Sources: Knicks mull benching Hart for Robinson for Game 3

[WaltFrazier]

Delon nice shift

[HarthorneWingo]

Delon nice shift

He’s so steady. He and Payne are kinda ying and yang.

[HopelessKnick]

Delon nice shift

He’s so steady. He and Payne are kinda ying and yang.

It's crazy that after Delon played so solidly, in control, smart and steady for us down the stretch he was benched for the entirety of the playoffs. Just absolutely insane, silly coaching. Someone that plays terrific defense, limits turnovers, is capable of bringing the ball up and hitting some 3s. Buried on the bench for good. Insane. Not surprisingly he played a solid 13 minutes and the bench held up very well.

[gavran]

Delon nice shift

He’s so steady. He and Payne are kinda ying and yang.

It's crazy that after Delon played so solidly, in control, smart and steady for us down the stretch he was benched for the entirety of the playoffs. Just absolutely insane, silly coaching. Someone that plays terrific defense, limits turnovers, is capable of bringing the ball up and hitting some 3s. Buried on the bench for good. Insane. Not surprisingly he played a solid 13 minutes and the bench held up very well.

Same with Shamet. He is small, weak, but he tries on defense, can be annoying, and was shooting 42% from the three (on 6 attempts) coming into the playoffs (his last 16 games). He was hot, and that could have helped.

[MrDollarBills]

He’s so steady. He and Payne are kinda ying and yang.

It's crazy that after Delon played so solidly, in control, smart and steady for us down the stretch he was benched for the entirety of the playoffs. Just absolutely insane, silly coaching. Someone that plays terrific defense, limits turnovers, is capable of bringing the ball up and hitting some 3s. Buried on the bench for good. Insane. Not surprisingly he played a solid 13 minutes and the bench held up very well.

Same with Shamet. He is small, weak, but he tries on defense, can be annoying, and was shooting 42% from the three (on 6 attempts) coming into the playoffs (his last 16 games). He was hot, and that could have helped.

Shamet is a good match up for this series since Indiana's guys really aren't too big for him to D up.

[HopelessKnick]

It's crazy that after Delon played so solidly, in control, smart and steady for us down the stretch he was benched for the entirety of the playoffs. Just absolutely insane, silly coaching. Someone that plays terrific defense, limits turnovers, is capable of bringing the ball up and hitting some 3s. Buried on the bench for good. Insane. Not surprisingly he played a solid 13 minutes and the bench held up very well.

Same with Shamet. He is small, weak, but he tries on defense, can be annoying, and was shooting 42% from the three (on 6 attempts) coming into the playoffs (his last 16 games). He was hot, and that could have helped.

Shamet is a good match up for this series since Indiana's guys really aren't too big for him to D up.

Yeah I was advocating for Shamet to play too. I said this repeatedly....other teams aren't deeper per se....their 8-10th guys aren't per se better...it is just that their coaches choose to trust them and play them while Thibs believes a bench consisting of McBride and Mitch is enough.

After the Boston series Scalabrine said something interesting: He said he thought the Celtics deserved to lose because they cheated the game in their approach---heavy 3 point shooting, no adjustments. In that moment immediately the thought popped up in my head "Well Thibs is kinda cheating the game as well. No trust, no bench developed, trying to force his way through the playoffs with 7 guys and the starters playing heavy minutes and relying on Brunson to bail us out of every close game." In that regard Carlisle's approach is much much more intelligent. Get guys involved, trust them, ball movement, smart schemes, make life tough for Brunson 24/7 and live with the results. Ultimately his strategy will prevail and it is not even that hard to see why: He is certainly NOT cheating the game.

[MrDollarBills]

Same with Shamet. He is small, weak, but he tries on defense, can be annoying, and was shooting 42% from the three (on 6 attempts) coming into the playoffs (his last 16 games). He was hot, and that could have helped.

Shamet is a good match up for this series since Indiana's guys really aren't too big for him to D up.

Yeah I was advocating for Shamet to play too. I said this repeatedly....other teams aren't deeper per se....their 8-10th guys aren't per se better...it is just that their coaches choose to trust them and play them while Thibs believes a bench consisting of McBride and Mitch is enough.

