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Tuesday Sports ? Pistons rebound in Game 2 to tie series at 1-1 – WSJM
04/22/2025 10:10:01
Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham reaches star status in breakout playoff game vs Knicks – Detroit Free Press
04/22/2025 10:08:39
OG Anunoby didn?t even come close to replicating his Knicks masterpiece in Game 2 dud – New York Post
04/22/2025 10:00:00
Now It’s A Series – Substack
04/22/2025 09:00:40
Messy, egocentric and undisciplined: Knicks? offense had it all in Game 2 loss to Pistons – The New York Times
04/22/2025 08:00:34
Jalen Brunson Makes Honest Statement After Pistons-Knicks Game – Sports Illustrated
04/22/2025 08:12:33
Knicks vs. Pistons Game 3 prediction, how to watch, TV channel, odds – April 24 – FOX Sports
04/22/2025 07:26:31
Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks: live game updates, stats, play-by-play – Yahoo Sports
04/22/2025 07:02:09
Pistons 100-94 Knicks (Apr 21, 2025) Final Score – ESPN
04/22/2025 06:58:32
NBA playoff results, takeaways: Clippers escape Nuggets; Pistons hold on vs. Knicks – The New York Times
04/22/2025 06:58:00
Pistons snap record playoff losing streak, win Game 2 against Knicks – Al Jazeera
04/22/2025 05:48:45
Heroes, zeros from Knicks? Game 2 loss to Pistons: Dennis Schr?der hit the clutch shots – New York Post
04/22/2025 06:13:00
Karl-Anthony Towns invisible in fourth quarter of Knicks? Game 2 loss – New York Post
04/22/2025 05:54:00
Jalen Brunson is closing on a Knicks postseason record – BasketNews.com
04/22/2025 05:51:00
Knicks-Pistons: 5 takeaways as Pistons find way to fight off Knicks – NBA
04/22/2025 05:41:37
Jalen Brunson needs to figure out how to get Knicks? offense working again – New York Post
04/22/2025 04:44:00
Knicks? furious rally falls just short as heartbreaking Game 2 loss to Pistons evens series – New York Post
04/22/2025 05:04:12
5 Overreactions from New York Knicks Game 2 Failure vs. Detroit Pistons – Bleacher Report
04/22/2025 05:39:39
Pistons 100, Knicks 94: “Carmelo stat line for Jalen” – Posting and Toasting
04/22/2025 05:22:32
Knicks surprisingly under-utilized Karl-Anthony Towns in Game 2 loss against Pistons – SNY
04/22/2025 05:12:53
128 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.04.22)”
Well, this one didn’t end well. Maybe we should start giving full effort all game and not only on the 4th quarter.
Suggestions for a place with actually in Manhattan south of 30th street where you can get a decent view of the game on TV?
Last night sucked.
Fire Thibs!
Anyways, we’re not a great team
I will acknowledge that Thibs didn’t do his best work, but I think our problems this series have less to do with coaching and roster structure than officiating. Let me be clear- I hate using officiating as a crutch, and I do love the fact that the refs are letting guys play through stuff. My issue is the refs are flat out letting the Pistons play as physical as they want- even when they get overzealous. The minute our guys say ‘fuck this, I ain’t no chump!’ and match the physicality, you would think somebody’s playing Too Short’s “Blow The Whistle” on repeat. 2 FT’s in the 1st half is unacceptable, given the amount of times they bumped and hacked our guys to the floor. Again- officiating should never be an excuse, but the league office needs to look into last night’s game. I’m far less worried about us losing one at home. As tough ad the Pistons are, we can recover from that because we’ve got 2 all NBA guys that they can’t guard without getting handsy or doubling. A couple more open shots go down last night and we win. Even with Hart playing out of control on offense.
That one was so aggravating, I’ve shifted to Team Pessimist. Significant changes are needed this summer — maybe Thibs and Bridges have to go, rather than one or the other — and an embarrassing first round exit makes it easier for that to happen than if we outlast the Pistons and then lose to Boston.
If you need adjustments on the fly to playoff preparation and coaching, Thibs is … cough … not your guy.
But in any event, the beauty of the NBA and NHL playoffs is the possibility for massive mood swings in fanbases and Thursday’s another game.
In terms of Macri’s comment, it’s always been the case that Brunson has been right around that “last four in,’ “first four out” place in the tentpole derby. He still is, and he’s not leaving that place until he fades to “obviously out” whenever that is that Father Time calls for him.
