PG Knicks - Great Second Half Led by Defense

[MickeyDavis]

Mild concerning trend the last two:

Cavs got 8 more FG attempts (and 7 more FT attempts)
Knicks got 13 more FG attempts (and 1 less FT)

I guess rebounding disparity explains some (perhaps most) of this. Any other thoughts?

Knicks had 17 offensive boards last night (we had 4).

[Ron Swanson]

Still concerning that we shot 13 shots less than them and only 34 threes. Out field goals have been trending down since the first game. Idk if it’s a doc thing or maybe it’s a Giannis in the half court thing but we’re not getting enough shots up to sustain this success.

Yes, this is one thing to still be concerned about. A 13-shot discrepancy is unacceptable when the turnovers are identical, and there was definitely some luck involved with the 3PT "defense" last night. They didn't even have Mitchell Robinson, yet they still absolutely murdered us on the offensive glass. For all the talk about this team needing to play faster, they've fallen back into a lot of the bad habits of last year after the first two-games.

Get
Those
Shots
Up

[midranger]

Mild concerning trend the last two:

Cavs got 8 more FG attempts (and 7 more FT attempts)
Knicks got 13 more FG attempts (and 1 less FT)

I guess rebounding disparity explains some (perhaps most) of this. Any other thoughts?

Knicks had 17 offensive boards last night (we had 4).

Yeah, it’s probably most of it. It doesn’t explain the Cavs disparity though.

[midranger]

Watched the highlights, one immediate adjustment Rollins can make is getting much more air under passes to Giannis. He’s had a handful picked on flat passes over the top this year. Throw it higher than you think is necessary, or even possible. He’ll get it.

[Shaffty]

Cole Anthony had nine assists tonight. And at a +1 was the only positive bench player in -/+.

Somehow we’ve haven’t discussed this. Cole Anthony in Orlando was a black hole. On this team he’s meaningfully adjusted his game.

On the Magic he was the clear best shooter, tough to create for others in this offense

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[MikeIsGood]

Mild concerning trend the last two:

Cavs got 8 more FG attempts (and 7 more FT attempts)
Knicks got 13 more FG attempts (and 1 less FT)

I guess rebounding disparity explains some (perhaps most) of this. Any other thoughts?

I've been keeping close eye on this too - via rebounding numbers. Our opponents are averaging 11 ORPG, which is middle of the pack. Our diff is -2.3, which is bottom-third. Both of these are before last night's game, in which New York killed us, so these numbers will be getting worse. Sometimes this can be as simple as game-to-game variance and a team who missed a lot of shots with a particularly good ORBD, but sometimes it's a trend. Unfortunately, the Knicks are otherwise dead-last in the league in ORBD, which isn't a good sign for us.

For going on a decade now we've had a center who isn't plus on the boards - though lots of discussion, certainly, around if Brook effectively boxed out for his teammates. Turner continues the trend here. Giannis is obviously elite, but he needs help. Khris in his prime was elite in this regard as a wing. Bobby has also always played a big role for us here - but not yet this season. 2 last night in 16 minutes, for example.

I suspect if we can close this gap better we will then also close the FGA gap. It's not linear, but it sure would help.

[emunney]

Cole Anthony had nine assists tonight. And at a +1 was the only positive bench player in -/+.

Somehow we’ve haven’t discussed this. Cole Anthony in Orlando was a black hole. On this team he’s meaningfully adjusted his game.

On the Magic he was the clear best shooter, tough to create for others in this offense

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This is exactly it. There's so much room in the middle of the floor for him. Ball handlers need the floor spaced. He's getting wherever he wants. Help comes and he's got the skill level to spray dimes all around the arc. Game's easy.

Orlando's made a lot of good choices in the draft but big picture the team is not built for success. Now they gave up a Jrue package for a guy who isn't nearly as good as Jrue was. One of their max contract stars flat out does not know how to play defense and comes back every fall with 2 more dribble moves and zero more clue. Early days but their trio looks terrible together. They're lowkey in serious trouble.

[GoldenAntlers]

How about a Rollins, KPJ backcourt combo lineup every so often ?

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I would like 2 of KPJ/rollins/Cole to be on the court at all (most) times.

[craig]

Rebounding is going to be an issue. Turner has never rebounded much, that's never been his game. Defensively, we've got a lot of guards running around chasing guys and contesting the perimeter, that may not be conducive to defensive rebounding. Bobby doesn't fit the fast style, but he's always gotten rebounds.

[Ron Swanson]

Cole Anthony had nine assists tonight. And at a +1 was the only positive bench player in -/+.

Somehow we’ve haven’t discussed this. Cole Anthony in Orlando was a black hole. On this team he’s meaningfully adjusted his game.

On the Magic he was the clear best shooter, tough to create for others in this offense

Read on Twitter

?t=93U7XVblsnw-MCodloo4Bg&s=19

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This is exactly it. There's so much room in the middle of the floor for him. Ball handlers need the floor spaced. He's getting wherever he wants. Help comes and he's got the skill level to spray dimes all around the arc. Game's easy.

