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Knicks vs. 76ers: In the Broken Mirror

The Knicks take on the shitty Sixers, who are a mirror image of the Knicks’ record right now, 20-37 vs. 37-20.

I think that that mirroring will continue after the game! As I wrote that, I just realized that inherently, they will mirror each after the game no matter who wins.

Best if it’s a win, though!

Let’s go, Knicks!

The Dylan song is “Every Grain of Sand”

201 replies on “Knicks vs. 76ers: In the Broken Mirror”

At what point does Philly just punt on the rest of the season and shut down Embiid? Try and get Embiid rested and healthy for next year and tank to keep your top 6 protected pick this year.

Nice to see KAT missing the game after two days’ rest following Thibs once AGAIN putting him in when visibly hurt for meaningless minutes in a game already decided.

We built a team that absolutely needed to reach the postseason at full health and chose the one coach who strives above all else to minimize the chances of that happening.

On the other hand, turning Huk into a clone of our other black German center who wore #55 is possibly our best hope so I’m hoping this game is a step in that direction.

ditto pags…hopefully with a manageable schedule (no thunder/cavs/celtics) we see starter minutes decrease and more players getting games off…

that right there will cause me to have more faith in the team…

That was a stupendously ugly OG drive. Shame on him.

Mikal 30-pt game?

OG has some serious room to grow with the ball in his hand, close to the rim…

he’s looked like that all season raven…

still, he won’t improve just by practicing, gotta do it in the game…

he does need to practice handling the ball though too, a lot…

Perfect game for Invisi-Mikal to put some makeup on his season stats, let’s close this game before halftime.

I started 12-21 so i’m going to have a worse plus-minus than all of you that started earlier than me. 😛

Let’s win this! 🙂

Give Mikal a break. He also had 29/6/6 against Minny, 28/5/6 against Memphis, 27/5/7 against the Kings, and many other good games.

I thought Grimes was better than Bridges…

He is defensively and has comparable scoring numbers on higher TS% but nice to see Bridges making some shots against one of the worst teams in the league.

I shouldn’t complain though, at least we don’t have Paul George

Tatum just turned the ball over three straight times. And Ausar Thompson has turned into his brother.

I thought Grimes was better than Bridges…

Grimes saw Thibs and immediately went to the corner, Pavlov should be proud…

“If Mikal goes for 100 that would be a fun shortcut to “won the trade” status”

We really need to send Brooklyn a couple more 2nd rounders so we can sleep better. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I would not like to be the one to have to help Drummond up from the floor…

I like the way Brunson playing tonight better than his typical play. I’d way rather have PG Brunson than scoring Brunson. He’s going to get his points either way, but the focus should be getting these other guys involved and not just Towns.

Yeah whatever Grimes is nowhere fucking close to being as good as Bridges.

O RLY?

Pts/36
Grimes 16.2
Bridges 16.6

TS%
Grimes .596
Bridges .574

Rebs/36
Grimes 6.1
Bridges 3

Ast/36
Grimes 3.5
Bridges 2.1

Stocks/36
Grimes 1.5
Bridges 1.4

BPM
Grimes 0
Bridges -1.1

Defensive advanced metrics all say Grimes is a lot better.

Leaving aside that Grimes comes at a fraction of the cost, where’s the evidence in favor of Bridges?

Well, his handle is as good as pre-injury. 😛

Every time he dribbles I need a shotgun beer.

I know the Pistons are hot, but WTF? Boston?

Other teams worse than us have no trouble putting together competitive games against Boston.

We are just uniquely poorly coached and poorly constructed when it comes to matching up with them, which is concerning because that’s kinda the opposite of what Leon was going for.

Their entire fucking careers.

Until this season I guess, which is the second worst of Bridges’ career and may well mark the beginning of his decline. Grimes on the other hand is 24 and still has a bit of upside.

Precious is one of the best ever in “missed shots creativity”, a true artist.

P.S. I bet on him hitting the next shot 🤣

I’ve had a strange relationship with George (he doesn’t know that). Never liked him, seems like a perfectly okay guy; never liked his game, his game seemed pretty damn good on paper.

I’m just glad that he’s now washed so my take has caught up with his age.

“The Sixers could win 50 games even without Embiid” was a common, not-facially-nuts refrain this past offseason. Yikes.

Still wish we got Lonnie tho.

Until this season I guess, which is the second worst of Bridges’ career and may well mark the beginning of his decline. Grimes on the other hand is 24 and still has a bit of upside.

So what you’re saying is that if Leon called Morey to swap Mikal for Grimes, Morey would say no, is that it?

“The Sixers could win 50 games even without Embiid” was a common, not-facially-nuts refrain this past offseason. Yikes.

Considering I was bullish on the 76ers (qualified as “if they ever get healthy”) I hope that wasn’t me. I don’t think it was, but if it was I’m throwing out my Bourbon.

mikal bridges’ “advanced” section of the stat page for the last 2 years – is not your friend…

the best i can come up with in mikal’s defense is that:

his time to shine will come in the post season – with a zillion high arcing shots going in, and making it over each and every screen set against him…

that’s the mikal who will show up…

Nets up 30-12 in 1st quarter vs OKC.