Cunningham’s ceiling is higher. He’s probably a tentpole now and projects to be “clearly in.” We’ll see how it plays out. He’s a better facilitator already than JB is, by a material amount.
If you’re mad at KAT now, consider how lucky he is that low-key one of the best defenders in the NBA, Isaiah Stewart, has a bad wheel. But most of his problem is his head coach, who doesn’t have the first clue how to use him. He should be picking and popping over and over with Brunson, and he never does.
Only 11 shots for KAT and only 4 minutes for Cam? What gives?
I actually only got to watch the 4th quarter, which I guess was the best quarter to watch (except for the last 2 minutes).
But just feels like this team does not take it’s opponent serious until it has to. The term “plays with it’s food” comes to mind.
And yeah, last night put me fully in the Mikal has been a disaster camp. Every shot he took at the end he missed including some FUGLY looking 3’s. You shot a high percentage from 3. Why the hell did you decide at age 27 to CHANGE YOUR FORM? Like who the hell does that?
We better hope we can trade him for something this summer. I’d rather have 2 guys who are more limited offensively but better shooters/defenders than Mikal. He’s lost on this team.
I’ve been saying all season long that we need to feed KAT more..and early. It makes the offense flow so much better. He knows to look for cutters and shooters and he’s tall enough to see over the defense when they converge. I don’t know what the issue is, but it will still be Brunson’s team if we get KAT going early.
Exactly. FEED THE KAT! Get him going early and then he can shoot some of those back breaking long 3’s later. Brunson will always get his. I mean Brunson did have 8 assists last night, which is good, obviously. But it would probably be better if Brunson had LESS assists, took a few less shots and we saw more shots (and assists) from KAT, etc. OG was a little off too but did not shoot it enough either.
MIKAL should be 4th in the pecking order with the starting 5. It should go KAT/Brunson (same amount of shots but get KAT more early), OG, then Mikal/Hart. That’s the pecking order. Then let Mikal run things more when Brunson sits.
Or get a more creative coach.
Honestly I’m flabbergasted that, with this kind of talent, our offense is still so clunky and iso-driven after a full season together.
Compared to this we did play a better offense months ago, when we were still “trying to gel”, what has happened since then?
Where is the “move the players move the ball” mantra gone?
This looks like a bad coaching job, Thibs has run his course and should be fired no matter what*, but probably the locker room need some cleaning too, the vibes are the exact opposite of last year’s.
As a longtime Cade supporter I should be happy for him but sheesh, he’s maybe the best player on the floor but on paper there’s still no match between the two teams, I still have faith we’ll win this series.
Next game is crucial, they’re flying high right now.
* It doesn’t mean the roster is well built, clearly Leon has a couple of questions to answer and the players are guilty too.
KAT had 36 touches last night. By comparison, Duren had over 50.
Lest we forget it is Thibs’s second-franchise-failure to figure this out.
Gut check. We lose game 3 our season is over.
We lost a game where the refs favored the other team and where a bunch of their scrubs came up big. It was tied in the final minute and went the wrong way.
So why is everyone so down?
Well, losing a playoff game at home sucks.
But having two very negative defenders on defense in KAT and JB who no longer seem to have a symbiotic relationship on offense, it feels kind of dire.
I love Jalen. He is the purest iso-scorer in Knicks history. He’s better than Melo at it by far. Truly, he is amazing.
But it’s hard to see how we have the right pieces around him. Kat in particular feels like a really bad fit. And the way Jalen seems to stymie OG and to some extent Bridges, feels like a problem we won’t easily solve.
classic game like we all see so often in todays nba get down by double digits and scratch and claw all the way back just to run out of steam in the end i was so happy when we tied at 94 after being down 13-15 but then we never scored another point schroeder 3 killed us
they lost in large part because they got hammered on the offensive glass and the pistons shot a ton more FTs
The Knicks gave up 100 points. This is squarely on the offense.
Having 94 points in the final minute with the players given to you is bad coaching. How do you acquire Towns in a trade and he plays a full season and still have no idea how to use him. Josh Hart pretty much shrinks the court to the point the opposing coach puts a Center on him. This isn’t a new playbook and Thibs has no idea how to counter it. The Knicks need to work way to hard to generate offense when it could be much easier.
