The Knicks Are Only Marginally Better Than Last Year

[rajajackal]

i could think of no better member than buzz to activate everyone's negativity as training camp approaches. phenomenal job

[Phish Tank]

I'm not sure what people expect tho..... the Thunder offered more money to Hartenstein than we could even offer, not our fault. We got Mikal even though we're already well into and above the cap. We re-signed Brunson to a cap friendly deal. We drafted 4 rooks.

[Clyde_Style]

i could think of no better member than buzz to activate everyone's negativity as training camp approaches. phenomenal job

Buzz is a stealth positivist

He sets the bar low so when he offers even faint praise it is like dishing out gold stars and candy bars.

[bkkrh]

For me it mostly comes down to 3 points.

1. Can Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson finally stay healthy for a full season?
2. Is Randle able to perform in the playoffs?
3. Does Mikal Bridges turn out to be an All Star level player as he was in Brooklyn, or does he move back into being a high level role player when he plays for a contender as he was in Phoenix.

I'm not too worried about the Center situation. It's generally easier than ever to find a solid big rotation player, or get one through trade. Drummond is struggling almost each season to get a deal above the minimum salary and find a team that would play him as a starter, while he'd probably still lead the league in Rebounds each season if he'd get the playing time. Compare that to 2016 when the Lakers paid Mozgov 16 Million per year and Milwaukee Miles Plumlee 12.5 Million.

While it sucks that Hartenstein is gone, let's also not forget that he came as a former 2nd round pick that played for 4 different teams his first 4 seasons and had 2 minutes of Playoff experience. We might actually have his successor already on the roster with Huckporti, who is also a high energy player and has the potential to be at least a decent backup center.

[thebuzzardman]

i could think of no better member than buzz to activate everyone's negativity as training camp approaches. phenomenal job

Buzz is a stealth positivist

He sets the bar low so when he offers even faint praise it is like dishing out gold stars and candy bars.

I really just wanted to bait people into posting this team. I swear.

[thebuzzardman]

For me it mostly comes down to 3 points.

1. Can Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson finally stay healthy for a full season?
2. Is Randle able to perform in the playoffs?
3. Does Mikal Bridges turn out to be an All Star level player as he was in Brooklyn, or does he move back into being a high level role player when he plays for a contender as he was in Phoenix.

I'm not too worried about the Center situation. It's generally easier than ever to find a solid big rotation player, or get one through trade. Drummond is struggling almost each season to get a deal above the minimum salary and find a team that would play him as a starter, while he'd probably still lead the league in Rebounds each season if he'd get the playing time. Compare that to 2016 when the Lakers paid Mozgov 16 Million per year and Milwaukee Miles Plumlee 12.5 Million.

While it sucks that Hartenstein is gone, let's also not forget that he came as a former 2nd round pick that played for 4 different teams his first 4 seasons and had 2 minutes of Playoff experience. We might actually have his successor already on the roster with Huckporti, who is also a high energy player and has the potential to be at least a decent backup center.

Bridges kind of splitting the difference between Brooklyn Bridges (heh) and Suns Bridges would be cool

[thebuzzardman]

So, not to slander Julius, but check out this video.

Watch on YouTube

;t=43s

For starters, imagine Bridges is out there instead of Hart.

Video lineup at the start: Brunson/Donte/OG/Hart/Mitch

Possibly better lineup: Brunson/Donte/Mikal/OG/Mitch

Non slandering of Julius

Brunson/Donte/Mikal/OG/Randle

They'll miss iShart, but Knicks are better.

[WargamesX]

So, not to slander Julius, but check out this video.

Watch on YouTube

;t=43s

For starters, imagine Bridges is out there instead of Hart.

Video lineup at the start: Brunson/Donte/OG/Hart/Mitch

Possibly better lineup: Brunson/Donte/Mikal/OG/Mitch

Non slandering of Julius

Brunson/Donte/Mikal/OG/Randle

They'll miss iShart, but Knicks are better.

