GT: Knicks @ Celtics , Game 2 Wednesday 7:00pm ET

[Jeff Van Gully]

A lot of people don't like KAT because they project their latent homophobia onto him and want to make sure the world knows they don't associate with him.

Some are just skeptical of him for basketball reasons and that's perfectly fine. Nobody has to like him as a basketball player.

But the zesty comments are in most cases purely a homophobic expression.

A lot of sports fans suck, let's be honest. Knicks fans are not exempt.

Im hesitant to respond to this cause this place usually disappoints in this area but I just can't...

Zesty isn't a slur. im not about to let sexist/homophobic dudes that are insecure in their 'hood ruin that for me.

Yelling "OMG" after being fouled is zesty af and im here for it.

agreed. there's some conflation in this. i am obviously very protective against homophobia. but identifying "zestiness" and having a laugh is not necessarily a show of disrespect.

it's just hard to separate it from the homophobic undertones that tend to drive it. it's all a messy thing.

KAT is dramatic and flamboyant.

i'll add something to this that my wife and i discussed. some of the KAT "zestiness" is stuff i recognize in a lot of dominican (and caribbean) men. like, watch baseball players and see what i mean.

[Chanel Bomber]

A lot of people don't like KAT because they project their latent homophobia onto him and want to make sure the world knows they don't associate with him.

Some are just skeptical of him for basketball reasons and that's perfectly fine. Nobody has to like him as a basketball player.

But the zesty comments are in most cases purely a homophobic expression.

A lot of sports fans suck, let's be honest. Knicks fans are not exempt.

Im hesitant to respond to this cause this place usually disappoints in this area but I just can't...

Zesty isn't a slur. im not about to let sexist/homophobic dudes that are insecure in their 'hood ruin that for me.

Yelling "OMG" after being fouled is zesty af and im here for it.

agreed. there's some conflation in this. i am obviously very protective against homophobia. but identifying "zestiness" and having a laugh is not necessarily a show of disrespect.

it's just hard to separate it from the homophobic undertones that tend to drive it. it's all a messy thing.

KAT is dramatic and flamboyant.

i'll add something to this that my wife and i discussed. some of the KAT "zestiness" is stuff i recognize in a lot of dominican (and caribbean) men. like, watch baseball players and see what i mean.

Agreed and I clarified my post in a subsequent post

[Guano]

y'all know damn well they gonna be PISSED and try to run us out of the gym. gotta be ready for that smoke.

we not catching them lacking twice in a row, i don't think.

Brunson isn't also going to have another "off" shooting game.

And 1 of kat/mikal is going to show out.

They're sleeping uneasy.

Celtics aren't going to miss 90 three pointers either...

Thats not a problem.

Im delusionally confident our best beats their best.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Im hesitant to respond to this cause this place usually disappoints in this area but I just can't...

Zesty isn't a slur. im not about to let sexist/homophobic dudes that are insecure in their 'hood ruin that for me.

Yelling "OMG" after being fouled is zesty af and im here for it.

agreed. there's some conflation in this. i am obviously very protective against homophobia. but identifying "zestiness" and having a laugh is not necessarily a show of disrespect.

it's just hard to separate it from the homophobic undertones that tend to drive it. it's all a messy thing.

KAT is dramatic and flamboyant.

i'll add something to this that my wife and i discussed. some of the KAT "zestiness" is stuff i recognize in a lot of dominican (and caribbean) men. like, watch baseball players and see what i mean.

Agreed and I clarified my post in a subsequent post

appreciate the tone of wanting to be respectful to all here. means a lot.

[HopelessKnick]

I feel the whole 3-pointer talk is a bit overblown. The Celtics hit close to 40% from 3 in the last regular season game and had all their players and it still went to overtime. I could point to the Knicks missing 14 free throws and giving up 20 offensive rebounds....that alone is probably worth 8-9 missed 3 pointer.


I have the Celtics still as overwhelming favorites but the last two games have been much more competitive.

And I still feel putting Mitch in the line-up would help remedy many of our problems:

1) Would prevent the Celtics from Hack-a-Mitch (if you play him first half of quarters you essentially get 24minutes without Hack-a-Mitch.
2) Would likely protect KAT against foul trouble, because Mitch could help protect the paint
3) Would help our rebounding big time
4) Would make our line-up much much bigger
5) would bolster our bench significantly

[Guano]

A lot of people don't like KAT because they project their latent homophobia onto him and want to make sure the world knows they don't associate with him.

