Knicks Morning News (2025.05.23)

110 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.05.23)”

I hate watching this OKC team but hope they viciously disembowel Indiana in the finals (should that nightmare scenario come to pass)

I actually made a bet on the Pacers at +4500 during the 2nd round so if that does come to pass Donnie will have a friend on the bandwagon. And yes it’s with the same guy I thought might off me instead of paying me if my Suns bet came through a few years ago, so my untimely demise is back in play.

(In my defense, I thought the Pacers would be playing the Celtics, not us.)

educae makes a really good point about the tech that was not given to hali on the choke sogn although unsportamanlike conduct calls happend much moe in football than in the nba

Today is a great day to be a Knicks fan. We have the chance to even the series. Wednesday’s awful loss is now in the past. Our beloved Knicks are four wins away from the Finals.

Twenty-six teams have been eliminated, but we are still playing.

educae makes a really good point about the tech that was not given to hali on the choke sogn although unsportamanlike conduct calls happend much moe in football than in the nba

100%, I see Refs giving out techs for way less. Chet got a tech last night for a dunk and a stare at a Timberwolves player.

There’s a big difference between a taunt and an homage, guys.

hahahaha

Fine distinction!

I cannot imagine a world where the refs gave the Knicks an attempt at a game-winning free throw on a tech for the Haliburton histrionics. A fine? Sure. But not a free throw in a tie game with no time on the clock.

I don’t think the NBA even has rules against general taunts. Only specific taunts. Like if Haliburton had run up to Brunson and done the choke gesture in Brunson’s face, that would have been against the rules, but not a general taunt.

Like Steph doing the “go to sleep” gesture, or even Novak’s discount double check after a big three.

it was an homage to a taunt

I know Thibs would never do it, but how about putting in Delon to send Hali into the first row on a layup attempt?

i like it or pj tucker who is known as an enforcer anyway and we will never neeed him but we might need delon

We would have missed the FT anyway.

A funny thing to me is how often NBA players really do give each other shit about their performance on the court. That bit from Game 1 where OG is berating KAT reminds me of a Desmond Bane fight this season. He got into Santi Aldama’s face, asking him, “Are you gonna f—ing guard anybody?” Aldama responded, “F— you,” to which Bane fired back, “No, f— you. Play harder.” Then he shoved Aldama, screaming, “make a fucking stop!”

Dick move, perhaps, but you probably want dudes like Bane and OG on your team, who really take this shit SERIOUSLY.

yea i have no problem having players who lay into their teammates when necessary even capn spoke up to tell kat to shut it down

man pacers really had some things go their way no goaltending call and the crazy dropthrough come to mind but the missing of free throws is totallly on us i hope we have all been at the line for the past two days practicing

Only specific taunts.

There seemed to be a specific prohibition on the Sam Cassell “big balls” celebration, but Haliburton was given a free pass recently, so I’m not sure about the latest big balls jurisprudence (I am pro-big balls celebration).

It’s true that OKC seems like an inconquerable behemoth, but I don’t care. As BC was fond of pointing out when we reached the 2nd round, you need a seat at the table to have a chance to beat the odds. Plus after game 1 I somehow need us to win this series even more than I thought I did going in–doing so would now heal trauma.

A funny thing to me is how often NBA players really do give each other shit about their performance on the court. That bit from Game 1 where OG is berating KAT reminds me of a Desmond Bane fight this season. He got into Santi Aldama’s face, asking him, “Are you gonna f—ing guard anybody?” Aldama responded, “F— you,” to which Bane fired back, “No, f— you. Play harder.” Then he shoved Aldama, screaming, “make a fucking stop!”

Or, far more likely, OG’s trying to deflect blame away from himself.

I don’t see that as remotely exemplary of “taking this shit more seriously” than the other players on the court. Worrying about apportionment of blame has little to do with caring about the performance of the team as a whole.

If he really *cared* and “took this really seriously,” he’d look in the mirror, shut his trap, and play better. Frankly, a dude giving shit to a teammate in the midst of a 35/12 game while said dude is squarely in the middle of a D+ performance is being a shitty teammate.

Give me the “unserious” 35/12 over the “super serious” D+ every day and twice on Sundays.

