Knicks Morning News (2026.06.08)

Part of what got Brown through that initial dip was his coaching staff, which featured several voices who were with the team last year under Thibodeau. Brown would lean on them heavily, using them to get the pulse of the players and tweaks that could be made. They would often vote on decisions as a group. Brown would have the final say, but if it was obvious to him that the majority of his staff believed a change or two needed to be made, Brown would listen. In talking to people around the league, one of Brown’s best qualities is that he doesn’t want to be the smartest guy in the room. That’s part of the collaborative process that attracted the Knicks to him. It was no longer a dictatorship.

…

Brown’s collaboration doesn’t stop there, though. If you watch New York closely, you’ve probably seen that there are several instances throughout a game where one of Brown’s assistant coaches is drawing up a play in the huddle. Thibodeau rarely consulted with his assistants during timeouts. Brown came in with the idea to give everyone a voice. It was up to him to listen or not, and he more often than not tended to receive and apply the input of others.

…

“He’s not too high, not too low,” Hart said of Brown. “He allows himself to be coachable in the sense of listening to other coaches and players. He has our input instilled into what we do. He’s been the same all year long. That’s what you want as a coach; you don’t want him to get too high or too low. He has a real comfort in his role.”

Spilling that tea…

So is Brunson sick? his voice is always a bit nasal but much more so the last few days. I would love that to be the reason he sucked last game and came out before his usual time in 3Q of game 2.

his voice in this clip is definitely not normal.

It has been floated out there that Brunson was sick for games 1 and 2. Hopefully just a head cold and he’s over it. Although someone mentioned on another blog that KAT sounded stuffed up after game 2 as well.

Hoping the extra day off healed them up.

I’m also more nervous about this game than any game. Just feels like despite being up 2-0, things could change if we lose today and the Trump stuff feels like a huge distraction and definitely potentially killing the vibes. Hopefully it ends up not being a big deal. I feel sorry for the fans going to the game, though. That stinks.

Are they still doing the central park watch parties? I know the ones outside the garden got cancelled.

The fact is we rallied from behind in game one and then gave up a lead in game 2. Both games were VERY close and San Antonio rightfully could still think they deserve to be up 2-0. We’re very good at the garden but home court means less than it used to. Plus there’s the whole league wanting the series to get extended conspiracy and the annointing wemby the price of the league conspiracy.

I would like us to get up big early. Take their spirit out of them. Show the world this is our year and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

It feels like Mike Brown’s time at the Warriors as an assistant left a big impression on him, he’s been on the other side of this, as an assistant helping a head coach, and has integrated his staff into what he does. That’s great stuff to read.

I’m a nervous wreck for today’s game too, I’m telling myself that whatever happens is fine, we’re well equipped for a long series and we know the Spurs are very good and are going to come out guns blazing, but the tantalizing prospect of leaving today with a 3-0 lead at home is just too much.

FWIW, a pretty bad cold ripped through my NYC-based social circle very recently. I had fatigue, chills, body aches, etc. for 3-4 days before it settled into the sniffles, and I sounded a lot like Brunson in that clip.

If he had whatever I had, I’d be bullish on him playing better tonight based on the amount of time that passed.

Both games were VERY close and San Antonio rightfully could still think they deserve to be up 2-0.

Someone ask Kenny Atkinson

For reasons that should be obvious, I hope that the Knicks lead by 39 points in the 3Q:

New York Knicks: 86
San Antonio Spurs: 47

_______

Tonight, I will be joined by my daughter and our newly-acquired dog (Mimi, a four year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who we took in when her owner passed away) on the couch to watch the game. I’ve already given her permission to watch Game 4 (and any potential clinching game) in NYC with her friends, so that she can be there for the aftermath.

Today is a GREAT day to be a Knicks fan.

They’re doing Bryant Park tonight for a watch party.

Game 3 officials:

Crew chief
Marc John Curtis
Davis Goble Blair

I don’t pay attention to refs unless they’re extreme cases like Tony Brothers or Scott Foster. Is Davis also someone we need to be wary of?

I was somehow more confident for games 1 and 2. I’m a nervous wreck right now. The non-game stuff around the finals probably made it worse.

This is so true. Mikal has been up two and lost a series (twice). I hope he is reminding everyone to play desperate-desperate-desperate.

I’ve never even heard of those refs. Which is probably a good sign.

Gonna get to MSG 2 hours early tonight per instructions. We’ll either stand in a security line for 2 hours, or if we get in earlier than expected, say 7 pm, we’ll be stuck in MSG for the next hour and a half. And what else is there to do but eat and drink?

Dolan wins! )-;

I recall John Goble making some absolutely horrendous calls over the years but I can’t remember what the calls were. He’s the only one I’d take issue with, though.

This is from Reddit. I thought some of you here might like this. IMO, the Princeton Offense that 2001 Sacramento Kings ran was one of my all-time favorite, if not most favorite, offenses to watch:

Mike Brown’s ‘I don’t run plays for my guys’ Princeton Motion Offense
Mike Brown after a scorching 3-0 start to preseason this year said that he did not really run any plays for his team. On the surface you think that’s crazy.

But Mike Brown’s offense is a read-and-react, motion offense largely built on Princeton principles.

Sometimes the Knicks run a really, really, high pick and roll – 35 feet to see if they can catch guys sleeping and get Brunson down hill.

Notice the formation of players are already set up. Wings deep, two guards high, with our X5 high and ready to play.

Think of it this way: The Knicks don’t always use set plays, but they have SPOTS — they have automatics. Places you NEED TO GO once someone else exits that spot. When you’re a high IQ player, knowing there are gaps to fill make your life and remembering what you’re in that much easier.

The key to their Princeton action: Point Formation: Big man/post player at the top. Two deep corner wings. Two high guard slot players. It’s a very common 4 out-1 in (in is relative in this particular example, you can see plenty of what I’m talking about in all the other video links in this thread.)