Also regarding the domination in the rebounding battle, how do you not play Mitch more and go double big to help get second chances for your team…
Thibs also complained about the rebounding battle in his post game which was odd to me when you had Mitch sitting most of the game.
sux how solutions or at least things to try seem so obvious and easy to see for us but don’t seem to be something our coach can figure out
I didn’t watch the first half at all. In game one Thibs played KAT and Mitch together for an extended run and it was pretty successful. Did he not play them together last night?
Our offense ended up a measly 0.3 ORtg points better than last year’s team. We have the same offense and a worse defense, and that’s with OG for only half a year.
The despair is for a team that, excepting the run in game 1, feels like they don’t have what it takes to be great.
https://x.com/TheStrickland/status/1914686357399654785
This is because they don’t play any 5 out basketball. This coach doesn’t get the most out of this roster at all.
They played together for 5 minutes in a 48 minute game
That’s wild. They played like the entire 2nd quarter together in game 1 and it was pretty successful.
That and Cam getting 4 minutes after leading the comeback in game 1 makes no sense to me.
Looking at the best 5 man lineups from the regular season they all seem to include a Point Guard [ Payne and Mcbride] if you have Brunson on the court.
I wonder if the bad whistle has anything to do with the repetitive nature of the offense. Every play is the same thing: Brunson dribble ball into crowd, Brunson throw ball at basket after crashing into somebody. Well, it’s not EVERY play, but that happens a lot. Lots of those plays read as foul hunting.
We might win this series, but it’s a little bit dispiriting that we don’t seem to have any players with untapped upside. Rematch these two teams a year from now and they’re just going to have more guys aging into their primes while we have guys aging out. Next year our five starters will be aged 28-30. The young teams are going to start passing us by unless we find a way to get younger ourselves. Spoiler alert: we won’t.
We can still win this series, although I’d say it’s a coin flip at this point. But the future of the team looks pretty murky to me. We’re not going to get much farther than this in the future without some substantial roster retooling and a coaching change.
Man, I really wanted to hire Atkinson when he was available during our last hire.
Who knows, maybe it wouldn’t have worked back then, but he sure as hell would be a good fit with this group.
It’s painful to see him crushing it in Cleveland, but to be fair, so many piss-poor organizations passed him over until he got the Cavs job… it’s kind of amazing how terribly run so many teams are in this league.
K. Towns – O. Anunoby – J. Hart – J. Brunson – M. McBride lineup played 84 minutes in the regular season. Had a 130 off rating and a 96 def rating. The Knicks main lineup has a 3.3 net rating this season so pretty much average. Some of these other lineups don’t get enough playing time because the lack of flexibility by the coach to fully know much.
Or maybe it’s politics with Mikal? You give up 5 first round picks to create the Nova Voltron, you might feel pressure to start Mikal no matter what? But then you have to sacrifice DDV to Minny to get Towns because you have no more picks to deal, thus killing the Nova vibes and losing one of the best FA signings Leon has made. So now this new guy HAS to start and you gave up everything to get him and you lost your best 3 point shooter to boot?
But it’s pretty damning. We go on that huge run with Mikal on the bench in game 1. We then struggle all of game 2 with Mikal getting more touches and shots. We get back into the game late with Brunson/Hart doing their thing but then every big shot Mikal gets he bricks. I counted 2 missed 3’s that were open shots and missed mid range in the last few minutes.
They could play Mikal and pull Hart for a little bit during the game allowing the double point guard lineup. Mikal to me provides more spacing on the court. Swap OG for Hart for a little. K. Towns – J. Hart – M. Bridges – J. Brunson – M. McBride had a 128 offf rating and 109 def rating in 64 minutes. Another small sample size due to coaching.
Any coach who doesn’t run an iso system with everybody on the court staring at that one player would be an upgrade.
Didn’t Mikal also have an attempted reverse layup stuffed late in the 4th, too? I think he missed at least his last 4 shots?
Well, let’s see if Thibs can actually make a meaningful adjustment or two for the next game.
Leon Rose had the worst year of anyone in the organization, and it’s not even close. He made moves to bring us level with the Celtics, instead he brought us down to par with a team that won 14 games last year. If he fires Thibs, he’s on the clock immediately, and I wouldn’t give him much time.
He pivoted strongly from his last failure, I’ll give him that. But he really painted himself into a corner now. Short of Giannis demanding to be traded here, I don’t see many paths.