RJ would’ve never yelled at KAT…

rj took naps during game breaks

Guys, I don’t really care how good KAT is on offense. He is atrocious on defense and it kills us. I love him and he had a great game and should have earned us a victory in Game 1. But he could be so much better.

We should have put Mitch and Deuce and Delon out there with the 13 point lead.

He is atrocious on defense and it kills us.

Overstated, but in any event it’s not a D+ performer’s place to enforce it. Maybe he’d play better defense if he had less self-centered teammates on the floor with him.

The “he takes things seriously” stuff is same genus, different species as hustlebunny. Has nothing to do with actually as-played basketball.

i have found that my best coping mechanism after wednesday night is to remind myself that okc is just better than both us and the pacers altho i agree with what was put forth about getting to the finals to at least have a chance to change that perception also as mentioned yesterday when we are up 2-1 after game 3 in indy game 1 will seem like a distant memory i predicted indy to win games 1 and 4 and i am so distraught that i was correct about the first half of that i could not have predicted the heartbreak that came our way

In terms of the proffered example, Santi Aldama is a bench player, Desmond Bane a star. KAT, OTOH, is a star/superstar. Notwithstanding the obvious fan club, I certainly don’t want my stars/superstars deflected from their tasks in the middle of a big game by some dude performing at D+ levels. Pretty simple and straightforward.

It’s true that OKC seems like an inconquerable behemoth,

They really don’t seem like that to me. Minnesota just seems like an unworthy challenger.

Today is a great day to be a Knicks fan. We have the chance to even the series. Wednesday’s awful loss is now in the past. Our beloved Knicks are four wins away from the Finals.

Twenty-six teams have been eliminated, but we are still playing.”

Thanks ephus, I needed that!

This team has some titanic pubescence to it… Like you shouldn’t have to have your ass handed to you before you pay attention.

There’s a big difference between a taunt and an homage, guys.

An homage to belittling your competitors? WTF kind of homage is that? When you suborn classless behavior, you get more classless behavior.

If the NBA was serious about ending that crap, all they would have had to do was award 2 free throws and possession like a flagrant and it. would never happen again. Guaranteed.

But the league office likes that stuff because the cretins that like that nonsense will be talking about it for ever.

I’m more than happy to give OG a pass (he’s earned it) but he seemed to have a meltdown on Wednesday. His play down the stretch was as uncharacteristic as his outburst on the bench.

And having a guy you can’t pass to in a tight game bc he can’t dribble or catch a pass or hit two free throws is a pretty big liability, too.

There’s a weird division of labor on this team. On each side of the ball some guys are working really hard to cover for others.

I have never been a fan of KAT but today is not the day to start berating players, their seriousness, their defense, etc. There will be plenty of time to do that after the season ends. I liked what Brunson said at the presser about that game: “Short memory.” I hope this is true and this is how the players feel. We are still in this. There is a must win game today.

adelman in as nuggies coach

I liked what Brunson said at the presser about that game: “Short memory.” I hope this is true and this is how the players feel. We are still in this. There is a must win game today.

I also liked that he took direct responsibility for his failure in coverage on a couple of the open 3s.

OKC is very good on offense, but it’s their elite defense that helps make their offense so good. They seem to win the TO battle a lot and sometimes substantially. You can’t give a very good offense too many extra possessions, especially off TOs.

The thing that worries me about the Pacers is not that we lost game #1. It’s that going on crazy offensives runs is what they do. So maybe Haliburton’s shot was lucky and the missed goaltending call was critical and maybe hitting 7 3s in row was crazy, but don’t be shocked if they have another run of 4-5 3s in a row or go on 17-2 run with fastbreaks. They have a very good offense, they play really well together, have an excellent offensive coach and handle playoff pressure very well.

I also liked that he took direct responsibility for his failure in coverage on a couple of the open 3s.

Leaders and captains take responsibility for things, even at times for things that aren’t really even their fault. It’s a core part of the obligations of leadership.

Non-leaders, non-captains, passengers blame other people for things that often are their own fault. Sometimes showily.

Everyone knows my opinion.

KAT is fine.

Brunson is fine.

KAT and Brunson together is NOT fine.

So we have to try to mitigate the problem with Mitch or Deuce also on the court instead of Hart.

