From Zach Braziller:
Maybe Tom Thibodeau was helping his old team after all.
His recent visit with the Celtics, when he broke down how the Knicks beat them last spring, didn’t do much good.
In fact, in the first meeting between the two teams since the Knicks sent Boston home last May, not much changed.
The Celtics still don’t have Jayson Tatum, and without the injured superstar, they didn’t stand much of a chance in that Game 6 Eastern Conference semifinal clincher, or on Friday night.
That was a sight for sore eyes. I love it when they kick the Celtics’ ass.
That said, I think the 0-2 Celtics are probably JUST good enough to still sneak into the playoffs, even if Tatum doesn’t return this season. They showed me SOMEthing tonight (and on opening night against Philly). If any team could get something out of Luke Garza, it’ll be them (I only mention Garza because he’s the only even vaguely notable player who didn’t play tonight that might play soon, and they turned Luke Kornet into a useful player).
The Knicks, though, showed me MUCH more, and it was awesome to see. A ten-man rotation. Wow.
59 replies on “NY Post: Knicks flip switch after slow start to roll past Celtics in second straight win to start season”
We played 1:47 with no center last night.
End of 4Q – 40 secs (1 def possession & dribbling clock out):
Brunson/Deuce/Shamet/Hart/Mikal
Mid 4Q – 1 min:
Brunson/Deuce/Clarkson/Hart/OG
End 3Q – 6 secs:
Deuce/Shamet/Hart/Bridges/OG
In game 1 we played 1:38 across 2 stints:
End 4Q – +0 – 00:38:
Brunson/Deuce/Shamet/Mikal/OG
Mid 2Q – +0 – 00:59:
Brunson/Deuce/Shamet/Mikal/OG
This is not Tim Thibodeau. Playing small at the end of quarters when up to cover 3s makes some sort of sense. The mid-quarter stints are more surprising.
All stints were +0, except the mid 2nd of the 1st game where we were +1.
To Cyber’s point yesterday, in fact Brunson was shooting quite badly for the first three quarters. Wish I’d written it down, but he was like 35% from the field and 30% from three. Maybe worse.
Then he ended up 50/43/(89). Talk about clutching out.
You know what I kind of miss, in a Pavlovian way? Thibs’ “You suck” immediate timeouts. Brown just lets them play through goofs and bad stretches. I’m still trying to decide if I like that or not. Hard to argue with the results so far, though.
Still DefCon 4 on Yabu. He threw himself around this game, as compared to his passive first game, but it was still largely ineffectual except for some monster-ass picks (figuratively and literally).
I was kinda hoping we’d be up 20+ with a few minutes left to see when Brown would pull the starters
Would be refreshing to not yell at the TV screen “why the fuck is _____ still in the game???”
I’m wondering how much influence Brown’s assistant coaches have on both his game plan preparation and his in-game decision-making.
In his postgame presser, Brown singles out Clarkson as “our defensive player of the game” and said that Kolek had 4-5 deflections in the game.
I thought Kolek played really well until a couple of late-game gaffes when the Celtics kept double-teaming him into the sidelines. Hopefully he’ll figure out how to avoid that.
Totally missed Clarkson’s defense, but I wasn’t annoyed by him even once this game, which in itself is award-worthy.
As usual, not impressed with Jaylen Brown. Decent player, but doesn’t seem to elevate his teammates at all, and consistently goes in the air and throws the ball out of bounds. Good for at least three ‘passes to nobody’ a game.
Of course OG is throwing about three hideous passes a game lately, too, but at least they’re toward teammates, just ones who are tightly guarded by the other team, resulting in steals.
So far free throws have really been our strength. We’re #3 in offensive FT/FGA and #1 in defensive FT/FGA. We’re also #1 in DRB%. We have not shot the ball well at all (28th in eFG%) but we still won the two games fairly easily.
Tiny samples of course, but still kind of interesting.
“and said that Kolek had 4-5 deflections in the game.”
