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[New York Post] – Fri, 23 Feb 2024 05:43:00 GMT
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110 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.02.23)”
Did the Knicks say anything about I-Hart after the game? It was a bummer to seem him so diminished with time running out on the season.
He probably cost himself a lot of money with this injury.
Thibs mentioned before the game that iHart’s minutes were going to be restricted. You could see when he was removed early in the 3rd quarter that iHart was pissed cause he didn’t want to come out of the game.
Interesting to read that Hartenstein said he was supposed to play around 20 minutes and he was frustrated he didn’t hit that target.
Maybe Thibs wanted to save him for the closing minutes, but then realized going small was working well and kept him on the bench.
We need more intel from Mrs. Hartenstein.
Here’s the full set of iHart quotes, from Bondy:
https://nypost.com/2024/02/23/sports/knicks-isaiah-hartenstein-frustrated-he-didnt-reach-planned-workload/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Oh, and now that I remembered to post it in the game thread, here’s the Ramy Youssef story that mentions the Knicks-Wolves game, which published earlier in the week: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/ramy-youssef-comedy-muslim-1234965552/
As long as he didn’t aggravate his Achilles, I am fine with Hartenstein bein on a pitch count. Sims is playing better and Achiuwa is still rollin, so we can survive with Hartenstein not playing much for a little bit. My biggest concern is the beating Brunson takes every game that Randle is out. If he isn’t already getting veteran days at practice, Thibs should implement that to help him recover better. I know he’s tough, but I do not enjoy seeing him get the Iverson treatment- especially when he’s not getting as many calls as he should.
the minutes weren’t too bad last night except for Josh. Brunson was at 39, I imagine we’d like to see that down to 36 or so? Hopefully as the new bench guys get more adjusted to their teammates that will happen.
And Josh seems freakishly indefatigable so he’s the one guy you can play 45 minutes and no one will bat an eyelid.
in Thibs mind he’s the one with no viable backup, idk if Bojan keeps hooping maybe he’ll give him some minutes at the 3
The two most perfect roles for Josh Hart, IMO:
1) Impact sub playing 24 minutes off the bench
2) Ironman innings eater carrying a team through a rough patch of injuries by playing 40+ mpg
Yesterday was a team win. To me, the heroes were Bojan, Precious, Hart, Sims, and Deuce. Honorable mention to Brunson, DDV, and Burks, all of whom had big moments but also some poor stretches. Only iHart had a negative +/-.
But the bigger takeaway is that the Sixers looked terrible….literally on a level with bottom-feeders DET, SAS, CHA, WAS and POR. Honestly, they ought to consider shutting down Embiid for the rest of the season and tanking for a high draft pick, since they don’t control their pick next year. Even with Embiid, no way this team is going anywhere.
Yeah, Philly is a mess, Embiid was apparently their entire defense.
Burks so far has been totally out of control in the PG role, which I think is why Brunson had to play more minutes than he should. His stretch at the end of the 3rd (or beginning of the 4th?) last night was miserable.
Trading Pat Beverly and getting Buddy Hield also didn’t help.
I keyed in on Bojan’s D last night, and it actually was pretty good. His 3 steals were pretty legit and he seemed to have a good sense of spacing and positioning in the team defensive sense.
Burks seems like he is still trying to find his way. He’s an absolute mess inside the arc, and missing the first 2 of 3 FTs left a sour taste, but I’m not worried about him because of our ability to limit his minutes. In a way, I’m thinking of him as a replacement for Obi’s role last year.
I think there are perfectly valid objections to the Grimes-for-Burksdanovic trade even though I came out on the slightly pro side.
But can we please, please, please retire the idea that Bogey is a Fournier clone or waiver wire material or whatever else? He was absolutely carrying our bench units offensively last night, and that quick release from 3 is downright Novakian.
We may well not trade for a star this summer, whether it’s because of a lack of opportunities, or because the price is too high, or because we’re happy with the team as is after winning the finals, or some combination of these things, or whatever else.
