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VirginiaKnickFan wrote:Making it to the postseason is a safe bet for the New York Knicks were given an over/under of 54.5 wins by bookmakers.
https://sportsbookwire.usatoday.com/article/new-york-knicks-2024-win-total-odds-and-futures-betting-insights/#
________ MUKCA_________* ** GO NY GO NY GO NY GO! ** 
SelbyCobra wrote:DaGawd wrote:god shammgod wrote:
damn espn stay hating
Nah, that's all analytics driven, you have to honor it.
Thankfully it doesn't mean anything to what's actually going to happen this year - adjustments, fit, growth, chemistry, etc. I think a lot of people don't believe what that formulas turned out on the deal, so we'll just have to wait until the games start getting played.
RIP mags
In 2020, Towns, at 24, lost his mother, his rock, his angel. He lost others close to him due to COVID-19, as well. On the court, the Timberwolves were taking a step backward. The team that had won 45-plus games for the first time in 15 years was now back in the cellar of the NBA. Towns, a two-time All-Star by the 2019-20 season, was dealing with wrist and knee injuries that didn’t help anyone’s case.
With time slowly deteriorating his pain, both physically and emotionally, Towns wanted to try and repair the relationship that he didn’t necessarily cherish in those moments, but, with time, learned that he needed.
“I remember after we played the Knicks pulling Thibs to the side,” Towns told The Athletic in 2021. “I said, ‘I just want to let you know I forgive you.’ There’s no bad blood. One day, let’s just go get dinner. Let’s just chill. We don’t have to worry about the business side, let’s just work on our relationship.”
Towns and Thibodeau are now reunited with larger expectations in front of them than their last go-round together. Last weekend, Towns was traded away from the only place he’s called home to the Knicks, where Thibodeau has helped change the narrative of another organization that, too, was once considered a disaster. New York has pursued Towns during each season Thibeadou has been coach. This was a trade that was years in the making that finally crossed the finish line just before the start of training camp.
Towns now returns to Thibodeau’s guidance with more life under his belt and with more success to his basketball name. He’s a different man but the same basketball player.
This time around, things feel like it could be different between the two.
“We’ve maintained a relationship through the years,” Thibodeau said following Thursday’s practice, Towns’ first as a Knicks player. “It’s always good to see him and I’m happy to have him on our team.”
KAT made his first All-Star team under Thibs, and the Wolves ended a 13-year playoff drought when they qualified as the eighth seed in 2017. But a partnership between one of the league’s best tacticians and most promising young talents never got off the ground. Thibodeau’s acquisition of Jimmy Butler did help the team end that interminable playoff-less streak, but it proved to be the team’s undoing in the end. Butler clashed with Towns and the young Wolves, doing everything he could to publicly embarrass them to force a trade out of town.
3toheadmelo wrote:Come back soon Mitch plz
Towns is considered the final core piece needed for the Knicks trying to accomplish something that they haven’t in 50-plus years: an NBA championship.
The sweet-shooting big man is the perfect complement to star guard Jalen Brunson, who has never played with as much space on a basketball court as he will this season. The two should form one of the league’s most deadly pick-and-pop combos. Both have shooters around them who can capitalize on the star power both bring to the table. The puzzle in New York feels complete. At this point, it’s just a matter of how spectacular can the picture be.
“These guys have something special here,” Towns said. “Last year, (Brunson), he and them have built something special. … I’m here to help and be the best teammate that I can be.”
Towns will have to attempt to fit into a Knicks culture that has been slowly built over the last few seasons. However, his ability to play wingman to Anthony Edwards in Minnesota this past season suggests that he should be able to do so effortlessly.
One major difference this time around is that the Knicks have a handful of leaders with strong connections to Towns who could help keep things running smoothly if they stray from the same page. When Thibodeau was both the president and coach in Minnesota, he did not have another voice on staff empowered to engage with players and address concerns.
The Knicks have president Leon Rose, who was KAT’s first agent. Executive vice president William Wesley was a major influencer in the college game with deep ties to Kentucky when Towns was there. Gersson Rosas, the Knicks senior vice president of basketball operations, ran the front office in Minnesota for two years after Thibodeau was fired.
This is who Towns is now. He’s someone who now has the bigger picture drawn onto his eyelids. Winning is what he wants to do, and he’s recently learned what it takes to do so.
Towns and Thibs should be able to connect now. The stakes are too high. When they first got together in Minnesota, the Timberwolves were considered a young team on the rise with a lot to prove. These Knicks? Their time is now.
And, well, here we are.
Not everyone is willing to give a marriage a second chance to work. They are.
KnixinSix wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:Come back soon Mitch plz
Towns is playing the 5 here, and that's what he did under thips before.It's gonna be very different and therefore not apples to apples
Our starting lineup is also going to boast the most elite defensive 234 trio in the NBA
KnixinSix wrote:
Towns is playing the 5 here, and that's what he did under thips before.It's gonna be very different and therefore not apples to apples
Our starting lineup is also going to boast the most elite defensive 234 trio in the NBA
Context wrote:KnixinSix wrote:
Towns is playing the 5 here, and that's what he did under thips before.It's gonna be very different and therefore not apples to apples
Our starting lineup is also going to boast the most elite defensive 234 trio in the NBA
I agree with this...Hart is an animal as an all around player and then you have OG and Mikal! Period.