There is a joke in there that is Randle is a Melo'esque player then the knicks are running an Iverson/Melo 2007 Nuggets offense, but lowkey the knicks as built is a better than that team on paper.

[Clyde_Style]

i could think of no better member than buzz to activate everyone's negativity as training camp approaches. phenomenal job

Buzz is a stealth positivist

He sets the bar low so when he offers even faint praise it is like dishing out gold stars and candy bars.

I really just wanted to bait people into posting this team. I swear.

You sir, are a Master Baiter

[Clyde_Style]

So, not to slander Julius, but check out this video.

Watch on YouTube

;t=43s

For starters, imagine Bridges is out there instead of Hart.

Video lineup at the start: Brunson/Donte/OG/Hart/Mitch

Possibly better lineup: Brunson/Donte/Mikal/OG/Mitch

Non slandering of Julius

Brunson/Donte/Mikal/OG/Randle

They'll miss iShart, but Knicks are better.

Bridges was a major addition. Whether he is a super role player or a go to guy will not be the point. It is how his versatile skill set amplifies this roster. Like adding OG, he is another pot of glue that knits us tighter together as a functional and effective team. I'd say Josh Hart provides that quality as well. When you have three high level guys like that on a team, you're already going to be heads and shoulders above most of your competition.

[Luv those Knicks]

Bridges was a major addition. Whether he is a super role player or a go to guy will not be the point. It is how his versatile skill set amplifies this roster. Like adding OG, he is another pot of glue that knits us tighter together as a functional and effective team. I'd say Josh Hart provides that quality as well. When you have three high level guys like that on a team, you're already going to be heads and shoulders above most of your competition.

That's where I'm at.

Key changes, they have 2 backup PGs now, not just McBride, who I like, but he's not a PG.

Bridges gives them one other guy, their 2nd best scorer behind Brunson. Defender. Versatile. Granted, losing I-Hart hurts, but they've added more than they've lost.

Gotta stay healthy and see how the new lineup works together. I don't care if OG misses half the season. If he's healthy for the playoffs, that's all that matters. Make a trade at the deadline if they need to add a part, though they don't have many picks left to trade unless the Pistons or Wizards start to win games.

[Knicks365247]

What part of Hart's game you think they will miss?

Being a center when Mitch is out for 40 plus games and the playoffs.

ihart looked amazing for sure in that 2nd part of the season and the playoffs. and as i have mentioned before obviously id rather have him, than dont have him. but we on this board are actling like hes the 2nd comming of jokic.

he was benched, shipped and unwanted by his previous teams. he was begging the clippers to resign him for a paycut and "had to go" to NY. his game has been the same since he got drafted besides that little floater he "added".. i believe he always had that, just didnt have the confidence and probably coaches that told him not to "force" it. believe it or not. i have been in the gym with this guy 10 years ago when he was a kid and i think it was just for a visit in germany. he was on the come up and growin into a very good player. unfortunately i cannot prove it because i didnt think that guy would make it to the NBA on my favorite team back then. my point is, he played with confidence and destroyed us, semi pros in the 3rd german league.

people fail to recognize how much confidence, good leadership and team chemistry can do for a player. someone will step up into this role.

//EDIT

oh and i want to add.. i think OKC is a team that fits very well. their chemistry seems to be good and i think he will succeeed over there. im not trying to hate. but how many times have we seen a player break through because they were in the right situation? thats the case with ihart

iHart grabbed the bag in OKC but OKC structured his contract (3rd year non-guaranteed) and made it a certain size also to potentially use him as the main salary ballast in a trade for a star that comes available.

It wouldn't surprise me AT ALL if iHart is playing somewhere else come NBA Trade Deadline time.

People over index Thibs importance ... sure he'll grind our player into paste for regular season glory but he is an atrocious in game coach with a clown world record in the playoffs.

