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https://www.essentiallysports.com/nba-active-basketball-news-passionate-rant-signals-rift-between-jalen-brunson-and-josh-hart-as-knicks-hc-tom-thibodeau-takes-accountability-for-loss/

After Friday’s defeat, Josh Hart was asked if he thinks their roster has what it takes to compete against the league’s best. He replied, “I think we do. We have to go out there with energy. We have to go out there with no egos. We have to go out there with no individual agendas. We have to go out there & sacrifice.”

I think post people are assuming it's OG, but Bridges has been a roller coaster this season and obviously there have been some usage-sharing issues between KAT, Brunson, and Bridges.

All this while Hart is having his best personal season (though I think he is most suited to the 6th man, bench role).

What are each player's individual agendas? Maybe we can figure this out you guys. This is me trying to get in the mind of each of our guys.

OG Anunoby
- Money is great. Being paid like an all-star. 31st highest paid player in the NBA this year. 2nd among the Knicks.
- 13 shots per game this season is in line with the 13 shots per game he has averaged the last 4 years. However, maybe he wants more for himself now.
- Always been known as a great defensive role player. Never gets to show his bag on the offensive end. How will he ever be considered a star in this league if he can't get more touches to show his offensive game? He has been limited to averaging 17 ppg.
- Just because he's the best defender on the team doesn't mean he should have to do all the dirty work for everyone else. Doing things that don't show up on a stat sheet doesn't make you an all-star or All-NBA. If he's the best defender, then he should be rewarded with more touches.
- Also, doesn't matter how good of a defender he is. If the rest of the team isn't stepping up defensively, then it hurts OG's case for making it onto an All-Defensive Team.

Karl-Anthony Towns
- If he has to play 35+ minutes per night at center, then you better let him stat pad and have all the rebounds. Doesn't matter if this hurts OG's and Mikal's rebounding numbers in the process. KAT needs to be the best rebounder in the league and average 25+ ppg so he has a case for any of the All-NBA teams.
- Also, if you need KAT out on the floor 35+ minutes a night, being a top scorer and rebounder, then don't ask him to be the best defender in the league. Being the league's best defender is not his job. That's Mikal, OG, and Hart's jog. KAT needs to stay healthy so he can play big minutes and score. You can't put KAT at risk of injury, so don't ask him to do things on the court that could get him injured.

Jalen Brunson
- Averaging 25.1 ppg and it's still not enough. All these other guards are averaging more: Tyrese Maxey (25.7), Anthony Edwards (25.7), De'Aaron Fox (26.7), Luka Doncic (28.1), LaMelo Ball (29.9), Shai gilgeous-Alexander (31.5).
- If Brunson doesn't score more points, he might miss out on All-NBA.
- Because Brunson has to share the ball so much, he is less popular than LaMelo Ball, Donovan Mitchell, and Damian Lillard. Brunson probably feels he is better than all of him, but his teammates are keeping him from being considered the best PG in the East.

Mikal Bridges
- 5 first round picks were traded for Mikal, so treat him like it. Look at the shot charts, he can score from anywhere.
- Playing 40 mpg and not getting more touches is BS.
- Because Mikal had to be so unselfish to start the season, now he's out of the running for All-Star game.
- The only way Mikal would have a shot at allstar or all-nba is if he averages over 20 ppg and 6 rpg. If Towns wasn't hogging all the rebounds, and Brunson hogging the ball, Mikal would be able to show everyone that he is truly the best player on the team. Maybeteam would win even more if Mikal was the true number one option every night. Because of politics with Brunson and KAT, Mikal will never show everything he is got, but he will get all the blame for not showing it even though it's not his fault.

Josh Hart
- Attempting to be the ultimate glue guy, but won't get any all-NBA, all-star, or all-defensive team consideration.
Is the least paid among all 5 starters and asked to do well beyond what he is compensated for. 95th highest paid player in the NBA at $18.1 million, yet he has to be top 10 in minutes and a triple double threat every night.




How did I do?

Jesus.

He is calling out Brunson and his dad.

seren wrote:He is calling out Brunson and his dad.

Yup

HarthorneWingo wrote:

seren wrote:He is calling out Brunson and his dad.

Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

Does anyone else think this is more of a non-story? Feel like he’s just referring to the team as a whole.

