PG: fake contenders

[The KnicksFix]

2nd night of back to back on the road with no Brunson Mitch McBride or Payne and we actually had a lead for a decent part of the game and foul trouble screwed us

Also the refs allowed them to play aggressive and blow up screens at the end of the 1st half to the 2nd half (many should have been fouls) which changed the momentum.

Some good things I saw tonight before the legs turned to jelly though lol

The Cavs are a good team but we saw vulnerabilities in the first half. Then OG got in foul trouble and the game turned, but adding JB, Mitch and McBride we have more weapons to throw at them.

We won't be an easy out, that's for sure.

We not facing them, we losing to the Celtics in 4

[god shammgod]

That was rough... ended up how I expected. But after having that 1st half lead they got me to believe. Fooled me.

Mikal having less shot attempts than shamet is a problem.

Kat having less 3s than Mobley is a problem. Not having a 2nd creator is a problem.

And through all that we will have the best player when we see em in the playoffs. So fck em. We move.

Mikal had 3 fewer attempts than precious achiuwa. Dude does this. Has games where he won’t even try to score. I don’t even have to words to explain how this happens. With no Brunson and then towns and OG getting in foul trouble it’s like ok Mikal, do something, and the guy just dribbles around and hands it off to someone as the shot clock expires. I don’t get it

he's gonna make a bunch of midrange shots against the next terrible team we play and people will call the trade a success again

at the end of the day he was supposed to be 3 & d plus.....forget the plus even for now, can you at least do one of those other things ?

[Adelheid]

its hard but it needs to be said....

mikal sucks. you can be forgiven if you didnt score much but to be **** on defense and not stopping anyone? thats supposed to be your calling card!!!

disappointing

The advanced stats all say he’s not good on defense. Pretty bad actually. Not sure if it’s because he guards tough assignments or what but I’m just reporting what they say

so the front office got fooled then?

[KnicksGadfly]

It's a bit hard to read too much into this one. B2B, 2 key players missing. We got outplayed for sure, though, but I'm not too pissed. I'm even happy Thibs didn't break 40 minutes for our dudes.

[Jalen Bluntson]

I still like Kolek but he has to get his shooting going. Needs to be a real threat from three. Even free throws are missing recently

He's played in a handful of games 15-20mpg. He hasn't even tried o score much. I will chalk it up to he's not ready for that right now. He is just looking to help others score efficiently. Maybe if he had more in game reps this season he would be further along. Oh well. He's a promising young player we may be able to call a very good backup PG at least. He does have to score more though. It's annoying.

[god shammgod]

there's been some talk that mikal doesn't really love his role defending point of attack. maybe he's not all that happy here. he was pouting on the nets last year too though. so maybe it's just him.

[Enzo954]

People going into full meltdown mode when Brunson, Mitch, Cam and Mcbride are all out is a bit much. The Cavs have the 2nd best record in the NBA. This loss was basically expected. Relax.

[taikibansei]

2nd night of back to back on the road with no Brunson Mitch McBride or Payne and we actually had a lead for a decent part of the game and foul trouble screwed us

Exactly. Sometimes I read the posts here and feel I've watched a different game than much of this board. Tonight gave me more hope that--if we can just get everyone healthy at the same time--we can seriously compete now even with the top three (Boston, OKC, Cleveland) teams.

I think we showed we stand a punchers chance against CLE. TWO games we choked away the lead late and never recovered. Doing it so shorthanded was actually a good sign. I don't know about Boston though. May e the Brunson injury opened up a few wrinkles we can do when he gets back.

Boston would still be heavily favored of course, but we were top-five in offense most of this season with Brunson and KAT healthy, and our defense too has improved significantly when Mitch is on the court (top-six over the last month). Top-five offense + top-6 defense = a tough out against anyone. Even more importantly, Thibs has finally realized that we do indeed have a bench that can contribute now. (I think they've grown more confident as well.)

Hate to wish injuries on another team...**** that, it's Boston...all it takes is one injured starter there, and we're pretty close.

[robillionaire]

It's a bit hard to read too much into this one. B2B, 2 key players missing. We got outplayed for sure, though, but I'm not too pissed. I'm even happy Thibs didn't break 40 minutes for our dudes.

Yeah and we could have used minutes from Mitch who has beaten their bigs in the past but we gave him the night off. The biggest problem is that we couldn’t score in the 2nd half, like at all. That’s when you need Brunson to get things going but yeah. Is what it is

[Clyde_Style]

OG's first half made this enjoyable

If everyone is healthy, OG could be the difference maker if he keeps this up

[WaltFrazier]

its hard but it needs to be said....

mikal sucks. you can be forgiven if you didnt score much but to be **** on defense and not stopping anyone? thats supposed to be your calling card!!!

disappointing

The advanced stats all say he’s not good on defense. Pretty bad actually. Not sure if it’s because he guards tough assignments or what but I’m just reporting what they say

When JB got hurt and Deuce was starting, it felt like Mikal's D was better guarding wings as Deuce took the POA point guard. Not sure what stats say but that was my eye test at the time. Once Deuce also got hurt Mikal had to go back to tougher assignments. Although Wright should be helping there

[RHODEY]

2nd night of back to back on the road with no Brunson Mitch McBride or Payne and we actually had a lead for a decent part of the game and foul trouble screwed us

Also the refs allowed them to play aggressive and blow up screens at the end of the 1st half to the 2nd half (many should have been fouls) which changed the momentum.