Some are just skeptical of him for basketball reasons and that's perfectly fine. Nobody has to like him as a basketball player.

But the zesty comments are in most cases purely a homophobic expression.

A lot of sports fans suck, let's be honest. Knicks fans are not exempt.

Im hesitant to respond to this cause this place usually disappoints in this area but I just can't...

Zesty isn't a slur. im not about to let sexist/homophobic dudes that are insecure in their 'hood ruin that for me.

Yelling "OMG" after being fouled is zesty af and im here for it.

agreed. there's some conflation in this. i am obviously very protective against homophobia. but identifying "zestiness" and having a laugh is not necessarily a show of disrespect.

it's just hard to separate it from the homophobic undertones that tend to drive it. it's all a messy thing.

KAT is dramatic and flamboyant.

i'll add something to this that my wife and i discussed. some of the KAT "zestiness" is stuff i recognize in a lot of dominican (and caribbean) men. like, watch baseball players and see what i mean.

Agreed. Flipping each other sht is part of brotherhood. We need to be able to laugh at each other and ourselves. Its nuanced though. And I try to be aware of how harmful jokes can be. It helps to have people that dont hesitate to check me on that sht.

I love that we have someone dramatic like kat and a stoic like OG. The range is hilarious. Both unique in their own weird way.

As for kat I fck with his personality. Dudes been through hell and conducts himself admirably. He is an easy guy to root for. Only thing that bugs me about him is the silly fouls, lack of defensive awareness and he doesn't get enough 3 point attempts.

[matchman]

A lot of people don't like KAT because they project their latent homophobia onto him and want to make sure the world knows they don't associate with him.

Some are just skeptical of him for basketball reasons and that's perfectly fine. Nobody has to like him as a basketball player.

But the zesty comments are in most cases purely a homophobic expression.

A lot of sports fans suck, let's be honest. Knicks fans are not exempt.

Seriously?

I would hope we're talking about a minority sub-set of fans here. This is the first time I've encountered this and it never occurred to me to associate KAT with sexual preferences because of any mannerisms.

Yes, us crude boys do talk about strength as a male vs. female thing simply because nature made males physically stronger than females, but that's entirely different than riding people for being queer or, in this case, projecting that upon them.

Besides, KAT is not soft. He was a top rebounder in the league. He's just not a great paint defender and sometimes he collects unnecessary fouls.

If KAT looked effeminate in a photo, whatever. He looks how he looks. I don't care.

Call me non-sensitive or what not, the gender or whether they like male or female is the least I concerned.

[8516knicks]

Very hard to win 2 on the road opening a series against a team that had a significantly better record. So while I'm hoping for a win, I think even a close loss sends a message this team has shifted into another gear and we had underrated their potential during the regular season.

We're playing with house money tonight, though a wipeout loss would take a lot out of the momentum and great number of close game wins so far.

But we have Brunson!

[3toheadmelo]

I don’t think anyone here is homophobic and dislikes KAT for that. The zesty sht is just for laughs.

[Capn'O]

I yell OH MY GAWD with KAT when he is fouled without a call.

[Capn'O]

I looked last night and the Knicks are 4th in defensive rating this playoffs. We were definitely holding some stuff back.


I expect an L today but hope to be pleasantly surprised. I think this series is about to be a real fight.

I don’t think anyone here is homophobic and dislikes KAT for that. The zesty sht is just for laughs.

There are some.

[Context]

Our Kings are now deep into enemy territory

Not sure what to expect here, but Brunson will exceed expectations once more.

First of all congrats on your first win! Lets keep this streak going.
I agree- not sure what to expect here. The difference for me is before game one I didnt think we had a chance. I also -completely forgot about our final regular season game and the fact that it went into OT. Today I believe the Knick can beat Boston. Will they have a slow start as they usually do?
or will they complete some lay-up lines pre-game and keep their foots on Bostons necks? we'll know in about 9-10 hours.

[blue and orange]

Attack them right off the bat. Expecting a nerve wracking battle tonight. we maybe nervous as a fanbase im telling you will be more nervous.

I work with Celtics fans and their ignorance is unreal, they expect to win in 5 now and win games by 20-30 pts. Which is wild to me seeing we had close games against them all year. Saying things like oh the Celtics will be mad, they really think the Celtics can play pick your score just from being mad lol.