There’s a weird division of labor on this team. On each side of the ball some guys are working really hard to cover for others.

That’s because Hart/OG/Mikal are duplicative and not good enough offensively. Poorly conceived from the time ground was broken on the idea. (*)

But in any event, that’s offseason stuff and that will be the end of my non-direct commentary for the day. It was kind of a strange day to lead with “OG really cares” but there’s another game tonight.

(*) The first one on the list is a 100% team-first baller and shouldn’t sacrifice a thing to the other two — reputationally, minutes-wise, role-wise, etc.

What impresses me most about the Thunder is that they can play any style successfully on both ends. Big, small, fast, slow, inside, outside. SGA is one of the very best midrange shooters I have ever seen, and uses that ability to get the defense leaning, setting them up for drives where he has to be fouled to stop. And not only do you not have to hide him on D, he’s an asset there…not Jordan or Kobe, but very solid.

Can they be beaten? Sure. But they are very, very good, and lots of fun to watch.

What impresses me most about the Thunder is that they can play any style successfully on both ends.

The thing that I’m most impressed by OKC is their stealth runs later in the game. You know, the game is close, close, close, suddenly they’re up 16. It seems like that happens every game, as they wear the other team down by throwing 10 fresh players at them all game, so as the game gets late, suddenly their advantage in “freshness” erodes the other team’s defenses, and a close game is a 15-point game. It happens so consistently with them, so obviously it’s their game plan, and that shit is effective as fuck.

It reminds me of the old school Spurs, which also had a crazy nice bench led by Manu.

The Pacers seem like the perfect team to beat the Thunder bc they employ the same strategy and wouldn’t get worn down. Too bad they won’t get the chance.

Brian, it’s not that the players are fresh as much as they are really good AND fresh. The guys on their bench would be quality starters on lots of teams.

as the game gets late, suddenly their advantage in “freshness” erodes the other team’s defenses, and a close game is a 15-point game.

This is, of course, exactly what Indiana did to our defense in game 1, except it turned a 15 point game into a close one.

It happens so consistently with them, so obviously it’s their game plan, and that shit is effective as fuck.

Again, ditto Indiana. I hope we are finally prepared for it.

Brian, it’s not that the players are fresh as much as they are really good AND fresh. The guys on their bench would be quality starters on lots of teams.

Oh true, other teams try the same thing, OKC’s advantage is that they just have SO MANY fucking good players on the team.

Days it’s a great day to be a Knicks fan:

Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Days it’s not a great day to be a Knicks fan:

Thursday, Saturday, Monday

That’s because Hart/OG/Mikal are duplicative and not good enough offensively.

I disagree with this strongly.

We finished with the 5th best offense in the league despite a weak bench and unimaginative offensive coach.

OG is at his best best as a 3&D wing that can cut and finish and leak out and finish. Where he has issues is finishing off the dribble, but he’s scores plenty at good efficiency and showed he could do more when Brunson was out.

Hart is best in transition, finishing off the dribble and getting OREBs. He has some issues with confidence and consistency from beyond the 3 point line.

Mikal can do a little of everything, but he’s elite in mid range off the dribble.

They are nothing alike except they are all very good wings that are not All-Stars. Our two all-stars are a PG and C.

They are nothing alike except they are all very good wings that are not All-Stars. Our two all-stars are a PG and C.

It’s the fit with all stars that’s the problem.

“Oh true, other teams try the same thing, OKC’s advantage is that they just have SO MANY fucking good players on the team.”

So many and so good that they don’t really have to do a consolidation trade except for cap purposes when that becomes necessary.

how about putting in Delon to send Hali into the first row on a layup attempt?

Yeah it’s funny. If this were baseball, Hali’s showboating would get one of his guys beaned or worse. I guess basketball players get too tired, but baseball players stand around a lot and have energy to burn.

I can’t think of a team that has ever had more good players than OKC

Yeah it’s funny.

Actually, it is not. Real physicality is not the only one, but is a major way to impose our will and determination on them and slow them down. We frequently complain about how Brunson is defended physically and fouled on every play. We need to do this to them. Nothing dirty, but hard physical play. They should know there’s a price to pay for their drives.