After the Boston series Scalabrine said something interesting: He said he thought the Celtics deserved to lose because they cheated the game in their approach---heavy 3 point shooting, no adjustments. In that moment immediately the thought popped up in my head "Well Thibs is kinda cheating the game as well. No trust, no bench developed, trying to force his way through the playoffs with 7 guys and the starters playing heavy minutes and relying on Brunson to bail us out of every close game." In that regard Carlisle's approach is much much more intelligent. Get guys involved, trust them, ball movement, smart schemes, make life tough for Brunson 24/7 and live with the results. Ultimately his strategy will prevail and it is not even that hard to see why: He is certainly NOT cheating the game.

There was never a good reason given as to why the bench wasn’t developed. People like to pretend that everyone else is 10 guys deep except for us. In reality, once you get past your 7th guy, you're most likely dealing with average NBA players. You use who you have and use them to their strengths.

Wright should have been playing all this time. It makes zero sense.

[HopelessKnick]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/280528/Josh-Hart-Suggested-Knicks-Starting-Lineup-Change-For-Game-3

LOL...Hart took himself out of the line-up. Thibs is just such a disaster....he has no clue.

The fans see the need for adjustments, the media does, the players (Bridges, now Hart) see it, but the one consistantly ignoring all problems and all need for adjustments is unfortunately sitting at the helm. Hopefully these are the last weeks of his coaching reign here. So down 2-0, having lost both home games it was actually not Thibs mulling a change but Hart had to take himself out of the line-up.

[HopelessKnick]

Shamet is a good match up for this series since Indiana's guys really aren't too big for him to D up.

Yeah I was advocating for Shamet to play too. I said this repeatedly....other teams aren't deeper per se....their 8-10th guys aren't per se better...it is just that their coaches choose to trust them and play them while Thibs believes a bench consisting of McBride and Mitch is enough.

After the Boston series Scalabrine said something interesting: He said he thought the Celtics deserved to lose because they cheated the game in their approach---heavy 3 point shooting, no adjustments. In that moment immediately the thought popped up in my head "Well Thibs is kinda cheating the game as well. No trust, no bench developed, trying to force his way through the playoffs with 7 guys and the starters playing heavy minutes and relying on Brunson to bail us out of every close game." In that regard Carlisle's approach is much much more intelligent. Get guys involved, trust them, ball movement, smart schemes, make life tough for Brunson 24/7 and live with the results. Ultimately his strategy will prevail and it is not even that hard to see why: He is certainly NOT cheating the game.

There was never a good reason given as to why the bench wasn’t developed. People like to pretend that everyone else is 10 guys deep except for us. In reality, once you get past your 7th guy, you're most likely dealing with average NBA players. You use who you have and use them to their strengths.

Wright should have been playing all this time. It makes zero sense.

Exactly! People talking like Ben Sheppard, Thomas Bryant etc. are like better than Achiuwa, Wright etc. such nonsense really. Just let this sink in: Thibs plan was to go through the entire playoffs with Mitch and Deuce as the bench. Like one guy that missed 60 games and could physically probably not play more than 20 to start the playoffs and the other one unfortunately just overall with a very mediocre season. That was his plan. No real attempt to work 1-2 guys in. So what if McBride has a bad series (like he did against the Pistons)? Never mind, we'll play the starting line-up 40+ minutes or lose the series. Such a joke really.

[matchman]

He’s so steady. He and Payne are kinda ying and yang.

It's crazy that after Delon played so solidly, in control, smart and steady for us down the stretch he was benched for the entirety of the playoffs. Just absolutely insane, silly coaching. Someone that plays terrific defense, limits turnovers, is capable of bringing the ball up and hitting some 3s. Buried on the bench for good. Insane. Not surprisingly he played a solid 13 minutes and the bench held up very well.

Same with Shamet. He is small, weak, but he tries on defense, can be annoying, and was shooting 42% from the three (on 6 attempts) coming into the playoffs (his last 16 games). He was hot, and that could have helped.

And he drew a charge like cap

[Wildcat]

Seems to me a rested Hart showed 4th quarter dividends.

