Initial impressions of KAT, Bridges, offense and defense

[Synciere]

The benefit of having a veteran team is most of our rotation are known entities.

1. The offense will be awesome, but I’d like to see how Thibs unlocks OG and Mikal offensively. We need Mikal to be more of an on ball threat.

2. KAT and foul trouble still seems to be a thing. We still need a big. Hopefully Huk is a revelation.

3. Outside of our starting unit, we’re still a bit small. I really wanted Dadiet to be a contributor out the gate but if he can’t time in the preseason then that’s just not in the cards.

[Parraknick]

The benefit of having a veteran team is most of our rotation are known entities.

1. The offense will be awesome, but I’d like to see how Thibs unlocks OG and Mikal offensively. We need Mikal to be more of an on ball threat.

2. KAT and foul trouble still seems to be a thing. We still need a big. Hopefully Huk is a revelation.

3. Outside of our starting unit, we’re still a bit small. I really wanted Dadiet to be a contributor out the gate but if he can’t time in the preseason then that’s just not in the cards.

OG seems to be doing a nice job with his one or two dribble pull up from the elbow/foul line. Still looks out of his depth when trying much more than that. So maybe that and his corner 3 are his bag, and we accept it.

Mikal will continue to post up and show a face up game but again, like OG, if we want the first team all D Mikal, maybe his offensive role doesn’t need to be complicated.

Yeah KAT is a ticky tack foul accumulator. And a charge merchant. Hopefully the Brunson KAT pnr becomes so crisp that it minimises the above.

I think our size is looking okay. So many teams are playing fairly small anyway.

[Capn'O]

I think that Charles Smith team won 60 games...it might have been kinda tough to improve on that.

True. Was Smith traded for Xavier? I cant remember why we lost him.

We had a best chance with Xavier McDaniel.
We could have beaten Bulls if we kept him.

Jackson was traded for Smith and we let X go. He claims he wanted to come back.

[Synciere]

The benefit of having a veteran team is most of our rotation are known entities.

1. The offense will be awesome, but I’d like to see how Thibs unlocks OG and Mikal offensively. We need Mikal to be more of an on ball threat.

2. KAT and foul trouble still seems to be a thing. We still need a big. Hopefully Huk is a revelation.

3. Outside of our starting unit, we’re still a bit small. I really wanted Dadiet to be a contributor out the gate but if he can’t time in the preseason then that’s just not in the cards.

OG seems to be doing a nice job with his one or two dribble pull up from the elbow/foul line. Still looks out of his depth when trying much more than that. So maybe that and his corner 3 are his bag, and we accept it.

Mikal will continue to post up and show a face up game but again, like OG, if we want the first team all D Mikal, maybe his offensive role doesn’t need to be complicated.

Yeah KAT is a ticky tack foul accumulator. And a charge merchant. Hopefully the Brunson KAT pnr becomes so crisp that it minimises the above.

I think our size is looking okay. So many teams are playing fairly small anyway.

For what we’re paying, or will be paying them, we need Mikal and OG to do more offensively. They can’t just be catch and shoot guys.

We don’t have any experienced, good bigs until Mitch gets back. Then, we have to consider how Mitch and KAT will play together considering our most lethal plays will be Jalen and KAT in a pick and roll and they would’ve been playing together for 3-4 months. Luckily we have an experienced coaching staff that’s been through this already but still.

Did you see the press conference last spring when Ant asked KAT outright why he couldn’t stop fouling? “Stop doing that!” It’s a thing. And given our depth, it’ll lose us some games.

A lot of teams playing small is fine in the regular season, but we built this team to beat Boston and Philly and Milwaukee right? We’ll need those bigs man…

[2010]

I still can't believe we kept neither. I wonder what Riley would have done if they had Strickland. Would he have still gone full grind?

On a related note - I recently watched some Charles Smith highlights with the Clippers and something that was readily apparent was that even in those days Smith was very clearly a PF and playing him at SF was wild. Maybe more of a modern 4 for the era but definitely not a 3. He needed to be parked down low or be on the move toward the interior. So, as much as we loved Oak, I really wonder if we had chosen a different vision for the team and gone:

Strickland
Starks
X
Smith
Pat

Then whoever we could have gotten for Oak what could have been. That team could have been a lot faster and allowed Pat to focus on being an absolute beast on defense.

I think that Charles Smith team won 60 games...it might have been kinda tough to improve on that.

We had a best chance with Xavier McDaniel.
We could have beaten Bulls if we kept him.

Yup. But David Falk was protecting his #1 client and made sure he steered X-Man (his other client) out of NY. Scottie Pippen was scared to death of X-Man.

