we actually did a decent job defending the three. KAT seems like a smart guy, but he’s not very high IQ on the bball court with untimely offensive or defensive fouls, not even attempting to close out or raise his arms, etc. You would think it’s coachable but the guys a vet at this piont. If we want to win a la the Pistons, the one thing about that team was they had a lot of very high IQ players on that team. Boston won despite not playing their best, by outstmarting us

And yes. Brunson is way too slow getting the offense started. He should be playing off ball 25% more.

I don’t think KAT is lazy or low IQ. I think he is slow twitch.

Thibs is an old school coach. So maybe he’s cooking up a playoff strategy for Boston should we meet them in the playoffs?

IDK..when Boston is firing up 3’s at their normal rate, it’s hard for any team to beat them. Much like the Dubs dynasty- but they don’t have a Steph and Klay level shooter on their team, and that’s probably how they keep catching teams off guard with their shooting. They have adequate shooting just about everywhere though, so you mostly have to hope they miss. But last night showed that we- now at full strength- can at least slow them down some. And that may be enough to win a series against them if Thibs is on point for that series

The Celtics have 5 guys out there at all times that can shoot and make 3’s. When Hart is on the floor, we have 4 and if Mitch is out there with him, it’s 3.

I love Josh, but with the heavy minutes he inevitably plays, he kills our offense with his inability to hit open shots. I really think Thibs needs to consider starting Deuce vs. Boston (if we get that far) . Hart would be understandably upset, but we can’t keep running the same shit out there over and over against a well coached team like Boston

Brunson did get assists on the last 2 made baskets in regulation to Bridges and Hart that should’ve sealed the win. I just hated that every play down the stretch was basically Hart setting a screen for Brunson since Boston and basically every team now is putting their Center on Hart.

As for KAT’s defense he made 2 outstanding defensive plays down the stretch covering White. Unfortunately he fouled Tatum on a 3pt attempt but that was great effort so I wasn’t even mad at the foul.

It’s just that Boston is so discipline with their offense it forces defenses to have to contest the 3pt line every possession that inevitably they struggle to close out with max effort at all times. Plus they do such a great job attacking close outs then forcing a mad scramble defensively which inevitably leads to a wide open 3pter. I hate giving Boston so much credit but they really are fucking good.

I am not against the remarks to improve 3-pt defense and so on, but we should not see half glass empty. The strategy worked! We were right there till the end and not only could, but should have won that game. A few avoidable errors made the difference. For example, had OG fouled Tatum on that play, we would be having a different conversation right now.

I mean we got blown out by them on opening night. So to lose in OT by a few points…I know there are no moral victories but the guys gotta be thinking “hey, we can hang with these guys.” Make a few more free throws or one more three and we win the game.

Also any word on Mitch? Seems like if he had been out there for 5 or 10 more minutes, that would have made a difference too.

Also, we won three out of the four quarters in regulation. Tighten up the 3rd quarter just a bit and we win the game.

I don’t buy that Boston “wasn’t trying hard.” Players don’t do that once the ball is thrown up.

We should have won last night, which is probably a good sign. But on the other hands we didn’t win and they also didn’t have horford, who probably keeps KAT from scoring at will against their wings.

“We should have fouled,” Anunoby said. “I should’ve done the foul.”

That’s partly or even mostly on the coach. He’s supposed to tell or remind them what to do in that situation.

“I don’t think KAT is lazy or low IQ. I think he is slow twitch.”

I think he can be all three, situationally speaking. That said, I think being situationally “lazy” is the least of his flaws, I think he legitimately goes as hard as he can…but there’s frequently a laziness about his defensive mindset. Much more importantly, he is not a quick processor of the game. He’s often slow to react and arrives a split-second too late, and in the NBA that’s all it takes to turn a stop or a steal/block into a made basket and/or a foul. Countless times I have seen him in perfect defensive position, only to have a smaller player score around or over him that would have been stopped by Mitch, OG, or even Precious because he is late, late, late. It’s not height, reach, or athleticism. It’s processing. Amar’e had the same issue…best conditioned and one of the longest and most athletic players in the NBA, but constantly beaten because of slow processing speed. It’s less of an issue for KAT on offense because he’s so talented, but even there he’s often slow to react to doubles and blitzes, and smart defenses can goad him into dumb decisions.

If KAT had Al Horford’s brain, he’d be one of the greatest players of all time.

