PG: KNICKS Squeak Past The Wiz's

[Jalen Bluntson]

The canary in the coal mine but shhhhhh…

22-10 and we can sit here and pick at things. We play the same teams everyone else plays. We have good stats across the board with PPG/OPP-PPG/NET-RTG/ETC. Are there some concerns? Sure but, we have seen improvements over the course of the season. Hopefully that continues. The 3pt shooting has only been down the last two games. The defense has been questionable all season but, it has improved.

Starting next Friday we will see our schedule get a little tougher. I think by mid January it really picks up. We shall see the results in real time. Hopefully we see the team figure things out like they have all season. We are 32 games in and we have basically been the best team in the league since November 15th record wise. 6-6 to 22-10. Massive improvement. I have faith they continue on the upward trajectory.

The bench will build more chemistry. The coach will continue to tinker with things. Mitch should be back soon. That will add another level to our defense. Maybe we make a trade. There is room to grow and time to improve over the next 50 games. People see the flaws. I don't think anyone is really acting like everything is fine while the room is on fire. Look around the league. We are easily a top 5-6 team. Do we win it all in year one of this group? Time will tell. We are in good shape though moving forward and we can get better.

I am totally talking about winning a chip. We have a great team.

I have hope but we need either a defensive presence at the 5 or at the 1. Jalen isn’t going anywhere, so hoping for Mitch or his replacement. We can’t rely on having the best offence to win a chip come playoffs… Or can we? Can KAT really get much better on D to make that difference? I don’t think so.

We are probably going to see what amounts to a significant change to our offence by moving KAT to the 4 but luckily we have Tom, I mean time.

You are overreacting trying to make it seem like no one else is paying attention. That's what I'm talking about. The team has improved defensively throughout the season and we still have PLENTY of time to figure things out before the playoffs.We are currently near the top of the league in all categories. We are on an historic scoring pace with our starting 5 as well.

We will find out what we need to do to beat those other teams as the season goes on. There is no cookie cutter answers to any of this as you suggested in your post. Like I said in my post, will we win it all in year one? Time will tell. We are on a good path to do so. We will get a better idea when the schedule tightens up on us in the next few weeks. When Mitch returns/do we make a trade also needs evaluating that we simply cannot do until one or both of those things happen.

It's a long season. We are one of the best teams in the league. The house isn't on fire and no one is acting like we are a lock to win a championship. We play OKC in 5 days. Let's see where we are at then with 47 games to go after that.

The biggest issue with this team is the amount of minutes Thibs is playing guys. We need to be healthy to have any chance at all. Nothing else is as important as that.

[mpharris36]

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[Luv those Knicks]

Dodged a bullet against this crappy Wiz team

Yup. Worst team in the league. Still, it was a back to back for NY. Wiz hit 44% of their 3s. We hit 25%. Sometimes the shots don't fall. 22-10 baby.

[Jalen Bluntson]

This is malpractice, he has to start playing the bench more. I don't care if we lose random games here and there as long as we get to the playoffs with a healthy roster. Keep in mind, we have not had a single healthy playoff run with him, every year a starter is out.

I can live with one maybe two guys up there.

Mikal is an iron man and Hart just never seems to get tired.

Having Brunson up there with Payne and Deuce on the roster is ridiculous. Also having OG up there is crazy. No elite defenders play that many minutes because defense is way more taxing than offense. Look at Haliburton and Fox up there because they take the other end of the floor off.

Again I'm trying to be reasonable with THibs....one or two guys up there I can live with. But we NEED OG for the playoffs we NEED Brunson for the playoffs...seeding wont matter if these guys are worn down/injured at the end of the season.

good to know. couldn't tell from the game thread posts... every game.

now post the minutes per game leaders. because this is ironic and sensational.

the irony being that these listed knicks are leading in total minutes because we have 1 missed game (personal reasons) this season among those leaders. as in... they've been healthy while others (who do not play for thibs) have not.

brunson continues to average under 35, KAT around 34. most star players play more MPG than both of them.

our wings are playing heavy minutes. we're clearly leaning on them. as has been mentioned in threads ad nauseum, we started the season with injured rotation guys and probably didn't have the best options to win in the meantime. would be nice to see someone else trusted in the mix to bring that down. shamet just made it back and the rotation just expanded from 8 to 9 (not 6 to 7 like some like to suggest).

lastly, minutes police never want to sketch out a full rotation, which is hard and the work of a coach. just numbers that don't have regard for who is playing when, which is easy and the work of a couch. i would legit love to see rotation suggestions that mitigate the minutes better. but it's frustrating to watch either uniformed or intentionally misleading spicy takes because folks just feel a way.

if you gonna be po-po, the community has to trust.

It's not sustainable. Period. We have all seen this movie before. Playing guys the entire half of games is ridiculous. Doing it on consecutive nights of a back to back is even more ridiculous.