Owen, not sure how you would define good, but above league average in some metric, perhaps adjusted/changed for the last 40 years of evolution, seems fair. No idea of how to do that, but I bet there are a bunch of teams. But like you can’t think of one, perhaps because of the big 3 bias of the last 18 years.

That said Owen, Cleveland mid 80s springs to mind. Great team, on paper best team starting 5, deep, but in the East facing the Celts, Pistons, and early Jordan Bulls in their playoffs each year. Plus a few injuries/off court issues.

One concern I have about the Knicks playing more “physical” with the Pacers is that KAT picks up a lot of offensive fouls when he sets screens.

using the somewhat capricious threshold of players with a positive bpm in at least 750 minutes, 24-25 okc is the first team to ever reach 11. previous record was a 5 way tie at 10 including three different spurs teams. a weird adjacent fact is that prior to this year, the record for players with at least 500 mins and a bpm above 1 was the 15-16 spurs. then 3 teams did it this year, including okc. reminder that bpm is very fiscally responsible and doesn’t inflate by construction.

The ‘15 Warriors had ten guys play 1000+ minutes and they were all good except Marreese Speights. The Thunder don’t have a Marreese Speights, so I’ll give them that.

(Speaking of the Thunder and Marreese Speights, in a pregame interview that year they asked Billy Donovan what the game plan was against the Warriors and he said “we’re gonna let Marreese Speights shoot a lot”.)

The Thunder remind me a lot of the old Spurs, with Shai being a guard version of Duncan: elite at everything without drawing a whole lot of attention.

Both those teams look(ed) pretty normal in any random two minute eye test sample, but the aggregate performance was often just dominating over the course of a game, series, season. Very few real weaknesses.

I’m glad my Spurs comparison had some merit to it!

I don’t think the Knicks are built to play “physical” in that intimidating sense, and if they try it my guess is that it would backfire. Unless they put PJ in.

billy joel announces brain disorder and cancels all concerts

In 22 “clutch” minutes this postseason the Pacers have an offensive rating of 160.5! (Ours is 108.7)

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/clutch-advanced?SeasonType=Playoffs&dir=A&sort=OFF_RATING

And in the regular season they led the NBA with a net rating of 20.9 in 169 clutch minutes (we were 12th with 3.8).

When Knicks were 20000 light years away from contention i Used to complain about the refs.
Now i can justify their knicks related craps in a way to even this series and multiply nba’s interest.
🙂
And i stopped complaining.

Blowout loss likely incoming today after the crushing mental defeat in G1. It’s just as well because we are cooked for the series. Insights so far:

Indy is a better team and deserves the right to challenge OKC.

Hali is the best player in the series.

Nesmith is better than any of wingstop at a fraction of the price.

If we lose G2 it’s a sweep and if we win we’re still a lock to be down 3-1 by Tuesday. It is not at all a great day to be a Knicks fan.

The worst thing about G1 is that it shows that beating the Celtics was much more about them and lady luck than us. Based on Indy erasing a much larger lead in less time, they had every chance of us collapsing in G4 when Tatum went down.

That series probably saved Thibs’ job whatever happens here, which is the real tragedy of it all. Thibs is a try-hard loser — a coach of mediocre talent and insight who has no business on a contendign team. Just one game in and we have already seen the worst collapse in NBA history.

I predict that some stupid asshole will come here and post submoronic drivel one day after getting us all excited by pretending he’d never come back here again.

EDIT: beat me to it!

that was an awfully long post from paglucci who wrote yesterday moring that he was out and would likely nevr post again

Pags I recall when you first appeared your posts were really good and I looked forward to your contributions. Maybe kill the clown and come back as your authentic self.

Maybe kill the clown and come back as your authentic self.

Good advice in general

Sorry guys, G1 killed everything but the clown.

If we win this series I’ll turn over a new leaf.

But we won’t.

I don’t really give a fuck what leaf you turn over. Your posts are garbage. You provide negative value here. Why don’t you go do this dumb shit on Reddit or someplace that’s filled with other dumbasses like yourself? This place is for smart people. You don’t belong here.

that is now three posts past likely never posting again

This place is for smart people.

My bad. I’ll see myself out.

that is now three posts past likely never posting again

Said one banned guy to the other

I don’t think the Knicks are built to play “physical” in that intimidating sense, and if they try it my guess is that it would backfire.