[Parraknick]

The benefit of having a veteran team is most of our rotation are known entities.

1. The offense will be awesome, but I’d like to see how Thibs unlocks OG and Mikal offensively. We need Mikal to be more of an on ball threat.

2. KAT and foul trouble still seems to be a thing. We still need a big. Hopefully Huk is a revelation.

3. Outside of our starting unit, we’re still a bit small. I really wanted Dadiet to be a contributor out the gate but if he can’t time in the preseason then that’s just not in the cards.

OG seems to be doing a nice job with his one or two dribble pull up from the elbow/foul line. Still looks out of his depth when trying much more than that. So maybe that and his corner 3 are his bag, and we accept it.

Mikal will continue to post up and show a face up game but again, like OG, if we want the first team all D Mikal, maybe his offensive role doesn’t need to be complicated.

Yeah KAT is a ticky tack foul accumulator. And a charge merchant. Hopefully the Brunson KAT pnr becomes so crisp that it minimises the above.

I think our size is looking okay. So many teams are playing fairly small anyway.

For what we’re paying, or will be paying them, we need Mikal and OG to do more offensively. They can’t just be catch and shoot guys.

We don’t have any experienced, good bigs until Mitch gets back. Then, we have to consider how Mitch and KAT will play together considering our most lethal plays will be Jalen and KAT in a pick and roll and they would’ve been playing together for 3-4 months. Luckily we have an experienced coaching staff that’s been through this already but still.

Did you see the press conference last spring when Ant asked KAT outright why he couldn’t stop fouling? “Stop doing that!” It’s a thing. And given our depth, it’ll lose us some games.

A lot of teams playing small is fine in the regular season, but we built this team to beat Boston and Philly and Milwaukee right? We’ll need those bigs man…

I agree with you on the contracts vs production sentiment. But at the same time, OG is who he is to a large extent imo. We have to let him play to his strengths and trying to get more out of him because of his huge contract doesn’t necessarily add value to our team. What do you suggest might be possible here?

Mikal is more versatile and I suspect will float between offensive roles depending on who he’s playing with. Again though, his identity is pretty known at this point right? Hopefully our roster / the Thibs system just gives him more space than he had in Brooklyn and he can be the best version of himself.

And for sure, longer term we will hopefully get Mitch or whoever in the rotation. I didn’t see Ant say that. Interesting times ahead!

[kNicksGmen]

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Hart is a rebounder and he really pushes the pace with outlet passes. He drives coast to coast as well. There's more to Hart starting that isn't hurt by his lack of shooting. I would be happy either way but, it isn't a bad situation to have. We are very flexible with our rotations now. More so than if we still had Randle IMO.

We can go big and play similar to last year if Mitch h ever gets back. We can also spread the floor whenever we want. We can put lock down defensive lineups out there when we need stops. We can put shooters out there when we need to score. It's really the best of both worlds IF we could have a healthy Mitch or a replacement player along those lines.

We are gonna be a problem for the league this year. Just stay healthy!

i agree and look forward to seeing different lineups. i'm sure due to injuries/rest/matchups we'll see thibs make different changes throughout the year. i recognize those things hart does in transition etc so i'm not strongly against him starting or anything, i'm more curious to how it would look with precious is all because in paper (in my head at least) i think it can work very well - unless precious turned into a bum, which at times he does kind of go through rough stretches.

Precious will get minutes, McBride will get minutes

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Right or wrong Hart is Thibs guy. He will give every opportunity for that lthis lineup to succeed. Depending on its success will determine how many minutes they get together . If it bombs a lineup like you suggest might get more minutes.

Starting lineup
KAT
OG
Bridges
Hart
Brunson

Big man line up
KAT
Precious
OG
Bridges
Brunson/McBride

3 ball line up
KAT
OG
Bridges
McBride
Brunson

Lock down lineup
Mitchell
OG
Bridges
Hart
McBride

my point was moreso hart not starting but still expecting him to finish more often than not. not that it's always the case, but I feel like it's often the strategy that teams have a 6th man that is actually one of their 5 best players that ends up playing starter minutes and closing the games. the thought being they come off the bench and give that energy and maybe take advantage of that.

my hope more than anything is that thibs is flexible and adjusts rotations as the season goes on based on how things are working. and that includes who closes games based on who is doing well that game and matchups etc. so often in the past (and i can't really blame him) he would always bring back an RJ or Julius to close even though the bench got us back in the game etc. this year i feel like outside of Brunson and Kat (to a lesser extent) - who closes the game could be any of deuce, hart, OG, precious, and even one of the bench guys depending on how things are going.

like if we're missing our 3s and getting beat up on the boards, and maybe not protecting the rim great - then precious comes in and helps in that regard - extend his minutes that game if it's helping you compared to what the starters were producing etc. or if hart is having an off game, let Deuce finish if he's doing well etc etc. rather than a rigid rotation that is stuck to no matter what.