In that case, I think we’ll be pretty happy to have Bogey signed for next season. His contract will remain valuable as an expiring of course, but there’s been too much handwaving away of his value as god damn basketball player.
Wow OKC just waived Poku. Too many promising youngsters is a problem it seems.
Last night was a glimpse into what this rotation can be when healthy. I love the idea of havin Bogdanovic as instant offense off the bench that can play both forward spots, Burks as a Swiss army knife with an offensive lean, and Hart as a Swiss army knife with a defensive lean. That can be a nice combination..a very nice one. So..fingers crossed that Mitch and Randle can make it through the playoffs once they come back. I don’t think Thibs has ever had a roster with this much versatility. Let’s hope he doesn’t regress in his decision making and revert to playing guys 40 minutes unnecessarily
Now we’re speaking the same language 😉
Burks is always going to be a mess inside the arc, it’s why he’s not making 35 million a year. If he can draw fouls though he’s fine.
Question for cap experts:
Can we do with OG this summer what we did with Hart last year? Specifically, can we make it worth his while to opt in and extend rather than opt out and sign for max?
Even more specifically, what is the most we can offer OG in an extension? We know he’s seeking approximately $35mm AAV. Can he get that in an extension without opting out?
I ask bc if he has to opt out, it seems like we will have some tough decisions to make in order to stay under the 2nd apron. Decisions like maybe Mitch or iHart, iHart or Precious, etc
I mean…we could do worse as far as front court depth flyers go. We have dudes nominally on the roster who don’t play when we have like six healthy players.
I agree wholeheartedly with everything Noble just said, with the caveat that I don’t think there are “perfectly valid” objections to the trade. imho, those objections are largely based on a overvaluing of Grimes and an undervaluing of Bojan. Again, not a single pundit or analyst outside of Knicks fandom had the Pistons getting a higher grade on the trade than the Knicks.
The only “imperfectly valid” objection is that we should not be in “win-now” mode this year and should have waited until the off-season to make a deal. It is a dubious proposition in the sense that it flies in the face of this FO’s and coach’s entire valuation system. If that is the take, then you have to go back to the original sin of hiring Leon and his hiring Thibs in the first place. In other words, the trade should be judged in the context of the here and now. There was never any indication that this regime prioritizes stockpiling young players with debatable upside over stockpiling good players with known floors and surplus future first rounders. This trade improved the team in the short run (you really have to be a devout Grimes stan not to see that) and did not cost any first rounders. Bojan is better and had more trade value than Grimes this year, and will likely be better and have more trade value than him next year. The second rounders were the cost for Burks…which is probably the going rate for a player of his caliber, maybe a slight overpay.
Hubert, that question might require a Jeremy Cohen level of cap nerdery. But it’s an interesting one. Given the all in the family nature of the acquisition, he might be willing to do it if it genuinely helps us this offseason.
And speaking of Jeremy Cohen, Noble, I think he’s suggested that we’re just going to keep juggling 10-day contracts for the rest of the season to avoid luxury tax/apron penalties moving forward. I know Poku has mostly been an embarrassment, but I have to think some lottery team would be willing to sign him for at least the rest of the season, just to see if they can unlock some of that potential.
We could do an opt in + extend with OG and the possibility has been discussed. If I’m not mistaken he could get 140% of his ~19.8M 2024-2025 salary with 8% raises every year.
2025-2026: ~$27.7M
2026-2027: ~$29.9M
2027-2028: ~$32.3M
2028-2029: ~$34.9M
Including the opt-in, it’d be something like 5/~$145M. My guess is he just opts out and takes more, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
Poku looked like he was improving a little bit last year, developing into something resembling a destitute man’s Kristaps Porzingis in limited minutes. This year he has hardly played at all despite the Thunder being a little thin up front.
He’s 22 now and still hasn’t been able to put any meat on his bones, so you have to wonder if it’s ever going to happen for him. I’d rather have him at the end of the bench than Charlie “Good Grief” Brown but that just isn’t how we use those roster spots for whatever reason.
