Knicks - Bucks PG: Merry Gritmas

[duetta]

4. They were criticizing Thibodeau a lot for his lack of offensive game plan. They also specifically criticized Thib's use of Hartenstein. Hartenstein's main weapon on offense is his passing and it is not being really utilized at all by Thibs. They questioned whether Hartenstein should really stay with the Knicks longterm because his role is so limited , especially when Mitch is healthy.

Who doesn't? I am so over Thibs. There's no way that I would give this old man (and I'm a few years older than him) an extension.

[Galvationknicks]

You just cant have taller players guard Brunson Griffin. Y'all are not the Heat. You need tall athletic players not slow ones like bobby portis

[rajajackal]

Read on Twitter

Thibs is a decent coach, but this...among other things he does...seriously need to be looked at.

Well Thibs developed him into a good player. Two years ago most people here wanted rid of IQ. The front office is the one that screwed the pooch and didn’t believe in him enough or make an ideal condition for him to play more minutes with the roster. But they got Brunson so it is what it is

hm? he's been a fan favorite since his rookie year

[robillionaire]

Thibs is a decent coach, but this...among other things he does...seriously need to be looked at.

Well Thibs developed him into a good player. Two years ago most people here wanted rid of IQ. The front office is the one that screwed the pooch and didn’t believe in him enough or make an ideal condition for him to play more minutes with the roster. But they got Brunson so it is what it is

hm? he's been a fan favorite since his rookie year

He had a nasty sophomore slump

[rajajackal]

Well Thibs developed him into a good player. Two years ago most people here wanted rid of IQ. The front office is the one that screwed the pooch and didn’t believe in him enough or make an ideal condition for him to play more minutes with the roster. But they got Brunson so it is what it is

hm? he's been a fan favorite since his rookie year

He had a nasty sophomore slump

that's true, i just don't recall a popular outcry to get rid of a year 2 player picked #25 at that juncture. maybe i have rose colored glasses because i'm the president of team iq

[duetta]

IQ is currently a victim of our numbers crunch. We have too many redundant pieces in the backcourt and virtually no depth up front. Management has insisted on bringing in these redundant pieces, perhaps in preparation for a consolidation that never happens. Our front office isn't completely incompetent, as in the past. But they are inefficient and this inefficiency extracts a cost - namely, that of the chronic devaluation of assets.

Consider Evan Fournier. This is a guy good enough to be an important player in international play. But he can't get on the court for us because too many of our other players also suck on the defensive end. And he just wastes away, despite being paid $18 million a season. It's Dolan's money, right? So why should we care?

They sacrificed a #1 to bring in Reddish a couple of years ago, without having first cleared it with the coach that he wanted him. Consequently, by the time he was traded, Reddish had little value except as a salary filler in a trade for a free agent to be.

Again, our front office is not completely incompetent, as in the past. But they are wildly inefficient and only occasionally on the same page as the team's coach.

IQ is going to be either a quality starter or a true 'Lou Williams' elite 6th man in this league. Someone is going to offer him a contract at that level this offseason. But he can't get sufficient minutes so long as management keeps bringing in redundant pieces that do not address the team's obvious shortcomings.

[cgmw]

IQ is currently a victim of our numbers crunch. We have too many redundant pieces in the backcourt and virtually no depth up front. Management has insisted on bringing in these redundant pieces, perhaps in preparation for a consolidation that never happens. Our front office isn't completely incompetent, as in the past. But they are inefficient and this inefficiency extracts a cost - namely, that of the chronic devaluation of assets.

Consider Evan Fournier. This is a guy good enough to be an important player in international play. But he can't get on the court for us because too many of our other players also suck on the defensive end. And he just wastes away, despite being paid $18 million a season. It's Dolan's money, right? So why should we care?

They sacrificed a #1 to bring in Reddish a couple of years ago, without having first cleared it with the coach that he wanted him. Consequently, by the time he was traded, Reddish had little value except as a salary filler in a trade for a free agent to be.

Again, our front office is not completely incompetent, as in the past. But they are wildly inefficient and only occasionally on the same page as the team's coach.

IQ is going to be either a quality starter or a true 'Lou Williams' elite 6th man in this league. Someone is going to offer him a contract at that level this offseason. But he can't get sufficient minutes so long as management keeps bringing in redundant pieces that do not address the team's obvious shortcomings.

Excellent post.

The part you’re not considering is the positive PR value of all those devaluing assets. Leon is benefiting from the ability to mail season ticket holders some flashy number like “11 first round picks in the next 7 years” despite a proven track record of only drafting late round “win now” role players. The Fournier contract results directly in positive media articles putting the Knicks in talks for this or that superstar who will never come.

Personally, I don’t think this is an accident. It is likely an intentional corporate strategy to keep positive media and fan sentiment despite having neither the will nor the ability to translate those assets into a franchise player.