I remember at least 2–he looks and probably is a bit slow but always has his arms fully extended sideways or upright (note to KAT). Unlike Bridges who you think are extended but have another foot in reserve or OG who just knows when to extend them.
Two pretty predictable Mike Brown vs. Tom Thibodeau stuff:
-3rd in 3PAr (49.4%) vs. 28th (38.2%)
-19th in TOV% (14.6) vs 7th (11.9)
Interestingly, our pace is almost identical so far. Wonder if that will change…although pace can be a wonky stat, and more about defense than offense.
Kolek seems to have the ability to read the game at a high level, which means he can do stuff like anticipate when to jump passing lanes on defense…which is a quality that all of the good defensive “small” PGs have…think Stockton, CP3, Lowry. Brown has challenged him to get his nose in there. So far, so good!
Clarkson really mixed it up on defense in the 2nd Q, probably helped that he was going against a soft-ish team. But it was definitely noticeable to me.
Are the Celtics tanking? Put Brown and White on the bench and they’re a top 3 lottery team.
I already knew Kolek could run an offense, but he looks better to me on defense than I feared. If he can add a reasonably consistent 3 I think we have our backup PG issues solved. He doesn’t have to become a deadly 3 point shooter. We are talking about a backup. It just has to be consistent enough to not be left wide open.
IMO OG’s major limitation remains his handle. Sometimes he drives into somewhat uncomfortable positions that he can’t get himself out of and that leads to either a poor quality shot or pass. It’s not something I’m worried about because he does so many other things well, but I’m not sure why it hasn’t become a major priority for him in the off season. He says he wants to be more of a scorer. That would be one way to do it.
Strat, I’d argue it’s his hands, which plays into his handle. I love OG, especially on defense where he’s a demon, but he has at least one fumbled pass inside every game, where if he could catch the damn ball he’d have an easy dunk or layup. He’s the Nerlens ‘butter stumps’ of this team.
I hate being critical of him, because I love him to death. But well…
I don’t know if crazy Joe is built for tanking but they probably should be.
Brown wants more passing overall, so I think OG is trying to play the system. They may want to reconsider the drive and kick playbook when it comes to him….
One of his TOs was due to a bad pass by KAT that forced Kolek to run into the corner between the sideline & halfcourt line where he got trapped. He definitely hit some bumps last night though.
The brown system is simply going to lead to more turnovers than Thibs’ system, which was so primitive in part because Thibs hates turnovers. The hope is that as the players get used to the new system, the turnovers won’t look as egregious, but they’re still going to happen a lot more than we’re used to from the last several years.
One really refreshing thing about Mike Brown is that he seems to be focused on what our depth guys CAN do instead of what they CAN’T. He doesn’t seem to think guys like Huk, Kolek, and even Jemsion are unplayable.
Even having Huk and Kolek available as rotation pieces gives us an enviable amount of depth, in the regular season at least:
Bigs: Mitch, Towns, Hukporti, Yabusele
Wings: OG, Bridges, Hart, Shamet
Guards: Brunson, McBride, Clarkson, Kolek
That is twelve players that I feel pretty good about putting on the floor. We really just need the guys at the back end of the bench to not be terrible and to hold their own, and so far so good.
recorded the game, watched it later, fast forwarded a few times in the fourth quarter when things got sloppy…
was weird watching the game on prime, dirk didn’t really exude much energy out there…oh well…svg was a little wilder than normal…
expecting a tight game on sunday…wondering whom the bench shall be…MB throwing out scissors and paper a bunch…nice…
was encouraged to see MB use yabu at center for a bit, even though he’s been struggling…against the celtics (other teams without competent bigs), yabu’s probably okay for that…
hope not to see too many 40 minute games from our core four this season…
wondering when the first 50 point game comes from either jalen (most likely) or KAT…
Hot take: the first 50 pt game will be from… Mikal!
*but i won’t put money on this. LOL
Cyber, weird fact — we’re all super happy with the ‘new’ Mikal, yet so far this year he’s averaging 14 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.