Town has never had 4 players in Brunson, Hart/Deuce, OG and Mikal with Thibs before...I cant wait to see
this played on on the court
3toheadmelo wrote:KAT played with great defenders in Jaden Mcdaniels, NAW, Kyle Anderson, Conley, Ant. I'm not sure why people are acting like KAT never played with really good perimeter defenders before. He played with those guys and was still a negative playing the 5. He has to play the 4 for this to work.
3toheadmelo wrote:KAT played with great defenders in Jaden Mcdaniels, NAW, Kyle Anderson, Conley, Ant. I'm not sure why people are acting like KAT never played with really good perimeter defenders before. He played with those guys and was still a negative playing the 5. He has to play the 4 for this to work.
Context wrote:Towns is considered the final core piece needed for the Knicks trying to accomplish something that they haven’t in 50-plus years: an NBA championship.
The sweet-shooting big man is the perfect complement to star guard Jalen Brunson, who has never played with as much space on a basketball court as he will this season. The two should form one of the league’s most deadly pick-and-pop combos. Both have shooters around them who can capitalize on the star power both bring to the table. The puzzle in New York feels complete. At this point, it’s just a matter of how spectacular can the picture be.“These guys have something special here,” Towns said. “Last year, (Brunson), he and them have built something special. … I’m here to help and be the best teammate that I can be.”
Towns will have to attempt to fit into a Knicks culture that has been slowly built over the last few seasons. However, his ability to play wingman to Anthony Edwards in Minnesota this past season suggests that he should be able to do so effortlessly.
One major difference this time around is that the Knicks have a handful of leaders with strong connections to Towns who could help keep things running smoothly if they stray from the same page. When Thibodeau was both the president and coach in Minnesota, he did not have another voice on staff empowered to engage with players and address concerns.
The Knicks have president Leon Rose, who was KAT’s first agent. Executive vice president William Wesley was a major influencer in the college game with deep ties to Kentucky when Towns was there. Gersson Rosas, the Knicks senior vice president of basketball operations, ran the front office in Minnesota for two years after Thibodeau was fired.This is who Towns is now. He’s someone who now has the bigger picture drawn onto his eyelids. Winning is what he wants to do, and he’s recently learned what it takes to do so.
Towns and Thibs should be able to connect now. The stakes are too high. When they first got together in Minnesota, the Timberwolves were considered a young team on the rise with a lot to prove. These Knicks? Their time is now.
And, well, here we are.
Not everyone is willing to give a marriage a second chance to work. They are.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5813572/2024/10/03/karl-anthony-towns-tom-thibodeau-knicks-trade-roster/
god shammgod wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:KAT played with great defenders in Jaden Mcdaniels, NAW, Kyle Anderson, Conley, Ant. I'm not sure why people are acting like KAT never played with really good perimeter defenders before. He played with those guys and was still a negative playing the 5. He has to play the 4 for this to work.
yep. they have great defensive wings and conley even at this age is a better defender than brunson. teams are gonna put towns/brunson in the pnr and cook them.
god shammgod wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:KAT played with great defenders in Jaden Mcdaniels, NAW, Kyle Anderson, Conley, Ant. I'm not sure why people are acting like KAT never played with really good perimeter defenders before. He played with those guys and was still a negative playing the 5. He has to play the 4 for this to work.
yep. they have great defensive wings and conley even at this age is a better defender than brunson. teams are gonna put towns/brunson in the pnr and cook them.
3toheadmelo wrote:god shammgod wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:KAT played with great defenders in Jaden Mcdaniels, NAW, Kyle Anderson, Conley, Ant. I'm not sure why people are acting like KAT never played with really good perimeter defenders before. He played with those guys and was still a negative playing the 5. He has to play the 4 for this to work.
yep. they have great defensive wings and conley even at this age is a better defender than brunson. teams are gonna put towns/brunson in the pnr and cook them.
How long do you think it will take this board to realize KAT should be at the 4?
.3toheadmelo wrote:god shammgod wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:KAT played with great defenders in Jaden Mcdaniels, NAW, Kyle Anderson, Conley, Ant. I'm not sure why people are acting like KAT never played with really good perimeter defenders before. He played with those guys and was still a negative playing the 5. He has to play the 4 for this to work.
yep. they have great defensive wings and conley even at this age is a better defender than brunson. teams are gonna put towns/brunson in the pnr and cook them.
How long do you think it will take this board to realize KAT should be at the 4?
Capn'O wrote:We're the recovering meth addict older brother. And we've been clean for a few years now, thank you very much. Very uncouth to bring it up.
Moose wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:god shammgod wrote:
yep. they have great defensive wings and conley even at this age is a better defender than brunson. teams are gonna put towns/brunson in the pnr and cook them.
How long do you think it will take this board to realize KAT should be at the 4?
I think a lot of us feel that way. I think the team may see him that way long-term as well.
Capn'O wrote:We're the recovering meth addict older brother. And we've been clean for a few years now, thank you very much. Very uncouth to bring it up.