1. We all know how much of a joke Doc Rivers is as a coach. Yes he coached the 2007 Celtics to the title, but the real coaching was done by the defensive mastermind that Thibs is. Thibs was actually the main coaching reason they won the title that season.
2. Thibs actually has shown to make adjustments in recent years. For example he knew the Knicks needed more shooting in the Pacers series and started Deuce for Game 5, which led to them winning that game 121-91.

[NYKat]

People over index Thibs importance ... sure he'll grind our player into paste for regular season glory but he is an atrocious in game coach with a clown world record in the playoffs.

True, It’s important to watch Thibs too, he’s capable of having bad seasons. The Kemba/Fournier year was easily Thibs worst and he made terrible coaching and locker room decisions.

Theres no longer an excuse for the short rotations and running players into the ground, we need to pace our players to be able to survive four rounds of postseason play.

[WargamesX]

I'm not sure what people expect tho..... the Thunder offered more money to Hartenstein than we could even offer, not our fault. We got Mikal even though we're already well into and above the cap. We re-signed Brunson to a cap friendly deal. We drafted 4 rooks.

And the Knicks did all of that while also at least maintaining the ability to give a competitive offer for IHart.

Does anyone here remember when the Knicks used their only amnesty on Billups after fully guaranteeing his contract?

This regime is operating at a whole different tier than what we are use to.

[WargamesX]

Being a center when Mitch is out for 40 plus games and the playoffs.

ihart looked amazing for sure in that 2nd part of the season and the playoffs. and as i have mentioned before obviously id rather have him, than dont have him. but we on this board are actling like hes the 2nd comming of jokic.

he was benched, shipped and unwanted by his previous teams. he was begging the clippers to resign him for a paycut and "had to go" to NY. his game has been the same since he got drafted besides that little floater he "added".. i believe he always had that, just didnt have the confidence and probably coaches that told him not to "force" it. believe it or not. i have been in the gym with this guy 10 years ago when he was a kid and i think it was just for a visit in germany. he was on the come up and growin into a very good player. unfortunately i cannot prove it because i didnt think that guy would make it to the NBA on my favorite team back then. my point is, he played with confidence and destroyed us, semi pros in the 3rd german league.

people fail to recognize how much confidence, good leadership and team chemistry can do for a player. someone will step up into this role.

//EDIT

oh and i want to add.. i think OKC is a team that fits very well. their chemistry seems to be good and i think he will succeeed over there. im not trying to hate. but how many times have we seen a player break through because they were in the right situation? thats the case with ihart

iHart grabbed the bag in OKC but OKC structured his contract (3rd year non-guaranteed) and made it a certain size also to potentially use him as the main salary ballast in a trade for a star that comes available.

It wouldn't surprise me AT ALL if iHart is playing somewhere else come NBA Trade Deadline time.

People over index Thibs importance ... sure he'll grind our player into paste for regular season glory but he is an atrocious in game coach with a clown world record in the playoffs.

1. We all know how much of a joke Doc Rivers is as a coach. Yes he coached the 2007 Celtics to the title, but the real coaching was done by the defensive mastermind that Thibs is. Thibs was actually the main coaching reason they won the title that season.
2. Thibs actually has shown to make adjustments in recent years. For example he knew the Knicks needed more shooting in the Pacers series and started Deuce for Game 5, which led to them winning that game 121-91.

To be fair the critique was in game adjustments. Thibs has always been fine with making between game adjustments because he is great at analyzing the tapes, and from there spotting advantages. The issue is the ingame adjustments and I have a theory on that.

Basically a great in game adjustments coach like Spo relies more on his coaching assistants to provide their ideas during the huddle. You see them all talking and that creates a “group dynamic” where Spo can focus on active coaching and his staff can focus on trying to spot weaknesses and places where they have advantages.

Thibs assistants are more for development and they work with individual guys on execution. Thibs is the guy making the strategy in game, his staff is there to help the players figure out how to do it. I don’t know if they all analyze the tapes together or is Thibs does it alone. But essentially, I think it’s more coaching style than coaching ability that leads to Thibs not being good at making in game adjustments.