Well the good news is that most everyone had a gentleman’s sweep on the cards for this series, so we can all look at it as the Knicks being right on track.
The bad news is nobody seems very upbeat about our team making the obvious, requisite changes to take charge of this series.
Eye test alert, but I do feel some credit has to go to Detroit going into lockdown defense. There were definitely times last night where I was screaming (internally) at the screen to “Pass the ball!,” but in all honesty nobody was open, even along the perimeter. We need to run some simple but effective plays to get folks open, and we need to have, you know, Jalen actually pass the ball on those occasions.
Yes, he missed 3 3s and that reverse layup attempt. He hits one of them and it’s a different game.
Also OG had a couple of plays with the ball early in the 4th and it resulted in points. Then it never happened again.
And not going to KAT in the post and clearing out for him in the 4th is a crime.
Nah the coach is making them look at the Pistons level. If you want to say Rose hired Thibs sure. The talent given him to him shouldn’t be at 94 points with a minute left because he can’t play proper lineups or get one of the most talented offensive players on his team [ Towns] the ball.
We should hire Nico Harrison for a summer consulting job. He seems to have no trouble making politically unpopular moves.
His focus in the postgame presser was entirely on Detroit’s rebounding advantage, so any adjustment he makes will likely play right into Detroit’s hands. It feels like Mike Woodson v the Pacers again.
For those calling for more Deuce, I like him, but after a very good start to the season and lots of big shots, he’s not exactly lighting it up anymore.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6296394/2025/04/22/anonymous-nba-player-poll-2025-mvp-sga-jokic-analytics/?source=emp_shared_article
Only 90 players polled, but they think Halburton is the most overrated player in the league..
Knicks need to get this roster to the point where Hart is a 25 min/g 6th man.
Deuce was fine last night but we need more Payne?
Not enough touches for KAT is one thing. Not playing the Mitch KAT line up when they did well for an extended run in game 1 is another thing. But how do you only play Payne for 4 minutes when he came up so big in game one and the team is struggling to score? It makes ZERO sense.
What’s a proper lineup? You want to take Hart out of the game? We got outrebounded 48-34 as it was.
Were we supposed to bench Mikal Bridges for Payne again? Mikal was our best player for 3 quarters.
There is a blame pie here between Thibs, Towns, and Brunson. I don’t know how to divide it myself but it feels like not enough is going to the two players.
Fire Thibs!!!
Thibs can play double big if that’s what he’s worried about. Mitch is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league and with all the bricks he would give the team second chance opportunities.
re payne if you didn’t see the game you would not be aware that of those three fouls he got in the game he got all three of them in that 4 minute span that’s what got him bnnched
Mikal had one absolutely wide open three. The other three attempts was pretty awkward, basically against the shot clock.
I think we need to move the ball more but the Pistons made it very difficult with their defense.
I did sense that at the end the Knicks were determined to not turn the ball over, which is why they defaulted to the iso-Jalen offense to such a great extent.
It works is the thing. He’s a killer. He looked absolutely exhausted but still performed.
One positive thing I took from the game was that we actually ran a decent inbound play and got Jalen a completely clean three point look to tie it at the end off a double screen. I think KAT may have moved a bit on the screen but they would never call that. So give Thibs a tiny bit of credit there.
I don’t know, going to be a fun series. Can’t get too worked up about last night. Both teams played hard, etc etc
And fwiw I’m pretty sure KAT has completely disappeared in a few playoff games that did not involve Thibs or Brunson.
Although I’m also pretty sure Thibs and Brunson have frozen out a lot of talented players before, too.
I really don’t know (or care) whose fault this is. I do know that it’s not that hard to get a talented basketball player more involved, so the three of them better figure it out.
All I know is that Detroit LOVES The Pistons and this is the first young and good team they’ve had in a long time. And they just tied up the series and are going home. That arena is going to be crazy on Thursday and The Knicks better come prepared and ready to fight. Because The Pistons and they’re fans are going to be pumped. If we fall behind early, it could get ugly fast.
This is the definition of gut check time.
OK so Payne had 3 fouls in 4 minutes but then he doesn’t play at all in the second half? 3 fouls is not 5 fouls. Give him another shot.
Most disappointing aspect for me so far this series is how unprepared the Knicks look. I thought after a week of preparation the Knicks would have a game plan to deal with the Pistons defense. Instead looks like the only adjustment made during the week off was having OG on Cade the entire game which isn’t exactly rocket science.