I understand that. We all know it. Still, we can do a lot better than now. A big reason the Pacers could not miss at the start of game 1 were not defensive breakdowns. Our players were there most of the times but they we just like shadows. Make them feel you, pressure them, push them around! And if it comes to taking a hard foul, make it count! Let them know there’s a price to pay.

I don’t care how we get there tonight, if we need to play elegantly or physically draw blood, but we have to win this game!

Okay guys I’ll try to stop myself from continuing to write Pags content anymore.

I think you people are wrong about Pags. Yes, he is a character, a weird prophet of doom whose predictions are often off by a light year and attitude is beyond pessimistic for whatever reason, be that personality, superstition, life circumstances, and so on. However, he never goes ad hominem. You should neither. Ad hominem attacks are logical fallacies, not substitutes for arguments. I read Pag’s posts lightly and with a sense of humor and move on, as I see no toxicity, hypocrisy, or pompousness which others often display. It is that pompousness combined unavoidably with lack of self-awareness and self-criticism which is toxic.

My bad. I’ll see myself out.

Hey, wait for me! 😀

I’m here for the day that Doogie addresses me as Cybre Soez !!! LOLOL

I’m trying to put my mind on other things, but given the result of game 1, this is our most important* game of the season.

*until now, it’d be very good if this won’t be our most important game of the season when all is wrapped up

Hey, wait for me! 😀

…he said in his third language

I’m so confident about this series that even if we go down 0-3 i’ll still expect us to advance.

Pags has already been banned here once for being a troll. He came back and acted normal for about a week until he reverted back to his trolling ways.

His posts are garbage. They are not in good faith and add nothing to the conversation. Every single one is the exact same thing: the most dire possible potential outcome stated in the form of a fake prediction. You could easily duplicate Pags’ output in ChatGPT, it is THAT mindless and repetitive.

I am actually not bothered by the negativity of it. What’s offensive to me about it is the blatant disregard for the rest of the community and the fact that it all seems designed intentionally to be as annoying as humanly possible. It’s not just brainless, it’s aggressively brainless.

There aren’t many places you can go on the internet anymore without being confronted with aggressive stupidity. This place, at times, seems like one of the last holdouts where you don’t have to deal with mouth breathers. Even the people I disagree with most here often have interesting things to say and add something to the conversation.

But not Pags. He’s a ChatGPT prompt. What he offers here is slop. It’s not entertaining, it’s not good quirky fun, and it stinks up literally every thread. He’s on the Mount Rushmore of garbage ass Knickerblogger posters.

we win game 6 on their home court and steal their hearts

that is now three posts past likely never posting again

Doogie, I appreciate how you now space out your autistic posts amongst a mix or random news and rah-rah fan posts. See? People can change and grow…

Look, it’s PaGemini!

The New York Knicks’ chances against the Indiana Pacers are looking incredibly grim. After squandering a massive lead in Game 1 and losing in overtime, their already thin roster, which has been battling injuries all season, looks exhausted and overmatched by the Pacers’ relentless pace and balanced attack. Jalen Brunson can only do so much, and if the supporting cast can’t hit shots and limit turnovers, this series is going to be a short, painful exit for the Knicks.

Today is ‘Around the Horns’ final day on ESPN if anybody has ever watched that show.

I think you people are wrong about Pags. Yes, he is a character, a weird prophet of doom whose predictions are often off by a light year and attitude is beyond pessimistic for whatever reason, be that personality, superstition, life circumstances, and so on. However, he never goes ad hominem. You should neither. Ad hominem attacks are logical fallacies, not substitutes for arguments. I read Pag’s posts lightly and with a sense of humor and move on, as I see no toxicity, hypocrisy, or pompousness which others often display. It is that pompousness combined unavoidably with lack of self-awareness and self-criticism which is toxic.

Thank you Rough. On a blog full of smart and insightful people, you and ess-dog are among the only ones who get me.

JK47, I like you and I agree with you most of the time on substantive takes. Why can’t we just live and let live? We’re all Knicks fans here. If it’s not the negativity that bugs you, why do you feel it’s so inconsiderate for me to be negative?