Josh Hart quotes should also sometimes be taken with a grain of salt. Love him but not the first time he’s made headlines with his words when he’s frustrated.

ctorres wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:

seren wrote:He is calling out Brunson and his dad.

Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

No. That’s the problem. Brunson’s scoring needs to go down and his assists up. Making his teammates better should be his priority.

Btw, I’m against family on the bench.

What can we get for Josh?
Two seconds?

HarthorneWingo wrote:

ctorres wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

No. That’s the problem. Brunson’s scoring needs to go down and his assists up. Making his teammates better should be his priority.

Btw, I’m against family on the bench.

I agree. I was just wondering if there were any other agendas I was missing.

HarthorneWingo wrote:

ctorres wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

No. That’s the problem. Brunson’s scoring needs to go down and his assists up. Making his teammates better should be his priority.

Btw, I’m against family on the bench.

I disagree with the scoring down and assists up assessment (family, they can figure out). First, Brunson’s numbers have already shifted towards more assists and less scoring.

Second, that type of PG model is outdated…there hasn’t been a team that has won a chip like that in a long time, unless we’re talking about jumbo PGs. The “true pg” archetype is really overrated and hasn’t won much recently. There is a path where Brunson’s assists drop and our team is better because we get more assists elsewhere.

The model for me is Steph Curry, who could make plays on and off ball. What we probably need is to find ways to take the ball out of Brunson’s hand more and empower the other teammates, and also give Brunson easier scoring opportunities. There will be times Brunson will still cook, but he shouldn’t be the only regular source of assists. In particular, I think this team will be better if we can take advantage of KAT as a playmaker.

ctorres wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:

seren wrote:He is calling out Brunson and his dad.

Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

that's the issue. that agenda is not the winning agenda for this roster composition

i dont think hes calling out anyone specifically

i think hes calling out the effort

hes always giving 100% and it looked like he was the only one doing so
to be fair, towns was playing hard on offense and Brunson was working on both ends

the others in the back court tried but didnt adjust their games when the shots didnt fall
and Bridges' defensive effort didnt seem adequate

He didn't call out one person. He called out the team's ability to compete (but also called out Thibs)

Three pointers are down (both in makes and attempts), assists are below 25 a game, they're allowing 1 player to gobble up rebounds instead of, y'know, help out on the boards, and defending like the Washington Wizards.

Until those things are addressed, losing continues.

rajajackal wrote:

ctorres wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

that's the issue. that agenda is not the winning agenda for this roster composition

Yup

HarthorneWingo wrote:

ctorres wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:Yup

Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

No. That’s the problem. Brunson’s scoring needs to go down and his assists up. Making his teammates better should be his priority.

Btw, I’m against family on the bench.

I see no reason why he can't average 25/10. Other than perhaps coaching.

nice thread title.

that's the only story here.

Wildcat wrote:

HarthorneWingo wrote:

ctorres wrote:
Can yall explain this one

Do they have agendas other than doing whatever best features Brunson and makes him look like a superstar?

No. That’s the problem. Brunson’s scoring needs to go down and his assists up. Making his teammates better should be his priority.

Btw, I’m against family on the bench.

I see no reason why he can't average 25/10. Other than perhaps coaching.

Yeah, his father’s coaching.

Brunson’s been very inefficient this season according to my eye test.

I think he's calling out anyone who this resonates with. I still look at it as a more team shout out, and while Josh is fairly deliberate on how he speaks to the media, it's not coincidence this is the 2nd time he said it in less than a week. Blame can and should be evenly spread out:

Thibs' coaching and minute management. JB's control on offense and horrendous 3P shooting. OG something (maybe predictable offense). Payne needing to get back into that groove he was in before the random benching which clearly hurt his coincidence. Bridges -- while on a rough spell recently -- needs to go back to what he was doing last month. Deuce not elevating his game the way he hoped for. Precious has been largely fine, but he's obviously also playing with his next contract in mind, so he might be doing too much out there. KAT on offense has been great. But some of those old T-Wolves habits are coming back (dumb fouls), but might have to do with the team's overall struggles and frustrations.

The notion that Brunson has any agenda other than winning and that Josh Hart, of all people, would question that is a little absurd on its face