I mentioned last night after the game there was a possession in the 4th quarter where Brunson had the ball on one side of the court while on the other side there was KAT and OG literally standing next to each other and one of them, believe it was KAT, holding his arms out asking what to do. It was a microcosm of the offense last night.
I have a feeling it is, and he will.
The problem is he puts Hart in those lineups, too, which is a valid criticism. When we go twin towers he needs to sit in favor of Mikal, Deuce, or OG.
Well this has been going on for a while and zero counters have been made. Thibs had months in the regular season to fix this.
The thing that has me so upset is that imo there’s an almost obvious huge talent difference between the teams, but when I watch the games it “feels” like they are the better team. It was similar in the regular season. It feels like they are in control. Part of that is they have the better defense, but it’s mostly coaching. Detroit is being effective doing what they can to make our lives difficult, but we are not adjusting or doing anything with our superior firepower. I blame Thibs and Brunson.
btw i agree that payne could have got more time in the second half to see if he could contrubute again i was stating what happened not what i thought should have happened like you said, three fouls is not five fouls
The most effective counter would be starting DDV instead of Hart. Never mind
Maybe Detroit gets fewer rebounds because we hit more shots if we don’t play the guy who shot 2-6 and who’s looked broken since the new year 40 minutes last night.
I’m trying to figure out what parts to build around in the future and I’m kind of drawing a blank. Brunson, obviously, but the rest of these guys? I could live without pretty much all of them. OG is maybe the other guy I’d try to build around because he’s at least a two way player.
I’d be looking to move all of KAT, Mikal, and Hart if I was running this team. Get younger and build back some draft capital. Tweaking around the edges is not going to be sufficient unless you’re happy with the mezzanine.
This will, of course, never happen in a million billion years. The peak of the Leon/Thibs years may very well already be in the rearview mirror.
I’d be totally fine to move KAT and Bridges as well. Hart I could keep around.
Agree nothing will happen though.
This feels like a much more pessimistic place than when I left. I’m probably just as cynical as I was before but suddenly I feel like the optimist in the room.
In that player poll –
“Which team, other than your own, will win the title this season?”
Teams that got more votes than the Knicks (who didnt make the cut) … Timberwolves, Bucks, Nuggets, Warriors :/
It’s bleak in here, because deep down we were hoping these guys “were not who we thought they were” … and the playoffs would showcase a different level of commitment, focus and play .. but instead after an amazing 4th quarter in Game 1, all the old warts came popping back up throughout Game 2. And it’s clear that even if we beat the Pistons we have absolutely NO chance of beating the Celtics or Cavs, not just this year, but also in future years with this roster and coach …
The big takeaway from that player’s poll is that the 37 minutes that James Johnson played this year were the most terrifying 37 minutes anyone in the league had to endure.
As for overrated/underrated, the fact that Derrick White didn’t win most underrated shows just how underrated he is.
Getting rid of Towns because the team employs a coach who is only use to succeeding with rim runners is a choice.
Not sure what Halliburton did to get “most over-rated” over Trae Young, he is better at basketball yet is paid less to play it. (My personal vote for most over rated is Jaren Jackson Jr, who actually got voted defensive player of the year once despite being physically incapable of getting a defensive rebound).
When I saw Brunson come out to start the 4th quarter, I knew Thibs was panicking. I know Cam Payne is the proverbial box of chocolates, but at least play the guy a couple of minutes to start the 4th quarter.
I’m not a minutes police guy, but playoffs or regular season, 44 minutes for Brunson is excessive considering the pounding he takes.
Yeah I pre-grieved all that.
Once you reach the acceptance level, you’ll see that this is going to be an awesome, intense, and exciting first round playoff series. And Boston’s already limping.
This is the ride we’re on.
That would help the team immensely. If only we could find a true 3&D forward to play up front with Anunoby & KAT. Like i said last week, I would love a shot at Thomas Sorber out of Georgetown if he enters the draft. The kid passes, has great instincts, defends the paint, plays passing lanes, and can make a few jumpers out to 18′. Oh..and he can handle playing the 4 or the 5. And in year 1, all we would need from him is solid defense, ball movement, and making open jumpers. He wouldn’t have to play a ton until he’s ready to step into a bigger role, and it would allow for Bridges and Anunoby to truly defend the wing- and probably allow Anunoby to roam a little more to help a Brunson or a KAT. Hart, Mitch, Deuce, and a shooter would be a great bench for us with all the firepower in the starting lineup. Hell..if Kolek takes a leap, Thibs or whomever can truly go 10 deep if he or she wants to.