“That’s partly or even mostly on the coach. He’s supposed to tell or remind them what to do in that situation.”

Agreed. No excuse for what OG did there, and if Thibs didn’t tell him to foul, that’s 100% on him. That said, it’s possible that he did tell him and OG just fucked up. But someone fucked up, and that’s ultimately on the coach.

I’ve been a pro Thibs guy from the start. My enthusiasm has been diminishing all season due to his stubborness about leaving players in too long in situations it was obvious they should be rested, not trying to develop young players in games when appropriate etc…

I’m not a huge Xs and O’s guy.

I evaluate coaches by looking at the talent of the players on the team, wether the team outperforms or underperforms that talent and whether those players improve over time. I always had a high opinion of Thibs. I think I’ve had a blind spot with him (one of those cognitive bias types) where the evidence was right in front of me but I couldn’t see or acknowledge it because it didn’t fit my current view.

I think Thibs is very good at getting consistent effort out of his teams (which is obviously a very good attribute) and he coaches like every game like it’s a game 7. That’s why his teams outperform. But I think he’s not very good at adjusting to the other team on either side of the ball. He’s a one trick pony of sorts. I don’t think you can beat better teams that way and especially not in the playoffs where everyone plays with the same high effort every game.

I’m actually worried about our Detroit game. I want to see us do well against them, but worry we won’t.

I was worried about the difficult close to our schedule this year, but it actually seems to be good preparation for the playoffs. It would probably be worse preparation to be playing a bunch of tanking teams for our last few regular season games.

I am 100% with Swifty. Going into the game, Boston had won 16 of 18 (losing at home to OKC and…Miami), they played their questionables, they played “their” game, they played an 8 man rotation, and they played well. Nice if we had won, but the “we can’t compete with these guys” monkey is definitely off their back if ( I’d use when but that assumes Boston gets out of the first round against a hyped play-in team!) we meet again.

And no way am I betting against JB to adjust to blend in optimally. The guy won 2 NCAAs as a PG with different teammates. He figured out how to play second fiddle to Luka, immediately stepping into first fiddle mode while Luka was out. He meshed with Julius, not the easiest to mesh with, and changed his game once injuries hit last season. Other than the fact he can’t defend unless he takes a charge, he is the perfect leader for a team whose players’ skills and identity continues to evolve.

I’m assuming Knicks will rest a few guys tomorrow since its the first game of a back to back with Friday being a home game vs Cleveland.

Here’s my thought on Thibs. He’s a high floor guy. But his ceiling is limited. The thing that I believe separates him from the great coaches is the psychological factor. He’s so obsessed with X’s and O’s and process and details and that’s great. But the little psychological edges that you need in the game at the highest level are things he’s not capable of imparting. Changing a tactic here or there just to keep the opponent guessing or telling a player to try something different to help him get out of a slump. He’s just missing that connection. Obviously Riley and Phil Jackson were famous for it. But you can even see it in Kerr and Pop and Spo in ways that don’t seem to be apparent in Thibs.

The best example of this is that he almost never gets a technical foul. Did he have more than 1 this year? The reason he never gets one is because he doesn’t want to give away a point. But he doesn’t get the concept that sometimes you get a tech for effect.

It sucked watching the Knicks brain away a game while eating pequods deep dish thingy with Italian beef and giardinera surrounded by bulls fans… but we don’t have to brain away games and we can beat those guys.

Here’s the issue with Brunson aside from defense.

There are only a handful of guys out there you can give the ball to and ask to create a shot he can make with high efficiency. Brunson is one of them. We have him. That’s the upside.

The offset is that most other players need help at times (to be assisted) to get open looks. The way that happens is either the #1 option gets doubled and finds the open man or through playing faster and players and the ball moving with purpose. The latter is how we functioned when Brunson was out and were getting all those assists. Guys like OG and Mikal were being more aggressive, but the movement was way better and the pace was probably a little quicker (I didn’t check the latter).

Brunson plays slow, dribbles a lot and has a scorers mentality.

He’ll get his share of assists out of doubles, but the overall offense is not as conducive to lesser players getting open looks, mismatches, the ability to take their defender to the hoop.

We are obviously net better WITH Brunson, but he’d have to overhaul his thinking and game quite a bit to optimize this offense. He’d have to play faster, dribble less and think pass first until crunch time when we may need his shot creation.

I’m assuming Knicks will rest a few guys tomorrow since its the first game of a back to back with Friday being a home game vs Cleveland.

