are the Knicks LEGIT contenders?!

[dc]

I think the Knicks will get better as the season goes, but as far as being contenders, let's face it: they have to hope for injuries or a major choke/slip up from the Celtics.

[Celts17Pride]

Knicks will be looking to trade everyone if they lose Game 2 to the Pacers.

[cgf]

Have to give them some more time, but it's fair to point out a distinct lack of toughness and backbone. Yeah they're the Manhattan Knicks but they've got too many guys thinking they're Hollywood now.

Towns may not be as tough as Randle, but I don't see DDV to Mikal as a downgrade in toughness. So our top 2 rim protectors being out for game 1 probably had more to do with any difference in toughness than our offseason changes.

[cgf]

Knicks will be looking to trade everyone if they lose Game 2 to the Pacers.

When has this FO rushed into anything?

[cgf]

I think the Knicks will get better as the season goes, but as far as being contenders, let's face it: they have to hope for injuries or a major choke/slip up from the Celtics.

They've done it before so they should be favored to do it again as long as they keep playing as well as they have been, but we'll see. Depending on how things gel and what final move our FO makes, we could still be a perfect matchup for the celtics once we have our rim protectors back to partol the paint and the Celtics aren't record-breakingly hot from behind the arc.

[cgf]

I think the Knicks will get better as the season goes, but as far as being contenders, let's face it: they have to hope for injuries or a major choke/slip up from the Celtics.

They've done it before so they should be favored to do it again as long as they keep playing as well as they have been, but we'll see. Depending on how things gel and what final move our FO makes, we could still be a perfect matchup for the celtics once we have our rim protectors back to partol the paint and the Celtics aren't record-breakingly hot from behind the arc just as easily.

[stuporman]

Every season under Thibs the Knicks are around .500 by new years day and 3 out of the 4 seasons they made the playoffs, two of them with home court advantage.

So...

[taikibansei]

Great game today, huh? Wait...where is everyone? Suddenly, all the haters from the last three pages seem to be...gone.

[JujitsuFlip]

This is the Knicks team we were all expecting!

[taikibansei]

This is the Knicks team we were all expecting!

While I loved this game, I'm not going to read too much into it (as we're still just beginning the season).

I think we're going to swing back and forth from "championship contender" to "cellar dweller"--likely every other game--at least until Precious and Robinson return in December. (And hopefully there will be no other injuries before then, as we're very thin.) That said, if everybody's back and healthy at the start of January, watch out league! As I've written before, I think we're really competitive with everyone (except perhaps for Boston).

[JujitsuFlip]

This is the Knicks team we were all expecting!

While I loved this game, I'm not going to read too much into it (as we're still just beginning the season).

I think we're going to swing back and forth from "championship contender" to "cellar dweller"--likely every other game--at least until Precious and Robinson return in December. (And hopefully, there will be no other injuries before then, as we're very thin.) That said, if everybody's back and healthy at the start of January, watch out league!

Probably so. I just really like that starting 5, for the modern NBA. Hart plays so much bigger than he is.

[cgf]

This is the Knicks team we were all expecting!

While I loved this game, I'm not going to read too much into it (as we're still just beginning the season).

I think we're going to swing back and forth from "championship contender" to "cellar dweller"--likely every other game--at least until Precious and Robinson return in December. (And hopefully, there will be no other injuries before then, as we're very thin.) That said, if everybody's back and healthy at the start of January, watch out league!

Probably so. I just really like that starting 5, for the modern NBA. Hart plays so much bigger than he is.

Yeah, but Hart isn’t that much more of a shooter than Robinson…I mean he is, but teams will sag off him and let him prove his 3s need to be defender…and the idea of Mitch protecting the rim with OG & Bridges free to just disrupt offenses makes my mouth water. Especially with how much better Karl has been playing up than dropping to protect the rim himself.

Plus Hart’s energy coming off the bench with Deuce just makes more sense to me, both play so much bigger than they are and can really spark the team.

[RHODEY]

Great game today, huh? Wait...where is everyone? Suddenly, all the haters from the last three pages seem to be...gone.

LOL they are speechless...someone told them Haliburton was better than Brunson.