KAT’s decisions are simple.

If this action occurs close enough to the 3, shoot the mf rock.

If they close out when he goes to shoot, attack the rack. He is one of the fastest, mobile bigs in the league as we saw blowby after blowby on Wemby in G1.

Dribble at the opposite guard. In standard Princeton, this is a backcut typically. In the following play, OG goes over KAT, KAT gets to do a little pseudo-screen on the trailing defender and it’s an easy cut to the basket for a dunk. Again, this is a read and react situation. If OG backcuts that with NAW right in front of him, they will get nothing out of that action. Since NAW was all over him, he goes over instead and creates an advantage.

Flex action.

One of the Knicks’ favorite plays comes out of Point. A Flex screen. Again, Point is a formation – big man in the pinch post/up high, wings deep, guards in guard spots. Here Jalen enters into the pinch and cuts middle. He then sets a Flex Screen for OG. Sometimes if the defender trails this is an easy dump off to the cutter for a layup too.

This is again a beautiful example of read and react: If OG’s man follows perfectly, Brunson can cut back, or run a get action.

Here’s a great video on the Flex out of Point breakdown that the Knicks utilize. I tried to also find an added clip in season of when the Flex screener would stunt to get the ball and then back cut off his own Flex screen which was beautiful. As you can see, there are so many different actions that can occur. This system does not need set plays. It needs smart, cohesive basketball players.

The forums, the social media, the discussions. Everybody memes on the Knicks’ power of friendship. As a Varsity basketball coach, there is nothing more important than the power of friendship. Hear me out. Power of friendship is just basketball chemistry.

If he goes to set a screen, is he more likely to ghost it? If he pops on that, does he want the shot there? Or would he rather a get action where he gets the ball DHO and gets downhill?

If my big man dribbles at me and we’re in point, does he usually want me to backcut? Do I go over the top of him?

Point based offense like this is heavily dependent on knowing your teammates and knowing how to read their defender as well as yours. The fact that most of these guys have hundreds of thousands of reps with each other in the gym fortifies this strength and turns it into results.

Princeton is nothing new. If you’ve watched Geno’s historic UCONN Teams, you know that 85% of their offense is Princeton. But maybe what you don’t know is it’s the same with Mike Brown’s teams.

When the Kings were lighting the beam, he had arguably the second best passing big of the modern era on his team, and he took full advantage.

Here attacking at the nail, here – this is a ‘Jungle’ (point action on the same overloaded side, and I won’t be surprised to see KAT do this exact same thing: attacking off the bounce and looking for his own to collapse the defense.

I think it’s a misnomer to say the Knicks go large periods without play calls. It’s more so that they have a structure to play in. This structure is free-flowing, ever changing and gives them the option to do 10 different things at a time. It lets basketball players be basketball players instead of putting them into X’s and O’s.

Thanks, ras, interesting stuff.

I’m not worried at all about tonight, we’re up 2-0 so no matter what we’ll still be in the driver’s seat.

That perspective will last until tip-off, when I will be trying to keep from hitting the off button as long as we’re not up by more than double digits….

thank god it seems trump will be in a suite and not courtside. talk about a ridiculous distraction if he were literally on the court!

Biggest game in a very very long time. LFG!

meanwhile I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and they had hardly any Knicks merch left. Talk about just throwing money away by not having stock!

Yeah, of course he won’t be courtside. I’d honestly be surprised if he stays beyond the first quarter.

meanwhile I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and they had hardly any Knicks merch left. Talk about just throwing money away by not having stock!

The NBA Store had a bunch of stuff last week. Kids stuff was mostly sold out, but I found an OG shirt which I didn’t expect to.

The jerseys with finals logo were all gone.

Trump lingered last in line for brains
And the one he got was sorta rotten and insane
Small things so sad that birds could land
Is Trump fast asleep or rockin’ out with the band?

He’s Trump, he’s Trump
He’s in my head
He’s Trump, he’s Trump, he’s Trump
He might be dead

https://x.com/nba_newyork/status/2063993580864057515

“meanwhile I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and they had hardly any Knicks merch left. Talk about just throwing money away by not having stock!”

Unless they know something we don’t. Create some scarcity value, then restock because Silver has assured them a 7th game. (Game 3 nerves is making my mind go all over the place…)

I don’t pay attention to refs unless they’re extreme cases like Tony Brothers or Scott Foster. Is Davis also someone we need to be wary of?

Looks like they are going for refs that will call very few fouls. I suppose that’s good for KAT, and the Spurs have gotten a lot of FTAs, but they will let Castle mug Brunson all game.

but they will let Castle mug Brunson all game.

What else is new? They’ve let him do it the entire series so far.

Gonna lose my voice tonight. It is the only thing I know beyond a reasonable doubt.

Trump should know better than to go to a finals game in NY right now. NY is a blue state. NYC is a very blue city and he’s at a peak negative with his own voters over the broken promises about going to war in the middle east and dealing with the budget deficit. If he doesn’t realize that, he’s surrounded by all sycophants and out of touch with a significant portion of his own base and practically all independents and young people that voted for him.

He’ll be in a suite somewhere and out of the action, but when they show him he’s going to get boo’d relentlessly. None of that really bothers me much, but it kind of sucks that they cancelled the watch party and that I may have to listen to politics on the broadcast. That’s the last thing I want to hear when I watch sports. I hate all these corrupt dimwitted scumabgs on both sides 24 hours a day. I want 3 hours of peace where I can curse at too much dribbling and bad referees instead.

Its amazing to watch our guys play at this level. Reminds me a bit of 1970, when I was 14. The mugging of Brunson is troubling. It’s so plainly illegal and allows them to single cover him, while Wemby hangs in or close to the paint patrolling cutters. Only annoying though as this team has elite learners. The last game almost gave me a heart attack, hoping for a blowout.