I give Thibs a bit of a pass because of injuries but, he needs to trust his bench more. This is not debatable. He doesn't even try. He's gonna burn players out and we will limp into the playoffs again like we do every year. Acting like it has not been a problem is where you completely lose everyone.

[Jeff Van Gully]

I'll be honest...you coming way too hot. No one called out anyone specifically and can talk ball, its a relevant convo.

Also the totality of minutes matter. If these guys were given "off" days and sitting on second nights of back to backs like a lot of other guys that would be one thing. But they play every night. Which is an awesome mentality but you also have to save them from themselves. We have bigger and brighter goals then beating WASH in december. And I'm not even saying we would lose if we played more bench...maybe the defensive effort would have been better if we used the end of bench guys more.

There is no situation on a back to back in a non playoff game or must win situation should a player play the entire 2nd half and overtime.

just talking ball. no personal attacks. just responses. sorry you feel attacked, but i'm just engaging you in the conversation you presented. i read a lot of the GTs and a lot of it doesn't sound like what you said. forgive me if that came across "hot."

so now the point of your post was there should be load managment days? if so, and if they make a difference, maybe this might have been a good one for brunson... but def at the expense of a W last night given what it took to beat that inspired wizards team. i'd be more open to those kinds of days later in the season and closer to the playoffs after the team has gotten things down cold. but... cumulative minutes.

i think it's a worthwhile thing to ask/consider if an expanded rotation would keep everyone fresher and healthier. but that's a pivot into a different point and conversation altogether. i just said that i genuinely would like to see the fleshed out rotation suggestions.

how was I not to take that as "hot" it came across pretty spicy but I will take you for your word.

All in context right. We needed Brunson to drop a double nickle because we played with zero defensive intensity.

If you come out the gate with better defense a bad shooting team like Wash might not get as hot and then we don't need Capt to save us down the stretch and maybe this game isn't as close. I don't look at it like if Brunson didn't play we need to make up his 55 pts this game. The game might be different who knows.

I just think the totality of minutes matter. We have 3 guys in the top 10 in mpg right now. and then obviously 4 in the top 6 in total minutes.

For example Jamal Murray is playing more MPG but he isn't playing in b2b. I think there is a difference if we say took a player and sat him a selective game to give them extra rest. I get our mentality is to win every minute of every game. I respect Thibs for his excessive compulsion about the game and winning.

My simple solution would be to feel the game out better. Payne and Shamet played in the 1st half but didn't get off the bench in the 2nd half. Those should be trustworthy vets.

And OG didn't have it yesterday (looked gassed) vs a team that really didn't have a got to wing scored. Did he really have to play 44 mins? especially on the 2nd night of a b2b?

just seeing this. sorry.

I’d say “hot” is how you talk about thibs in the GTs. I’d never have brought that up if you didn’t.

As for the rest of it, I’m definitely disagreeing with and even challenging some of your points. Happens.

[HerSports85]

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[Jalen Bluntson]

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Nothing to worry about. It's fine.

[HarthorneWingo]

Dodged a bullet against this crappy Wiz team

Yup. Worst team in the league. Still, it was a back to back for NY. Wiz hit 44% of their 3s. We hit 25%. Sometimes the shots don't fall. 22-10 baby.

I don't think that they're that bad. They have a lot of nice young talent on their team, just like the Magic. They played hard against us too.

[HarthorneWingo]

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Nothing to worry about. It's fine.

Xavier Justin???? Pffft.

I'd be more interested in HerSports take than his.

[HarthorneWingo]

People be seriously handwringing here. LOL

[8516knicks]

22-10 and we can sit here and pick at things. We play the same teams everyone else plays. We have good stats across the board with PPG/OPP-PPG/NET-RTG/ETC. Are there some concerns? Sure but, we have seen improvements over the course of the season. Hopefully that continues. The 3pt shooting has only been down the last two games. The defense has been questionable all season but, it has improved.

Starting next Friday we will see our schedule get a little tougher. I think by mid January it really picks up. We shall see the results in real time. Hopefully we see the team figure things out like they have all season. We are 32 games in and we have basically been the best team in the league since November 15th record wise. 6-6 to 22-10. Massive improvement. I have faith they continue on the upward trajectory.

The bench will build more chemistry. The coach will continue to tinker with things. Mitch should be back soon. That will add another level to our defense. Maybe we make a trade. There is room to grow and time to improve over the next 50 games. People see the flaws. I don't think anyone is really acting like everything is fine while the room is on fire. Look around the league. We are easily a top 5-6 team. Do we win it all in year one of this group? Time will tell. We are in good shape though moving forward and we can get better.

I am totally talking about winning a chip. We have a great team.

I have hope but we need either a defensive presence at the 5 or at the 1. Jalen isn’t going anywhere, so hoping for Mitch or his replacement. We can’t rely on having the best offence to win a chip come playoffs… Or can we? Can KAT really get much better on D to make that difference? I don’t think so.