I think we could sign Poku to the prorated minimum for the rest of the season and still slip under the luxury tax, but agree it’s probably irrelevant because someone will offer him a real chance to showcase himself.
Z-Man, I think the perfectly valid objection is even win-now teams have to analyze whether they’re trading away too much future equity to get better immediately, and that the Knicks didn’t strike the right balance there in trading Grimes for Bogey.
Like you, I object to the objection because I think it overvalues Grimes and undervalues Bogey. But I don’t think it’s a “DDV is redundant” level argument. There will be some egg on our face if Grimes breaks out and the Bogey era fizzles.
OG is opting out. He’d be making at least $10 mil less next season than he’d otherwise make, with no security if he suffers a career-ending injury. No chance of some kind of “what’s best for the team” move.
1) No valid objections to the trade, got it
2) because of “imho” which is a factual version of opinion, apparently
3) finished with an appeal to authority, because pundits know best
“Z-Man, I think the perfectly valid objection is even win-now teams have to analyze whether they’re trading away too much future equity to get better immediately, and that the Knicks didn’t strike the right balance there in trading Grimes for Bogey.
Like you, I object to the objection because I think it overvalues Grimes and undervalues Bogey. But I don’t think it’s a “DDV is redundant” level argument. There will be some egg on our face if Grimes breaks out and the Bogey era fizzles.”
I agree that there is the possibility that the trade doesn’t work out well for the Knicks. But that is true for virtually every trade. The question is, what is the probability right here and now? In that sense, I don’t think the objections are valid because they are distorting the probability picture.
Do you think Precious knows that if we ever get 100% healthy he may never see the court again?
Which makes you realize how mind boggingly deep this team could be come playoff time.
rama, it’s okay to have any opinion you want. I happen to think that your and Ben R’s opinion on this matter is grounded in distorted perceptions of both Grimes and Bojan. And yeah, I’ll happily appeal to the unanimous opinion of dozens of highly-respected authorities to support my take rather than whatever you are relying on.
Hmm. I hate to say that you’re right, because I love how Precious has played, but you’re probably right. Even if Thibs were to play a 10-man rotation late in the season when everyone is healthy, it would probably shake out as this:
C: iHart/Mitch (in some order)
PF: Julius/Bogey
SF: OG/Hart
SG: Good Donte/Burks
PG: Jalen/Deuce
You can also swap Burks and Deuce, positionally. You get my point. If Thibs is only playing 9 guys, then either Burks or Deuce is on the pine next to Precious. And I’m not even sure what happens in playoffs if Thibs only wants to play 8.
That said, I wouldn’t be shocked at all if one or both of Julius and Mitch aren’t back for the stretch run and playoffs, which means Precious is going to keep playing at least as a backup big. The thing I wonder is what happens in the likely event that OG returns before Julius does? Does Josh Hart continue as a starter, or does Thibs play Precious as a more traditional power forward next to OG?
The thing is that Precious does everything a little bit worse than an NBA level starter, and as a rotation player lacks a starter type skill. So his value is injury protection (3rd option at multiple positions) which is great to have but ain’t paying the big bucks.
I see this as our rotation if everyone is healthy
Brunson/McBride
DDV/Burks
OG/Hart
Julius/Bojan/Precious
iHart/Mitch/Sims
That’s 12 deep.
Normally in the playoffs coaches shorten the rotation but that doesn’t necessarily mean Precious won’t play in the playoffs.
I don’t think we can assume Mitch will give us much of anything in the playoffs. Even if he’s “healthy” I think we’d be lucky to get 10 minutes a game from him.
And the same might apply to Randle.
Bojan can sometimes play the 3.
Thibs has options to go offense or defense heavy depending on match up or how a game/series is going.
I could see a situation where Bojan is getting killed on defense OR Hart is shooting so poorly that Bojan plays back up 3 and Precious plays the 4. Or Mitch isn’t able to give us much so Thibs goes with Precious as back up 5 over Sims. Or Randle isn’t able to give us much, so Thibs goes with Precious.