Hey guys, can I ask that we not spend most of the day reacting to Donald J Trump on this site? I mean, if there’s a good chant during the game, fine. But beside his destruction of the Constitution of this great country, and being a grifter, liar, racist, misogynist, criminal asshole who has turned our entire national culture into a cesspool, he’s done his best to destroy my profession and career, which in fact is trying to avoid one way we could all go extinct (there being so many), so I have a pretty severe reaction to any reminder of his existence.

If you can, I’d be eternally grateful. LFGK!

Win the game and nobody will be talking about that tomato faced lard ass.

I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and they had hardly any Knicks merch left.

Was at the one main basketball store in Milan yesterday. Fun place. Has a court to try out your shoes.

Of course it’s basically just wall to wall MJ. He has a whole floor of crap, and they even sell “his” wallets.

BUT — my son and I spoke to the super-friendly staff, and they promised to add to their one (!) Brunson jersey. I also asked them to “retire” their Melo jersey. But no dice.

Every second European is walking around in a Yankees cap, but we got this.

EDIT: Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano

The “expert’s” opinion was virtually unanimous: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1543214690795241

thank god it seems trump will be in a suite and not courtside. talk about a ridiculous distraction if he were literally on the court!

“So we’re at halftime, where both teams have committed a record 104 turnovers in the first half with passes sailing out of bounds to the same one area at courtside. Hopefully they’ll get some shots off in the second half…”

I hate all these corrupt dimwitted scumabgs on both sides 24 hours a day.

Where have you gone, Colin Kaepernick?
Zuck’s algo turns its lonely eyes to you
Woo, woo, woo

Hey guys, can I ask that we not spend most of the day reacting to Donald J Trump on this site? I mean, if there’s a good chant during the game, fine. But beside his destruction of the Constitution of this great country, and being a grifter, liar, racist, misogynist, criminal asshole who has turned our entire national culture into a cesspool, he’s done his best to destroy my profession and career, which in fact is trying to avoid one way we could all go extinct (there being so many), so I have a pretty severe reaction to any reminder of his existence.

Agreed. We should also not mention how he is in the processing of destroying the world economy by starting a war which is driving the price of oil sky-high, while ignoring that most Americans are struggling to pay for housing and groceries. Oh and definitely don’t talk about the fact that he’s using the office of the presidency to enrich himself and his family with insider information on the stock market and shady crypto currency schemes so that nefarious parties both domestic and abroad can pay-to-play him directly for corruption purposes.

Did I miss anything else we shouldn’t talk about today in this thread?

okay my fellow deep thinkers, since we are already headed in that direction – my big ” wonder” is if trump (or someone like him) was inevitable in our governing system…

would it have even made a difference if somehow trump had been prevented from acquiring the presidency?

personally, I think trump was inevitable, in one form or the other, just like nixon was…

maybe it’s good we’re facing this constitutional crisis at the time…

didn’t a whole lot of legislation need to come about after nixon did his thing in the office?

for me, trump just demonstrates the need for a progressive/socialist leader whom is able to fundamentally affect the whole lopsided “haves versus have nots”…no doubt way way to many of us “democrats” have been reaching way too low…

buying a story that the status qou ain’t so bad, while for so many it sucks so bad simply to be able to afford to live…

fuck this, there is way more of us than them…

so, hopefully at some point we can get a leader in there that actually is for supporting the existence of the majority of the people in this country…

all that idiealogy (conservative/liberal) stuff is bullshit…almost always about money and control…

What else is knew?

geo…

maybe the thing that made it clearest to me – was the whole abortion paradox…

makes no sense right, don’t give a shit about most the people that can be seen, but care intensely for people you can’t even see without some type of scanning device…

the whole thing only makes sense if there is a coalition of folks trying to lock a lot of other folks in to a certain economic strata…

like what the heck, all that absurdity in order to lock in a consumer base…

yep, sure seems that way…

my big ” wonder” is if trump (or someone like him) was inevitable in our governing system…

Trump is a symptom, not a cause. If he’d run for president in 1988 or 1996 or 2000, he’d have been laughed out of the room.

/checks notes

He actually did try to co-opt the Reform Party in 2000, after making a laughable appearance on Larry King Live seeking support and actually qualifying for a couple presidential primaries.

He was laughed out of the room.

He didn’t change between 2000 and 2016 — the country did.

weirdly raven, the whole situation on a lot of this stuff puzzles me way more than it offends or annoys me…

personally, I’m a whiteish male that can pay his bills, I myself am not getting relentlessly hammered by the system that’s in place…

more than anything, I just want to know what the real motives are, and what is the end game supposed to be…

don’t kid myself I have the makeup to change anything beyond my immediate sphere…

Edit: sorry raven, I know this shit is an intrusive horror for so many…just mostly seems like some odd societal experiment to me…

Of course, folks can talk about whatever they want, but feeding the biggest troll of all by even acknowledging him on this day of days in this hallowed space is not the best use of our collective mojo.

maybe the thing that made it clearest to me – was the whole abortion paradox…

The playbook has always been that the top 1% sets the 99% at each others’ throats, thus diverting them from any combined effort to go after the economic privileges and prerogatives of the top 1%.

Used to be abortion, now it’s race/trans, etc. They’ve actually got it now where the 99% will never join forces because half of the 99% thinks the other half are irredeemable racists and “fascists.” Mephistophelean in its mastery.

You know, one of the best parts about this Knicks run is just how immensely likeable this team is. There is nobody I don’t actively like on the team, they’re all personable, low-ego characters with fun dispositions. Even Clarkson, who I had previously disliked before he joined the Knicks as I thought he was a brainless chucker, turned out to be a really good guy and has even transformed his game to fit the team’s ethos.

Totally guilt-free fandom.

7

I’m just hear to read strat continue to “both sides bad” while Trump pardons Jan 6 conspirators and sets up a $1.7B slush fund for himself. Trump could cancel the election and declare martial law à la Putin and I’d probably hear “Biden probably would do this too.” But we’re not gonna talk about that at length when we are exactly halfway through the Finals. And we are *exactly* halfway through this series.

