Knicks Morning News (2024.06.13)

“Noticed Johnny Bryant interviewed for the Cavs HC job but did not make the shortlist. Do we care that much if he leaves?–I know Julius credited him for fixing his attitude and assume he would be the default position if Thibs got canned mid-season but I think both things are moot now.”

I really like him as an assistant. Not sure I would like him as much as a head coach, but you could probably do a lot worse.

The Celts are representing an evolution of the game, and the Knicks and other competitors are going to be hard-pressed to keep up. Mazzulla has done an outstanding job of both coaching and staying out of the way of a hardened, veteran team that largely knows what it’s doing on both ends.

Their only weakness is rebounding, and when you shoot like they do, it hardly matters. Unlike D’Antoni’s Rockets or D’Antoni’s Suns, they are excellent defensively and don’t have to be hitting 3’s to win. You can’t really physically bully them, not with Jrue, White, Brown and (to a degree) Tatum able to guard multiple positions in switches. In fact, I would call Jrue, White and Brown physically intimidating.

Their bench will probably get better as well. Prichard is better than I gave him credit for, he’s got some TJ McConnell peskiness on D and is really a dead-eye shooter. Hauser is a more well-rounded version of Steve Novak.

Hate to say it but they are looking like a 3-peat kind of team right now, at least in terms of getting to the finals. And now that they will have the monkey off their back, they should only get even tougher to beat. They have had a cakewalk this time around, but it seems like they had another level to go to if things got tight. I think they would have handily beaten the Nuggets, Wolves or Thunder as they are currently configured, even at full strength.

For the Knicks to be competitive with the Celts, they need at least two significant pieces. As currently configured, only the most ardent Brunson stans would think that he will be a significant net positive against them. There is no one in their starting lineup he can defensively match up with, and they have three big, long, quick, physical defenders (possibly four) that they can alternate on him to wear him down. They need a 2-ways stud to start at the two so that DDV can come off the bench. My preference is for Mikal, but PG13 would also work. Then they need a change either at the 4 or 5. Randle would work with a stretch 5, but less so with either of our current options. KAT could work but you would probably need to move on from Thibs, and I don’t think he will be available anyway. Maybe Filipowski is that guy? Anyway, I think the idea that “if we only had stayed healthy we would have given them a run for their money” is not true.

I think KP’s biggest contribution this season was that he kept Al Horford healthy. They are not that different of a team without KP because they have multiple guys who can take on whatever he does except protect the rim. I agree that a healthy KP makes them even tougher for us to beat, but we have bigger problems in the non-C positional matchups. To me, it’s really about their two-headed monster backcourt.

“But the way you worded it really underestimates Porzingis. He did a lot more than keep Horford healthy. He made them shock-and-awe good, like Durant Warriors.”

That’s fair, I was mainly responding to BernieErnie’s point that you can discount him due to injury prone-ness. He was magnificent in Game 1, and for most of the season when he was healthy. But in the playoffs, it was clear that he was their most dispensable top-5 player, mainly due to Horford being so mentally tough and still physically capable.

Which underscores that the main hope for any decline going forward is at the C position. There are only so many KPs and Horfords to go around, and they smartly locked up two of them. They also have Kornet on the bench, who is a much better option than Sims. We have zero, and not even a poor man’s version. We need to get one.

I haven’t done a deep dive on Filipowski, but superficially he seems like a guy to target in the draft.

“I don’t know why people think we would’ve given Boston a run for their money if we were healthy. I like this team but we’re not real title contenders let alone on Boston’s level. Boston won 64 games, we won 50. Boston’s SRS was 10.75, ours was 4.36. Boston’s net rating was +11.76, ours was +4.8. Boston was 1st in ORtg, we were 7th. Boston was 3rd in DRtg, we were 10th. Boston went 4-0 against us this season.”

Beyond this, they essentially coasted through the regular season, resting players left and right, and still lapped the NBA field, while the Knicks had to play every game like game 7 of the playoffs just to avoid the play-in.

“They are actually both highly recommended strategies by advanced statistics, so I’m not ready to say we need to scrap our two-headed monster to do things their way.”

I’m not saying that we should either. Only that we should have the option of playing different ways. What makes the Celts great is that they actually don’t have to hit 3’s (e.g. like the Harden Rockets) to win. Their tip 6 can all play in the post, and all of Tatum, Brown, White, and Jrue can score in multiple ways. They can also wear teams down with defense. When healthy, KP can protect the rim, but all of the rest of the starting 5 are excellent defenders, whether at the point of attack, on switches in the PnR, or in iso, plus they are good shot blockers for their size. They don’t really have to play 5-out, but it’s their best offense. We don’t even have that option.

So all I’m saying is that we need to have 5-out with a stretch 5 as an option. It doesn’t have to be our primary offense, but it should be part of the game plan.

Brothers in Arms is one of my fave haunting ballads ever. Awesome guitar work.

I agree, d-mar. But he doesn’t help his cause by being in sub-optimal condition and whining to a unpalatable degree. And lots of the all-time greats took shit before getting over the hump. He needs to mature.

“But that is arguable. What I don’t understand is your attitude. People are allowed to reasonably disagree with you. I understand you were a high school principal, but you aren’t talking to hormone laden 15 year olds here. You aren’t the big macher here.”

…sez the guy who condescended to his fellow posters so irreverently that he was one of the very few to get banned. I’ll give this all the consideration it is due.

“There may be many here who think in their present form healthy the Knicks are reasonably close to the Celtics. Without being incredible homers. But we will see in the fullness of time.”

I don’t think there is an objective argument beyond a small sample in February to support the “reasonably close” hypothesis. As you know, I am as diehard of a Knicks fan as anyone here, and for as long a most here. I’m not sure that any of our players would crack their starting lineup except for Brunson, and you could argue that he’d be better coming off of their bench. They have five all-star level starters who played with great chemistry, and an all-star level 6th man in Horford.

Now if by “reasonably close” you mean a couple of feasible moves away, then I would agree with that.