I think Thibs has more options than he’s ever had with any team and, if he uses them, we can see situations where Precious plays in the playoffs.
Either way…it’s a good problem to have.
“Wow OKC just waived Poku. Too many promising youngsters is a problem it seems.”
That’s too bad. I was looking forward to see the “Thin Towers” in action.
I know offense isn’t everything but Quentin Grimes never had a game offensively like Bojan did last night. Not even close.
To be clear – Grimes had games where he scored as many points but Bojan was unconscious last night from 3 and probably could have hit another few with his eyes closed if he had to. Grimes is a good three point shooter and obviously better on D and younger, but Bojan gives us an offensive weapon off the bench we did not have.
I think the bigger bummer is that we got Burkes too and didn’t somehow do a deal with portland where we got Brogs.
Or if maybe we’d given up a first (or even two) with RJ for OG and not given up IQ. Cause if we had a bench right now with Brogs or IQ and Bojan, I’d say we were legit title contenders if healthy.
Leon has done a good job. And I understand holding on to the picks. But Brunson ascending to franchise player level and OG being such a perfect fit for us has us knocking on the door and in hindsight, I think giving up a few more picks to get Brogs or keep IQ would have been the wiser move.
But kudos for getting Precious as throw in.
Since I’ve outperformed said experts every year for the last four years, I’ll stick with my evaluation, thanks.
To say there are not perfectly valid objections to the trade because you are right in your own evaluation is solipsistic and condescending. If you know the future, one where Grimes does not become a great starting 2 guard for the next decade and where Bojan and Burks contribute meaningfully to a championship this year, then I congratulate you. Please let me know whom to bet on and at what odds.
If, on the other hand, you are not gifted with psychic precognition, you could acknowledge that even if Grimes never amounts to more than 3-and-D 8th man, it may still turn out to be a poor trade because he might 1) provide better value this year then a mostly washed and expiring Burks and 2) might be more useful in a trade than Bojan’s soon-to-be expiring contract this summer.
There are many valid objections. Personally, I don’t know what’s going to happen – but if Julius can’t perform, I am not optimistic about our title chances, which means that this trade would be a bust except for switching out Fournier’s expiring for Bojan’s. Despite that, I’m capable of acknowledging that there are valid arguments for the trade, such as Bojan being more than an expiring next year and actually contributing to a title run, or the team being healthy enough to contend this year, or Grimes coming up for an extension at an inopportune time for us or becoming too expensive for a somewhat duplicative role, etc. All “perfectly valid.”
Thanks, Noble. I was afraid that was the situation. In that case it seems like
1) A no brainer he will opt out
2) Highly unlikely we will retain Burks
3) Probable that we will not be able to keep all three of Mitch, iHart, Precious.
4) Possible that we, um, “roast” one or both of our first round picks this year to stay under the 2nd apron.
He went 14-23 for 36 points, with 6 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Recency bias and the endowment effect are battling it out here today ….
The people that tend to appeal to those authorities either do it only when it “supports” their argument, don’t know basketball very well themselves, or a combination of both.
rama wrote: “I know offense isn’t everything but Quentin Grimes never had a game offensively like Bojan did last night. Not even close.
He went 14-23 for 36 points, with 6 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Recency bias and the endowment effect are battling it out here today”
Me @rama: *Who* got that 36 points last night? Bojan didn’t. Grimes certainly didn’t. Once again, what am I missing? (Or do you mean that one of them had that stat line, but not recently?)
And we don’t need to designate “Good” Donte anymore. “Evil” Donte is gone now, so no distinction is necessary.
Rama was pointing out that Grimes did that on April 5, 2023 to demonstrate that he has in fact had games like Bogey’s last night.
FWIW, I think Swifty was talking a bit more stylistically than statistically i.e. Grimes hasn’t had a game where he scored multiple unassisted FGs when we desperately needed offense.
That kind of thing is obviously hard to quantify, but I subjectively don’t find it totally off base. Rama is of course literally correct though.
My objection to trading Grimes’s has nothing to do with how I value him compared to other people here or Leon’s general approach to rebuilding.