And I think we need to bring Wright back as the 3rd PG next season
Knicks – Pistons series now at:
Knicks [-] 230
Pistons [+]190
Is that a low bar?
Zero chance, plus the coach wouldn’t play him.
Start Mitch. Problem solved. Should have been done immediately upon his return. Solves the center pretend guarding Josh Hart problem too but Thibs is gonna Thibs.
Nedi
We were there last year before Randle got hurt and we started making bad deals.
Good to see that everyone’s coming around to Pagliacci’s core theses for this year:
-This team isn’t as good as last year’s in terms of present value despite depleting all future assets
-Bridges trade was a catastrophic overpay and DDV is better than him straight up now
-Thibs is a dinosaur who caps our team success and offensive creativity
-The second round is closer to our ceiling than our floor
Thibs thinking this is about rebounding just further confirms he doesn’t get it. I honestly think that he’s a man of mediocre basketball intellect who has stuck in the league based on sheer obsession. Just as the team doesn’t have an extra gear in the playoffs due to his try-hard philosophy, neither does he. No adjustments, no strategy, no imagination, no creativity.
We wouldn’t be contenders with any coach with this roster, but we could be significantly better, enough to be on the fringe. The 11th best defense just shut us down at home.
Thibs needs to go. By Saturday we’ll be down 3-1 because Josh Hart will have played another 80+ offense-crippling minutes. The only good outcome on the table in this playoffs is ouster, so that’s what I’m rooting for.
Pistons still a fantastic buy, we are even money here at best.
He is probably right, though.
Home playoff loss. Makes things bleak.
Thibs isn’t the coach for this team, that’s a given. All the rest of the stuff I personally need more data points on. That said, the issues in the first two games don’t really look materially different than the issues they’ve had all season. If you’re at a place where this whole thing looks like the peak is in the past, there’s a lot of basis for that.
Oh, and after tie breaks and coin flips and whatever, the Milwaukee fugazi winds up 19th in this years draft. If memory serves, that’s the slot of the infamous Incinerated pick. Absolute idiocy giving that pick up for what came back.
Since Ivey went down in game 33, Detroit has a net 4.9 rating. On the season, the Knicks have a 4.2 net rating.
So how convinced are we that the Knicks are actually the better team?
If he is it’s his own damn fault for avoiding Mitch+KAT like the plague, even though it would put a top 5 offensive rebounder and a top 5 defensive rebounder on the court at the same time.
Why won’t he try it? Probably because he knows even he can’t play them with Josh Hart. We need to try Mitch/KAT/OG/Bridges or Deuce/Brunson. We need to try something other than the same shit Thibs has been doing since January that all but the shittiest teams in the league can easily thwart.
We aren’t! I’ve been saying so for weeks. OKC figured out Thibs’ entire offense in 20 minutes and so did every other decent team, and the shocked Pikachu look still hasn’t faded from his stupid fucking face
He did in the 2nd quarter of game one for like the entire quarter and it worked pretty well!
That’s what I don’t get. Is it Hart is a vet thing and he should start? Preserving Mitch?
Hart came off the bench his first 2 seasons here. That is his ideal role. Of course you can play him out at the end of the games if he’s doing his Hart thing but he would actually really help our bench too!
Start Mitch! Or start Deuce instead of Mikal!
In case anyone was wondering, and I know you are, we’re a net +1 in Mitch/KAT minutes this series across 15 minutes
Absent from Jalen’s copious toolbox of skills is the ability/savvy/awareness/whatever to facilitate a properly distributed offense in the way that truly great point guards do.
It’s part of Jalen Brunson’s job description, properly delineated, to get Karl-Anthony Towns the ball in a way that maximizes what Karl-Anthony Towns brings a basketball team.
If we’re honest, he’s not really a point guard and I’d be thinking in those terms going forward in this offseason.
We’re sort of back in the same place as with Julius inasmuch as we have a ball-dominant guy who really isn’t good enough to get you up in the elite with him being that ball dominant. Jalen is clearly a cut above Julius, so there’s that, but there’s a very real question about whether this structure with him as a ball-dominant point who frequently pounds nails is going to amount to anything more than this.