[KnixinSix]

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Hart is a rebounder and he really pushes the pace with outlet passes. He drives coast to coast as well. There's more to Hart starting that isn't hurt by his lack of shooting. I would be happy either way but, it isn't a bad situation to have. We are very flexible with our rotations now. More so than if we still had Randle IMO.

We can go big and play similar to last year if Mitch h ever gets back. We can also spread the floor whenever we want. We can put lock down defensive lineups out there when we need stops. We can put shooters out there when we need to score. It's really the best of both worlds IF we could have a healthy Mitch or a replacement player along those lines.

We are gonna be a problem for the league this year. Just stay healthy!

i agree and look forward to seeing different lineups. i'm sure due to injuries/rest/matchups we'll see thibs make different changes throughout the year. i recognize those things hart does in transition etc so i'm not strongly against him starting or anything, i'm more curious to how it would look with precious is all because in paper (in my head at least) i think it can work very well - unless precious turned into a bum, which at times he does kind of go through rough stretches.

yea but i think Precious will mostly backup Kat. I kind of want to see them together - specifically this lineup:

Brunson - Bridges - OG - Precious - Towns

that lineup is HUGE. Length and defense of Bridges-OG-Precious would be amazing combined with better rim protection and rebounding/size. spacing is still very good as I don't see a huge difference between precious and hart shooting 3s. precious has some juice off the bounce and around the rim too. allows an additional screener on/off ball etc.

feels like a more balanced lineup. let hart come off the bench. negative is you don't really have a good big off the bench then.

Right or wrong Hart is Thibs guy. He will give every opportunity for that lthis lineup to succeed. Depending on its success will determine how many minutes they get together . If it bombs a lineup like you suggest might get more minutes.

Starting lineup
KAT
OG
Bridges
Hart
Brunson

Big man line up
KAT
Precious
OG
Bridges
Brunson/McBride

3 ball line up
KAT
OG
Bridges
McBride
Brunson

Lock down lineup
Mitchell
OG
Bridges
Hart
McBride

my point was moreso hart not starting but still expecting him to finish more often than not. not that it's always the case, but I feel like it's often the strategy that teams have a 6th man that is actually one of their 5 best players that ends up playing starter minutes and closing the games. the thought being they come off the bench and give that energy and maybe take advantage of that.

my hope more than anything is that thibs is flexible and adjusts rotations as the season goes on based on how things are working. and that includes who closes games based on who is doing well that game and matchups etc. so often in the past (and i can't really blame him) he would always bring back an RJ or Julius to close even though the bench got us back in the game etc. this year i feel like outside of Brunson and Kat (to a lesser extent) - who closes the game could be any of deuce, hart, OG, precious, and even one of the bench guys depending on how things are going.

like if we're missing our 3s and getting beat up on the boards, and maybe not protecting the rim great - then precious comes in and helps in that regard - extend his minutes that game if it's helping you compared to what the starters were producing etc. or if hart is having an off game, let Deuce finish if he's doing well etc etc. rather than a rigid rotation that is stuck to no matter what.

We need to continually look and make appropriate adjustments. Thibs has gotten better at this over the years evdn if he sometimes rides players too long. We now have legitimate depth where he shouldn't do that anymore. I want to see less minutes for our top players keeping them fresher and less worn down for the playoffs

[aggo]

supposedly u guys watched this series.


now count to me how many times theres someone to defend the rim on any of these attempts. then count how many times there "shouldve" been someone back to defend the rim.

Read on Twitter

rim defense isn't overrated, ok. its very important. but against the teams we need to beat, it literally doesnt matter because the entire offensive scheme of the opponent is to remove the rim defender.

[aggo]

btw


kat shoots something like 50% from three as the trailer in transition



I promise you.


as ive written many times.



there is no one on the planet that has watched more Boston and indiana tape than thibs did over the summer.



it is NOT a mistake that we got killed by turner's trailing threes in transition and we literally went out and fixed this hole in our team not by figuring out how to defend it--- YOU CANNOT-- but by understanding the correct way to defeat these teams is to fight fire with fire.

score more points. get your own guy that does what turner does even better.

[KnixinSix]

btw


kat shoots something like 50% from three as the trailer in transition



I promise you.


as ive written many times.



there is no one on the planet that has watched more Boston and indiana tape than thibs did over the summer.



it is NOT a mistake that we got killed by turner's trailing threes in transition and we literally went out and fixed this hole in our team not by figuring out how to defend it--- YOU CANNOT-- but by understanding the correct way to defeat these teams is to fight fire with fire.

score more points. get your own guy that does what turner does even better.

