Spliting up Towns and Brunson.

[cupcakesnake]

Last night we saw Towns lead a monster comeback to get the Knicks back in this series and had Thibs leaving Brunson on the bench. In game 2, the Knicks tried a lot of the 4th quarter with just Brunson, leaving Towns on the bench until the game was nearly over.

During the playoffs, the Knicks have struggled with both their offensive stars on the floor together. In 412 minutes, they post a respectable 115 Ortg, but an abysmal 119.5 Drtg (-4.45 net rating). It makes basketball sense, as Brunson/Towns is a juicy pick & roll duo to attack, and keeps the Knicks more elite defenders away from the action.

With either of them on the floor without the other, the Knicks are +9.1. The Brunson lineups unleash offensive fireworks (122 Ortg!), and the Towns lineups without Brunson are holding up strong on defense (98 Drtg!)

One would assume the Knicks are putting strong defensive lineups around their Brunson or Towns only lineups, but honestly it's been a lot of small backcourts involving McBride and/or Payne. Last night we got some Delon Wright with Towns, and that was a nice look.

Will we see more staggering as this series goes on, or should the coaching staff figure out better ways to keep their best offensive players on the court together?

[JustBuzzin]

Brunson needs to get off the ball some from what I have noticed. Maybe staggering him with Towns would work. But they definitely need to play through Towns more in this series.

[Ssj16]

Imo, I think it's too late in the season to get them to working effectively together, so I would stagger as much as possible.

[___Rand___]

Last night we saw Towns lead a monster comeback to get the Knicks back in this series and had Thibs leaving Brunson on the bench. In game 2, the Knicks tried a lot of the 4th quarter with just Brunson, leaving Towns on the bench until the game was nearly over.

During the playoffs, the Knicks have struggled with both their offensive stars on the floor together. In 412 minutes, they post a respectable 115 Ortg, but an abysmal 119.5 Drtg (-4.45 net rating). It makes basketball sense, as Brunson/Towns is a juicy pick & roll duo to attack, and keeps the Knicks more elite defenders away from the action.

With either of them on the floor without the other, the Knicks are +9.1. The Brunson lineups unleash offensive fireworks (122 Ortg!), and the Towns lineups without Brunson are holding up strong on defense (98 Drtg!)

One would assume the Knicks are putting strong defensive lineups around their Brunson or Towns only lineups, but honestly it's been a lot of small backcourts involving McBride and/or Payne. Last night we got some Delon Wright with Towns, and that was a nice look.

Will we see more staggering as this series goes on, or should the coaching staff figure out better ways to keep their best offensive players on the court together?

TBH I have been surprised that Thibs having a reputation as a defensive coach hasn't tried to reduce pairing of Brunson and Towns on the floor. I'm sure he's got all the stats we got. Thibs got lucked out into last night's win by circumstance. His hand was forced when Brunson got into foul trouble. Otherwise we'd never have seen Shameet or Wright. I think he will try those guys again next game. But they will be on a short leash. The first mistake they make they gone.

[Mamba81p]

They can't trade Brunson after he gave them such a big discount.
They can't really split their minutes too much either because they so many minutes. Trade KAT? I guess that depends on how the season ends

[JonHeist]

Last night we saw Towns lead a monster comeback to get the Knicks back in this series and had Thibs leaving Brunson on the bench. In game 2, the Knicks tried a lot of the 4th quarter with just Brunson, leaving Towns on the bench until the game was nearly over.

During the playoffs, the Knicks have struggled with both their offensive stars on the floor together. In 412 minutes, they post a respectable 115 Ortg, but an abysmal 119.5 Drtg (-4.45 net rating). It makes basketball sense, as Brunson/Towns is a juicy pick & roll duo to attack, and keeps the Knicks more elite defenders away from the action.

With either of them on the floor without the other, the Knicks are +9.1. The Brunson lineups unleash offensive fireworks (122 Ortg!), and the Towns lineups without Brunson are holding up strong on defense (98 Drtg!)

One would assume the Knicks are putting strong defensive lineups around their Brunson or Towns only lineups, but honestly it's been a lot of small backcourts involving McBride and/or Payne. Last night we got some Delon Wright with Towns, and that was a nice look.

