PG: Thibs runs team into the ground, wonders why we are short handed, lose to the Fake Allstar and Pacers

[Kampuchea]

We need Randle back for a few timely turnovers after playing 43 minutes to help this loss feel complete.

[Context]

Misquoted, too.... 'we can't keep looking ahead and say we're gonna be good, we gotta be good now'...that's not what the tweet says it is.

excellent catch ! didnt even read the full tweet- was so excited to hear him say that- I just ran to share with the family

It's subtle, but the misquote has an element of self negging in it and is kind of opposite of the mindset Brunson is speaking about so the actual ruote is a forward thinking way of saying a similar sentiment. It's a little bit of journalistic scuzziness in twisting the words if that was the intention of the media.

Brunson is the choosen one. If you think about it he was built to bring a chip to this city! He represents so much character that we can relate too. He was around HOFer's as a kid. Told MJ no thank you on the sig- dont want you to mess up my jersey
Thats some NY ish right there

[duetta]

The story of the game for me was Brunson still being in it with the Knicks down 16 with 2-3 minutes left, coming off his sprained ankle. He took a lot of body contact in those last few minutes. He could have been hurt again.

You can't judge the roster with so many key players out. OG was the player who brought everything together for us, and now he's not here. Precious has been much better than expected. And DDV shows more on offense every day. We miss Randle terribly, as well as all our big men.

But Thibs is a psycho. He just is. And I now remember why I grew to hate Burks the last time that we had him. He makes no attempt at running the offense. DDV could play the same role. And we are weaker defensively, especially in the backcourt, than we were. Maybe it will not matter - or maybe we'll draw Cleveland and Mitchell will light us up (like he didn't last season).

Still, it was one game, nothing more.

If I-Hart or Sims is not back soon, management has got to bring in some kind of big man. I don't want to see Taj expire on the court, on big screen TV. Not my idea of must-see TV.

[Clyde_Style]

The story of the game for me was Brunson still being in it with the Knicks down 16 with 2-3 minutes left, coming off his sprained ankle. He took a lot of body contact in those last few minutes. He could have been hurt again.

You can't judge the roster with so many key players out. OG was the player who brought everything together for us, and now he's not here. Precious has been much better than expected. And DDV shows more on offense every day. We miss Randle terribly, as well as all our big men.

But Thibs is a psycho. He just is. And I now remember why I grew to hate Burks the last time that we had him. He makes no attempt at running the offense. DDV could play the same role. And we are weaker defensively, especially in the backcourt, than we were. Maybe it will not matter - or maybe we'll draw Cleveland and Mitchell will light us up (like he didn't last season).

Still, it was one game, nothing more.

If I-Hart or Sims is not back soon, management has got to bring in some kind of big man. I don't want to see Taj expire on the court, on big screen TV. Not my idea of must-see TV.

Burks is Homeless Donte

I really don't want him here. I do think Bogie was a terrific pickup though

Thibs is the not a good coach for Burks so now we have to suffer through Thibs letting Burks devolve to his worst tendencies

[HighRyzer83]

There's no justification to play Brunson with 1 minute left in a blowout, and there's no justification to play Trash Gibson over Toppin. Thibs gets credit for our win streak, but when he's bad he's awful. Like RJ vs Cleveland awful.

[K_ick_God]

Some nice bench scoring sure but Bo is no full time 4 that's for sure and sad to say for as hard he tries Precious isn't a full time 5 either. Knicks need to hit a home run on a buyout center, like a thunderbolt from the BBGods into their lives...

I have no clue who could that be...but without it the Knicks are slipping down the stretch.

I don’t know what you’re seeing. Precious is playing some great basketball.

[HighRyzer83]

I never understood the fascination with bogi. Nor Burks. In fact I was thrilled we got rid of Burks so thibs couldn't play him so much. Now both are here sandbagging with chitty defense and no athleticism. I rather have Grimes and picks honestly

[HighRyzer83]

Our schedule is atrocious

@Rockets
@Magic
@Sixers
Celtics
Pistons
Pelicans
Warriors
@Cavs
Hawks
Magic
Sixers
Sixers
@Blazers
@Kings
@Warriors
@Nuggets

Wym? There's only like 4 tough teams there

[K_ick_God]

I never understood the fascination with bogi. Nor Burks. In fact I was thrilled we got rid of Burks so thibs couldn't play him so much. Now both are here sandbagging with chitty defense and no athleticism. I rather have Grimes and picks honestly

At a minimum I think we will miss Grimes’ pesky D.

