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New York organized multiple players-only meetings after embarrassing defeats throughout this postseason run, all with various degrees of intensity, per league sources. It’s not uncommon for teams to hold meetings without coaches, but it is rare for squads that went as far as the Knicks did to do it as often as they did during the playoffs, and for the kick-in-the-behind reasons they occasionally deemed necessary.

KnicksGadfly wrote:Okay I get this...but holy shyt, they had this article ready to go, right after the playoffs...wtf. That doesn't seem right.

WargamesX wrote:I stand by the fact the team likes him as a person but was frustrated with him defensively And offensively through

The ability to constructively critique became a point of emphasis.

“They all talk to me,” Tucker said after Game 1 of the Boston series when asked what he witnessed with a set of fresh eyes. “But they didn’t talk to each other in real-time, in those situations.”

Some people in the organization wanted to use the 15th roster spot to sign a player who could contribute on the floor, while others wanted a veteran who would be OK with not playing and helping behind the scenes, per league sources. The latter group won out and Tucker signed with the team near the end of the regular season to be a veteran voice.

“The situations to get stops, to have help, you know what I’m saying?” Tucker continued. “That, to me, we have talent, but that’s 80 percent of everything else – being able to communicate, be able to get stops, to be on the same page on offense and be able to read each other. We needed to do those things instead of putting our hands up and looking at each other.

“It’s changed. Do I think it needs to get better? One hundred percent. But it’s come a long way since I’ve got here, for sure.”

In comparison to last year’s team, which brought juice back to the franchise after narrowly missing out on the Eastern Conference finals, the synergy within this year’s group wasn’t as strong.

Healthy conflict is good within an organization. Expressing it is important. Last year’s team excelled at that. DiVincenzo used to talk about how Knicks players would approach each other after mistakes. The message wasn’t always fluffy, but it was consistently honest. He and others attributed the team’s ability to fix errors game-to-game to that dynamic.

This year’s team was in the playoffs and still trying to learn how one another tick.

“That comes with familiarity and trust and a lot of times you only get that when you go through adverse situations together,” Hart said during the Pistons series when asked about the team’s comfort level in correcting one another in real time. “So, it takes time. And there’s times where — there was a play with J.B., a pullup, he had KAT wide open, I’m not sure if KAT said something to him, but I know that if KAT goes, ‘Look at the pop, I’m open on the pop,’ he’s going to look at that. Same thing with KAT, same thing with all those guys.

“So it’s definitely a feeling-out process. It comes with time. But we’re all old enough. I think our hearts are in the right place. So you know it’s not coming out of any selfish intent. So that’s something we can do more, and we will do more of.”

Such was the paradox of this season’s Knicks. Even as they fought to stay on the same page and learn about one another, they turned over more success than they had in a quarter of a century.

It appeared that this team grew closer throughout the postseason with each improbable win. There were still issues that spilled into the public view, like when Anunoby and Towns were caught on camera arguing on the bench following a blown defensive assignment during the collapse in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. This group went through challenging situations together, several of them, and often came out the other side as victors. There were some within the organization who went into the postseason worried about how this team would handle adversity. Those concerns were quickly erased after capturing multiple nail-biting victories in the first round.

sol537 wrote:Hit pieces gonna drop fast now and we’ll hear more about the internal chemistry issues that we know were there. Don’t be surprised if Mikal or OG want to move on via trade.

Jeffrey wrote:If this is Fred Katz... he's one of the best writers in the NBA. Nah, I don't he writes hit pieces. He explains his thought process. Why would he drop a hit piece during the playoffs. Most of the time, these happens after eliminations or season is over.

Capn'O wrote:Similar to Thibs, if we move off from KAT it better be for somebody really good.

Jeffrey wrote:If this is Fred Katz... he's one of the best writers in the NBA. Nah, I don't he writes hit pieces. He explains his thought process. Why would he drop a hit piece during the playoffs. Most of the time, these happens after eliminations or season is over.

3toheadmelo wrote:

New York organized multiple players-only meetings after embarrassing defeats throughout this postseason run, all with various degrees of intensity, per league sources. It’s not uncommon for teams to hold meetings without coaches, but it is rare for squads that went as far as the Knicks did to do it as often as they did during the playoffs, and for the kick-in-the-behind reasons they occasionally deemed necessary.

Wildcat wrote:

Jeffrey wrote:If this is Fred Katz... he's one of the best writers in the NBA. Nah, I don't he writes hit pieces. He explains his thought process. Why would he drop a hit piece during the playoffs. Most of the time, these happens after eliminations or season is over.

Katz discussed this a couple of weeks ago.

nedleeds wrote:

Capn'O wrote:Similar to Thibs, if we move off from KAT it better be for somebody really good.

Why would any team trade anything good for a 1 way 30 year old center making $53/$57/$60 million next 3 years? Just gibberish to think otherwise. We traded a neutral value Randle who was at least expiring this Summer and a roleplayer on a sane contract in Donte for KAT. He's older, and just confirmed his problems are his.

We have 1 positive value contract, Brunson. Trade him. Tank in the 1 year we have our pick for the next half decade.

KnicksGadfly wrote:Okay I get this...but holy shyt, they had this article ready to go, right after the playoffs...wtf. That doesn't seem right.

MrDollarBills wrote:

nedleeds wrote:

Capn'O wrote:Similar to Thibs, if we move off from KAT it better be for somebody really good.

Why would any team trade anything good for a 1 way 30 year old center making $53/$57/$60 million next 3 years? Just gibberish to think otherwise. We traded a neutral value Randle who was at least expiring this Summer and a roleplayer on a sane contract in Donte for KAT. He's older, and just confirmed his problems are his.

We have 1 positive value contract, Brunson. Trade him. Tank in the 1 year we have our pick for the next half decade.

Trading Brunson is pure insanity. Are you rooting for the Nets?