Anyway, lfg NYK. Gimme a sweep (or a comfortable win in 6) so they can celebrate in Manhattan. I can’t think of a worse place for a great team to celebrate a Finals win than San Antonio. Maybe Salt Lake City, whose nightlife feels mostly composed dirty-soda drive-thrus and bespoke exmo cocktail bars for the heathen outdoorsy quasi-hip like me.

5

howdy jowles…love and miss you (even though we still haven’t met)…and you know what, even if it is a pretty abhorrent topic for most/many – anything that makes you want to jot down a few lines here is okay with me…

hope you are doing well, not working too hard, living your dreams and all…

it was funny, when jim, bobby , and kevin decided to return and hang with us for a while – kept thinking to myself, shoot the honorable cock jowles is my “old-timer”…he’s the one I miss the most…

no quasi about you sir, you are all the way live and hip…

The Knicks winning a championship on Wednesday, followed by a World Cup starting on Thursday and a parade on Friday would be quite the sequence of events in NYC.

A lost moment suddenly, emotionally, resurfacing –

Kenny “Sky” Walker winning the dunk contest after losing his dad just a few days before.

GO KNICKS!

okay then, I see it now: Everyman Slight of Hand

that’s nice, rolls off the tongue…must have been a little hard to resist either: Magic Mike or Mike the Magic Man as a moniker…

Nervous for tonight. I keep saying this is a huge game. I guess every game in the finals is a huge game. I just don’t want to give the Spurs an opening. But, this is a different Knicks team with a great mentality. They are focused on 1 game at a time. 0-0 and desperate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Weyrich

maybe the thing that made it clearest to me – was the whole abortion paradox…

makes no sense right, don’t give a shit about most the people that can be seen, but care intensely for people you can’t even see without some type of scanning device…

the whole thing only makes sense if there is a coalition of folks trying to lock a lot of other folks in to a certain economic strata…

like what the heck, all that absurdity in order to lock in a consumer base…

yep, sure seems that way…

It doesn’t just seem that way…

Why does Brunson not get that many calls? Especially when bringing the ball up. Is it because he doesn’t look the part of being a star? Plays for NY? I just don’t like how he is treated by the refs. I can’t really think of that many players who consistently get smacked around out there. A lot of the time it is younger players too doing it.

“Magic Mike” is ruined forever.

Nick-er, that’s a great question, and there’s a bigger picture answer, I’m sure. I can only speak to this series, and what I’m seeing is that Castle, in particular, is full-bodying Brunson for 94 feet — but he’s doing it in the same way centers and power forwards block out for rebounds under the basket, and refs aren’t used to calling a foul on what is essentially constant body contact.

It takes a big, fast, committed character to play defense that way. If you watch when Fox picks Jalen up, Fox is super-fast but he is giving Brunson a lot more room to maneuver.

If you are asking me why Jalen doesn’t get the call when he drives to the basket and gets smacked in the head all the time, I got nothin’.

I’m just hear to read strat continue to “both sides bad” while Trump pardons Jan 6 conspirators and sets up a $1.7B slush fund for himself.

No this is Trump reaching across the aisle, because as we know, Jan 6 was perpetrated by liberal paid actors and AntiFa. How kind of him to let them all free!

Why does Brunson not get that many calls? Especially when bringing the ball up. Is it because he doesn’t look the part of being a star? Plays for NY? I just don’t like how he is treated by the refs. I can’t really think of that many players who consistently get smacked around out there. A lot of the time it is younger players too doing it.

The NBA doesn’t want a 4-game series so they’ll just be turning the foul sliders down further and further the closer we get to a sweep. For the second half of game 2 they were literally turned down to zero. We got zero FTA for the entire second half until we challenged the blatant missed call on the OG 3 with about 2 minutes to go. Then we got two more FTA when Wemby intentionally fouled Brunson after making the dumbest play of his career.

So Wemby doing a two-hand shove on every screen, Castle sticking his fist all the way up Brunson’s ass, the Shaolin neck throw on Alvarado… these are all legal basketball moves now, but if KAT starts playing too well it’ll be two quick fouls in 30 seconds.

I wonder how the fans will feel after waiting two extra hours just to watch an even more blatant rigging attempt?

Knicks All Day— Langston Galloway (@LangGalloway10) June 8, 2026

Of all the guys we spent way too much time discussing here, Langston is the one I have the least amount of regret about. Always struck me as a cool and good dude. Glad he’s on board. OAKAAK.

Used to be abortion, now it’s race/trans, etc. They’ve actually got it now where the 99% will never join forces because half of the 99% thinks the other half are irredeemable racists and “fascists.”

Why is “fascists” in quotes? Do you take the position that MAGA is not a fascist movement, or just that it’s wrong to call supporters of a fascist movement fascists?

7

I think it was from either rooting for Lance Thomas, or maybe it was Jared Jeffries that made me really consider my place in the universe…

like seriously, what evil could I have committed to deserve that level of misfortune…

Edit: yeah, it was Jared Jeffries…oh well, at least he looked to be trying hard out there…

Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.

I’m just hear to read strat continue to “both sides bad”

If don’t think both sides are bad, that means you are not fully informed or in denial because you are blindly rooting for one team or the other.

Most politcians are bought and paid for by different segments of what has become a wildly corrupt sociopathic private system that uses our government to terrorize and loot the world for money, resources and land, pillage decent private citizens and enrich themselves beyond anything that can be justified even by those of us that like freedom and understand the benefits of markets.

There are some decent people among them, but most of them are dumber than a pile of rocks and do short and long term damage in other ways through incompetence and other forms of corruption.

When I try my hardest, I can find a few people that are “both competent and decent” among all the people in the House, Senate, Whitehouse, state and city govts and politcal media but they are mostly powerless because the corrupt sociopaths on both sides have control.