I’ve been the biggest advocate here of using free agency and trades to add players and also using picks to either draft players or use as currency depending on the values and opportunities in the marketplace at any time.
My objection to this trade is simple.
IMO, almost all trades should benefit the team both now and within our window unless it’s a “final piece” kind of trade. IMO this trade does not meet that standard (especially given all the injuries)
It’s obvious what the benefit of the trade was this year. We added better players and needed bench depth for this year and kept an expiring contract on the books for next year to use in a deal (replacing the Fournier contract).
That’s the extent of the analysis of the trade by the media. That’s why most like it.
But beyond this year:
1. Grimes is going to continue to be a 3&D rotation player with a decent chance of improving. In fact, I would argue it’s at least 50-50 we traded him at the bottom of his value because of how he was being used this season given the early season glut I was complaining about endlessly. Still at a minimum, he was worth a couple of 2nd rounders even now and imho that’s probably underselling his true value.
2. Both of our new players are likely to be gone well within our contention window.
3. We gave up two 2nd round picks.
If we wind up trading Bojan for some picks or some team is salivating to have him as part of a big deal, I’d be happy to adjust my thinking, but I think he’s basically going to just be contract filler on a big deal or a variation on Steve Novak for another year and then retire.
To me, this trade doesn’t qualify as good short and long term planning even though it obviously benefits us a lot for the rest of this season.
As someone who regularly complains about Thibs’ rigidity, I wanted to shout out for his flexibility in going super small (Deuce-JB-DDV-Hart-Precious) to close the game last night. If I’m not mistaken, Maxey did not score once Deuce came on, and the smaller unit really helped keep the Sixers at bay when they were really threatening. The Sixers also ran out of gas, but the smaller unit contributed as they were more switchable and were rotating really well on defense. More of this, Thibs!
Randle’s trainer posted an inspirational rise and grind video this morning and Julius is in the background taking jumpers
A little harsh. He can capably backup two frontcourt positions. That might make him more valuable that Hartenstein.
I think I’d rather pay Precious $10mm to backup Randle and Mitch than to pay iHart $14mm to back up Mitch and have to pay a second player to backup Randle.
Got it. Thanks, TNFH. But quite honestly, I really don’t care what Grimes did in one game last season. Jordan Poole got 43 points in one game last season, and I don’t want him, either.
Grimes was redundant here. We already had some other low-usage, defensive-oriented guard/wings who were comparable players to Grimey. The emergence of Deuce as a perfectly acceptable rotation player just hastened Grimey’s exit. Similar player, a few inches shorter and not as good at POA defense, but a comparable shooter and probably a better overall offensive player.
You can only have so many of that type of player before the redundancy starts to become a problem.
wow Grimes still hasn’t played for Detroit
I admit to recency bias when it comes to Bojan vs. Grimes.
But then again, winning RECENT games this season is more important than what Grimes did 2 seasons ago.
Also, just gotta say. It’s a little weird iHart plays so few minutes last night and instead of people saying “good job thibs being cautious with iHart” people immediately go to “he must still be really hurt, WTF is THIBS THINKING?”
So basically, he needs to not play at all or play 36 minutes (but not a second more) and BEAST OUT or else he must be hurt and Thibs is risking his career.
I agree, JK, which is why I think it’s a close call whether the trade was good or not. I lean slightly negative, purely as a value play, considering upside, contributions this year, contract levels, etc. But it certainly wasn’t a dumb trade, and if things break right could work out great. I just think it could also look terrible in 3 years.
Well, no, not when you’re team-building. One reason I’m excited about this team is how sustainable it all is (assuming OG re-signs). I want to continue on that path and not make “win-now” mistakes.
“Since I’ve outperformed said experts every year for the last four years, I’ll stick with my evaluation, thanks.”
That’s impressive! Can you give some examples where you outperformed a POV as unanimously held as this one? And I’m not talking about the Kendrick Perkins’s of the world. Stick with those that Lowe, Vecenie, O’Connor, Harper, Hollinger, Marks, etc. unanimously raved about that you disagreed with.