I think that’s why in part most of the Knicks best 5 man units feature Brunson playing next to Mcbride ( who is less of a point guard, but helps with spacing and ball movement]
I would even say later in the season the ball was moving more with Delon Wright
we have two true point guards kolek and wright and neitehr one of them is every going to play unless there are injuries does not make sense
The first thing to do is identify the problems. Then you can start thinking about solutions.
Problems on Offense
1. Hart is a reluctant and inconsitent shooter from outside. That makes it possible to put a smaller man on Towns to take away the 3 better and leaves the C to give Hart space and still be in a position to help inside.
2. Brunson has a strong impulse to be a scorer first. All his dribbling trying to create his own shot has a tendency to takes Towns, OG and Bridges out of games or leave them with tougher shots late in the clock when Brunson finally passes. He’s basically a more efficient less TO prone version of Randle at present.
3. Not enough quality depth on the bench
4. Thibs is unimaginative and reluctant to adjust
Defense
1. Both Brunson and KAT are negative defenders at a key position.
2. OG and Brdges are not good rebounders. That leaves Towns and Hart to do most of the rebounding, but as good as Hart is, against some teams he’s simply overmatched and undersized and is being asked to do too much.
Possible Solutions
1. Play Mitch with KAT together more and put Hart on the bench (so far Thibs is barely using the combo) .
2. Trade Towns for another scorer (preferably a legit PF?), but one that can defend. If you trade Towns, you must be certain you can count on Mitch as the starting C or you do another trade to land a quality C (Kessler?) or you have to be confident Huk can not only be the backup but start if there are health issues witrh Mitch.
3. Use someone else+ to trade for a starting 3&D PF to put next to Towns that can stretch the floor and put Hart on the bench.
4. New coach
There are lot of moving parts in there because it’s not clear who is available, who we can sign as free agents to improve the bench and who they’d be willing to trade.
We know Brunson is off limit unless we bring in Nico Harrison!
Is Hart off limits?
Is Towns off limits?
Did we give our young players enough minutes to develop and retain or enhance their draft value? (obviously Thibs blew that one also)
Kolek shouldn’t play in this series because he would be taken advantage of on defense. I will say that when Brunson came back I would’ve liked to see a Delon/Brunson backcourt, but the coach simply put Delon back in the dog house.
They don’t look materially different than the issues they had in the first game of the season at Boston.
The team is what it is. Are we rooting for it to win or to transform to a butterfly?
yeah i guess throwing kokek to the wolves during a playoff series would not be a good idea now only if we might have had a coach who played him more during his rookie season so that he might be a little bit more ready for a few minutes in this spot
Humorous bit making the rounds that Brunson keeps his hair in braids to accentuate the impact of contact to draw fouls.
Jokic is gonna show up tomorrow with dreds since nobody bought his flop at the end there
Hardly in panic mode, but 3 things are disturbing: (1) after a week of prep, nothing gave us an edge in game 1, other than Payne for Mikal, which clearly wasn’t the plan going in; (2) Jason playoff hero ball works better when nis teammates know that is the best option and put their bodies on the line ala DDV and iHart. Contrast with KAT and Mikal. Either one make the effort in the play of the season against Philly last year?(3) Thibs out coached JBB big time when he had to stymie an offense. Less effective when he has to stymie a defense.
https://x.com/TommyBeer/status/1914763561597067671/photo/1
jalen needs the ball less in his hand as the offense is being initiated, he has a strong closer mentality…
and good point about it being the main ball handler’s responsibility to assist with key offensive components integrating in to the offense…
he’s playing like a 2 guard with the ball in his hand all the time…
Is Mikal going to dive on a loose ball like DDV at all costs? That streak may very well be why he fell short of winning things in the NBA.
Welcome back from your sabbatical, Hubert. (Nice of the disciples to schedule lent around the playoffs, very forward thinking of them.) Were you abstaining from posting here, or from visiting the site at all?
Thank you, Donnie Pistons Fan. I actually came back as Knicks in 2025 and no one noticed.
I’m just kidding.
Seriously though I thought you guys might ban Doogie but I never imagined you’d force him to write with terrible spelling and grammar. That’s some cruel punishment.
We tried to give up Doogie for lent. Clearly, you were more disciplined than the rest of us.
