Hawks (5) @ Knicks (4) - Playoffs Round 1 - Game 1 - SUNDAY May 23 - 7:00pm

[BKlutch]

Officiating will def be a big factor. If the refs let them play a little bit, as they should in the playoffs, that will be an edge for the Knicks. If they call every tickey tac foul, thats an edge for Atl.

Spoiler:

Man, that's one stupid brother(s)

[makeitstop]

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Sounds like Thibs wants to spring him on Trae at unexpected times.

Agreed, I don't even want Frank to play more than 12-14 minutes...but I want him to hound the sh*t out of Trae for a handful of minutes every game. Put that 7 foot wingspan to use and use some fouls and just get into him.

The bulks minutes still need to go to Rose/Burks/IQ/Bullock/RJ...but just save a few key minutes whether its at the start of the game or end of the qtrs to just give Trae a different look.

I don't know if Thibs would go as far as to do this, but if he put IQ and Frank out there at the same time Frank could hound him on D and Quick could run him through multiple screens on the other end.

Probably won't happen, but it would be fun to watch.

[snadler]

a lot of the times we play 4 on 5 with Frank on the court cause he’s scared to shoot or he’s throwing up airballs and he can’t create for himself or others. he better be ready. we can’t be giving this guy excuses like he’s still a rookie now. especially in the playoffs. i am glad thibs has been holding him accountable

It's worse when Payton plays, much worse, we always are 4 on 5 on both sides of the floor, he can't score, shoot and he's an awful defender

[Deeeez Knicks]

whatever this wont go anywhere so I will leave it at this...he would be in there for defensive mainly and he has been taking 3's when he has been put in regardless of what you say. You can't take 8 3's in 9 minutes...

I don't even want him to play more than a couple minutes since we have better options then him and we need to put pressure on Trae defensively as well. But at certain points in the game to give Trae a different look it would be silly not to utilize his strength.

We've been playing 4 on 5 with Payton all year anyway.

Yea, nobody even wants Frank to take a ton of shots and that is fine.

Just play solid D, move the ball and take an open 3 here and there in a few minutes of action. He can still help the team just playing good defense.

We dont need him to play hero ball.

correct he is 90% percentile in spot up 3's...that is all I want him to do on offense. Leave everything else to Randle/RJ/Rose/Burks/IQ...whoever else is in the game. Just treat him like Noel or Taj. Instead of those guys just getting dunks...frank should only take open 3's. If the Hawks are double and tripling Randle and he finds him in the corner just take the shot...that is all that matters the overall volume doesn't mean anything to me.

He shouldn't be doing anything else on offense if he's in the game. His value in the game would be on the defensive side of the ball to hopefully bother Trae into bad shots or some turnovers and live with the results.

Yea, its pretty simple. melo is talking like Frank needs to go shot for shot with Trae

I am still expecting Payton to get first crack...Frank may not even get a shot unless things are going bad or maybe later in the series...who knows

[3toheadmelo]

a lot of the times we play 4 on 5 with Frank on the court cause he’s scared to shoot or he’s throwing up airballs and he can’t create for himself or others. he better be ready. we can’t be giving this guy excuses like he’s still a rookie now. especially in the playoffs. i am glad thibs has been holding him accountable

It's worse when Payton plays, much worse, we always are 4 on 5 on both sides of the floor, he can't score, shoot and he's an awful defender

that’s why you play neither

[snadler]

In the regular season as frustrating as Payton's minutes were, I understood although disagreed with Thibs reasoning, rose cou;dn't play more than 30 minutes so someone needed to fill the void of the other 18, but with Burks healthy, IQ healthy, Rose is back, and Frank in the mix, with every possession mattering in the playoffs, where even the best coaches shorten their rotations, there isn't one argument to be made for Payton to see the floor.

[3toheadmelo]

Yea, nobody even wants Frank to take a ton of shots and that is fine.

Just play solid D, move the ball and take an open 3 here and there in a few minutes of action. He can still help the team just playing good defense.