“The people that tend to appeal to those authorities either do it only when it “supports” their argument, don’t know basketball very well themselves, or a combination of both.”
This sounds like something I would hear from a talking head on OAN describing why Global Warming is a hoax.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but it seems like this FO really does not like players who can’t hit the corner 3. Grimes, Quickley, and Barrett all shot relatively poorly from the corner this year (Quickley was downright horrible) and all three are gone. We added two deadly corner 3 shooters in OG and Bojan.
When we’re healthy we have a pretty potent mix of accurate outside shooting, initiators who can generate their own offense, rim protection, rebounding, and overall defense. The team’s only glaring weakness is health.
I really like how balanced the shooting is right now. I’d like to see at some point a JB-DDV-OG-Bojan-center lineup with OG and Bojan at the corners (I think DDV is a better shooter above the break?). Or even a five out lineup with Precious at the 5. They will be a nightmare for defenses to stop, and I think they are still pretty good on defense.
I agree about the lack of long term benefit for the Knicks of the Grimes trade. On the other hand, he was redundant here and this gives him a new chance elsewhere. I’m kind of waiting for him to play for Detroit to see what the fans there think of him. But he still isn’t ready physically to play for them. If they love him and he becomes an important part of their rotation I’m going to be wishing we got more back, but also happy for him. If he stays a useful bench player, but nothing wonderful, it’s basically a much better trade than the one sending Obi to the Pacers.
…alternatively, we acquired a very good scorer for this season and next, as I addressed above.
The 20 PPG/60 TS% “variation” of Steve Novak.
What the hell is David Stearns doing with the Mets?
The Mets flopped last year and have a lot of dead salary on the books, but they were still projected at 81-84 wins for this season by most of the respectable projection systems, meaning that they were in the prime area where a little bit of spending to shore up some weaknesses might have meant the difference between making the playoffs or not.
Instead they’re cheaping out on everything humanly possible, and waving the white flag in a year where they could have been a fringe contender. In MLB, “fringe contender” is not a bad place to be, as pretty much any team can get hot in the playoffs and make a deep run. Seems to me like they should have ponied up for at least one #3 starter type and a reasonably productive DH, both things that wouldn’t have broken the bank and would have given the team a decent chance to contend for a WC slot.
I know that Stearns comes highly recommended but so far he seems to suck pretty bad. I get it that you don’t want to spend a ton of money to put a losing team on the field, but if you’re around 81-84 wins and you can spend a little bit of money to improve to 85-88 wins, that’s kind of a no brainer.
At this point I feel like they should just tear it all down and do a full rebuild. I hate the approach they’re taking this offseason.
It makes sense because you have Randle & Brunson in the middle of the floor to give them room to operate, so most of the other guys spend their time in the corners.
obi standing in the corner, was not a great thing…
@Strat,
We have a championship window now, we can’t throw away a year to let a player develop, you only get so many of these years and you need to maximize your championship equity in each one. KP could get injured this year, which would make the East wide open. Going forward OKC may win the next 5 championships or Embiid finally stays healthy and Philly uses their cap room to snag a star. You can’t punt on an iota of championship share.
And what is the upside for Grimes on the Knicks unless he starts outplaying Donte? We’re talking about ~16mpg for him. Is there a massive upside in those 16mpg that can’t be adequately satisfied by an offseason acquisition?
And of course, we most likely have Deuce again next year. We know pairing those 2 in the backcourt is suboptimal, are we gambling on them making an unlikely leap on offense?
Grimes is a valuable roleplayer but his impact would have been limited by the roster construction and that level of impact is easy to replace.
The thing with Grimes is that Deuce can essentially reproduce his production. He might not be as good a defender on bigger wings, but I think he’s a better defender on faster guards, so it’s a bit of a wash (and maybe a more pressing need once OG is back). I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he got his extension just as the FO decided to trade Grimes.
Whatever’s happening with iHart is coming from the organization, not Thibs.
iHart was upset he didn’t play more. So Thibs actually played him less than the medical team approved.