We are probably going to see what amounts to a significant change to our offence by moving KAT to the 4 but luckily we have Tom, I mean time.

You are overreacting trying to make it seem like no one else is paying attention. That's what I'm talking about. The team has improved defensively throughout the season and we still have PLENTY of time to figure things out before the playoffs.We are currently near the top of the league in all categories. We are on an historic scoring pace with our starting 5 as well.

We will find out what we need to do to beat those other teams as the season goes on. There is no cookie cutter answers to any of this as you suggested in your post. Like I said in my post, will we win it all in year one? Time will tell. We are on a good path to do so. We will get a better idea when the schedule tightens up on us in the next few weeks. When Mitch returns/do we make a trade also needs evaluating that we simply cannot do until one or both of those things happen.

It's a long season. We are one of the best teams in the league. The house isn't on fire and no one is acting like we are a lock to win a championship. We play OKC in 5 days. Let's see where we are at then with 47 games to go after that.

The biggest issue with this team is the amount of minutes Thibs is playing guys. We need to be healthy to have any chance at all. Nothing else is as important as that.

Will Mikal ever fix his shot? Asking for a friend who's been on desert island the couple of months.
Isn't it true we only win by getting a bona-fide superstar like Zion Williamson? That's for a friend who's been on a desert island the past 2 years.
Don't the Knicks need to nab a couple of top 3 draft picks to ever have a shot at a Championship? That's for a friend who has been on a desert island the past 5 years.

Year's end; time to reycle the old hits.

[Iron Mantis]

Dodged a bullet against this crappy Wiz team

Yup. Worst team in the league. Still, it was a back to back for NY. Wiz hit 44% of their 3s. We hit 25%. Sometimes the shots don't fall. 22-10 baby.

I don't think that they're that bad. They have a lot of nice young talent on their team, just like the Magic. They played hard against us too.

Bless their little hearts for playing like their lives depended on it. However, we're going to whoop them tomorrow.

They're last in offensive rating and 3rd last in 3PT %

They had the night of a lifetime.....they will not have another night like that.....

[HarthorneWingo]

Yup. Worst team in the league. Still, it was a back to back for NY. Wiz hit 44% of their 3s. We hit 25%. Sometimes the shots don't fall. 22-10 baby.

I don't think that they're that bad. They have a lot of nice young talent on their team, just like the Magic. They played hard against us too.

Bless their little hearts for playing like their lives depended on it. However, we're going to whoop them tomorrow.

They're last in offensive rating and 3rd last in 3PT %

They had the night of a lifetime.....they will not have another night like that.....

I do believe that too.

[robillionaire]

It’s hard to beat the same team twice in a row in these regular season back to backs. Usually they’re home and away too, not two straight on the road. I think we will win but I expect them to fight just as hard

[prophet_of_rage]

Making JHart the new Julius is the most brilliant move ever. He keeps the team completely connected and fills in whatever hole needs filling.

He is an all-star worthy fifth option.

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[The Vo Show]

It’s hard to beat the same team twice in a row in these regular season back to backs. Usually they’re home and away too, not two straight on the road. I think we will win but I expect them to fight just as hard

All I want to see is an adjustment to the pnr coverage. Somehow, the coverage is giving up drives AND 3s. Going over the top of screens without the big showing seems bad. The ball handler gets both an open 3, and the option to eat up the space our bigs give up until the free throw line and then its a guard/wing downhill with the option to pull up, pass to a roller or take it all the way. The Knicks were taking away zero options yesterday.

I don't understand Thibs' reluctance to have KAT show and recover. KAT had good metrics doing it last year with the Twolves. Having him in drop doesn't protect the basket anyway and we have 30+ games + previous seasons to show this.

[Fat Kat]

It’s hard to beat the same team twice in a row in these regular season back to backs. Usually they’re home and away too, not two straight on the road. I think we will win but I expect them to fight just as hard

All I want to see is an adjustment to the pnr coverage. Somehow, the coverage is giving up drives AND 3s. Going over the top of screens without the big showing seems bad. The ball handler gets both an open 3, and the option to eat up the space our bigs give up until the free throw line and then its a guard/wing downhill with the option to pull up, pass to a roller or take it all the way. The Knicks were taking away zero options yesterday.

I don't understand Thibs' reluctance to have KAT show and recover. KAT had good metrics doing it last year with the Twolves. Having him in drop doesn't protect the basket anyway and we have 30+ games + previous seasons to show this.

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[HarthorneWingo]

It’s hard to beat the same team twice in a row in these regular season back to backs. Usually they’re home and away too, not two straight on the road. I think we will win but I expect them to fight just as hard

Oh, this game is in DC? That changes things a little. Ugh.

This team showed that they can play. Taking them lightly would be a huge mistake.

[DaGawd]

we can take the 2nd seed tomorrow with a W

[Clyde Frazier]

DOUBLE KNICKEL!

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