We dont need him to play hero ball.

correct he is 90% percentile in spot up 3's...that is all I want him to do on offense. Leave everything else to Randle/RJ/Rose/Burks/IQ...whoever else is in the game. Just treat him like Noel or Taj. Instead of those guys just getting dunks...frank should only take open 3's. If the Hawks are double and tripling Randle and he finds him in the corner just take the shot...that is all that matters the overall volume doesn't mean anything to me.

He shouldn't be doing anything else on offense if he's in the game. His value in the game would be on the defensive side of the ball to hopefully bother Trae into bad shots or some turnovers and live with the results.

Yea, its pretty simple. melo is talking like Frank needs to go shot for shot with Trae

I am still expecting Payton to get first crack...Frank may not even get a shot unless things are going bad or maybe later in the series...who knows

are we acting like frank hasn’t had a confidence issue for the past 4 years? theres a reason why Thibs has him benched. he holds him accountable unlike the people on this board

[NewKnicks]

Expect Trae Young to get a lot of BS calls. You know it's coming..

Maybe not.

But if Trae gets those fake-ass foul calls, Quick better get them, too.

The thing that really bothers me about those calls, is how the national broadcast announcers praise him for it.

"He's so adept at making contact. It's really amazing."

No. He just puts the car in reverse, then flops to the ground like he was shot. It's completely fake and it's just nonsense.

To be fair, IQ has the exact same move.

But I know what you're saying.. I don't like those cheap plays even when IQ does it. To me it's not playing the game right. But if the refs are going to call it, players will keep doing it.

[NewKnicks]

So the Knicks are only allowed 10% capacity in MSG, but the Hawks are allowed 45% at home? Wtf is that? So MSG is way more dangerous to enter than Atlanta's stadium? How ridiculous is that. That in it's own right gives the Hawks a huge advantage (assuming they fill the full 45%).

Going to be 50% at MSG with suites and individual tickets sales - they are doing vaccine sections as well.

Oh okay good. Thanks for the update.

[NewKnicks]

I believe this series will come down to whether Frank or Elfrid play more minutes.

If Thibs is stubborn and sticks with Elfrid for 15 minutes a night while Frank is logging 1-5 minutes, it will be tough to win.

I highly doubt Thibs is all of a sudden going to play Payton any less. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays more to be honest. Thibs might appreciate the defensive matchups.

And before you all flame me, I hate Payton.

[3toheadmelo]

Me wanting Frank to take this somehow means I want him to take 30 shots like he’s Trae young
Y’all crazy

Read on Twitter

[Deeeez Knicks]

correct he is 90% percentile in spot up 3's...that is all I want him to do on offense. Leave everything else to Randle/RJ/Rose/Burks/IQ...whoever else is in the game. Just treat him like Noel or Taj. Instead of those guys just getting dunks...frank should only take open 3's. If the Hawks are double and tripling Randle and he finds him in the corner just take the shot...that is all that matters the overall volume doesn't mean anything to me.

He shouldn't be doing anything else on offense if he's in the game. His value in the game would be on the defensive side of the ball to hopefully bother Trae into bad shots or some turnovers and live with the results.

Yea, its pretty simple. melo is talking like Frank needs to go shot for shot with Trae

I am still expecting Payton to get first crack...Frank may not even get a shot unless things are going bad or maybe later in the series...who knows

are we acting like frank hasn’t had a confidence issue for the past 4 years? theres a reason why Thibs has him benched. he holds him accountable unlike the people on this board

Frank def has some issues on offense. But Thibs trusts Frank on defense and he has been put in some critical situations for his defense. Defending Trae might be a key to the series. If Thibs plays Frank in the playoffs it will be for his defense and chipping in to help slow Trae....help Rose/Burks save energy and get Payton off the floor because he has far worse issues then Frank

[GONYK]

frank will never play 36 mpg so it’s pretty useless. that stat doesn’t mean anything honestly. and he passes up open shots. you know that. everybody knows it. been going on his past 4 years. if he played with confidence like you think he does then he wouldn’t be racking up DNPs. that’s why thibs doesn’t trust him. like I said he better be ready. it’s playoffs time. this ain’t his rookie year. you can keep making excuses for him like he’s a rookie but that ain’t working with me or anyone else. it’s good that Thibs has been holding him accountable and not letting him get playing time that he hasn’t deserved at all. it sucks that he’s blown all of his opportunities this year. if thibs plays him in the playoffs, hopefully he doesn’t blow another opportunity once again. better be ready.

whatever this wont go anywhere so I will leave it at this...he would be in there for defensive mainly and he has been taking 3's when he has been put in regardless of what you say. You can't take 8 3's in 9 minutes...