Because he played like garbage. Sorry but Thibs earned no stars for resting iHart last night.
one recurring thought last night: i am sooooo glad we do not have philly’s roster…
Spot on, brother. I don’t think the average Knick fan or NBA pundits realize how good this team really is when healthy. Elite at everything important that effects winning.
“Because he played like garbage. Sorry but Thibs earned no stars for resting iHart last night.”
Hubie, don’t we regularly chastise Thibs for playing people who are playing like garbage? I think he gets a little gold star for a) not overworking iHart, and b) sitting his ass down cuz he sucked.
On the other hand, not pulling Brunson until there were 21 seconds left is incomprehensible to me. I guess winning by 14 instead of maybe 10 is incredibly important because playoff position is based on point differential… right?
you have to give credit to the front office – they are finding absolute basketball fiends to put on the roster…coached by a basketball fiend…
normally fiend wouldn’t be such a complimentary thing, in this situation it works well though…
i am happy to hear of this now more cautious and impactful medical staff…
still remember thibs repeating over and over in regards to OG’s situation the medical staff where the folks in charge…
damn skippy thibs – stop breaking our players…
and, in typical thibs fashion – he made his own point by playing him fewer minutes than what was recommended, and what the player desired: go and blame the worrisome medical staff isaiah, it’s not my fault son…i’m really trying to get you paid…
as the saying goes though – a hard head makes for a soft ass…
thibs is one hard headed son of gun…
“as the saying goes though – a hard head makes for a soft ass…”
I’ve never once heard that saying in all of my years here on Earth.
Unless the hard-headed dude does a lot of glute bridges.
oh my goodness doogie – how can i say this…
um, i grew up around very “colorful” language…
my dad was in to biker and trucker stuff, he was also a layman, so good with words…ma’s ma was a cusser in spanish and her dad was a cajun pipe fitting engineer who worked all over the americas…
here are some other consistently preached gems:
– don’t show your ass (ma)
– don’t shit where you eat (ma)
– nobody will ask you how you won, only if you won (dad’s self-defense philosophy)
– are you trying to mindfuck me son (another dad one)
my favorite from mom (hers were mostly from her dad):
– you are born with nothing but the skin on your ass, every day you should wake and thank the lord for that…nobody owes you a thing in this world, not a god damn thing…
As long as it’s the same size star you get for putting on your pants without help.
I mean, honestly, for Swifty to come on here and be incredulous that we’re not all praising Thibs for his handling of iHart last night is ridiculous. Thibs is still the dumb MFer who ran iHart into the ground in the first place.
It was a very little star, right below the dead mouse perched on his forehead.
There are definitely days where I award myself a gold star for putting on my pants without help in the morning.
And I am on the record for thrashing Thibs over Brunson. So yeah.
In case you haven’t noticed…we’ve already built a team. A damn good one.
LOL, if Brunson tweaked his ankle two minutes into the first quarter of a game you’d be the first to yell “WHY DID THIBS LET HIM PLAY 39.9 minutes 5 weeks ago in a double OT game that we won against the celtics!”
And how did Thibs run him into the ground exactly? By starting him when Mitch wasn’t available? By forbidding Leon to make a trade for another big?
You act like iHart played 45 minutes a game 10 straight games in a row. He’s an NBA player and he’s starting. I guess he should just let us lose game after game cause we can surely make that up when everyone’s healthy, right?
Hey we missed the playoffs but everyone’s healthy for next season. Success!
Thibs was supposed to play him 21 minutes last night as part of an organized and deliberate buildup planned out by the team’s medical staff to get him back to something like full strength. Slowly and correctly.
Thibs instead went off-grid — as he always does — and played him 11 minutes.
That’s a fuckup. The fuckup is amplified by the fact that iHart only got to the point that the medicals have to do an organized and deliberate buildup in the first place because Thibs overplayed him before.
So basically Thibs can’t get it right on the upside and can’t even get it right on the downside. He simply can’t get managing his players’ work load right. He consistently fucks it up, at all points on the matrix. The software is incompatible with his OS.