It’s also why Spo is such a coaching match up nightmare for Thibs in the playoffs. Spo knows if he makes enough adjustments in game Thibs won’t be able to keep up, thankfully more coaches use their staff like Thibs than they do like Spo. Spo honestly is one of the few coaches I’ve seen where you see him really talking to his staff during timeouts. Most coaches spend all that time talking to the players.

[god shammgod]

i'm not really sure thibs ever lost a series because of in game adjustments. he's lost series because of injuries or simply because the other team had more talent.

[nykballa2k4]

A few have already touched on it here, but it doesn't matter much if we are only one win or loss off of last year. What matters is how we match up with the teams who we will see in the playoffs.
This past year, we handily beat the Sixers without us having Randle and with them having intentionally injured Robinson without penalty.

Sixers have gotten better so they will remain a threat when healthy.

We have to make sure we match up well with the Sixers, Bucks, and most importantly the Celtics.

Perhaps we are about the same against the Hawks or Pacers, but adding Bridges helps us to match up with the teams that matter.

The only worry we really have is lack of center depth. For a defense predicated on a funnel defense, having rim protecting options is essential. We also need multiple big bodies to throw at Joel. There will be competition for Jonas at the deadline which seems excessive. other than that, we have a well stacked squad.

[jvsimonetti0514]

Precious as a back up 5 can probably do like 80% of what Ihart could. He doesn’t need to be in the restricted area to score and has a little bit of a face up game. He was a pretty solid shot blocker and rebounder with us too. The back door passing is really the only thing he won’t be able to do at all. A lot of those hand off actions Ihart got will probably be given to Randle now.

Mitch’s health is obviously a big deal but I’m very curious on how he’s going to look after 2 ankle surgeries. I hope he comes back 100% but there’s a shot he won’t be. That could cause a lot more issues than him just missing his usual amount of time.

Mikal could have been a victim of circumstances but Donte was a way better shooter than him last season. Don’t think there was any metric where Mikal beat Donte. With Mitch and Randle back, it could be an issue taking a step back in shooting from the 2 guard.

Even with saying all of that, even if the Knicks are marginally better, that still means a trip to the conference finals.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Marginally better than a two seed, game seven away from the ECF on fumes and one leg? Fully healthy we should be a BEAST! I'm here for all of it!

[nedleeds]

1. We all know how much of a joke Doc Rivers is as a coach. Yes he coached the 2007 Celtics to the title, but the real coaching was done by the defensive mastermind that Thibs is. Thibs was actually the main coaching reason they won the title that season.
2. Thibs actually has shown to make adjustments in recent years. For example he knew the Knicks needed more shooting in the Pacers series and started Deuce for Game 5, which led to them winning that game 121-91.

This is amazing. How much of a joke Doc Rivers is? Thibs is the bigger joke.

WTF has this guy ever won? He made a conference final with the Bulls and then done absolutely **** nothing.
He played his players 45 minutes a game during the fake covid year and got prison raped by the Hawks in the playoffs.
Failed as an exec in Minnesota, where his crowning achievement was going 97-107 and losing in a gentlemans sweep in the first round.
He's 38-47 in the playoffs.
He's made 1 conference final in 12 years as a head coach.

The Celtics won in 2007 because they had 3 **** first ballot Hall of Fame players. Thibs was irrelevant. Doc was irrelevant. If Thibs was such a god tier defensive guru where were the titles the prior SEVENTEEN **** YEARS the guy was an assistant doing the same ICE ICE ICE crap. FOH.

Your other example is a series we lost when he finally made a substitution because every other player had been run into the ground and injured.

Give the man a lifetime contract. We're the thirstiest most groveling hope sniffing fanbase in the league. We put total jobber coaches into the pantheon because our comparables are Fizdale, Kurt Rambis and **** Isiah Thomas.