We are the Knicks. We don’t need no stink’n rest! 😉

“The best example of this is that he almost never gets a technical foul. Did he have more than 1 this year? The reason he never gets one is because he doesn’t want to give away a point”

Cgreene, completely agree with your thought, but not your example. I think it’s not the one point that he gives away but he decided (perhaps with his temper/ temperament) that not trashing refs is the best strategy. Post game comments when goaded seem to confirm this.

That said, if you are unwilling to get yourself ejected in order to back a struggling starting player, the only other option is to play him a lot more minutes than he should at the expense of…changing a tactic by introducing a new player. One reason why starters play too much.

Why is Brunson the problem, if you guys admit the other players are only standing around? Is that on Brunson or on the other players? I think they step up without Brunson because they know it’s up to them, and then relax and let Brunson cook when he’s there. This is as much on Brunson, as it is on the other guys.

I liked the game yesterday, and i think it shows we have a chance if we are at our best. They’ll be the favorites, but i hope we can put a fight and take the series to a game 7. But for now we should put our focus on the Pistons, and take it one step at a time.

It’s never a good idea to get a tech for an effect in a contested game. Blowout, fine.

If your team can’t get fired up to win a contested game you have bigger problems.

As a result of the difference in the volume of threes attemted that Boston creates, the majority of the weight distribution of the scoring delta is one single factor and that is the three point variance. Live by the three and die by the three. If they’re off, they don’t have a plan B. You can see that early last night.

However, they can’t be rattled. Regardless of how many they miss early on, – they will run their offense with the goal to create and shoot 50 threes.

Pick and pop action with KP was just too easy with last night’s drop coverage. We need to force the ball carrier, especially Drew, White and Pritchard to finish at the rim.

Knicks in 5 against Detroit and then Knicks in 6 against Boston. They lose to Cavs in 7.

And it’s on the coaches, for not structuring an offense that encourages the other guys to move. There was a lot of cutting early in the year when KAT was on fire from deep. But Thibs’ imagination on offense generally doesn’t go a lot deeper than “run a lot of pick and roll, and run everything through a guard who can get to the basket whenever he wants, and kick it out to shooters when they’re open.”

I don’t actually blame Brunson, but he does dominate the ball when he plays. The offense was a lot more static last night than I’ve seen it in a long time. Part of that is due to Boston’s defense, but I think it’s also partly due to Brunson being slow bringing the ball up and being the first and last option on offense.

When you only have 16 seconds to run offense, because it takes you the full 8 to get over half court, you can’t run as much action to get favorable matchups or to get open off-ball. On top of that, Brunson is the first and last option, which means he holds the ball the entire possession. He makes a move and by the time he resets there’s only time for a quick last second shot. There’s no opportunity for a second player to attempt anything more than shoot or attack a closeout.

Obviously this is an exaggeration, but I think it’s relevant. And even with all that, our offense is a lot better with Brunson ball hogging than without him — I’d just prefer him to balance ball hogging and deferring a bit more.

But again, it’s one game against an elite defense and he’ll spend more time iso-ing in those situations because they take away the easier options.

One easy compromise is to have Hart or Bridges bring the ball up. We got into our actions a lot faster when Brunson was on the shelf. Given how much Jalen played off-ball in Dallas, and how much of a pounding he takes when teams put full-court pressure on him, I can’t imagine he’d mind much if other guys were taking the ball across the timeline.

I’m conviced that when benches shorten, the talent difference between NY and Boston is minimal. The difference will be shot making and coaching. This is why they are the favorite to win.

However, I’m not sure if it was OG or Hart defense but Brown coudn’t move at all. Not sure why he was out there playing. If he’s not healthy, Knicks win in 6.

I don’t think we’re gonna rest anyone until we have the third seed locked up. Knowin Thibs, not then, either.

However, I’m not sure if it was OG or Hart defense but Brown coudn’t move at all. Not sure why he was out there playing. If he’s not healthy, Knicks win in 6.

Hart was the primary defender.

It’s probably worth reiterating that we beat them with Brown only playing 21 minutes, so (1) Mazzulla eventually agreed with you and (2) this wasn’t actually a healthy Boston team.

I mean Thibs is the same coach who was coaching the best or second-best offense in the NBA for the first half of the season. We are 9th in AST/100 possessions, 1 assist behind the 3rd place Pacers. We are 5th in ORtg behind only the consensus 3 best teams in the NBA (BOS, CLE, OKC) and the team with some freak named Jokic.