Fortunately they do not have control over the Knicks tonight. That would be Jalen Brunson and Mike Brown. They better move the ball to my liking because I’m clearly not in a good mood today. 😉

Frank – please tell us all what your crystal feed is putting out…

are you seeing a lot of stuff reference to the poor (absolutely one-sided) reffing so far in this series…

remember it took a several games for the SGA stuff to saturate the media…

Edit: oh yeah, hope your day is well frank, your feeling good and able to drive on helping lots of folks make it through life with some health quality in it…

Raven, great point about it is similar to how players are blocking out for rebounds. I never thought of it that way.

Pags, the free throw stuff in the second half was nuts. I couldn’t believe it.

you are missing the point strat: THERE IS ONLY ONE SIDE…

maybe it’s easier to see it as one side moving both sides, against each other…

and, that one side is in maybe the thousands, while the other “side” is in the billions…

The most hilarious part about the whistle in this series is the way it has perfectly threaded the needle to suit the Spurs’ interests.

Defending Brunson on a shot attempt? Just throw a haymaker and it’s incidental contact.

Defending Mitch away from the ball? Just fart in his general direction and it’s two shots, overriding Shamet being fouled on a layup attempt.

Why is “fascists” in quotes? Do you take the position that MAGA is not a fascist movement, or just that it’s wrong to call supporters of a fascist movement fascists?

HAHAHAHAHA…..

Total Business Value: The ad revenue for a Game 6 and 7 combined typically exceeds $80 million, and a single Finals game can generate up to $20 million for the hosting franchise.

okay, maybe HAL can be sort of handy at times answering some very specifically worded questions…

also, pretty sure that is not ALL the money involved in each finals’ game…

need to do some serious extrapolating to figure out that one probably…

Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were tough to root for. The Derrick Rose-Melo-Noah abomination was maybe my least favorite Knick team ever. That was peak Phil Jackson, the culmination of his efforts. That team had 31 wins, played the most joyless brand of basketball I have ever seen, ranked 25th in SRS, and featured over 1000 minutes from Mindaugus Kuzminskas and 800 minutes from Ron Baker. Somehow Sasha Vujacic was on the team, a memory I scraped entirely from my existence.

Kyle O’Quinn was the bright spot of that team. We were trying to squint at Willy Hernangomez and see a decent player. Kristaps Porzingis was on that team but mostly stunk.

Lots of low cards in that hand. Fuck you Phil.

An excellent added benefit for winning in four — it screws Dolan.

HAHAHAHAHA…..

If the idea that MAGA is fascist is so laughable it should be easy to refute but it appears you have no actual argument, just your feelings.

A complete lack of substance is pretty on brand.

Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.

thought this one up while in the shower the other day:

today will soon be tomorrow, while it was just yesterday

still working on it…

you know, starting to really believe the whole time thing is just some made up human mechanism(?) to deal with reality…it does not even exist…

1000 minutes from Mindaugus Kuzminskas and 800 minutes from Ron Baker

Hey now, Mind Dog and Ron Baker may not have been good at basketball but they were two of the more fun players to banter about. Baker was even one of the few NBA players to earn a no-trade clause!

They weren’t nearly as depressing as Rose/Melo/Noah

If you are asking me why Jalen doesn’t get the call when he drives to the basket and gets smacked in the head all the time, I got nothin’.

Hair not big enough

Do you take the position

I take the position — still; I haven’t changed it in three days or whatever — that the 1% has you and yours on their puppet strings.

I always liked Langston Galloway.

I take the position — still; I haven’t changed it in two days — that the 1% has you and yours on their puppet strings.

Not you though, you’re a rogue element who defies their iron grip by…

checks notes

excusing everything the faction that openly supports them does and reserving your only critiques for those who actually oppose them. If only we didn’t call the fascists fascist they wouldn’t be so fascist — we’ve only ourselves to blame!

Phil Jackson was like the equivalent of the Monorail salesman in the Simpsons, and that Rose/Melo/Noah team was the part of the story where Homer is trying to apply the faulty brakes to stop the monorail from crashing

If the idea that MAGA is fascist is so laughable it should be easy to refute but it appears you have no actual argument, just your feelings.

A complete lack of substance is pretty on brand.

It IS easy to refute such a laughable supposition, but the prime directive on this board is political discussion is a no no, so I try to stick by that. Especially on the day of a Championship game.

Should the site owner want to have that sort of a discussion, I’ll be happy to participate. 🙂

sorry a bunch of this stuff troubles you so raven…rightly so…I imagine poor al ain’t touching this site ’til tip off…

I get it, can be tough to detach yourself…

I’ve always known i wasn’t the:
– smartest
– fastest
– strongest
– wealthiest
– behaviorally sound (do right kind of stuff)
– most attractive
– this list goes on

person in the room, even small rooms…

existing does make me feel small, and really hammers home the point the only thing I can slightly control is myself…view from the bottom perhaps…but yeah, only so much you can hold yourself accountable for – how you feel in the moment…

I feel smallish, but not impotent…cuz i should be able to control myself…

because if I don’t – I’ll eat way tooooooo much chocolate, and end up spending way too much “time” worrying over a sped up digestive system…

Of all the guys we spent way too much time discussing here, Langston is the one I have the least amount of regret about. Always struck me as a cool and good dude. Glad he’s on board. OAKAAK.

Frank Williams had some trouble with the law after leaving the Knicks. Nick Fazekas had a little career overseas.

I always liked Langston Galloway’s name. I loved it, actually. An explorer/author from yesteryear, wandering the greater Himalayas and telling the tales…

Not you though, you’re a rogue element who defies their iron grip by…

Or I’m a class traitor, one or the other. That’ll have to stay a mystery.

Or I’m a class traitor, one or the other. That’ll have to stay a mystery.