Last year he averaged 17.6, 3.2, and 3.7.
I will note that his steals are up from 0.9 to 2.5, and his blocks are up from 0.5 to 1.5.
Super tiny sample size, but the trend seems to be more defensive activity. Plus a bit more rebounding and passing. All good, even if his scoring isn’t quite what it was.
Also, I suspect the only way he scores 50 is if Jalen and KAT run into each other and break their respective kneecaps.
Wo checking any stats and while falling asleep at a few minutes in each of the first two games i got the impression that the team is faster, more energised and looks satisfied by Brown’s coaching.
Brown seems to me that he’s very sensitive on keeping team’s energy at a high level at all costs and probably that’s his priority and the reason for all these non stop substitutions.
One of the things I noted frequently last year was that Mikal was getting stuck being the POA defender on smaller faster guards so we could hide Brunson.
First, that’s out of position.
Second, it may have been impacting his stamina and results on offense.
Third, it wasn’t taking advantage of his actual strengths on defense like in the Boston series.
I can’t remember where I read it, but a few weeks ago I read that Brown said something about trying relieve him of that duty more often.
Yesterday Deuce started (one of the reasons I like him starting).
I haven’t been paying close enough attention to notice how much time Bridges has been running around guarding out of position, but maybe part of what we are seeing from Mikal so far this year is him playing IN position for more minutes.
Other than that, I agree with the consensus that he also looks better physically and is more energetic and comfortable this year.
I never lost faith in Bridges. Other than the rough start from 3 last year due to his form change, I thought he was very good last year too. We were way better with him on the court.
He also seems to coach using positive energy. The few times I’ve been able to hear what’s going on in the huddle on the bench he was complimenting players and trying to motivate them more that way than via fear of being benched if they made a mistake.
Yeap!
Brown is encouraging while Thibs was more of an anger junkie.
I liked Thibs military discipline style but Brown so far seems closer to a healthier kind of team demeanor.
And when the inevitable injury hits one or more of our starters, these guys will be ready to play. Last year it took until the playoffs for Thibs to realize, hey, maybe I should give a few of these bench dudes some burn.
Actually, doogie, for as objective and bandwagoneering a sports fan as I’ve become, the sight of Pantone 348C still makes me existentially nauseous.
As for the other count, I have had plans for weeks to see the Springsteen movie tonight with my friend and she would kill me if I cancel, so I will be missing game 2 tonight and, well… …hopefully the movie is really really good.
2022-23 – 20.1 pts, 4.4 rb, 3.3 ast (40+ pts: 3 games)
2023-24 – 19.6 pts, 4.5 rb, 3.6 ast (40+ pts: 3 games)
2024-25 – 17.6 pts, 3.2 rb, 3.7 ast (40+ pts: 1 game)
It’s not likely, but he has some scoring outbursts, and that is why i called a “hot take”. Just a feeling, because at times Mikal’s fadeaway looks like it is unstoppable.
But yeah, of course it’ll be one of Brunson and KAT, and most likely Brunson between the two.
TS% .627 vs .585, Ast% 20.3 vs 14.4, ws/48 .255 vs .090, BPM 5.0 vs -0.5
Yeah Bridges has been fantastic by the eye test and statistically. It’s night and day. Not sure if we are watching same guy. It’s 69 minutes, so whatever, but arrow up at least so far
Mikal’s defense is night and day from last season (minus playoffs when he was good). He’s been almost as good as OG defensively.
That was his calling card with PHX.
Bridges also is playing 35 minutes a game instead of 44.