(That joke worked better before you edited your comment. Eh well)
NBA Refs continue to be garbage https://x.com/JCMacriNBA/status/1914776604573684126
Figured the doom and gloom crowd would be in full effect today…love it.
Very knicksy that we’re understandably worried about a stagnant offense but we also just lost to a team that had 11 assists and won (in significant part) by mauling us on the boards. That’s why people wanted Thibs gone the last few years.
😂😂😂
What a reversal from three days ago. Delirium still.
Have stayed quiet rather than post hot takes, but I was saying before the series and still believe it: a loss here is on Thibs. We have better players. We have not shown we have the better team.
As well, a clear answer is KAT/Mitch/OG/Deuce/Brunson. Slightly different combinations of those players have had generally great minutes this season. Thibs has run twin towers but with Hart on the floor. You can’t have two non-shooters, gotta ditch Hart when Mitch is in. And Deuce is a better point-of-attack defender than Mikal. He takes the ball up, JB is free to be a closer or work p’n’r with KAT (or Mitch). Defensively pretty strong.
This seems obvious to me. I’m not ready to give up on these players and listen to all the Pags bs about their ceiling. The coach has simply not got the best out of the tools at his disposal.
For the record, I did say that the biggest limitation on our ceiling right now is Thibs’ failure to do the thing you’ve just described. Would not make us CLE/BOS/OKC caliber, but I think this is a 55-win fringe contender with reasonable modern NBA coaching.
it seems obvious to all of us but problem is that it is not going to be adjusted for these playoffs or for however long thibs is the coach lots of wasted opportunities
Agreed, except for Deuce. I get the point of attack but Mikal is a better apot up shooter from corners and late clock mid range bailout out when necessary. Plus he’s got great size at 2 spot and can even exploit a post match up against Shroeder like he did last night. Deuce has been terrible this entire season. I’m begining to think that last year was a fluke and his FG is resorting to mean.
It’s Mitch, Kat, OG, Mikal and Brunson. Agree with Hart can never be on the floor with Mitch. Only with KAT. So they split the 48 depending on match up and game situation.
On another topic, if you set the over/under for how many more games after tonight that Doc Rivers coaches the Bucks at three games, what is your bet?
unfortunately for the bucks i’d take the over i just do not think they want to start over again right now assuming they lose the series it wil be giannis who is gone, not doc
That would definitely be unfortunate for them. I think they would have don better to keep Adrian Griffin.
I am not a fan of Rivers but I don’t think the coach is their problem. I cannot think of any coach that could make them a contender. Their problem is that they have a lottery roster plus Giannis.
The same applies to the Knicks. They have a good to very good team but not a great team. Ceteris paribus, the second round is their ceiling. I may disagree with some of the things the coaching staff is doing here and there, but I am not sold on that simplistic view that another coach would make them a contender.
I’m surprised Morant wasn’t higher on the overrated list too — like Trae, he can do the impossible, but fails too often at the possible — seems like the man behind the curtain has been revealed at this point. He’s just a guy.
Morant was awesome for a couple years but it looks like the injuries have added up and he still can’t shoot.
I think Jenkins was highly underrated — ptmilo will disagree but he’s dumb anyway so who cares — the Griz roster is so much worse than the sum of its parts.
Rough, you could be right that the Bucks wouldn’t be better with a different coach, but then they need a coach good at developing young players and I don’t see Rivers as that coach.
Perhaps. IDK. Neither do I care. I would care if Giannis were to ask out. 😂
Maybe OKC would be making Jenkins look bad too…
(Have people here put money down against OKC coming out of the west? Seems safer to bet they will enter the finals 12-0,)
Meanwhile Halliburton seems perfectly rated, sorry anonymous players.
OKC will lose a game just not in this series
The depth they have is top notch.
Sorry, Director, but whatever your eye test, every lineup with Deuce in it has good numbers. Better numbers than Mikal, despite what SHOULD be the case.
Maybe Cohen should have given Alonso the $750M…
I’m watching the Wolves Lakers game. Other than the basic call of the game, the National announcers seem to talk only about the Lakers, not the Wolves. It’s so biased.
LA has Ice Cube, Minnesota merely has Prince and Bob Dylan. C’est la vie.
man, luka can be sweet to watch…
the arc on some of his shots is like steph and nikola’s shots…
it goes improbably straight up in to the air and then straight down through the basket…
julius having a good game so far…