Class traitor? What are you, poor or something?

excusing everything the faction that openly supports them does and reserving your only critiques for those who actually oppose them. If only we didn’t call the fascists fascist they wouldn’t be so fascist — we’ve only ourselves to blame!

You’re going to have to build coalitions with the fascists or the 1% is going to continue to roll you. They’ll pretend to humor you about “systemic racism” and “America is a settler colonialist country,” and all the rest — but that’s only because doing that lets them keep picking your pocket.

Or you can riot and revolt, which probably isn’t going to work.

I could agree with every last thing you believe, 100% Venn diagram overlap, and this would still be the reality.

I mean, it’s not as though they’ve hoovered up so much wealth that it now costs $10,000 for nosebleed seats to a Finals game in MSG or anything ….

You’re going to have to build coalitions with the fascists or the 1% is going to continue to roll you.

Isn’t it cool how they get to have no agency? Somehow the open supporters of the 1% bear no responsibility but it’s the duty of the rest of us to, what — be just fascist enough to bring them along?

Do you understand that I am not the DNC, and neither are most people who oppose fascism?

America is a settler colonialist country,”

oh now E, let’s not bring the topic of continual human migration (in its many forms and causes) in to the discussion…

it’s so wild to simply look at human migration charts/maps/data tables/whatever without considering the human cost of those different people/cultures moving around on the map…you know, to the folks already living there…

one of the more eye opening experiences I’ve had is comparing what I know of history now – to what was taught to me in the 70’s and 80’s…

who knew, people didn’t just show up in the americas starting in the 15th century or so…

one of the cooler history things I’ve come across here in the south bay was the discovery of a few thousand year old burial site…

there were wolf bones and harnesses for them…how cool is that…

It IS easy to refute such a laughable supposition, but the prime directive on this board is political discussion is a no no, so I try to stick by that. Especially on the day of a Championship game.

Should the site owner want to have that sort of a discussion, I’ll be happy to participate. 🙂

Knickerblogger himself has posted on politics today, and the fuhrer’s presence at the championship game today now has an unavoidable impact on its narrative and the game-day experience for even fans not attending the actual game. IMO it’s fair game.

You couldn’t resist getting in for a penny, may as well get in for a pound. What distinguishes MAGA from fascism in your view. Keep in mind we’re now 5 years on from our Beer Hall Putsch, so no fair setting the goal post in the 1940’s — we’re around 1937 now.

Guys, a far more important celebrity is coming to the game tonight:

@tallskinnyben.bsky.social‬

DANHAUSEN IS EXPECTED TO BE INSIDE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN FOR GAME 3

THE KNICKS ARE CURRENTLY UNDEFEATED SINCE GETTING UNCURSED. #NBAFinals

I think it was from either rooting for Lance Thomas, or maybe it was Jared Jeffries that made me really consider my place in the universe…

like seriously, what evil could I have committed to deserve that level of misfortune…

Edit: yeah, it was Jared Jeffries…oh well, at least he looked to be trying hard out there…

When I saw Eddy Curry had slimmed down, his last 2 seasons with New York (and we had a conversation about nutrition/calories on media day where he revealed to me that he never understood that something like drinking juice would lead to weight gain) I was rooting for him & hoping the Knicks would use him more.

Given how much vitriol I had written about the trade that brought him here & his limited offensive game, it was an interesting moment for me. Deep down I’m a big fan of redemption.

We keep up this kind of discussion on here much longer and I won’t think that we deserve to win tonight. Hopefully it won’t go that way.

Who the heck is Dan Hausen?

In terms of irrational love for bad players, I was convinced that Shawne Williams was a perfectly cromulent power forward when he was seemingly hitting every single corner 3 that one year. And then he disappeared.

If you are asking me why Jalen doesn’t get the call when he drives to the basket and gets smacked in the head all the time, I got nothin’.

Hair not big enough

They should sign the Johns from Brooklyn.

it’s our duty pags to remain as healthy as possible in order to care for those we love…you know, when prioritizing priorities…

Dude in Knicks Town (I think that was his name, wishing him well) made that point pretty clear from his hospital bed…toward the end, nothing more really mattered but to keep fighting for his family…love…

try to focus on that pags, the other stuff just takes…doesn’t really have anything to give…

make a plan, participant in action, take action…rest of time: root for the knicks, everyone being healthy and over their colds (shit is probably spreading around the team, if it is some cold/flu stuff), getting fair whistle – and staying mikal bridges desperate to win…

My two favorite 21st century bad Knicks are probably Frank and Lavor Postell. I liked Frank Williams, too — he could be number 3.

Yo guys, FDT and all but let’s get this conversation back on track. It sucks that he’s coming to this game and making the experience worse for literally tens of thousands of giddy Knicks fans, but it is what it is. This is the kind of shit sandwich you have to eat when James Dolan owns your team. Even in the best of times, he’s still James Dolan.

As I said yesterday, if we win this game tonight, nobody is gonna care whether that tomato-headed pedo was up in a skybox shitting his Depends. Let’s run the score up on these fuckers tonight.

In terms of irrational love for bad players, I was convinced that Shawne Williams was a perfectly cromulent power forward when he was seemingly hitting every single corner 3 that one year. And then he disappeared.

A lot of players that could contribute seem to disappear. Either they were always lightning in a bottle, they had injuries preventing them from competing at that level, or they had off-court issues that prevented them from reaching their on-court potential.

I would love to take a group of players rejected from the NBA, and assemble a team to face a .500 team. Should I pull myself up by my bootstraps to reach billionaire status, that’s what I’m going to do with my money.

I wanted to (and was expecting to) love today, but now I kind of hate today.

I’m a big fan of redemption.