Grimes…
Hart had 14 rebounds in 19 minutes, yet somehow his BPM is -8.5
Middle of the 3rd quarter against the suns Jokic has taken 3 shots and has 11 rebounds and 11 assists he’s so funny when he has no respect for the team they’re playing
What is a Cedric Coward? Nice start…
cedric coward was the 11th overall pick in the draft out of washington state so if he plays pretty well its something short of a revelation
i think the only thing bothering me this season is the continued lack of transparency about mitchs and now ogs timetables
I was going to post the same question about Cedric. Holy shit what a start…
We always talk about sample size and what is meaningful. I remain pro l-Berri in at least one way. He argued that very small samples are very meaningful in basketball, even in summer league, and definitely in the NBA.
Coward is going to be another interesting test case. Obviously he is not going to be the best player in the league like his numbers currently suggest but I would definitely take the over on him being above average after 68 minutes.
Although 8-11 from three is hard for o project out too aggressively….
wow (for tonight):
Expected Lineup
PG Jalen Brunson
SG M. McBride (Ques)
SF Mikal Bridges
PF OG Anunoby
C K. Towns (Ques)
MAY NOT PLAY
F J. Hart (Prob)
G M. McBride (Ques)
C K. Towns (Ques)
C M. Robinson (Out)
-Towns will likely play, since there is no talk of any kind of aggravation.
-Hart is probable, meaning that barring a setback he’s going to play
-Mitch is surely out, but has been since day 1 so whatever.
So the only actual “meaningful” question mark is Deuce, and that seems to be about a personal matter.
Beyond that, this is a perfect game to continue experimenting with lineups. I’d love to see one of the young wings get some run. If Deuce is out, I would also like to see Clarkson and Kolek get longer looks.
What makes it exciting is that it seems logical that Brown will want/need to limit minutes for KAT and Hart, so we’ll likely see some roles expanded.
As to Miami, this is their home opener. They have played pretty well, losing a competitive game in Orlando and absolutely destroying the Grizzlies in Memphis. So not a team to be taken lightly. We should definitely win on paper, but to be honest, we haven’t played all that well yet, particularly on offense. Despite Brown’s mantra about moving the ball, we are 24th in assists per game. Our eFG% is a terrible .497 (while the Heat are at .593!) And while we have the edge, Miami has been rebounding the ball pretty well so far.
Expecting a very competitive game.
Miami has been a very good offense so far (though on the back of likely unsustainable shooting, they are 4th in the league in 3P%), so it will be interesting to see how the defense holds.
very glad to see that og and deuce are fine would still love sort of a timetable on mitch i mean is he going to be out until the springtime again give us something about it please i need to resign myself to the fact that its not likely to happen
Is Porzingis hurt already?
yahoo:
Porzingis isn’t playing on Saturday night not due to injury, but illness.
The Latvian big guy already sat out Friday’s game against the with flu-like symptoms.
He apparently hasn’t healed up yet.
When Porzingis sits, Onyeka Okongwu starts, and he’s a talented player who can hold up just fine in Porzingis’ absence. The impact is really felt further down the depth chart, in the minutes that would usually be the Okongwu backup minutes.
trey jemison is leading the league in offensive rating lets give him a little more time and see what he can do
Kind of funny that Orlando brought in Desmond Bane and yet still ranks dead last in 3P% after 3 games.
As someone who was very skeptical of his ability to play meaningful minutes for us, I’m very much liking what I’m seeing from Kolek.
I don’t think it’s accurate to compare him with TJ McConnell in terms of playing style, as there are substantive differences…TJ seems a bit smaller, a bit quicker, more herky-jerky, has more of a broken jumper (his career 3PAr is .107, and even lower in his last two seasons)…whereas Tyler seems like a better shooter and passer, but has a ways to go to catch up on D (TJ is very good for his size!)
It seems like the thing that McConnell has done to cement his role as a quality backup is developing a small set of go-to moves in the paint. He takes 60% of his shots inside of 10 ft and makes enough of them to give opposing defenses fits, because even though his eFG% is nothing to write home about, he’s also generating points on assists and in transition off of rebounds and steals (averages 5 rebounds and 2 steals per 36.) Combine that with a 3+/1 AST/TOV ratio and you have a very effective backup and cromulent emergency starter.