[Gravy]

Need at least 1 or 2 of OG, Randle, Ihart, Mitch back soon.

Judging newly acquired players way too early after one game...Knicksbus.gif

[stuporman]

Some nice bench scoring sure but Bo is no full time 4 that's for sure and sad to say for as hard he tries Precious isn't a full time 5 either. Knicks need to hit a home run on a buyout center, like a thunderbolt from the BBGods into their lives...

I have no clue who could that be...but without it the Knicks are slipping down the stretch.

I don’t know what you’re seeing. Precious is playing some great basketball.

I don't know what it is you think I'm seeing but it doesn't sound like you really do...

[Adelheid]

Burks dribbles and dribbles — you want pass, shoot, quick decisions, not pounding the ball. Even JB doesn’t do that.

Deuce diminished.

But we probably lose this one anyway. But when Burks did his thing, we lost momentum. He may take oxygen from DD too.

But nothing we can do about it. Deuce won’t be playing in the playoffs. Like it or not, Burks is gonna play. That’s locked in now.

Bog looked pretty good.

people will, soon enough, remember why burks was so well hated here before he was traded

madafakas deserve all this

[NiceLikeChrist]

the thibs bashing is annoying af. injuries happen

It’s definitely Thibs fault that we have a guy like Taj playing 20 minutes and starting and not someone else

And it’s definitely him making these terrible lineups and rotations. Injuries don’t have much to do with those two things. In fact once we get health the second problem will get worse. He runs 8 guys into the ground no matter what and giving him too much depth means people will rot while they have the ability to contribute

[TrueWarrior]

First Impressions of the 2 New Guys:

Alec isnt new perse, as he is the same dude we had 2 years ago for better or worse. He’s still a bucket, and went off in the 4th in classic fashion even if it was garbage time, but kind of gave me flashbacks of him pounding the ball a bit too much again. He can definitely score and shoot, but he’s not a PG at all and his defense is meh. Had some boneheaded plays, but overall a good opening night I cant hate on too much.

Bojan didnt have his best shooting performance, but he played unselfish and in the flow with some nice flashes. I liked how he did on offense for the most part for his debut game even if he was off, but he didnt give much on defense. Im interested how he’s going to fit in here in a smaller role.

Basically my first premature hot take thought is that getting both Alec and Bojan is a bit overkill. Id rather have just gotten Bojan and kept Grimes for more defensive balance if that was possible. We needed 1 more scorer, not 2, imo.

Not only did we lose Grimes, but Alec and Bojan will reduce Deuce and Precious’ minutes too once more guys return, making us older and worse on D. Hart is the guy who should have his minutes cut the most, but that won't happen. Maybe it all works out fine when OG and Isaiah/Mitch come back, and our offense could make up for it, but thats the concern I have now.

I also want OG and Donte to continue expanding their offense, so Alec and Bojan will probably dip into their touches and shots. There’s only 1 ball. We’ll have to see how the dynamic works.

Listen the team wont be healthy for at least another month, so the new guys are definitely needed atm to score dont get me wrong. Im only curious how they’re going to be used when/if we’re at full strength. They arent long term pieces though, and should definitely help more than Grimes in these playoffs if last year’s playoffs was any indication. Thibs is just so stubborn with his rotations and roles.

[HighRyzer83]

I never understood the fascination with bogi. Nor Burks. In fact I was thrilled we got rid of Burks so thibs couldn't play him so much. Now both are here sandbagging with chitty defense and no athleticism. I rather have Grimes and picks honestly

At a minimum I think we will miss Grimes’ pesky D.

Grimes can also hit threes. If we needed a shooter why trade a young, defense playing shooter for an old, slow, no defense playing shooter? If we wanted useless shooters who suck defensively we would have played Fournier

[Gravy]

I never understood the fascination with bogi. Nor Burks. In fact I was thrilled we got rid of Burks so thibs couldn't play him so much. Now both are here sandbagging with chitty defense and no athleticism. I rather have Grimes and picks honestly

At a minimum I think we will miss Grimes’ pesky D.

Grimes can also hit threes. If we needed a shooter why trade a young, defense playing shooter for an old, slow, no defense playing shooter? If we wanted useless shooters who suck defensively we would have played Fournier

We needed the depth to give Brunson and OG more rest. I liked Grimes but he's not substituting for Brunson and Deuce cant really run the offense or create his own shot consistently. Thibs trusts Burks and everyone wanted the starters to get more rest.