😊

I was convinced Cole Aldrich would be a pretty good player in expanded minutes until I watched him try to play basketball for more than five minutes at a time. Cardio was not his thing

Katz just tweeted Jalen is going with a top knot for his braids tonight. Trying to get a few foul calls.

nature bathe, all day (as much as possible), every day doogie…guaranteed to feel good…

you ever see 12 monkeys doogie, bruce lying on that bed, time tripping, staring at that beautiful nature painting, inspirational stuff right there…

actually, there are bunches of ways to intentionally stimulate/activate feel good hormones in your body…fuck tic toc and take some time to learn how to make yourself happy…

It IS easy to refute such a laughable supposition, but the prime directive on this board is political discussion is a no no, so I try to stick by that. Especially on the day of a Championship game.

Should the site owner want to have that sort of a discussion, I’ll be happy to participate.

Dunking on the orange idiot with facts because he’s inserted himself into the NBA Finals when he should instead be fixing problems, many of which he created by his own action or his own inaction, is one thing that fits into this blog. Hearing someone bloviate on why MAGA is completely fascist or merely right-wing authoritarianism, doesn’t really fit in with what we’re doing here.

the 1% has you and yours on their puppet strings.

Nihil novi in what we experience these days on planet earth. Manipulating public opinion has always been part of the arsenal of ruling classes ever since those appeared in history a few thousand years ago. The known expressions panem et circenses and divide et impera are good illustrations thereof. But manipulation has become extremely important in modern times when people, the masses, gain for the first time the formal right of self-expression and self-determination. As a 19th century magnat put it “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” Here is also a quote from Adam Smith, the great theoretic of capitalism:

“It is not, however, difficult to foresee which of the two parties must, upon all ordinary occasions, have the advantage in the dispute, and force the other into a compliance with their terms. The masters, being fewer in number, can combine much more easily; and the law, besides, authorizes, or at least does not prohibit their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen. We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work; but many against combining to raise it.”

The fight for true democracy and an egalitarian society is a long, very long historical process, and it won’t be completed until, among other things, the division of human societies into opposing classes ceases to exist in the following generations or centuries. That division wasn’t there forever and won’t be there forever.

I am mentioning all this because the discussion today, albeit political, has gained a healthy and educational orientation beyond the pseudo-dilemma between the Great Imbecile (abhorrent as he is, he is nevertheless the symptom, not the disease) and the pseudo-democrats.

As of basketball, I would call everyone to enjoy the competition and spectacular nature of the game itself, never forgetting the dirty corporate world behind it. Otherwise, this is, yeah, panem et circenses.

Who the heck is Dan Hausen?

He’s a pro wrestler whose gimmick is that he has supernatural powers and can curse people/groups, but also uncurse them. He uncursed the Knicks after Atlanta Game 3, and we haven’t lost since. It’s become an amusing sideshow of this whole thing.

Serious question: has anyone ever read a good article about how NBA floors are made? Like, how did they get the finals floor done in like 4 days?

I have a poster of the 2015-2016 Knicks still hanging in my basement. Every so often I’ll glance at it and see players like

Cleanthony Early
Lou Amundsen
Kevin Seraphin
Sasha Vujacic
Robin Lopez

and yet the Knicks still sold out every game. And in a meaningless close game at the end of a dreary season, the MSG crowd would still chant “defense” like it was game 7 of the Finals.

We deserve this fellas.

allonzo trier was just never given a fair chance to be the dominant offensive player he was meant to be…

it was kind of cool having missus luzminskas around the team…

him, stephen smith, mad dog, and a dozen more like them should be stuck in a really small room together for a few weeks…

Serious question: has anyone ever read a good article about how NBA floors are made? Like, how did they get the finals floor done in like 4 days?

Well at least one part of it was painting the Larry O’Brien Trophy rather than using a slippery decal as they used to. Much improved.

In the draft night thread when Phil Jackson drafted the great Cleanthony Early, your very own JK47 mentioned that he liked a Serbian center with good passing skills named Nikola Jokic.

In the draft night thread when Phil Jackson drafted the great Cleanthony Early, your very own JK47 mentioned that he liked a Serbian center with good passing skills named Nikola Jokic.

Maybe the perfect distillation of the Phil Jackson era is that he had a chance to draft the most perfect triangle player ever, and didn’t.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/business/nba-basketball-courts-manufacturing.html

uh oh, I just might be both a nervous talker and typer…time to go outside…

Maybe the perfect distillation of the Phil Jackson era is that he had a chance to draft the most perfect triangle player ever, and didn’t.

He even has a big ass.

“nature bathe, all day (as much as possible), every day doogie…guaranteed to feel good…”

I don’t have time for all that. I’ve got a full-time job and stuff.

“you ever see 12 monkeys doogie, bruce lying on that bed, time tripping, staring at that beautiful nature painting, inspirational stuff right there…”

Nope, I’ve definitely never seen that, and not even sure what it is. Bruce Wayne?

Well at least one part of it was painting the Larry O’Brien Trophy rather than using a slippery decal as they used to. Much improved.

These are the kinds of things I’m interested in: did they just paint the Larry O’Brien on the regular Knicks floor? Or is this an entirely new floor? Who produces it? Where?

Here’s a cool NYT article I just found, in case you need to take your mind off the game and read some adjacent stuff:

What’s Allonzo Trier up to these days?

You know, it’s funny — I watched the game like all of you, and I would say at least 99% of this board thought the whistle was highly skewed in the Spurs favor.

But nate duncan and danny leroux, two of the more level-headed podcasters out there, both thought it was an evenly-officiated game. I know we are homers by nature, but I can’t believe any objective viewer would actually think that.

That said, I have no idea what to expect from the refs tonight. We should at least get an equal amount of free throws if not more… and if that’s the case, how could we not steamroll them?

I’m cautiously optimistic yet nervous af.

it’s our duty pags to remain as healthy as possible in order to care for those we love…you know, when prioritizing priorities…

Dude in Knicks Town (I think that was his name, wishing him well) made that point pretty clear from his hospital bed…toward the end, nothing more really mattered but to keep fighting for his family…love…

try to focus on that pags, the other stuff just takes…doesn’t really have anything to give…

Actually geo, the political stuff is a welcome distraction for me. Or at least, a distraction from distractions. While I’m overjoyed that we managed to win both in SA, I’m feeling some MAJOR heebie jeebies today.