I don't even want him to play more than a couple minutes since we have better options then him and we need to put pressure on Trae defensively as well. But at certain points in the game to give Trae a different look it would be silly not to utilize his strength.

We've been playing 4 on 5 with Payton all year anyway.

Yea, nobody even wants Frank to take a ton of shots and that is fine.

Just play solid D, move the ball and take an open 3 here and there in a few minutes of action. He can still help the team just playing good defense.

We dont need him to play hero ball.

Lakers game Frank is what the streets are clamoring for

[Rasho Brezec]

I don't like Trae Young and the pubes on his head.

[NewKnicks]

I don't like that nearly everyone is picking the Knicks...I prefer the doubted underdog role because if the Knicks lose a tough series these 'experts' will use their wrong predictions as a reason to criticize the Knicks.

This is a great point. First time in a long time that the Knicks are not the 'underdog'. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle this new position as the favorite.

I think I saw the Hawks are 27-11 under McMillan. Too much overconfidence in this thread. The Hawks are a dangerous team. And when you have a player like Trae Young who can light it up at any moment, that adds a different dynamic to the series.

Pressure is on the Knicks to win game 1. Hawks have nothing to lose. They know if they could steal one game in NY, they'll take back home court advantage. We CANNOT lose game 1.

[Capn'O]

Me wanting Frank to take this somehow means I want him to take 30 shots like he’s Trae young
Y’all crazy

Read on Twitter

Yup. Just shoot it. And sometimes he does. And when he does he looks like a decent player out there.

[3toheadmelo]

Yea, its pretty simple. melo is talking like Frank needs to go shot for shot with Trae

I am still expecting Payton to get first crack...Frank may not even get a shot unless things are going bad or maybe later in the series...who knows

are we acting like frank hasn’t had a confidence issue for the past 4 years? theres a reason why Thibs has him benched. he holds him accountable unlike the people on this board

Frank def has some issues on offense. But Thibs trusts Frank on defense and he has been put in some critical situations for his defense. Defending Trae might be a key to the series. If Thibs plays Frank in the playoffs it will be for his defense and chipping in to help slow Trae....help Rose/Burks save energy and get Payton off the floor because he has far worse issues then Frank

All I’m saying is that he needs to be ready. His defense will help of course but he also needs to play with confidence on offense. We can’t be playing 4 on 5 with him. I just posted a clip of him passing a open 3 and forcing a shot clock violation likes he’s done so many times the past 4 years. Plays like that is why he’s just a situational player now in his career. That’s just the truth. We’ve seen games where he’s played with confidence and looked great. If he can play with confidence, he is a great asset to the team in the playoffs. So hopefully we get the good version of Frank and not passive frank.

[Capn'O]

I don't like Trae Young and the pubes on his head.

I feel like there's possibility for a Green Eggs and Ham spinoff here.

Trae's pubes on head
Trae's pubes on head
I do not like Trae's pubes on head

Would you like them when he flops?
Do you like his starts and stops?

And so on...

[3toheadmelo]

Me wanting Frank to take this somehow means I want him to take 30 shots like he’s Trae young
Y’all crazy

Read on Twitter

Yup. Just shoot it. And sometimes he does. And when he does he looks like a decent player out there.

Exactly cap. The only thing holding him back from greatness is himself.

[Deeeez Knicks]

Me wanting Frank to take this somehow means I want him to take 30 shots like he’s Trae young
Y’all crazy

Read on Twitter

For sure he should shoot that and has issues. On the other end, there have been games where he has knocked down some 3's. So you hope we see that Frank if he plays.

But overall, you are missing the point of playing Frank. You play him for 10 minutes or so of good defense on Trae. That can be worth the minutes...and anything he gives us offense is gravy.