[3toheadmelo]

Read on Twitter

[dakomish23]

hm? he's been a fan favorite since his rookie year

He had a nasty sophomore slump

that's true, i just don't recall a popular outcry to get rid of a year 2 player picked #25 at that juncture. maybe i have rose colored glasses because i'm the president of team iq

There was def some of that brewing on the board till he finished the season strong. IDK about in the media.

[dakomish23]

Dame seemed exasperated trying to guard Brunson lol

Brunson vs MIL 4 games 37.6 MPG
35.8 PPG 3.8 RPG 5.8 APG
53.8% on 26.5 FGA
28.6% on 5.3 3PA
76.7% on 7.5 FTA

He's absolutely destroying him in the midrange game, which is often off a pick, so Dame is running into a guy then trying to chase him down. 89.3% of Brunson's shots yesterday were from 2PT.

Two years ago we were watching Elfrid Payton start

[dakomish23]

For all the negative talk surrounding MIL all season, they have the 3rd best record in the league and are right there with BOS.

This wasn't a big win. This was a HUGE win.

[dakomish23]

Why did Grimes only have 12 minutes?

Is he hurt or is Thibs sneakily fazing him out?

They want to make sure he doesn't get injured before the Mikal trade

[dakomish23]

MIL shot 9 of 26 on Hartenstein. Pay that man

Spoiler:

[FrozenEnvelope]

Great team win and so glad it came on Christmas! Brunson is a 1A. If Dame, Morant, Young and Kyrie are considered 1A's, so should Brunson. He's reach that level.

Shoutout to Taj! Set great picks setting up open shooters and stopped/ripped the ball from Giannis twice!

And trading for KD? Some of you either like to troll, are stupid or have no respect for yourself!

[cgf]

Why did Grimes only have 12 minutes?

Is he hurt or is Thibs sneakily fazing him out?

They want to make sure he doesn't get injured before the Mikal trade

I dunno if we should be worried that the FO seems to have prepared for us to lose one of our young guards in the near future, or if we should be glad that the FO's not going to let a prospective IQ/Grimes trade leave us short-handed. I think a Brunson, Grimes, Quickley guard trio would have a pretty perfect blend of skills, but we're well positioned to move one of them.

...DDV has enough playmaking/combo skills to run the 2nd unit with RJ & Josh if it's IQ, while Grimes has flashed the potential to contribute more offensively and we saw more of that in the game that Quickley missed. And if it's Grimes that goes, DDV is already showing he can slide into that C&S role smoothly if we can replace Grimes' D.

Hopefully we keep any non-star trade this season smaller...I think my preferred version would be something like Fournier + Sims + NYK FRP + DAL/WSH FRP + DET SRP <---> Finney-Smith + Gafford...but with the way our FO has set things up, we could dangle IQ, Sims, & Fournier for WCJ & Black/P.Williams, and still have a strong rotation:

Brunson | DDV | McBride
Barrett | Grimes
PatWill | Hart
Randle
(Mitch) | iHart | WCJ | Taj

[ctorres]

Why did Grimes only have 12 minutes?

Is he hurt or is Thibs sneakily fazing him out?

They want to make sure he doesn't get injured before the Mikal trade

The last time the Knicks and Nets traded with each other was 40 years ago

https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/trades.fcgi?f1=NYK&f2=NJN

It's going to take an offer of RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, and the majority of our picks to get the Nets to consider a deal for Mikal Bridges.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Just watched the game. Great team win. Let's talk trades? FOH!!!

PS...Julius Randle is the laziest player I have ever seen. He just walks around waiting to get the pass or the rebound ALL GAME LONG!! The ball constantly gets to the other end of the court before he does. Walking around all game long. It's wild to watch even when he has a good game. Lollygagging around our there on both ends of the floor.

[thebuzzardman]

I've read it all on here now. Now the Knicks are deliberately screwing themselves over over IQ's minutes, in a gambit to devalue him, even though both sides have already made offers. Yeah.

[K_ick_God]

Just watched the game. Great team win. Let's talk trades? FOH!!!

PS...Julius Randle is the laziest player I have ever seen. He just walks around waiting to get the pass or the rebound ALL GAME LONG!! The ball constantly gets to the other end of the court before he does. Walking around all game long. It's wild to watch even when he has a good game. Lollygagging around our there on both ends of the floor.

Randle for KD is what you’re saying then?

[Clyde_Style]

Just watched the game. Great team win. Let's talk trades? FOH!!!

PS...Julius Randle is the laziest player I have ever seen. He just walks around waiting to get the pass or the rebound ALL GAME LONG!! The ball constantly gets to the other end of the court before he does. Walking around all game long. It's wild to watch even when he has a good game. Lollygagging around our there on both ends of the floor.

He was better than his usual lazy self on defense. He did play some good man defense on Giannis that I found to be pretty effective.

I stand by my premise: Knicks playoff ceiling is Randle's defense. If he plays it well, we can upset some teams. If he doesn't, we'll get bounced earlier.