I feel much more nervous about playoff games we’re supposed to win, and that 14-0 run at the end of Game 2 makes me worry that we’re on to something, and the vibes from the fuhrer attending are double plus ungood seeing as everything he touches turns to shit. I also expect the NBA’s rigging efforts to be turned up to 11 tonight.

We’ve never had more to gain from a single win since 1994. I’m spooked.

But nate duncan and danny leroux, two of the more level-headed podcasters out there, both thought it was an evenly-officiated game. I know we are homers by nature, but I can’t believe any objective viewer would actually think that.

Not buying it. Yes the Knicks got away with at least 1 egregious no-call on them, and I could be talked into 1-2 more, but there were easily 4-10 calls/non-calls for the Spurs that were outrageous – easily 3-5 on abusing Brunson alone.

He’s a pro wrestler whose gimmick is that he has supernatural powers and can curse people/groups, but also uncurse them. He uncursed the Knicks after Atlanta Game 3, and we haven’t lost since. It’s become an amusing sideshow of this whole thing.

Hard to argue with results

But nate duncan and danny leroux, two of the more level-headed podcasters out there, both thought it was an evenly-officiated game. I know we are homers by nature, but I can’t believe any objective viewer would actually think that.

That said, I have no idea what to expect from the refs tonight. We should at least get an equal amount of free throws if not more… and if that’s the case, how could we not steamroll them?

I’m cautiously optimistic yet nervous af.

The more respectable NBA commentators have a vested interest in upholding the league’s image and serving its business priorities.

There is just no rational basis for calling the second half of game 2 evenly officiated. It just doesn’t pass the smell test.

They have 33% more FTA than us even though 15% of our FTA have come from intentional fouls on Mitch.

Brunson had a 29% FTA rate in the regular season and a 15% FTA rate this series while being defended far more physically than ever. 2 of Brunson’s 9 FTA came on an intentional foul so the actual rate is far lower.

The eye test is also extremely blatant. You can argue whether it’s bias or incompetency, but disputing at this point that the officiating has been extremely one-sided is willful blindness.

But nate duncan and danny leroux, two of the more level-headed podcasters out there, both thought it was an evenly-officiated game. I know we are homers by nature, but I can’t believe any objective viewer would actually think that.

That said, I have no idea what to expect from the refs tonight. We should at least get an equal amount of free throws if not more… and if that’s the case, how could we not steamroll them?

I’m cautiously optimistic yet nervous af

All of the NBA related content I consume (Zach Lowe, Hoop Collective, Bill Simmons, No Dunks, to name a few) said the opposite; that SA had a favorable whistle in game 2. They vary to the degree in which they think that, but from what I can tell the general media environment all saw what we saw.

https://x.com/TJsBballTakes/status/2063269139041395027?s=20

Sometimes Brunson seems to be fouled multi times on the same possession. He gets bodied and hit consistently when bringing the ball up. I am hoping the team has a plan for this tonight. Hart bring it up some?

tell ya doogie, oldest son gets frustrated with the way i sometimes speak…

waiting for the day he blurts out: can you please just get to the fucking point…won’t blame him for it, too much 😊

I don’t know, lately coming to realize that I may just be one of those: it is always my story kind of people…

gotten good at regulating my pulse and heart rate, keeping my mind pretty steady…still have trouble with regulating voice volume, fidgeting…my personality and ego may just be unbridled at times, often, most of the time…

so yes mister doogie, I’ll endeavor doing a better job keeping communication clear…

so, point of previous post:
– nature bathing is an extremely effective tool for managing anxiety
– you can “nature bathe” in different ways
– it’s possible to “trick”/convince your senses that your are having a nature experience
– aromatherapy, nature vids, nature sounds work well, keeping a plant friend close by

so, in summation doogie, nature bathing is an effective method to manage stress, you can do it anywhere, at almost any time…

“Serious question: has anyone ever read a good article about how NBA floors are made? Like, how did they get the finals floor done in like 4 days?”

I have no idea, but related and apropos to today, I distinctly remember a controversy about the 1973 team. The Knicks were better than the Rangers, and when they flipped between the hardwood and ice, they did it in such a way that helped Willis’ knees but was sub-optimal for the Rangers. Might have to ask my friend Claude about this…

All of the NBA related content I consume (Zach Lowe, Hoop Collective, Bill Simmons, No Dunks, to name a few) said the opposite; that SA had a favorable whistle in game 2. They vary to the degree in which they think that, but from what I can tell the general media environment all saw what we saw.

Sam Vecenie: “I thought the Spurs got a drastically better whistle tonight.”

You just don’t hear journalists saying these things often.

In the draft night thread when Phil Jackson drafted the great Cleanthony Early, your very own JK47 mentioned that he liked a Serbian center with good passing skills named Nikola Jokic.

Between that and me saying that SGA was the upside pick that year, we clearly should have been drafting instead of Jackson/Perry/Mills… But then we might not be here, now, and I like this moment very much. (Still in fear of it all falling apart, though, because I am a Knicks fan)

I remain pretty convinced that the arena will be half empty at tip off because of security lines.

If you liked the officiating on Friday, you’ll love it tonight:
https://x.com/refereeinsider/status/2064065954909159476

you are a mean one mister silver…

I don’t know what’s happening but i’m super calm… i guess now i trust our team to overcome whatever comes our way. This feeling is amazing. At last we have the team that we’ve dreamed of for so long.

https://x.com/BenGolliver/status/2064088685713162512

I mean, look at the lines:

People will be so fucking mad by tip off.

Real?: https://x.com/factpostnews/status/2064053648741617860

I mean, I kind of don’t believe anything I see anymore.