Folks can quibble if they want, but personally, I think our offensive philosophy under Thibs is just fine. Any issues are mostly a personnel problem. Jacking up more 3’s just to keep up with the Joneses is not the answer, nor is getting the ball out of Brunson’s hands more.

We had 28 assists yesterday, though just under it without overtime – which continues to support Raven’s hypothesis

Tatum KP Jrue White Horford all out vs ORL tonite. Brown Q. Other starters Pritch Scheierman Hauser Kornet

Live by the three and die by the three.

The percentage of 3pt makes largely depends on the effectiveness of the opponent’s defensive strategy. It is one thing to shoot with a hand in your face or out of balance, and another thing to shoot without anyone near you. The Knicks typically aim at chasing their opponents away from the line and forcing them inside. I am not sure we were successful at that last night. The Celtics took a ton of threes. More so, several of those threes were uncontested due to fast breaks, KAT’s lazy closeouts, miscommunication on rotations, and so on. My impression is that we get better results when we communicate better and react faster, and when we are more flexible on pick and roll switching and play less drop coverage. Particularly against good shooting teams like Boston, we need to find a way to better defend their pick and pop plays which are just lethal.

You can’t take everything away from your opponent, particularly a superior one, but we did a lot of good things last night. We controlled the boards, controlled the paint, gave them relatively few second chance points, shut down their shooters (except KP, unfortunately), and it took some tip-your-hat plays by Tatum and mistakes on our behalf for Boston to eventually win.

I love Brunson. But when Hart gets the rebound and has the ball across halfcourt with 20 seconds left on the shot clock, I like that better than when Brunson barely gets it across, then bounces the ball at halfcourt for another 8 seconds.

It works though. I am not saying it doesn’t. I guess it’s just an aesthetic choice.

Yeah I think the tweak might be to have Brunson play off ball more and have Mikal and/or Josh bring it up more and initiate the offense. Brunson can play off ball and do it well. He did in Dallas.

It would also have the added bonus of throwing a different look at the opposing team and not letting them get settled into a defense where they know each possession is going to play out largely the same way.

But is Thibs smart enough/bold enough to try this?

Why is Brunson the problem, if you guys admit the other players are only standing around? Is that on Brunson or on the other players? I think they step up without Brunson because they know it’s up to them, and then relax and let Brunson cook when he’s there. This is as much on Brunson, as it is on the other guys.

I don’t want to appear too anti Brunson because I’m not. We need him.

However, he’s a score first PG. Guys like OG and Mikal tend to stand around more when he’s playing because they know he’s trying to create something for himself or Towns first and they are more or less an afterthought. He’s a much better version of Randle as a scorer because he’s way more efficient and doesn’t turn the ball over as much, but he dribbles too much looking to create for himself. I’m obviously not comparing Kolek to him as an overall player, but Kolek’s first thought is to move the ball quickly and get good shots for his teammates. When he dribbles it’s to try to get into position to create something for someone else and not to get his own shot. We absolutely need what Brunson can do, but if he could find some middle ground we would have an elite offense. We have great weapons.

Brunson (not in)frequently lets others bring the ball up, so it’s definitely a ‘thing,’ but I am in agreement I’d like to see it more often. Since ‘full-court press Brunson to muck up the Knicks offense, at least time-wise,’ is now a league-wide plan, it behooves us to have Hart or Mikal (or Deuce if he’s in with Brunson) zoom up and get things moving.

Even if Brunson gets a hand-off and dribbles in place for a while, he’ll have like 19 seconds to make something happen, instead of 14 seconds. That’s a big difference.

Thunder staying upright long enough to not humiliate me by winning <67 games

Just saw a video of Mad dog Russo this morning going on a rant about Stephen A saying Melo is a Top 3 Knick of all time. Russo said he’s not even Top 5 which hes probably right.

Reed, Ewing, Frazier, King, Monroe

Knicks in 5 against Detroit and then Knicks in 6 against Boston. They lose to Cavs in 7.

director – did you have like a dream or something?

Just saw a video of Mad dog Russo this morning going on a rant about Stephen A saying Melo is a Top 3 Knick of all time. Russo said he’s not even Top 5 which hes probably right.

Saying Melo is a top 3 Knick is absurd; I’d assume he bumped Willis Reed who won NBA MVP and two Finals MVPs. He could be top 5 but that probably says more about the Knicks as a franchise than it does Melo.