Fight fire with bigger fire.

Also our 2 3 4 trio is the best defensive trio in the league and it is probably not really close.

[dakomish23]

The perimeter defense gave me strong a four hour erection.

I get it's early but I have been a big KAT endorser on this site for quite a while. I don't think many realize what type of team we are about to see here.

KP who is a lesser version of KAT and Holiday who is a lesser version of Bridges essentially took Celts to a another level and became a 60+ win team.

I think this team similarly goes to another level this year. Keep in mind what we looked like with OG but without Bridges. Team was like 20-5 prior to tons of injuries overwhelming us in the playoffs.

Just like Celts stepped up in level from 22-23 to 23-24, I think we will go from a 50 win team to a 60+ win team barring catastrophic unforeseen circumstances.

Let’s not get crazy

[KnixinSix]

The perimeter defense gave me strong a four hour erection.

I get it's early but I have been a big KAT endorser on this site for quite a while. I don't think many realize what type of team we are about to see here.

KP who is a lesser version of KAT and Holiday who is a lesser version of Bridges essentially took Celts to a another level and became a 60+ win team.

I think this team similarly goes to another level this year. Keep in mind what we looked like with OG but without Bridges. Team was like 20-5 prior to tons of injuries overwhelming us in the playoffs.

Just like Celts stepped up in level from 22-23 to 23-24, I think we will go from a 50 win team to a 60+ win team barring catastrophic unforeseen circumstances.

Let’s not get crazy

A 34 year old
Holliday is better than Bridges?

[Context]

Read on Twitter

[dakomish23]

I get it's early but I have been a big KAT endorser on this site for quite a while. I don't think many realize what type of team we are about to see here.

KP who is a lesser version of KAT and Holiday who is a lesser version of Bridges essentially took Celts to a another level and became a 60+ win team.

I think this team similarly goes to another level this year. Keep in mind what we looked like with OG but without Bridges. Team was like 20-5 prior to tons of injuries overwhelming us in the playoffs.

Just like Celts stepped up in level from 22-23 to 23-24, I think we will go from a 50 win team to a 60+ win team barring catastrophic unforeseen circumstances.

Let’s not get crazy

A 34 year old
Holliday is better than Bridges?

His age didn't seem to stop his monumental impact on winning a championship last year.

[thebuzzardman]

38 wins, not impressed, a Brunson injury away from 28 wins

[kNicksGmen]

one of the things i like most about towns so far is he hustles. he's not jogging back or lolly gagging. that should be the bare minimum expected from players but somehow certain players get away with it not only from fans but coaches.

[KnixinSix]

Let’s not get crazy

A 34 year old
Holliday is better than Bridges?

His age didn't seem to stop his monumental impact on winning a championship last year.

Does that make him better than Mikal tho?

I don't think many teams would take a 34 yo Holliday over a 28 year old highly durable Mikal Bridges.

[KnixinSix]

one of the things i like most about towns so far is he hustles. he's not jogging back or lolly gagging. that should be the bare minimum expected from players but somehow certain players get away with it not only from fans but coaches.

He is trying and putting what seems like full effort on the defensive end which is quite a bit more than what Randle was doing.

[rajajackal]

The benefit of having a veteran team is most of our rotation are known entities.

1. The offense will be awesome, but I’d like to see how Thibs unlocks OG and Mikal offensively. We need Mikal to be more of an on ball threat.

2. KAT and foul trouble still seems to be a thing. We still need a big. Hopefully Huk is a revelation.

3. Outside of our starting unit, we’re still a bit small. I really wanted Dadiet to be a contributor out the gate but if he can’t time in the preseason then that’s just not in the cards.

OG seems to be doing a nice job with his one or two dribble pull up from the elbow/foul line. Still looks out of his depth when trying much more than that. So maybe that and his corner 3 are his bag, and we accept it.

Mikal will continue to post up and show a face up game but again, like OG, if we want the first team all D Mikal, maybe his offensive role doesn’t need to be complicated.

Yeah KAT is a ticky tack foul accumulator. And a charge merchant. Hopefully the Brunson KAT pnr becomes so crisp that it minimises the above.

I think our size is looking okay. So many teams are playing fairly small anyway.

after the first 3 preseason games, my view is that mikal needs to be established as the secondary handler. his scoring looked better with the ball in his hands a bit more when brunson went to the locker room and i think it'll help give kat more opportunities in the flow of the offense