[JujitsuFlip]

While I loved this game, I'm not going to read too much into it (as we're still just beginning the season).

I think we're going to swing back and forth from "championship contender" to "cellar dweller"--likely every other game--at least until Precious and Robinson return in December. (And hopefully, there will be no other injuries before then, as we're very thin.) That said, if everybody's back and healthy at the start of January, watch out league!

Probably so. I just really like that starting 5, for the modern NBA. Hart plays so much bigger than he is.

Yeah, but Hart isn’t that much more of a shooter than Robinson…I mean he is, but teams will sag off him and let him prove his 3s need to be defender…and the idea of Mitch protecting the rim with OG & Bridges free to just disrupt offenses makes my mouth water. Especially with how much better Karl has been playing up than dropping to protect the rim himself.

Plus Hart’s energy coming off the bench with Deuce just makes more sense to me, both play so much bigger than they are and can really spark the team.

For sure, it's just not possible to see that lineup for a couple more months.

[Capn'O]

This is the Knicks team we were all expecting!

While I loved this game, I'm not going to read too much into it (as we're still just beginning the season).

I think we're going to swing back and forth from "championship contender" to "cellar dweller"--likely every other game--at least until Precious and Robinson return in December. (And hopefully there will be no other injuries before then, as we're very thin.) That said, if everybody's back and healthy at the start of January, watch out league! As I've written before, I think we're really competitive with everyone (except perhaps for Boston).

I think we come in strong. No cellar dweller games but maybe some mid ones. We were obviously better tonight but Boston is just really good and hyper focused between raising the banner and opening at home. That wasn't a good barometer of where the team is and we still had a good offensive showing.

Cleveland will be an interesting test because they're currently bigger then us but I loved how Thibs adjusted the defense tonight without the bigs around. Bridges, OG, Deuce, and Hart are very disruptive.

[doogie_hauser]

How bad was Deuce McBride's injury (didn't watch the 2nd half)

He is becoming a very important rotation piece for The Knicks (really improved his 3 point shooting)

[taikibansei]

This is the Knicks team we were all expecting!

While I loved this game, I'm not going to read too much into it (as we're still just beginning the season).

I think we're going to swing back and forth from "championship contender" to "cellar dweller"--likely every other game--at least until Precious and Robinson return in December. (And hopefully there will be no other injuries before then, as we're very thin.) That said, if everybody's back and healthy at the start of January, watch out league! As I've written before, I think we're really competitive with everyone (except perhaps for Boston).

I think we come in strong. No cellar dweller games but maybe some mid ones. We were obviously better tonight but Boston is just really good and hyper focused between raising the banner and opening at home. That wasn't a good barometer of where the team is and we still had a good offensive showing.

Cleveland will be an interesting test because they're currently bigger then us but I loved how Thibs adjusted the defense tonight without the bigs around. Bridges, OG, Deuce, and Hart are very disruptive.

Hope you're right. I think we're going to have some real stinkers over the short-term, both because two key starters are still so new to the team/system, and because it's a lot harder to play small night-in and night-out because you have to (due to injuries) than because you want to (due to match-ups). OG and Towns especially are not what you'd call iron men, and I'm a little worried that overplaying them early will lead to one or both breaking down. Fingers crossed we make it at least through to December with nobody else out.

But yeah, great game yesterday. **** the Pacers!

[DaGawd]

How bad was Deuce McBride's injury (didn't watch the 2nd half)

He is becoming a very important rotation piece for The Knicks (really improved his 3 point shooting)

he’s fine came back in the game later on but it was a blow out so he didn’t really need to do much. he’s the reason i was telling folks here on gb the loss of donte wouldn’t be felt that hard

[LFGK]

So the sky was falling after game one and now everyone is quiet after the pacers dismantling. Or this will just turn into “The pacers suck” lol. Overreaction is unreal, I heard some stupid cake eater say Mikals shot is gone and he should be a 5th option lol. I truly hate Celtic fans man, the worst of the worst. We will see you guys in about 3 months at the garden, promise it will be a different game.

[Sixers in 4]

Of course.

Bridges needs to fire Ben Simmons as his shooting coach, though