Yeah I just think beyond getting OG and Mikal involved more, it just makes sense to have Jalen play off ball more. Switch it up and keep the opposing team’s defense off guard. They have to guard our guys differently when JB is the initiator vs. Hart or Mikal. Use the ole rope a dope. Would probably make Brunson more deadly when he does the initiating if we did it this way. It doesn’t have to be every other possession or anything crazy like that but maybe one out of every three or four? Or have him play off ball multiple possessions in a row until it stops working and then switch it up and vice versa.

I LOVE THIBS and have defended him many many times. But the period of culture building is over. He has a great roster filled with a lot of dynamic and good players but obviously some flaws too. But he absolutely has the roster to be creative with line ups, sets, etc and, without majorly upgrading the roster somehow or McBride or Kolek make some crazy leap to elite role player status, having a coach who can be creative with this bunch of probably our best hope for squeezing as much juice as possible out of this group. Thibs may not be that guy. I hate saying that but it might be true.

GK he mentioned those 5 plus DeBusschere, said Melo was at best 7th best Knick.

https://x.com/KnicksMuse/status/1910038304592126242

Any thoughts on this delta variance take?

Jalen Brunson is already ahead of Melo as far as I’m concerned in the Knicks pantheon, so, no, Melo is not a top 5 Knick. He’s top 10 for sure but DEFINITELY not top 5.

JB has already gotten to the second round twice in 2 seasons with the Knicks which is better than Melo did in his first two seasons. He has more regular season wins, too, three seasons in.

Melo did lead the league in scoring for the 54 win team and had another great season the following year despite them just missing the playoffs. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there for Melo’s time in NY but his first 3 1/2 seasons as a Knick he really was a great player.

as a talking head, being absurd gets you paid…

melo was just a bad fit for our team, that and he wouldn’t move the ball to create offense for others…

aesthetically i’m just not a big fan of watching one guy pound the ball for his shot, more okay with it in crunch time, til then though, move it around a bit…

Melo was good with the Knicks longer than Bernard was, but I’d also easily put Brunson ahead of him right now. Top 10 Knick — which, as others have said, speaks as much to our mediocrity as a franchise as it does to Melo’s extremely mixed tenure here — but definitely not top 5.

Re Brunson taking his time, isn’t slowing down the pace part of the plan?

How can you be a top “x” player when there is still a legitimate debate whether the assets traded for you were warranted, you couldn’t exist with Linsanity, you got a coach to quit, you put an all star appearance before the team, you actively marketed yourself to other teams in order to get the melo no trade max, you won nothing, never excelling in the playoffs, and disappeared from here for a few years until your HOF marketing, Doesn’t make my top ten, and tbh, that list is not really hard to crack.

All playoff possibilities: https://x.com/UnderdogNBA/status/1910025525990678565/photo/1

Melo is a top-5 knick, knicks are a bottom-5 franchise. Adds up.

That kind of shot quality data is the type of thing coaching staffs and front offices should be aware of and account for and that fans should never, ever mention except maybe in essentially non-public spaces like this one. There is no way to talk about what “should have” happened in a game without sounding lame.

Putting Melo ahead of David Lee as a Knick is worse than tariffs on Lesotho.

Hart, OG and Mitch already ruled out for tomorrow’s game.

having Hart initiate more should allow Brunson to get the ball on the move and frustrate double teams, should get the offense into the frontcourt more quickly vs. the traps Jalen almost always sees bringing up the ball, and should alleviate his liability as a shooter (because he can’t drive and kick to himself). It might also be nice to see him in the short roll more often a la vintage Draymond/Dubs era D-Lee.

One has to hope that the powder of underused but potent player combinations and scheme tweaks is being kept dry for the playoffs

Not that it means anything at all, but ESPN power rankings has the Knicks jumping back up from 11th to 5th…

GREATEST KNICKS:

No brainers: Reed, Clyde, Ewing

Next level: Monroe, DeBusschere

After that: Melo, King, Houston, Oak, Barnett, Bradley, probably McGuire and Braun (never saw them play)

Honorable Mention: Cartwright, Starks, McAdoo, Gallatin, Latrell, Sugar Ray, Randle, Mase

Z-man, you don’t have Brunson anywhere on that list?

