No joke that was a devastating result in the 2nd game. The Thunder will likely be there in the Finals and we needed a chance to get information before the start of trade season a lot more than we need the NBA cup.

Brunson downplayed the notion of not receiving enough credit (re MVP), but was appreciative of Brown’s sentiments.

“No, I don’t read into that stuff,” Brunson said. “[It] just shows the trust and the faith that he has in me, and I’m very thankful of our relationship over these past couple months. It’s only going to continue to get better. Our communication has been great.

“It’s a growing experience, a learning experience but I’m really thankful for our relationship.”

Couldn’t watch last night. Great result.

Really enjoyed Jalen and Josh in the presser discussing how unathletic Jalen is.

Vibes are excellent.

Also, saw this tweet about SVG doing commentary yesterday and it made me chortle

https://x.com/tysonbrody/status/2000064638831194368?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw

The Wemby numbers from last night are like nothing I have ever seen

And apparently he hates Chet? Had no idea

My sister just walked me through a play where OG gummed up the offense by going station to station, getting to the door he was supposed to die the past without paying attention to the defenders, where if he just shifted to another position he would have opened a lane for Mikal to the hoop. She thinks he’s just not an intuitive player on offense.

Rama, could you point up this play? I’d love to see it.

After the two cup games, Knicks are now #3 in Ortg (0.1 behind Houston), #9 in Drtg, #3 in SRS. It’s pretty good, folks.

Their offense was not very efficient earlier in the year, but now they have the #6 eFG% in the league (#2 in the East).

OG may not be intuitive on offense (his forays into the paint give me horror movie dread vibes) but he is a 5-man defense in and onto himself.

Wemby is starting to turn me off with his big mouth.

Wemby and the Wings will be a good challenge. I would have preferred OKC but who knows? Maybe the Spurs are their kryptonite.

During last year’s Christmas game, Wemby had his way with us, and Sochan was the only other Spur who had a notable game on offense. Meanwhile, the Spurs had no answer for Mikal, and KAT shot well, and that was enough in a game where OG and Brunson were both shooting poorly. Without Deuce, Fox is likely to be a problem for us. The hope is that even if Wemby’s supporting cast plays better, our new offense will nonetheless overwhelm them.

And Hubert, while I would have liked to test ourselves against OKC, just to get a sense of how close we really are, what moves might need to be made before the deadline, etc., the Spurs aren’t exactly slouches. Win or lose, we’ll learn a good amount from the final. (Which is all I care about. The Cup itself? Whatever.)

I mean, mission accomplished as far as I’m concerned re: the Cup. I would honestly love for Brown to channel his inner Pop and play the starters a nominal amount of minutes, while telling the scrubs “Hey, you want the money, go get it, we got bigger fish to fry.” It would be an atrocity if one of our guys gets hurt in this stupid exhibition, or that the starters have to play big minutes again to grind out a win prior to the toughest stretch of basketball scheduling this season. 200 G’s is plenty.

“The Spurs are practically feudal – let’s all have champagnie until the kornet blows and we can hunt fox with vassals around the castle”

lol rama

anyone know how “road” and “home” teams were determined for last nights games? seems random

okc projected win total down to only 76 after being at 79

“anyone know how “road” and “home” teams were determined for last nights games? seems random”

For the earlier games was about seeding based in IST group play record, with the same tiebreakers as for the wild card. I’m not sure how home team for the finals is determined, or if there is technically a home team. Seems like a coin flip situation.

thanks z and good morning to you and all happy hanukkah and chag sameach to those who celebrate

Thanks doogie, given what just happened in Australia, it will be hard to have a Happy Hanukkah. Brown University, too. And pretty much everywhere. What a world.

Sochan was the only other Spur who had a notable game on offense.

That’s sort of embarrassing, but he’s no longer in the rotation so it shouldn’t happen again.

Kolek played 3 more minutes than Clarkson last night. Worth keeping an eye on.

a little disappointed that huk never got off the bench in that high-leverage game we could have afforded 6 or 8 minutes of him on the floor i think difficult to argue with the result tho just noticed that suggs shot 8-for-8 on 2s

agree z very sobering news to wake up to have to do our best to keep moving forward

Thanks doogie, given what just happened in Australia, it will be hard to have a Happy Hanukkah. Brown University, too. And pretty much everywhere. What a world.

Unspeakable tragedy, but the incredible courage of the unarmed fellow who took down one of the shooters reminds us that most folks are good.

Kolek plus most/all of the non-Brunson starters seems to make sense as a way to both rest Jalen and take advantage of Kolek’s playmaking. When you play him alongside dudes who can score efficiently and/or move well without the ball, he’s a lot more helpful than when he’s trying to set up Yabu or Clarkson.

home or away probably doesnt matter for the championship game since it does not appear in the standings and the player and team stats dont count towards anything

i think its very odd that the nba is playing a normal schedule today and tomorrow in between the semifinals and the finals of this cup thing they need to do better on that somehow it makes the tuesday night game seem almost superfluous and anticlimactic and even more meaningless

And Hubert, while I would have liked to test ourselves against OKC, just to get a sense of how close we really are, what moves might need to be made before the deadline, etc., the Spurs aren’t exactly slouches. Win or lose, we’ll learn a good amount from the final.

