NoDopeOnSundays wrote:Wildcat wrote:EricAnderson wrote:
Well that’s not what wins titles in todays NBA
I don't think you need to mimic another team to win. Denver didn't win the Finals last year because they were lighting it up from 3. In fact, they were rather unimpressive in that regards, but they were dominant inside. Lakers and Bucks had different formulas as well.
One can even make the argument that it was their defense that won against Dallas. Then there's Dallas' perimeter D is pathetic, Boston's is not. Drive in and kick out is basically basketball 101. It's not Kidd's fault, either. Just a bunch of weak perimeter D players. The Knicks are stocked up on perimeter D.
I'm not crazy about Mitch starting again, but he's not a scrub either. Maybe that new head of medicine can help Mitch. He just needs to stay healthy. There's enough offensive versatility in the starting lineup that could reduce the impact of his offense liabilities.
Denver has the most offensively unique and offensively gifted center in NBA history, the Bucks have a floor spacing 5 and the Lakers won when AD was shooting 38% from three in the playoffs and played most of his minutes at the 5. You have to go back to 2016 to find a team with a strictly interior center that has won a title, it's very clear now that your center has to offer some kind of threat on offense whether it's passing, shooting or bucket getting. The Celtics won because they are talented but also because they're 5 out, they made light work of the Mavs interior bigs because that type of player is very easy to defend the further you get in the playoffs.
Whether we get another center or not Randle playing the 5 at times has to be a major part of the plan, because it turns us into a 5 out team, the whole point of having all these wings is that they have the size to switch onto rim runners and stop their rolls and can gang rebound to keep them off the boards. That is what the Celtics did to Lively and Gafford too, they penalized the Mavs for playing interior bigs on one end, then pulled them away from the rim on the other end.
This all translate to me that you have to have one of the best players in the league on your team to succeed. Seems to be it's best player plus some tangible gimmick/element. Jokic and interior presence, Brown/Tatum and perimeter D, (F LeBron), and Giannis and interior presence.
I think the Knicks have the player part covered. And if things translate the way we're hoping, their gimmick is going to be perimeter D.
Dallas is a poor example. Inexperienced big men plus below average defense wasn't going to cut it. They got hot at the right time and cold at the wrong time.