Will we see more staggering as this series goes on, or should the coaching staff figure out better ways to keep their best offensive players on the court together?

brunson only left the floor because he was on 5 fouls

[bisme37]

3 game sample and part of it has been foul trouble with one or both guys. KAT in particular has very poor foul discipline.

Indy seems to have gameplanned extremely well for Brunson. Attacking him on defense and bottling up his offense with Nesmith and double teams. They seem to have a good sense of where the ball is going when Brunson is in the game and who is taking the shots, so they are prepared to counter it.

KAT is less predictable (for better or worse) and when he's got it going the Pacers have struggled to stop him and the rest of the Knicks offense.

I'm impressed by the Knicks defensive rating with the Towns lineups so far. In the past he's struggled defensively when playing the 5, but seems to be holding up well in this series, with or without Mitch in the game.

[chilluminati]

I really noticed during the Detroit series that they don't really play off of eachother. There isn't some fantastic pick n pop/dho dynamic or anything, they both just operate as star players on the same team. It always seemed like when Brunson was controlling the offense at that moment, he usually isn't trying to find KAT, and vice versa. Kat usually scores from top of the key iso's, just like Brunson does. Both like to shoot the 3 or face up drive and draw a foul. I know this sounds a bit odd, but they play the same role on offense.

Separating them just makes sense. Robinson has been looking better and better every game he plays in these playoffs and has a better dynamic with Brunson than KAT does, and KAT can survive out there on his own and get his without the need for a distributor feeding him.

[MrBigShot]

The few games where KAT hasn't played well in the playoffs, he usually wasn't very involved in the offense and got a very limited number of shot attempts. Thibs has to make a more concerted effort to make sure KAT gets the ball and gets shot opportunities even when Brunson is on the floor.

[Capn'O]

One challenge in the pairing on the offensive end is that Brunson doesn't really have a good sense of when KAT is rolling and his actions should be spammed. He often sets up out of Brunson's field of view. In some ways, Randle was a better fit because you can just throw the ball to him and run secondary playmaking action from there. Randle would set up on the opposite side of the court and Brunson would see him as a bailout. KAT is more of a finisher and sets up from the top of the circle. When Brunson's not in the game, KAT's the primary scoring option and the guards are looking for him constantly.

Then, when KAT's involved in the offense, he gets more involved defensively.

The few games where KAT hasn't played well in the playoffs, he usually wasn't very involved in the offense and got a very limited number of shot attempts. Thibs has to make a more concerted effort to make sure KAT gets the ball and gets shot opportunities even when Brunson is on the floor.

Hungry KATs need to be fed.

[facothomas22]

If I'm the Knicks, would see if Jalen Brunson + Mikal Bridges + a young player is enough for to get Giannis. Having KAT and Burnson sharing the same court for significant periods of time is problematic and will be get exposed at some point during the playoffs. Even their defensive personal around them can't cover for both of these player lack of defense.

[cupcakesnake]

I really noticed during the Detroit series that they don't really play off of eachother. There isn't some fantastic pick n pop/dho dynamic or anything, they both just operate as star players on the same team. It always seemed like when Brunson was controlling the offense at that moment, he usually isn't trying to find KAT, and vice versa. Kat usually scores from top of the key iso's, just like Brunson does. Both like to shoot the 3 or face up drive and draw a foul. I know this sounds a bit odd, but they play the same role on offense.

Separating them just makes sense. Robinson has been looking better and better every game he plays in these playoffs and has a better dynamic with Brunson than KAT does, and KAT can survive out there on his own and get his without the need for a distributor feeding him.

I always feel Towns can provide value simply by standing at the top of the key. When he's there, defenses fear the shooting/driving threat and he can be paralyzing without actually doing anything.

I've always liked him more for his latent value rather than his on-ball activity. He can be transcendent when he's aggressive with his shot and there are driving lanes to attack. He can also be such a clunky decision maker against strong defense. It's very boom or bust when Towns is super active in the offense.