The main thing is that Kolek has to play borderline dirty on defense, like McConnell does (and again, all diminutive PGs who are plus players on D.) It’s taxing to play that way, and the jury is out on whether Kolek can physically hold up in a rotation role where he’s sacrificing his body night after night. But he’s doing all the right things so far on both ends…predictably making mistakes but definitely holding his own enough to keep rolling him out there.
Playing against Davion Mitchell should be a good test for him.
I watched, but not super closely because I was at a bar (really great new sports joint on the UWS called Throwback, would be a top tier option for a KB watch party).
My only strong takeaways were:
1) Clarkson looks physically able to positively contribute, which is a different thing than saying he definitely will do that
2) There is at least a chance it was our first “would’ve lost last year” win of the season—amazing what letting good shooters shoot a lot will do
3) I wrote off Deuce too early and was wrong, and hope to say the same about Kolek soon
im pretty sure that last year we would have lost both of the games weve played this season our record against cleveland and boston in the regular season backs that up pretty well i really hope were not in for a letdown game tonight
I never lost faith in Deuce because a) he’s strong, long, and athletic for his size so I always thought he could at least be an effective defensive guard and b) he shot well at every level, and especially in the G-League, so it always seemed to me that his shot would come around.
Kolek was different for me. Besides being older, he did not shoot particularly well in G-league, and it seemed to me that he could not get his “extension” shots in the paint over NBA length, i.e. the same shots that worked for Brunson were getting blocked, even by relatively small defenders. However, I did hedge by saying that he deserved every chance to stick because he has elite PG skills, and that the path to being a rotation player was for him to emulate John Stockton’s game, meaning he had to play extremely physical and borderline dirty.
It seems like the shot is coming around, and that he’s benefitting by having better players around him, giving him more space to operate.
I don’t think he’s out of the woods yet. Nobody is game-planning for him at this point, but if he sticks in the rotation, that will change. Teams will make adjustments and then it will become a matter of whether he can adjust back. But he seems to have cleared the first hurdle.
“2) There is at least a chance it was our first “would’ve lost last year” win of the season—amazing what letting good shooters shoot a lot will do”
I disagree. Boston is a pretty shitty team right now, at best a play-in team. Their starters are so-so (Queta, Hauser, and to a lesser degree, Prichard, are not really starter material) and their bench absolutely sucks. I seriously doubt that Thibs would have lost that game if he were still coaching. More importantly, we didn’t win the game because Brown “let good shooters shoot a lot.” KAT took 6 3’s…he took 6 or more 20 times last year and averaged nearly 5. Brunson took 7 3’s…he averaged 6.1 last year. The rest of the team shot 10-32 from 3.
We won the game because a) we played excellent defense, b) we killed the Celts on the boards, and c) Brunson and KAT did their thing. All three of those things would likely have happened under Thibs.
I would argue that it’s game 1 that was more likely to fall into the category of “games we might have lost last year.” Mikal is clearly playing more freely and effectively, and by playing 11 guys, and some of them who might not have been given a chance last year (Shamet, Kolek, Huk, Jemison) giving us very positive stints, Brunson and KAT had something left in the 4th after struggling all game. But even so, given the injury situation, I would have liked our chances with Thibs coaching…just not necessarily the way he would go about it.
Yeah, I think they’d probably win these two games under Thibs, as well.
The future games will be more interesting.
“im pretty sure that last year we would have lost both of the games weve played this season our record against cleveland and boston in the regular season backs that up pretty well i really hope were not in for a letdown game tonight”
The CLE and BOS teams we played last year were markedly different than the ones we played this week, so I don’t think these wins back up anything. Put differently, I am not the least bit confident that we would have beaten either of last years versions of those teams had we shot the way we did in either of these games.
Our schedule looks pretty soft for the first quarter of the season. If we are relatively healthy and go anything less than, say 14-7 or so, that would be a red flag for me.
Damn, RIP Nick Mangold, one of my fave Jets ever.
Such terrible news.