I don’t think we’ll learn anything meaningful playing the Spurs.

We know we’re good enough to win the East, and we know it’s extremely likely we’ll face the Thunder if we do.

There’s only one thing we need to know and we needed to know it now while Leon is in the market for upgrades:

Do we have enough ball handling outside of Brunson to cope with the Thunder’s defensive pressure? Can anyone else even bring the ball up against these guys when they turn up the heat?

Having a chance to see Kolek & Clarkson play against them would have been huge. Maybe we don’t need to trade for someone like Donte or Alvarado. Maybe we desperately do.

Now we have to guess.

I know it might suck for the Pacers and the fans who have tickets, but it would be great if the NBA postponed the Knicks-Indiana game on Thursday as a perk for going all-out in an exhibition. Same with the Spurs having to fly to Washington. While unintentional, it seems absurdly punitive for the “winners” of this stupid money-grab to have to fly from Vegas to a to play a game, and then immediately fly to another city for a B2B. Maybe they should let Washington fly to Indiana and let those two powerhouses battle it out.

FWIW I also believe that the cup hangover effect is probably real and didn’t want to actually win the final. I just wanted to get there and measure ourselves against the Thunder.

This competition is supposed to be modeled after association football but they don’t cram it all in like this and put the teams who win at such a disadvantage. It should take place over four months not four weeks.

“Maybe they should let Washington fly to Indiana and let those two powerhouses battle it out.”

Of course it just so happens that Washington is in Indiana today.

magic used 10 players yesterday, same as the thunder, spurs went with 9…

it looks like we’re down to 8 usable without deuce or landry…

“i think its very odd that the nba is playing a normal schedule today and tomorrow in between the semifinals and the finals of this cup thing they need to do better on that…”

If I thought that you even bothered to read the rules I would respond…

Yabu expressed some frustration with his role. The dude is really clueless.

The fact that Yabu has a role causes me to express frustration. Just play Huk as the alternative to Mitch at the five.

Odd paeon to Brunson by Edwards today (Pound for Pound…). Recommended as there’s a nice clip of many of his highlights yesterday.

What I really liked from yesterday is the number of highlights by everyone. Multiple brilliant passes on breaks. Great defensive stands. Would have been tragic to lose with the number of great individual efforts.

Here’s the article from RealGM:

“I don’t want to lie to you, it’s very difficult,” Yabusele said. “I’m a competitor first. It’s not a situation I thought (I would be in) coming here.”

Yabusele had what he described as a “complicated” communication with the Knicks coaching staff, led by head coach Mike Brown. Previously, Brown had said he’d be “patient” with Yabusele, as the big man adjusted to his new team.

I think we should be more open minded when we hear guys complain like this. We’ve gone down this road with Obi Toppin, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, and Mikal Bridges; and all four of them turned out to be right.

Putting round pegs into square holes is a big part of what we do around here.

If you isolate the quotes and ignore Real GM’s incendiary commentary, Yabu didn’t say anything to justify being called clueless. He was asked a question, presumably a leading one, and he answered:

“I don’t want to lie to you, it’s very difficult. I’m a competitor first. It’s not a situation I thought coming here. I try to be ready whenever my name is called. I try to control my impact on the court, no matter how much time I get.“

Mind you this was all in French so we don’t know how faithful that translation is. Some of the phrasing may sound worse in English.

I’m not out on Yabu. He’s been improving and should get back to last year’s form fairly soon. I think Brown is leaning heavily on his starters for these cup games, but Yabu should get at least 15 min a night during the season. If he makes the most of that, he’ll see more.

I would have more sympathy for Yabu if he showed up in peak physical condition. I had watched quite a bit of film from last season in Philly, but when I saw him in person on opening night, I couldn’t believe it was the same guy. When it came out that he was actually 18 lbs. heavier than his listed weight, I couldn’t believe it. The hope was that he would be 18 lbs. lighter!

Now if he was one of those guys who theoretically moves just as well with all that weight on him, whatever. But that hasn’t been the case (is it ever, really?) He looked at least a step slow right from the start of the season on defense, and was missing wide open shots on offense. He seemed unable to get off the ground.

I get that “it’s been difficult” and all that, but it’s on him to get on a diet and get into the gym until he gets down to a “professional” level of body fat. He’s gotten minutes in 24 out of 25 games, which is more than he has deserved, and my guess is that Mike Brown would love for the “theoretical” floor-spacing bench big to actually show up. It was Yabu’s job to lose, and he seems to have lost it, fair and square.

The thing is, there is still no one in front of him for that role…the Knicks are filling it by either playing Hart and others more minutes, or going small, or throwing Huk and Diawara out there. If he busts his ass and starts playing better on both ends, he will get more minutes. If not, tough shit.

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