You put on pants? Hero.
Geo, my dad spoke the same language. I don’t give a rat’s ass and That really fries my buns come to mind, among the less offensive phrases…
An inordinate amount of those phrases have to do with ass.
A foreshadow of the Kardashian ascension into American royalty
It.makes me miserable when my favorite basketball team wins basketball games
And you’re just as nuts as Swifty today.
No, it’s not a fuck up. We have three months get iHart in shape.
The medical staff can set limits but they don’t get to give minimums.
It wasn’t a minimum, it was a set number. Like a pitch count. Day 1 of rehab, 10 pitches from flat ground, Day 2, 20 pitches from a mound, etc.
Thibs had him throw 10 pitches Day 2.
(Yes, time to get him in shape — that’s exactly the process the med staff was managing.)
“That’s a fuckup. The fuckup is amplified by the fact that iHart only got to the point that the medicals have to do an organized and deliberate buildup in the first place because Thibs overplayed him before.
So basically Thibs can’t get it right on the upside and can’t even get it right on the downside. He simply can’t get managing his players’ work load right. He consistently fucks it up, at all points on the matrix. The software is incompatible with his OS.”
So Thibs fucked by not doing what the most agenda-driven and consistently wrong poster in KB history (maybe other than ruruland, but I digress) thought he should have done…
Got it.
“as the saying goes though – a hard head makes for a soft ass…”
I heard that one many times in my youth.
Respectfully, E, you’re making this up. Thibs didn’t “have to” play him 20 minutes if he was playing like shit.
And if iHart’s getting his butt kicked again tomorrow vs the Celtics, do you think we should throw it just to give him his minutes?
Come on.
I’m going on what the Post and iHart himself said.
I’m going by what tHart said to cgreene: “my son is fine and wants to play 48 minutes against the Sixers”.
Hartenstein looked like he could barely walk,
so honestly I don’t know what the hell the doctors are seeing. Looked to me like he should have been playing zero minutes.
Thibs doesn’t get any special genius points for pulling him out of the game and limiting his minutes, but it’s insanity to say that Thibs played him too FEW minutes. Maybe let’s set aside whatever axes we have to grind here for a minute and use some common sense.
Look how bad Julius was in the beginning of the year and Thibs just kept him out there. At least he didn’t do that with a very ineffective iHart.
So tedious…
Strange piece of discourse, even for this board.
I just want everyone to get healthy also. Not sure what else there is to be gleaned until then.
hey rama – the question is, are you yourself doing your part to ensure you help maintain a flavorful and spicy english language continues to be used?
It seems it is part of your birthright, right?
thankfully i haven’t heard my kids cussing too much yet…
I’ve been waging a near-daily battle with #lolKnicksSupv – he’s been doing some serious mental gymnastics to discredit Brunson’s rise to superstardom… like I don’t know that he watches all these ESPN talk shows. Tried to tell me one time that he “hates small guards” as I look at him and he’s 6’1”.
Dude… YOU’RE a small guard. Self-hate much?
I saw Cleveland was down to Philly at halftime and thought to myself “maxey must be lighting them up” but he’s only got 5 points
Maxey is laying an egg, and yet the Mitchell-less Cavs are wholly unimpressive.
What happened to RJ? His replacement is the anti-RJ, nothing in the box score (like zero points), but somehow still a plus 7.
IQ looks like he’s having a good game.
Also Trae Young laying an egg. Post All Star blahs like Jalen?
And looks like we got the better Bogy (4-16).
Knicks should tank to the 7th seed so they could play Cleveland again.
It does feel like this Cavs team is a bit soft. A healthy Mitch would have some fun.
Knicks just 2.5 games the Cavs behind with what looks like a loss tonight.
Oh I see that a Heat player tried to hurt Zion. Have they hit their weekly quota?
The Warriors aren’t done spending yet.
KAT looks much more engaged these days…
he still flails his limbs around like he has no clue ever as to where his center of balance might be…
Bol bol went off tonight