Some good things I saw tonight before the legs turned to jelly though lol

Major good thing is if OG is really turning into Kahwii Leonard 2.0....

The refs, tired legs and missing critical pieces ultimately did us in.

But IMO that 1st half showed me that we are just scratching the surface with this team. And yes its time to find a coach that can fully unlock our squad.

Earlier in the season I was against the idea of moving Towns for Giannis. but....

I love Towns , I just dont know if I can trust his bball awareness and decision making in critical situations versus elite teams. If this version of OG is for real, I might consider doing a 1 for one trade if it was on the table.

[Zenzibar]

its hard but it needs to be said....

mikal sucks. you can be forgiven if you didnt score much but to be **** on defense and not stopping anyone? thats supposed to be your calling card!!!

disappointing

The advanced stats all say he’s not good on defense. Pretty bad actually. Not sure if it’s because he guards tough assignments or what but I’m just reporting what they say

Chill with the slander, Mikal has never played defense with a worst defensive center than KAT. Be mindful what happens with Mitch down low.

[The KnicksFix]

its hard but it needs to be said....

mikal sucks. you can be forgiven if you didnt score much but to be **** on defense and not stopping anyone? thats supposed to be your calling card!!!

disappointing

The advanced stats all say he’s not good on defense. Pretty bad actually. Not sure if it’s because he guards tough assignments or what but I’m just reporting what they say

Chill with the slander, Mikal has never played defense with a worst defensive center than KAT. Be mindful what happens with Mitch down low.

It doesn’t look like we will start Mitch with KAT
And therein lies the problem
If you have KAT with hart to start the game, the playoffs are over

[WaltFrazier]

OG's first half made this enjoyable

If everyone is healthy, OG could be the difference maker if he keeps this up

I feel like now, if we have everyone healthy for round 1, we can rebuild chemistry in that round and give Boston a fight in the second. And that's the most we can hope for, a good showing.

But what are the odds we have everyone healthy

[sol537]

Mikal looks better playing next to Mitch than with KAT.

Mikal also plays better when he’s set up or on the curl. Cavs wisely trapped him or put their 7 footer on him whenever he tried anything. Thibs had no counter.

[Zenzibar]

Also the refs allowed them to play aggressive and blow up screens at the end of the 1st half to the 2nd half (many should have been fouls) which changed the momentum.

Some good things I saw tonight before the legs turned to jelly though lol

The Cavs are a good team but we saw vulnerabilities in the first half. Then OG got in foul trouble and the game turned, but adding JB, Mitch and McBride we have more weapons to throw at them.

We won't be an easy out, that's for sure.

We nor facing them, we losing to the Celtics in 4

[Guano]

That was rough... ended up how I expected. But after having that 1st half lead they got me to believe. Fooled me.

Mikal having less shot attempts than shamet is a problem.

Kat having less 3s than Mobley is a problem. Not having a 2nd creator is a problem.

And through all that we will have the best player when we see em in the playoffs. So fck em. We move.

Mikal had 3 fewer attempts than precious achiuwa. Dude does this. Has games where he won’t even try to score. I don’t even have to words to explain how this happens. With no Brunson and then towns and OG getting in foul trouble it’s like ok Mikal, do something, and the guy just dribbles around and hands it off to someone as the shot clock expires. I don’t get it

We need a 2nd creator cause kat drives arent working and mikal was scared of the rock tonight. And its not going to magically change in the playoffs where 1v1 is the key

[KnicksGadfly]

It's a bit hard to read too much into this one. B2B, 2 key players missing. We got outplayed for sure, though, but I'm not too pissed. I'm even happy Thibs didn't break 40 minutes for our dudes.

Yeah and we could have used minutes from Mitch who has beaten their bigs in the past but we gave him the night off. The biggest problem is that we couldn’t score in the 2nd half, like at all. That’s when you need Brunson to get things going but yeah. Is what it is

Yah...I forgot McBride too. I dunno if Mitch is back to being the same guy who smacked around the Cavs bigs 1 v 2, but hopefully we'll have him when it counts.

[prophet_of_rage]

All this stupid f**k has to do is play Mitch and deuce over kat and hart/ Mikal
He wont do it, because he’s a f***ing stupid fat piece of s**t

Deuce is injured and Mitch was out.

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