When we beat Boston, Cleveland, and OKC to win the chip, it will be particularly noteworthy having done so after going 0-72 (or whatever) against them in the regular season. Something to look forward to!

what about Pat Cummings?

I feel like you could make a strong argument for Melo being the 4th best player on this team.

while eating pequods deep dish

assuming you’re in chitown…go to monteverde…order spaghetti pomodoro with chili oil addition…you can thank me later…i usually get one order for my main and a 2nd for dessert…

Celts proj starters tonight:
PG P. Pritchard
SG B. Scheierman
SF Sam Hauser
PF Torrey Craig
C Luke Kornet

I think we would have beaten that team

Z-Man, King over the Pearl.

Are you new around here, Knicks In 2025?

I have no issue with Brunson’s play style. And that’s because we can give it to him when we need a play- without fail..err..most of the time. What I’d love to see, however, is him adjusting to Anunoby and Bridges increased volume because that offense is unstoppable when all 4 of KAT, Brunson, Bridges, and Anunoby go surgical. But let me be clear- Brunson ball is one helluva fallback. He’s proved he can do it on his own in 2 postseasons- and the first time was before he became “him” as a Knick.

The threat of OG, KAT, and Brunson from 3 opens up the middy for Bridges. Bridges killing teams in the midrange, and KAT getting buckets in the paint means less doubles for Brunson. Oh..and OG in the corner, KAT from anywhere behind the 3pt line, and Bridges making his jumpers leave the lane WIDE open. Brunson just has to get them going earlier- especially KAT. When KAT’S engaged, he usually plays well on both ends. The scary thing about the offense in our starting 5 is we don’t really need Brunson and KAT to go for 25 every night because Bridges can score, and Anunoby has markedly improved on offense.

Hell..I love Thibs, but maybe we do need a coach with a better offense. Or for Thibs to dump one of his guys and bring in a real offensive guy. No disrespect to Rick and Harrington, but one of them can probably be replaced without hurting the coaching. I imagine that it’d be hard to replace Rick Brunson though. He’s been with Thibs for a while and the team’s best player is kinda related to him lol

Nice video tribute for luka

Richie Guerin belongs in 3rd tier, fwiw

Dallas crowd cheering Luka scoring, that’s wild

Wayloncash, loved Bernard as much as anyone, just couldn’t bump him up because in spite of his greatness he was like a meteor who sadly never got to the finals and faded too quickly to be included in the top 5. Earl was a monumental acquisition and not only was a key player on the best Knicks team ever (as opposed to most storied) he played for a long period of time.

Alan, I limited the list to non-active Knicks but yeah, I think Brunson will wind up either in the pantheon or the second level when all is said and done. He’s right there with Bernard right now, just needs more longevity and a deep playoff run to determine which one. KAT and OG could wind up in the convo too!

Dallas crowd cheering Luka scoring, that’s wild

Is it? I think it’s pretty common for fans to cheer a former player as long as they didn’t leave on bad terms (like Lebron leaving Cleveland the first time, Kawhi leaving SAS, or Kyrie leaving his previous three teams). Even moreso in this case since Dallas ownership did it behind everyone’s backs. Knicks fans cheered Melo when he returned.

luka looks a lot better playing alongside lebron and reaves and sharing the ball…

he’s shooting darts from deep out there…

any other undrafted players as young and good as austin reaves?

I know it will pain CGreene and some others here, but if the Knicks aren’t going to win the title this year, another Lakers championship would be pretty high on my board, just to make Nico look like an even bigger clown.

Luka about to drop 50.

franchises which do not need another title:
celtics
lakers
bulls
spurs
heat
warriors

I’m partial to us of course, one of the other remaining 23 teams wouldn’t bug me too much….

nice game, real competitive…AD’s sneakers are fire…

Fully agree, Geo. Personally, I hope the Luka-LeBron pairing blows up somehow.

Oh snap, Pepper, it’s a short affair. I’m out in the am and had the pleasure of family dinner tonight. That spaghetti and tomato sauce looks bomb. I dig your style. I will be trying on my return.

Knicks in 2025says:
April 9, 2025 at 18:34

I think we would have beaten that team

Alex Burkes started for the Heat today too, any thoughts on that?

I’ll be up there next week visiting my son…definitely gonna hit it…

Nice. Yall are gonna have some decent weather. Snow sleet and slate grey today. Chicago might be my third favorite city in the states. Good eating and smartbar.

Yep…spent a good chunk of time there in the last few years…they got their priorities in order there…

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