I think the worst possible thing is going to happen and that good things only happen to set up greater disappointments down the line. G1 was a powerful reinforcement of that worldview. I can think of very, very few sports experiences as horrible as the totality of that. Even things like Kawhi’s game-winner against Philly were isolated events. Other collapses have happened but they’ve been slower, and haven’t been punctuated by the gut-punchiest of game-winners. Being a Knick fan is pure pain. Always has been. Still, I can’t not be one. I know we all feel at least some of that. This is a place to commiserate, not denigrate. We all process our feelings about it in different ways.

I mean you no harm, friends. I appreciate just about everyone here. Even Doogie 2.0, even and perhaps especially those who hate me the most. It’s all in good fun!

I’m not mad at Pags. I feel like I used to be in that place where I had to predict what would happen, in order to demonstrate the depth of my basketball knowledge. It did not serve me well.

We will see what happens tonight.

The thing that strikes me about Haliburton’s choke move is not how annoyingly bush league it is, but how self-centered he is. He is a professional and is intentionally engaging in activity that can’t possibly help his team and can actually hurt it. So, it’s not just a dick move, but a move that can motivate the Knicks who are a pretty proud bunch. Let’s see.

4 now i wish it had motivated us to win in ot tho it probably should have

The way you act here is simply rude, Pags. If a bunch of people were friends who hung out at a bar shooting the shit and talking about the Knicks, and this is how you acted, people would stop inviting you. It’s rude, shitty behavior. The anonymity of this place doesn’t change that. I wouldn’t want to hang out with somebody like this in real life, and I don’t appreciate it here either.

Sorry but the hand-wringing over Haliburton making a choking sign is super fucking soft.

I think the worst possible thing is going to happen and that good things only happen to set up greater disappointments down the line.

I’ll take you at your word (even though it’s obviously bullshit and you go back and forth between saying this and saying you’re reverse jinxing the team). Then what’s the point of ever posting? If the worst thing is going to happen every time then there’s no discussion to have.

Thank you Tastycakes!

JK has turned into an angry dad like the rest of us and I am here for it…

the guy who tells eeyore that his rhetorical cutting is unwanted is almost surely doing him more of a solid than people who chuckle and nod at the show

I’m not mad at Pags. I feel like I used to be in that place where I had to predict what would happen, in order to demonstrate the depth of my basketball knowledge. It did not serve me well.

Thank you, ephus. For the record, I do not claim deep knowledge of basketball. There are several posters here who know more about it than I do. I enjoy reading their takes and they sometimes help me to doubt my own doomerism, though sometimes they also reinforce it.

I’ve seen a lot of people assume I’m this way about things other than the Knicks, or in other contexts. I’m not. I appreciated your openness about your struggles with the big C, and how it had changed your perspective. It reminded me of my dad, who was diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma last year. After hopes of his medication working petered out, he went into chemo, and the stats on it were a lot shittier than our starters’ net rating.

Through it all he stayed relentlessly positive, and surprising myself, so did I. It wasn’t out of bravery, or strength of character. It’s because I wasn’t strong enough to face the possibility of losing him, and of my own little son growing up without remembering him. He’s cancer-free now and beat the odds. I know as well as anyone that sometimes the RNG in real life is kind.

I just can’t be that way about the Knicks, especially not after G1. I’m not a superstitious person, but it feels like they don’t follow the rules of the universe. That G1 was like nothing else I’ve seen in sports, or even over literally 10 million+ hands of poker I’ve played professionally. It was like running KK into AA 5 times in a row in a WSOP tournament. It was like an old NBA Live video game on the “Fuck you, player” difficulty setting. In my most pessimistic flights of fancy I couldn’t have predicted a collapse like that. I feel like I should have to watch basketball for a thousand years even to see something like that. If it was written in a story it would seem like satire.

The Knicks exist in parallel to my understanding of reality. They’re a simulation or something. The only way I can comprehend them is through the lens of complete insanity. Hence, I come here as the clown, because I live in Canada, and no one here knows what the Knicks even are.

It’s just really not all that hard to read a fucking room and stop annoying the shit out of people. I can only assume that is the intent, to annoy people.

Mission accomplished, I guess.

I like THAT post, Pags, so there’s that.

