Jeff Van Gully wrote:KnicksGadfly wrote:Jalen Bluntson wrote:
Oh. So...accordion sauces tell me blah blah blah. Knicks for clicks. Get back to me when something of substance pops up. Sometimes smoke leads to fire. Sometimes it's just BS.
I can't imagine what they discuss after looking at film but, it never seems like it's anything I would try to correct. Not just KAT on defense.
Think it’s important to check the writer when it comes to these articles. Fred Katz is pretty trustworthy and connected. He doesn’t do the negativity schtick often.
But yea, actually the article is pretty balanced as whole but of course, some stuff gets emphasized. I’ll try and copy and paste when I have time.
1. katz was on KFS and expressed a disappointment in the timing of the release. as some have mentioned, he doesn't do hit pieces.
https://youtu.be/l_FpQlIiYwc?si=Ju2N4YluOL0AVDvh&t=131 - direct quote
2. @KG please don't copy and paste the article. we can't do that. excerpts at most. thanks.
I respect that. Some excerpts and things I'd like to point out:
First - the article title: "Inside Knicks’ imperfect yet historic season — and how they build off it"
Anyway, article author is Fred Katz and the tone of the article is cautiously optimistic. I respect Katz and think he's a good writer. Sometimes, I feel like he's way too optimistic with the Knicks.
New York organized multiple players-only meetings after embarrassing defeats throughout this postseason run, all with various degrees of intensity, per league sources. It’s not uncommon for teams to hold meetings without coaches, but it is rare for squads that went as far as the Knicks did to do it as often as they did during the playoffs, and for the kick-in-the-behind reasons they occasionally deemed necessary.
The 2025 Knicks dealt with disputes on the bench, criticism about their starters playing too many minutes, one of which came from the inside, and public comments about “sacrifice,” “egos,” and “agendas.” On one night, they would roar back from down 20 points to ruin the Celtics. On the next, they would mail in a potential series-clincher so obviously that it would require a kumbaya moment.
The article later brings up PJ Tucker's impact, but the question I'd ask is: where is Thibs in all this? This is pretty alarming and something we've noticed throughout this postseason. Yes, the players need to figure out, but part of a coach's job (and part of the reason why Doc Rivers keeps getting jobs, even though he sucks) is managing these relationships.
The play type that was supposed to storm the league, the Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll, turned less frequent and less successful as the season continued. From Jan. 1 until the end of the season, the starters got outscored by 1.4 points per 100 possessions. The group was a minus-33 heading into Game 6.
Opponents put their centers on Hart, who is not a 3-point shooter, and athletic wings on Towns, which bogged down the Knicks’ offense. On bad nights, the two All-Stars, Brunson and Towns, exacerbated each other’s worst defensive traits and didn’t enhance each other enough on offense, regressing as a duo during the second half of the season and into the playoffs. That was highlighted in the Eastern Conference finals, when Brunson assisted on just five Towns baskets. The Pacers, especially, targeted Brunson and Towns throughout the series, bringing whomever those two were manning into actions and attacking from there.
Yep...we had an issue with Brunson and Towns offensively and the defense wasn't there obviously. I guess we need to figure out what to do about that. Towns feels like he's not very good with setting screens and he doesn't take enough threes for my liking. Brunson seems to miss Towns a lot, and sometimes, I think Towns doesn't need to complete the handoff to Brunson. Use Brunson as a decoy and go. Grab the ball and iso sometimes, even with Brunson on the floor. This is a deep question for our team, not to mention the defense.
The Bridges experience was choppy. He shied away from physicality all season, clanked too many jumpers and vacillated as a point-of-attack stopper before rising defensively against Detroit and Boston. Two of the greatest clutch steals in franchise history occurred at the ends of Games 1 and 2 versus the Celtics. Both were from Bridges. He played a hand, and sometimes was even the main catalyst, in the Knicks’ three 20-point comebacks during the postseason. But he backed off from physical play once again during the Pacers series.
His reliance on midrange jumpers benefited him but wasn’t conducive to creating advantages for his teammates. In March, Bridges violated one of the no-nos in playing for Thibodeau, questioning the heavy minutes the starters played under the coach during a news conference with reporters. The comments rubbed the coaching staff the wrong way, sources said, and showed a disconnect.
Bridges...we made jokes about the next guy and he had some highs, but he had some lows too. That midrange shot actually was clutch at times in the postseason though, especially because our offense sucked at times and it bailed us out. But too often, we needed more from him. He is playing a huge ass amount of minutes and probably not with a traditional defensively strong center, though.
Some people in the organization wanted to use the 15th roster spot to sign a player who could contribute on the floor, while others wanted a veteran who would be OK with not playing and helping behind the scenes, per league sources. The latter group won out and Tucker signed with the team near the end of the regular season to be a veteran voice.
The article talks about a lack of clear communication...just wondering, shouldn't Thibs be setting this culture too? I don't think he's actually a big of a taskmaster as people say. He does like spamming players heavy minutes.
Publicly, Knicks players made veiled comments all season about poor communication causing their inconsistencies. Behind the scenes, they and coaches expressed frustration with Towns’ defensive habits — less concerned with his talent level and more with his process on that end. Too often, Towns executed incorrect coverages without communicating why he did it. After it became a theme, players worried Towns didn’t grasp the importance of the matter.
This is the quote in general that was magnified in the article. Honestly, in this league, how many teams are playing with a center that's defensively deficient? I feel like it's not a huge number. Off the top of my head: maybe Duren? Vucevic? Jokic if you want to quibble. Sengun...he's not athletic like that but I don't think he's bad.
We talk about how OG and Mikal and Hart are failing, but I feel like great defenses in this league are often built with strong centers as the backbone of those defenses, not with a goal of protecting both their PG and C and I wonder if a competent defensive center will allow those guys to play better defense. We often call out point guards when the ball isn't flowing well, but I feel that needs to extend on defense, where a great center often "quarterbacks" and communicates to have the team flow. Guess the question is whether we think KAT is a PF.
At the same time, we did see KAT and 4 strong defenders work in the postseason. Just not sure how sustainable that is too. It felt like Thibs' play was to just iso KAT from the three point line.