[nedleeds]

Man **** on rug. Cleans up own turd and gets praised. The lineup change is fine, it's the strategy and complete lack of offense to cover to the starters deficiencies. Forcing Hart into being the screener more often just so he can do anything on offense besides get left alone. Let KAT pull the defense as a shooter when he's out there with Brunson. I'd kill a mother **** for a Ramon Sessions type guy off the bench who could actually run a pick and roll with Mitch.

[sol537]

Seems to me a rested Hart showed 4th quarter dividends.

This. And the fact that we didn't get into slow starts in the 1st and 3rd quarters.

Mitch at four 6-minute spurts is probably our best bet.

[NYKinMIA]

Watch on YouTube

[HopelessKnick]

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for posting this! Great video and confirming essentially what many have been saying. No matter what the outcome of this series is, KAT and Brunson together is not going to succeed longterm. When both are on the court together we essentially need to be supergreat on offense to make up for the lack of defense because with them on the court our defensive rating will be below league average.

There is no imaginable scenario where the FO would trade Brunson so logically they will look to deal KAT. Very unfortunate as I like both of them and KAT is one of the most likable players out there and he seems to genuinely love it here but this is not going to work longterm if our true goal and aspiration is winning the title. With Brunson on the court everyone else needs to be good on defense. No ifs no buts.

This is coming back to my january summary: We need to deal KAT for 2 2-way players to address our lack of depth and defensive struggles. The good news is with KAT being a very very good player, all-star and essentially having a good playoff run...we should be able to pull such a deal off.

[sol537]

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for posting this! Great video and confirming essentially what many have been saying. No matter what the outcome of this series is, KAT and Brunson together is not going to succeed longterm. When both are on the court together we essentially need to be supergreat on offense to make up for the lack of defense because with them on the court our defensive rating will be below league average.

There is no imaginable scenario where the FO would trade Brunson so logically they will look to deal KAT. Very unfortunate as I like both of them and KAT is one of the most likable players out there and he seems to genuinely love it here but this is not going to work longterm if our true goal and aspiration is winning the title. With Brunson on the court everyone else needs to be good on defense. No ifs no buts.

This is coming back to my january summary: We need to deal KAT for 2 2-way players to address our lack of depth and defensive struggles. The good news is with KAT being a very very good player, all-star and essentially having a good playoff run...we should be able to pull such a deal off.

Yup, we'll have to pick between KAT and JB long-term and we know who the front office will pick. Though, there's a future where we see how those two look with a new coach and with a guy like Mitch starting next to KAT for a full season.

The good news is that KAT has upped his trade value this season (all-nba) and post-season so we can get a very good return if we do want to deal him at some point.

[HopelessKnick]

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for posting this! Great video and confirming essentially what many have been saying. No matter what the outcome of this series is, KAT and Brunson together is not going to succeed longterm. When both are on the court together we essentially need to be supergreat on offense to make up for the lack of defense because with them on the court our defensive rating will be below league average.

There is no imaginable scenario where the FO would trade Brunson so logically they will look to deal KAT. Very unfortunate as I like both of them and KAT is one of the most likable players out there and he seems to genuinely love it here but this is not going to work longterm if our true goal and aspiration is winning the title. With Brunson on the court everyone else needs to be good on defense. No ifs no buts.

This is coming back to my january summary: We need to deal KAT for 2 2-way players to address our lack of depth and defensive struggles. The good news is with KAT being a very very good player, all-star and essentially having a good playoff run...we should be able to pull such a deal off.

Yup, we'll have to pick between KAT and JB long-term and we know who the front office will pick. Though, there's a future where we see how those two look with a new coach and with a guy like Mitch starting next to KAT for a full season.

The good news is that KAT has upped his trade value this season (all-nba) and post-season so we can get a very good return if we do want to deal him at some point.

I think Mitch will only make a limited difference. The problem is that nowadays teams will pick your worst or two worst defenders and put them in the pick and roll all night long. The other 3 good defenders have no means preventing that really. That's why I repeatedly said during the season that I would actually stagger between them and have Kat play 28ish minutes but at the same time play heavily through him on offense when he is on the court. But in regards to Thibs you just know he won't make any adjustments....this one was forced on us due to the foul trouble, not because Thibs got the memo.