Knicks players & coaches frustrated with KAT's defense

[Jellybeans]

Sure he could start putting hands in the air when defender shoots but posing this crap few hours after loss just insane.
Hart looked lost too.Media wont say anything bad Brunson.

[California Gold]

Why do stuff like this come out? It should be internal and not let out so a bunch of people can comment on it.

Because it's NYC.. need the drama for the radio and the tabloids

Too many miserable people in that city. They seek and love drama to drive the misery talk.

Not enough Vitamin D flowing through there.

[ibraheim718]

The number one reason the Knicks lost was first Thibs playing his starters too damn much and never developing a bench. When players get tired they get sloppy and the effort drops. Like why in the hell didn't he find minutes for Shamet and Wright early on in the series? And when he was forced to play them when Brunson got in trouble and they won why did he still refuse to give them more minutes? And playing Cam Payne? Come on that dude is garbage. Then it was Indy targeting Brunson and Towns..

[Wingy]

KAT is always the problem. I have been a critic of the big man for years. The effort just ends and he needs to be motivated by his teammates constantly.

Brunson will need a big man that can bring it on both ends of the floor. Maybe KAT will change for the. Better.

Knicks need to keep coach and acquire Giannis.

KAT is always the problem? Again, he’s been a key cog on two teams in two separate conference that have made the conference finals the last 2 years. If he’s the problem, what does that make the players in the other 28 teams that didn’t make conference finals?

Kudos for doing his part, but a lot of all star level players would have strong team success with the casts KAT has gotten to play with.

The Wolves literally flipped him out for Randle and went right back to the conference finals in the tougher conference.

[Lalouie]

But what about Brunson? Guy looked like a trashcan with braids on that side of the ball too.

You can't win a championship when your best two players are straight liabilities on defense.

yup. that was the talk 2games ago when thibs had to throw sh** on the wall to see what stuck

[Domejandro]

Damn it, Thibs!

How could you not fix this knucklehead?!?

Pretty sure he coached KAT back in MIN. Fool me once....

It is Coach Thibodeau’s fault. All of the data indicates that Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the worst drop-coverage bigs in the NBA, but a relatively solid high-wall and switch big. His insistence on using KAT in drop-coverage is coaching malpractice.

[PharmD]

Jeez. Coming after a guy who just had his best regular season ever. At year 1 with the Knicks.

I really don’t think he’s the problem but that’s just me.

An hour after the game ends they release a hit piece on this guy...talk about low class.

Guys aren't even out of the shower and New York media is already at it

[Tripod]

I still maintain Achiuwa could have helped the Knicks.

Switchable defense and rebounding. Hell use him to guard Hali on the way up the court so others didn't have to.

[Boneman2]

Kat was a problem for the Pacers. Id be more concerned with Bridges and Hart.

[vxmike]

Kat was a problem for the Pacers. Id be more concerned with Bridges and Hart.

The Knicks roster is just flawed. They have one guy who can initiate offense and it’s mostly for himself (Brunson). Their top two players suck on defense. They have three highly-paid wings who can’t create their own shots.

[LAvision]

Jeez. Coming after a guy who just had his best regular season ever. At year 1 with the Knicks.

I really don’t think he’s the problem but that’s just me.

Your 7 foot PF/center who plays awful defense and gives away dumb fouls isn't a problem?!

[Knicks365247]

criticism of Randle and KAT on d was the most inevitable thing that was going to come out if MIN and NYK lost.

people act like they didnt know who these guys were for years before now. come on, were you really expecting KAT to suddenly become good at something he's never really been good at? you watch him move clumsily and miss assignments on d for years and then think suddenly he'll turn into Draymond because the games are more important?

KAT is an offensive force. you get a lot on that end and you live with him on the defensive end. if he were what he is offensively and also a plus defender, he wouldnt have been traded to NYK in the first place.

also - i am decidedly not a KAT fan. but i think criticism should be directed at the things one should reasonably expect from a guy. there is nothing i've seen from KAT since he was drafted that would make me expect him to be a good defender. but from what i saw he put the effort in on both ends, helped NYK get where they got, and helped win some games that would have been really hard to win without a guy like that.

he's merriweather on offense and george foreman on defense....if he shows quickness on one end and sloth on the other, that's lack of effort

and a lack of discipline as well.

He's happy to eat, but he ain't happy to work. Dude needs a mental adjustment. Plus he said himself he doesn't know why he commits stupid fouls.

[Lalouie]

Kat played his ass off, everyone made mistakes, why is he copping so many shots?

Without KAT it's over in 5 games

because a loss is a loss

so the talk 2games ago was thibs having to do some paper napkin calculus to implement a lineup that works.
the talking heads were ALL saying it

are the knicks actually good or just good in a weak parity season. if so then you have to contextualize their play and kat is just a bandaid for a club with no offense.

they need a for real #2. kat's a #3 at best

[Raps in 4]

Bush league stuff from the Knicks releasing this an hour after the game.

[Diop]

Kat played his ass off, everyone made mistakes, why is he copping so many shots?

Without KAT it's over in 5 games

because a loss is a loss

so the talk 2games ago was thibs having to do some paper napkin calculus to implement a lineup that works.
the talking heads were ALL saying it

are the knicks actually good or just good in a weak parity season. if so then you have to contextualize their play and kat is just a bandaid for a club with no offense.

they need a for real #2. kat's a #3 at best

pick on Brunson's turnovers as well then.

[KGtabake]

Yeah ok but that's the reason you have Mitchell Robinson. No?
Two bigs elite on one end, bad on the other.
You have KAT for offense, Robinson for defense.
It's coaching job to make it work.

[Lalouie]

Kat played his ass off, everyone made mistakes, why is he copping so many shots?

Without KAT it's over in 5 games

I don’t think point was that they’re better without him, it’s that they need him to be better.

And not better in ways beyond his abilities, better in ways that are completely under his control. Better game study preparation, better communication, better effort.

i think that takes smarts. the ability to see things quickly, analyze, and respond

i don't think kat is too bright, so ceiling-wise he can't go further - next year is his 10th year. he is who he is

[Karate Diop]

KAT's defense wasn't nearly as problematic as Brunson's, it was like a cheat code for the Pacers with how consistently they could exploit it time and time again at every key juncture. .

I mean Brunson's defense was worse than Trae Young level bad for most of the series... Can only cover that up for so long before a good healthy team picks you apart...

[Indomitable]

I guess the Villanova-ites had to start throwing shade in KAT's direction before anyone started pointing the finger at Brunson.

I watched Brunson not guard anyone all series. Brunson is slow as hell and grabs the entire game.

[Indomitable]

Why do stuff like this come out? It should be internal and not let out so a bunch of people can comment on it.

It called cya. There will be a push too move him.

Some is there are those that prefer Robinson.

I assume it could be Hart or someone.