Either everyone on OKC is hung over or they are still a 10 point favorite. 😉

I have to say, I enjoy watching the Knicks much more when I am drunk and they are winning.

So what you’re saying is that if Leon called Morey to swap Mikal for Grimes, Morey would say no, is that it?

So what you’re saying is that if the architect of one of the most expensive and shittiest rosters in the NBA likes him, Mikal Bridges must be really good despite a mountain of statistical evidence saying he isn’t. Is that it?

Hukporti has developed just as I hoped. He’s ready for some backup duty on schedule. I have no idea what’s going on with Kolek.

Kolek was doing a Thibs impression in the locker room that had everyone cracking up until Thibs was seen standing behind him.

Kolek was doing a Thibs impression in the locker room that had everyone cracking up until Thibs was seen standing behind him.

Serious?

I wish I saw that. 🤣🤣🤣

Watching Huk play makes me wonder how Mitch and Sims were unable to develop even a little bit of offensive game after so many years in the League.

The Wiz, Pellies, Hornets, Jazz, Nets, and Raptors are all still worse than the Sixers.

Kidding, Strat. But you could see it, couldn’t you.

RJ is 1-7. But it’s early. He could be 1-10 soon.

Maybe it’s just that he looks like General Zod’s large henchman from Superman II but I’m irrationally fond of Huk

If you are going Doogie on Mcnutt I am going Doogie on Cronin abandoning his trademark game thread titling. Unacceptable! 🙂

(I say this only because I have to check it every time I pinchi hit to get it right.)

Saw just the last two minutes of the half. I am really into the new Huk era and not just for the puns.

Huk managed to corral zero rebounds. Kind of hard to do when you’re tall and stand near the rim most of the time.

Speaking of Jericho,
he’s 1-2 FG in 65 minutes with the Bucks (4 games).
The shots came in the same game (in 14 mins) so he didn’t take a shot in the other three (51 minutes combined).
It should be some kind of record.

Huk managed to corral zero rebounds. Kind of hard to do when you’re tall and stand near the rim most of the time.

I was going to complain about that earlier but he’s been decent enough this year so I’m chalking it up as a fluke

If we’re talking zero, the Grimes guy is 0-1 so far.

And Hart’s stolen all of Huk’s rebounds.

(He did steal one.)

Precious is another guy that shouldn’t be putting the ball on the floor too often.

The box score says only one turnover by Precious, but it feels like seven.

The box score says only one turnover by Precious, but it feels like seven.

Does this one counts? Because after it Mikal dived to the floor to try to grab the ball from Oubre.

That’s literally the only place in the floor where Precious can make an outside shot

Nick Nurse is annoying

I bet he wakes up complaining about the dream he was having or something. 😀

I knew he wasn’t good on the break, but OG is REALLY bad on the break.

Someone should talk to Josh, he must take those open shots, can’t go on gumming the offense over and over…

I think OG’s handle got worse while he was hurt. He needs to spend the entire off season working on his handle. I was expecting him to come back better this season, but he got no better. he’s beyond bad handling at this point.

OG can’t dunk now, either.

What happened to Huk? I saw him come back, made a salad, now he’s hurt again?

If they somehow blow this game, I may have to take a week off from basketball.

If I didn’t know better I’d think OG was point shaving. I never saw him look this messed up. WTF?

OG can’t catch passes now, either.

I can’t dance, I can’t walk…

Team is gassed. They have that running in quicksand look. Everything is labored.

The 76ers are a bad team.

Last year the phrase “this team, man” had a strong positive meaning, this year not so much…

That call by Breen is extra funny if you watched him on the Roommates podcast – they talked about the “bang” call

Maxey is greased lightning. That was a great play they ran. Although our inbound play was good too

Thank goodness they won because that would have been an unbearable loss, but they sucked.

Gotta give Thibs credit for resting Jalen even while the lead slipped away so that he’d be fresh for the ending

A win is a win is a win (repeat til fade).

Brunson took over as usual and Precious had a great defensive play.

Pistons beat Boston by 20 , The Knicks getting out of the 1st rd isn’t a guarantee. Pistons might be the 3rd best team in the East.

*Pistons could climb all the way up to 4 so it might not happen

Maxey is a baller no doubt. Shame he’s wasting away in Philly because of Embiid’s knees and Paul George maybe being washed. I’d ride with Maxey on my team.

Nothing to take away from the game other than Brunson saving our asses again and in turn saving the coach. Another game of no adjustments, run starters to the ground, not trusting and developing bench. Shouldn’t change the mindset of fans that want him gone.

I could tell body language wasn’t good from a few players, in particular Hart and Bridges. Even they seem frustrated with this win

If Shamet can’t score we might as well start playing Delon Wright

Shamet and Matt Ryan roster spots need to be questioned

Not seeing a lot of daylight between Pagliacci and JK47 these days. Which is ironic, considering how JK was whining about how guys like Pagliacci were driving him off the blog.