Heard one guy say if Celtics lose this series Mazzula should be fired. They have way more pressure to win this series then we do. I like our chances, I really feel if we don't beat ourselves we win this, I know that sounds cliche but I really feel this way.

[3toheadmelo]

I looked last night and the Knicks are 4th in defensive rating this playoffs. We were definitely holding some stuff back.


I expect an L today but hope to be pleasantly surprised. I think this series is about to be a real fight.

I don’t think anyone here is homophobic and dislikes KAT for that. The zesty sht is just for laughs.

There are some.

Who? I haven’t seen anyone

[Capn'O]

...

Not gonna do the Beetlejuice thing. But they're not here yet.

[EnigmatiC]

Gonna have to be much better tonight. Need a strong KAT game.

[Strick]

I think a big key to us in this game is getting out in transition. We struggled to do so when they were doing Hack-A-Mitch and when Precious was out there because we couldn’t get a rebound.

When we went on that run we did a great job of limiting them to one shot on most possessions

We also need KAT to be better. Idk how many games we can win with him seriously struggling out there

[3toheadmelo]

...

Not gonna do the Beetlejuice thing. But they're not here yet.

Interesting..

[MrDollarBills]

A lot of people don't like KAT because they project their latent homophobia onto him and want to make sure the world knows they don't associate with him.

Some are just skeptical of him for basketball reasons and that's perfectly fine. Nobody has to like him as a basketball player.

But the zesty comments are in most cases purely a homophobic expression.

A lot of sports fans suck, let's be honest. Knicks fans are not exempt.

Yep. If it was about his defense and what not, I get it. But a lot of it is dudes being homophobic and it's a shame they can't hash out their own internal issues with their own sexuality instead of projecting it onto Karl.

It's really weird behavior.

I tend to think he is soft/passive but that last game before he got into foul trouble he was going at the Celtics bigs every possession and calling for the ball. Stuff like that I like to see. Horford is like 39, KP isn’t healthy, Korner is a career back up. KAT should Punish them.

I also think KAT could get into better shape but if he is willing to post up being chubby is actually not a disadvantage. It’s padding.

Idk he just reminds me of suburban kid. Our whole team reminds me of suburban kids and they don’t have that streetball edge to them except maybe Mitch who comes off as country but he’s chill too.

Karl IS a suburban kid he is from Piscataway here in NJ. Pretty much a middle class, diverse suburb. He's not from the hood area next door to it (Plainfield).

Fun fact: Karl went to St. Joseph's High School in Metuchen, my former grade school basketball teammate Jay Williams went there. That was the best player I've ever played alongside in my life. We knew from 5th grade that dude was gonna be a pro.

Karl's family is well known around these parts, which is why it was devastating when his mom and others died during the pandemic.

Karl is not soft yall. Dude has been through a LOT.

[GONYK]

Yep. If it was about his defense and what not, I get it. But a lot of it is dudes being homophobic and it's a shame they can't hash out their own internal issues with their own sexuality instead of projecting it onto Karl.

It's really weird behavior.

I tend to think he is soft/passive but that last game before he got into foul trouble he was going at the Celtics bigs every possession and calling for the ball. Stuff like that I like to see. Horford is like 39, KP isn’t healthy, Korner is a career back up. KAT should Punish them.

I also think KAT could get into better shape but if he is willing to post up being chubby is actually not a disadvantage. It’s padding.

Idk he just reminds me of suburban kid. Our whole team reminds me of suburban kids and they don’t have that streetball edge to them except maybe Mitch who comes off as country but he’s chill too.

Karl IS a suburban kid he is from Piscataway here in NJ. Pretty much a middle class, diverse suburb. He's not from the hood area next door to it (Plainfield).

Fun fact: Karl went to St. Joseph's High School in Metuchen, my former grade school basketball teammate Jay Williams went there. That was the best player I've ever played alongside in my life. We knew from 5th grade that dude was gonna be a pro.

Karl's family is well known around these parts, which is why it was devastating when his mom and others died during the pandemic.

Karl is not soft yall. Dude has been through a LOT.

If you played high school ball in the GMAC conference, there is a non-zero chance we played against each other (or you played against my brother depending on the age)

Fun fact: My younger brother and Towns were acquaintances and he used to come over and hoop in my driveway. He broke my rim when he was a 7th grader. We also all knew he was going pro.