Burks and Bojan should look better against other teams benches when the real starters come back. There isnt much to take away from this current lineup since its so completely different than how it should look when the team is healthy.

[stuporman]

People can talk about the guards and wings all they like but the fact remains there are 96 mins of center and power forward minutes in every NBA game when the Knicks have only Precious, Taj, Hart and Bogs to play those 96 minutes this game and every game until the Knicks get someone back healthy or from wherever.

There are 5 players that are 6-8 and taller injured right now, the fact that the FO didn't think it was an important enough need to address at the trade deadline seems a bit short-sighted. They did alot in trades this season, but this one miscalculation might lower this team's ceiling for this season.

Sure, we can say in the playoffs when it really matters the Knicks should have most of those guys back by then, which may be true. Although, having to fight the rest of the season being this small can cost them so many games they may fall in the seedings so the playoff path is made more difficult.

The tougher path through the playoffs could result in an earlier exit even if the Knicks are finally healthy
for them. Although, if I allow myself to play devil's advocate, I will describe the scenario where a drop in the standing could help the Knicks path through the playoffs.

If the Knicks get passed up by the Pacers and one other team, whoever, so they fall to 6th seed they still avoid the play in. As the 6th seed they likely match up with the Bucks, then probably the Cavs and avoid the Celtics until the ECF if they can win those other two series to get there.

If the Knicks can't get to the 3rd seed to avoid the Celtics until the ECF then the 6th seed does the same thing, being 4th or 5th means a second round match up with Boston even if they get HCA for the first round. Or it's just going through Boston as the only way to exceed last season's end.

I don't know what the Knicks could have possibly done to address the center spot with the limited selection of available players and assets to do it or even if there was anyone who could help. To be fair the Knicks probably only need them to eat mins as a starter in the short term then bench later to never in playoffs.

One I think may have been able to is Gafford for their Wash1st back to them, Sims and matching salary, Who knows if that would've been enough to snake him from Dallas but maybe having control over their own picks is worth more than a late pick from someone else. Just speculating.

Another idea that came to mind is expanding the deal with the Pistons to get Isiah Stewart by adding Sims and offering their pick back to Detroit. This would give them control over their own pick as well. Both of those two ideas wouldn't touch the Knicks' best draft assets and lose just one of the weakest 1sts.

Although, this big man dilemma might be something that takes enough weeks to solve that it really messes with the hard work they did getting themselves into the position to challenge for a top 3 seed and a chance to win 50 games. Now they need to finish 17-12 to get to 50 but still may not be the 3rd seed.

With both Randle and OG likely out for a month even a return of iHart after the all-star break might not be enough to get them out of a second round showdown with Boston. I love what Precious has been doing but he's only one 6-8 man, tonight showed he can only do so much.

Who knew how crucial he'd be to the Knicks' success this season when he was the other guy in the OG trade.

[gavran]

These Pacers are such a first round exit team, I can't wait for the day when their frenchise is wiped out of existence.

[Clyde_Style]

These Pacers are such a first round exit team, I can't wait for the day when their frenchise is wiped out of existence.

It's Indiana so they should be imprisoned in a Dairy Queen with a week's supply of burgers and then let nature take its course

[ScienceOfLosing]

the thibs bashing is annoying af. injuries happen

can't be serious...
you just saw Brunson finish the game in a **** blowout my ****... u can't be defending him rn

yeah i agree brunson probably could’ve been pulled around the 5 minute mark but are we really gonna sit here and blame thibs for each and every injury? cmon now

Our starting SF in Julius, Wing in OG, Center in Mitch and other starting Center IHart are all out with injuries, most definitely in part due to over playing. OG already had a bone spur for sure, but the way Thibs overuses players just increases the chance of them having to leave sooner. Julius tired at the end of games does more stupid shizz and comes down wrong. IHart getting overplayed and we all know he can’t handle the minutes he is forced to play. RJ in Toronto started his career off thrir by missing games. Not every injury is due to Thibs, but come on, how many more players do we need to lose?

In this game Deuce got 11 minutes and Brunson 37, Hali with 30. Brunson leaves with 1 minute left in game.

Do you want the whole starting lineup out with injuries in order to get it?