I’d drop either Matt Ryan, Landry Shamet, or Diadet roster spots to make way for McCullar and Warren. If that’s possible that is. Someone smarter on the blog can weigh in on the restrictions…

But alas the problem is we don’t have a coach that’s creative enough or open-minded to giving minutes to these guys to see what they got. So probably not worth it

Day’Ron Sharpe with 25 and 16 (with 3 blocks) against the Thunder. Jeezus.

I’d drop either Matt Ryan, Landry Shamet, or Diadet roster spots to make way for McCullar and Warren. If that’s possible that is. Someone smarter on the blog can weigh in on the restrictions…

I wouldn’t cut Dadiet. If anything you get something for him via trade. Warren can be signed this weekend I think and McCullar can be added to the team right now. If McCullar is feeling healthy I’d bring him up and cut Ryan immediately.

Day’Ron Sharpe with 25 and 16 (with 3 blocks) against the Thunder. Jeezus.

Jordi is an interesting coach. He definitely gets his young players to play well enough.

Sharpe did have a huge game. Wish we had him

And PG13 has mothballed his podcast apparently

So glad we didn’t lose that game

Day’Ron Sharpe with 25 and 16 (with 3 blocks) against the Thunder. Jeezus.

They got him for Landry Shamet

Jalen Brunson gets ZERO assists after the first quarter. Point guard LOSER.

Very sad that the Huk Breakout Game was just the Huk Break Game.

Was at the game.
The combination of OG and Bridges is off. Bridges needs to go to the bench when Mitch returns. Hart is too important.

Jordan Clarkson currently at 0-for-10 (0-for-7 on 3s). But it’s OK, because Walker Kessler is 6-for-6.

Bridges scored 28 pts on 12 for 18 shooting while Hart had as many TOs as pts and he’s back to refusing to shoot.

But if he’s going to get 17 rebounds from his position, he’s still helping out, eh?

Of course, I still love Josh Hart. But the Bridges ridiculing has gotten way over the top, if Mitch is inserted into the starting lineup to me there is no question it should be for Hart.

In my opinion, the combination of OG and Bridges at the 4 and 3 was never going to work all that well. It is a smallish and non-physical combo. Neither guy has a “mean streak” that allows them to play up on a full-time basis.

I think the only feasible primary lineup for this team is: (5,4,3,2,1) Mitch, KAT, OG, Mikal, Brunson. Then OG and Mikal can use their advantages vs. guys their size or smaller.

That’s not perfect, but I think it’s the best way to go. It might not work vs. Boston, but it is viable vs. everyone else, including Cleveland.

I agree with you that the Mikal attacks have gotten to be too much, which is why I posted some of his better games of the season earlier in this thread. There are plenty of them.

I can make arguments either way as to which of Hart or Mikal should move to the bench. Thibs should try each way to see what works better.

Man, if you haven’t seen it, check out that Shaedon Sharpe dunk. Yowza.

More generally, I think this team lacks a modicum of physical toughness. They have mental toughness, but no team fears them physically.

I may not be stating this eloquently, but it kinda bugs me that we have zero physical intimidators/enforcers. I don’t want to invoke “dirty” but there’s a fine line between being “willing to bang” and being “physically menacing.”

KAT and Brunson are both willing to get physical, neither shies away from physical contact, especially on offense. But neither guy will commit that “hard borderline dirty foul” that, say, CP3 is known for. And that’s fine, if there are other guys on the team that will do that. But Mikal and OG are not bruisers, and Hart is sort of a fake tough guy. We really don’t have any bruisers in the literal sense.

That’s acceptable when you have the most talent. But we fall short there as well.

Hart is sort of fool’s gold for us. He’d be a great starter for a team like the Lakers, but we need more in our starting lineup than he can provide. Just my opinion, of course!

“Brunson absolutely gives up his body massively to make up for his lateral quickness”

Brunson has as much heart and grit as any player I’ve ever seen.

But what separates him from guys his size who are/were awesome defensive players?

Examples:
-Chris Paul
-Kyle Lowry
-Fred VanVleet
-John Stockton

For me, it starts with the willingness to push the envelope of “dirty”. Call it chippy or whatever, it’s a pretty obvious thing.

More generally, who on the Knicks, besides maybe Josh Hart and his broken shot, plays significantly bigger than he is?

RJ Luis JR is an interesting prospect on ST Johns. I wouldn’t mind him with the pick in the 50s.

For comparisons’ sake, all of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown play bigger and tougher than their size.

My G-d, ETW, do we really need to have another guy named RJ on this team to discuss ad infinitum? Hard pass. (Only kidding. I don’t follow college b-ball. If he’s good and he fits, I don’t care what his name is. And I do love St. John’s, as the first 7 years of my life were spent in Jamaica, Queens. But it’s not like Thibs will likely play him, anyway.)

Didn’t see the game tonight. Did Huk end the game hurt, or was he OK?

And it wasn’t just Day’Ron. The other Sharpe—Shaedon—had 36 points tonight.

Made me start thinking about the draft. How about Khaman Maluach (7-1, 250 out of Duke), who supposedly compares to Myles Turner? He’d be available to us at the end of the first round. That’s our sweet spot.

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