I think Brunson is a steadier floor raiser. He'll get you buckets almost no matter what, but allowing him to hunt for pull ups create fairly mediocre offense at the team level. Brunson when he's mixing in playmaking and creating 3-point looks is when he's really cooking. In game 2, when the Knicks were trying to get back in the game, it seemed a mistake to me to turn things over to the ultra-conservative offense of Brunson isoing at the foul line.

[CIN-C-STAR]

I was thinking the same thing watching KAT cook the Pacers in the 4th Q last night, though I didn’t do the digging to find the data so props to you.
Doesn’t seem like Indy really has anyone that can guard KAT, but that seems to mostly go to waste with Brunson on the floor.
I think it’s a bit too late to “figure out” how to use them together more effectively, as that seems like a regular season endeavor.
I think the best solution might be to put Mitchell in the starting lineup in place of KAT, and bring KAT and McBride in for Mitchell/Brunson, but egos and all that so won’t happen.
So I guess bringing McBride in for Brunson as the first sub and maybe Hart for Mitchell at the same time is the answer. Let KAT cook for a couple minutes, then bring Brunson back in when KAT sits, is the likely answer, assuming they agree that staggering those guys is best.
It’s not ideal but KAT deserves to be featured more after his performance last night and with the data you’re presenting.

[cupcakesnake]

Last night we saw Towns lead a monster comeback to get the Knicks back in this series and had Thibs leaving Brunson on the bench. In game 2, the Knicks tried a lot of the 4th quarter with just Brunson, leaving Towns on the bench until the game was nearly over.

During the playoffs, the Knicks have struggled with both their offensive stars on the floor together. In 412 minutes, they post a respectable 115 Ortg, but an abysmal 119.5 Drtg (-4.45 net rating). It makes basketball sense, as Brunson/Towns is a juicy pick & roll duo to attack, and keeps the Knicks more elite defenders away from the action.

With either of them on the floor without the other, the Knicks are +9.1. The Brunson lineups unleash offensive fireworks (122 Ortg!), and the Towns lineups without Brunson are holding up strong on defense (98 Drtg!)

One would assume the Knicks are putting strong defensive lineups around their Brunson or Towns only lineups, but honestly it's been a lot of small backcourts involving McBride and/or Payne. Last night we got some Delon Wright with Towns, and that was a nice look.

Will we see more staggering as this series goes on, or should the coaching staff figure out better ways to keep their best offensive players on the court together?

brunson only left the floor because he was on 5 fouls

I'm aware. My question is more: will the Knicks react to the results?

[Wannabe MEP]

Playoffs
Brunson-Robinson: +10.5 (118.6/108.1) 207 minutes
Brunson-KAT: -4.1 (112.0/116.1) 412 minutes

[cupcakesnake]

Doesn’t seem like Indy really has anyone that can guard KAT, but that seems to mostly go to waste with Brunson on the floor.

This should be the series for KAT to shine. Indiana does not have a body for him. Turner's high center of gravity has always made him vulnerable to being backed down, Thomas Bryant is a weak defender. Maybe Tony Bradley? Bryant or Bradley taking away minutes from Myles Turner is probably a win for New York.

I anticipate Carlisle sending more defensive attention at KAT, at least when he's posting up.

[RHODEY]

If I'm the Knicks, would see if Jalen Brunson + Mikal Bridges + a young player is enough for to get Giannis. Having KAT and Burnson sharing the same court for significant periods of time is problematic and will be get exposed at some point during the playoffs. Even their defensive personal around them can't cover for both of these player lack of defense.

If Im a 76er fan I would be all for this horrible trade.

[Woodsanity]

Whenever Brunson and Towns are together Mitchell Robinson should share the court too.

Then stagger minutes so they don't share the court when Mitch is on the bench.

[cpower]

play more Robinson when you need Brunson ISO.. this is pretty easy to understand, if you are going to play the Iverson way you need to build him around defensive players and rebounders. The ceiling is not high but thats what you get from Brunson as 1st option.

[Wannabe MEP]

Playoffs vs Pacers
Brunson-Robinson: +9.8 (119.8/110.0) 56 minutes
Brunson-KAT: -24.5 (109.9/134.4) 65 minutes