Orlando's made a lot of good choices in the draft but big picture the team is not built for success. Now they gave up a Jrue package for a guy who isn't nearly as good as Jrue was. One of their max contract stars flat out does not know how to play defense and comes back every fall with 2 more dribble moves and zero more clue. Early days but their trio looks terrible together. They're lowkey in serious trouble.

Banchero and Wagner 2-man lineup numbers:

2024-25: 110.4 offensive rating, +3.8 net
2023-24: 109.4 offensive rating, +1.8 net

Was always skeptical of this idea that their offense was gonna be automatically better with better health and just adding Bane. The flaw is building their core around two shaky shooters and on-ball players who don't really compliment each other at all.

[MickeyDavis]

Rebounding is going to be an issue. Turner has never rebounded much, that's never been his game. Defensively, we've got a lot of guards running around chasing guys and contesting the perimeter, that may not be conducive to defensive rebounding. Bobby doesn't fit the fast style, but he's always gotten rebounds.

Yes. Brook's rebounding numbers are similar to Turner's but Brook was very good at boxing out so others could get the rebound. Turner doesn't do that as much.

[MickeyDavis]

4 game hot take, Giannis is averaging a career high 7 assists per game. He's also averaging a career high 57% from 3. One of them is sustainable.

[Bucksmaniac]

4 game hot take, Giannis is averaging a career high 7 assists per game. He's also averaging a career high 57% from 3. One of them is sustainable.

And the other doesn’t have to be sustainable since we have plenty of help in that area.

[LittleRooster]

I think KPJ coming back will also help but not solve the rebounding

[paulpressey25]

One of you said Banchero is what we hoped Jabari would be. Think that’s spot on.

That said, I don’t blame Cole Anthony’s issues on Orlando on his teammates. At the end of the day, Cole played the way he wanted to down there. The great news is that so far he’s embracing a new role with the Bucks. Sky’s the limit for him.

[German Athens]

I think KPJ coming back will also help but not solve the rebounding

Yeah, he’ll help for sure. I have that offensive board he grabbed late last year against Minnesota burned into my head.

Honestly, if we ended up essentially replacing GTJ with KPJ in the starting group, I think our rebounding would improve pretty significantly. One has good ball pursuit and the other can’t tell which way the ball is going to go off the rim.

[emunney]

One of you said Banchero is what we hoped Jabari would be. Think that’s spot on.

That said, I don’t blame Cole Anthony’s issues on Orlando on his teammates. At the end of the day, Cole played the way he want to down there. The great news is that so far he’s embracing a new role with the Bucks. Sky’s the limit for him.

It's less about blaming his teammates and just the circumstance of being on a team that you can effectively play pack line against. He's no longer seeing 3 guys cheating into the paint when he turns the corner. There's one guy and a whole lot of runway.

[BigO]

Mild concerning trend the last two:

Cavs got 8 more FG attempts (and 7 more FT attempts)
Knicks got 13 more FG attempts (and 1 less FT)

I guess rebounding disparity explains some (perhaps most) of this. Any other thoughts?

Yes, the rebounding trend is concerning. BP didn't have a lot of boards last night, but he is a pure rebounder and he is needed for that reason alone. His shot has been off so far, but he has had some great looks, which is why they keep calling his number.

I do think the rebounding will get better once KPJ is back, but starting Green and Trent leads to bad rebounding.

[BigO]

These four game hot takes are hilarious:

1) I'll believe there is a new Kuzma after 25 games, not 4. I thought he played great defense against the guys he should guard (like Towns). Doc had him on Brunson for several sets in the first half to see if he could slow him down and he got cooked. That was bad coaching. He has been great not shooting the ball, so let's see if that lasts. You could see in that horrific pull-up three he hoisted that he still has those instincts.

2) Same with Cole Anthony. He was torched by Brunson, although so were other players. I'm not worried about his offense. Can he keep guards out of the lane? So far, the answer is no.

3) i do buy the hype on Rollins (as the founder of his fan club when he was sitting on the bench for the Herd less than 2 years ago). I also buy the hype on KPJ.

4) As founder, also, of the Green fan club, his value decreases quickly if he continues to get 5 shots off a game. That's not acceptable. They made a concerted effort to get hm looks at the start of the third quarter and then forgot about him.

5) This team is Washington without Giannis, but so what? I suggest starting a Greek school in Milwaukee and import other Greek families from Greece, who are immune from ICE raids.

[Perishable517]

Bobby is trying hard to fit in, I'm just not sure he can actually play this style of ball

He can’t. Bad post up long fadeaway twos is in his DNA. Playing fast is not.

As always, there will be times this season where we need Bobby's skills and game.

He's a 6th man. Comes in to spark the team emotionally and with scoring. Not having the impact, bring in Sims.

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