But while I’m not truly peeved like JK, and which like Owen I find is a fine pre-game show to watch, I do find your posts depressing. Whatever the rationale for your posting them, and you and others have offered a range of hypotheses, the fact is they land like lead balloons. They help normalize a sense of depression is some (many) of us.

It’s like what’s happening elsewhere, which I won’t go into but it’s the howling of insanely absurd shit over and over until it’s normal to think people can think and say that sort of thing. And the world gets a little bit worse each time something like that gets normalized.

That’s you, Pags. Making things a little bit worse each post. Maybe don’t be that guy.

five

ThisChicanery, you miss my point. I’m not saying the choke move is some terrible thing, which would be soft. I’m saying it is counterproductive, selfish and lame.

Rachel Dratch played Pags in a skit that wasn’t all that funny the first time, it doesn’t really need a cover version, but it’s innocuous enough except when it gets in the way of my telling you all that the knicks are going to lose to the Pacers in heartbreaking fashion.

Donnie you’re a little late to the party on that one. The Knicks have ALREADY lost to the Pacers in heartbreaking fashion.

Here’s hoping it is just that once…

I’m doing handstands to flip my perspective this week.

It occurred to me that Game 1 was karma for the poorly behaved Knicks fans who harassed Brian Windhorst and the fireman with the pacers jersey. We got a little crazy. Some of us crossed the line. The universe simply demanded we be humbled. Now that we have been duly punished, we can get back to kicking ass.

>be 2008 Supersonics fan Pags
>the team just left Seattle for bumfuck Oklahoma City
>life is pointless
>kills self

>be 2012 Thunder fan Pags
>Greedy penny pinching owner just traded Harden
>life is pointless
>kills self

>be 2016 Thunder fan Pags
>Durant just left for the goddamn Warriors
>life is pointless
>kills self

>be 2019 Thunder fan Pags
>Management trades Paul George for some nobody rookie with a hyphenated last name *and* trades Westbrook
>life is pointless
>kills self

Donnie you’re a little late to the party on that one. The Knicks have ALREADY lost to the Pacers in heartbreaking fashion.

You can’t be late to a party that never ends.

Strong disagree. I will not abide any Debbie Downer-slander. It was one of the few times that SNL just allowed Rachel Dratch (a friendly acquaintance IRL) to cook.

Pags, I am glad that your father has survived his fight with cancer.

My fight with cancer has changed my perspective. In the words of Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven: “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.” I did not deserve to get cancer. I also did not deserve to survive, when so many others (including children of close friends) have died.

So, I do not see a greater force turning the difficulty-level to “Fuck you, Knicks.” I could be wrong. Maybe there is an omnipotence that wants the Knicks to lose in horrible ways. Maybe that higher power does specifically choose to afflict people with cancer and other diseases. When I entertained such thoughts, it did not serve me well.

So, this has gotten deep & dark.

I am going to watch my beloved Knicks tonight, informed by my five decades of watching them come up short but not knowing what the end of this journey will be.

I am going to watch my beloved Knicks tonight, informed by my five decades of watching them come up short but not knowing what the end of this journey will be.

Watching the Knicks compete in the ECF is a gift we’ve wanted for a long time. Let’s not shit on it or each other before it’s fully unwrapped.

LFG! Now is the time.

The only way this can go tonight is another roller coaster ride filled with dread and anxiety. There will be no blowout. There is a zero percent chance the Knicks are mentally defeated or hungover. They might be shitting their pants when the pacers make another run at them late in the game, but the failure of Wednesday will provide us with the steel to survive and head to Indiana 1-1.

F that frontrunner haliburton, that is all!

So… how about them Knicks?

Ephus, thank you for your thoughtful post.

I am glad that you’re alive and kicking too, and seem to be moving through life with a wiser perspective. Health and happiness, family and friends and loves… these are big important things.

The Knicks aren’t. Sports are a diversion and a triviality, and a way for us to play-act and let out feelings that have not outlets in our world. At the end of the day, none of this matters. It’s all just a game.

So you know what? Fuck it:

**Official Pagliacci Predictions**
-Haliburton under 5 points
-Brunson 50+ points
-Knicks over 50% from 3
-Nesmith 0 3pa
-Knicks win by 25+

Brunson takes control of a close game in clutch time down the stretch, Knicks win.

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