Game 35: Knicks vs @OKC: 1/3/2025; 8:00pm NBA-TV

[spree2kawhi]

Guy on KFS podcast says the Thunder give up the most corner threes in the league. OG and Mikal will have opportunity to hit those shots tonight.

I need 2/3 from Achiuwa

[Fury]

This Thunder "13 game win streak" is so stupid. Their loss to the Bucks in the NBA Cup counted as a regular season game in the standings, so this notion that it doesn't count for win streak purposes is ridiculous.

The reality is they've won 8 in a row, and 13 of their last 14 (which is still great).

That is stupid and more reason to get rid of the stupid Cup

Hard agree!

The cup is stupid as hell. Never liked that thing and always said it was a dumb gimmick.

Real hoop purist, like me and rob, aren't swayed by false idols. We have are eye on the real prize - an nba championship.

I wanted to give it a chance like my beloved EPL, but it won’t work unless we relegate teams and have them compete with real NBA teams

[Guano]

That is stupid and more reason to get rid of the stupid Cup

Hard agree!

The cup is stupid as hell. Never liked that thing and always said it was a dumb gimmick.

Real hoop purist, like me and rob, aren't swayed by false idols. We have are eye on the real prize - an nba championship.

I wanted to give it a chance like my beloved EPL, but it won’t work unless we relegate teams and have them compete with real NBA teams

I'm a liar.

I wanted it really bad but since we lost I'm discrediting it.

In truth I think it is gimmicky but also find it kinda fun. I do think it would be better if they made it in collaboration somehow with a euro champion squad just for fun.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Hard agree!

The cup is stupid as hell. Never liked that thing and always said it was a dumb gimmick.

Real hoop purist, like me and rob, aren't swayed by false idols. We have are eye on the real prize - an nba championship.

I wanted to give it a chance like my beloved EPL, but it won’t work unless we relegate teams and have them compete with real NBA teams

I'm a liar.

I wanted it really bad but since we lost I'm discrediting it.

In truth I think it is gimmicky but also find it kinda fun. I do think it would be better if they made it in collaboration somehow with a euro champion squad just for fun.

It definitely added some excitement to those games but, I think it's because we just wanna win something!!! ANYTHING!!

[Guano]

I wanted to give it a chance like my beloved EPL, but it won’t work unless we relegate teams and have them compete with real NBA teams

I'm a liar.

I wanted it really bad but since we lost I'm discrediting it.

In truth I think it is gimmicky but also find it kinda fun. I do think it would be better if they made it in collaboration somehow with a euro champion squad just for fun.

It definitely added some excitement to those games but, I think it's because we just wanna win something!!! ANYTHING!!

Like this game tonight.

I know i shouldn't put too much stock in just one game. But I'm a long time Knicks fan and I can't help be pessimistic. I have this doubt that we just beat up on cupcakes and that we're gonna get dog walked tonight. That this team is a paper tiger. So I really want this win to put that doubt to rest.

[GettinitDone]

Not to burst bubbles, but imo Josh's getting lionshare of playmaking is the root cause of our working yet still clunky ball movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Josh's fan, he's incredible at defense, hustle plays and clutch rebounding. And he's very good at passing, it's just Thibs gives him TOO MUCH of a playmaking role which causes a particular player who's actually BETTER at playmaking standing around: MIKAL.

We want the ball movement to be like a well oiled machine: smooth, fluid, organic, and spontaneous, which the Wolves game (when Josh didn't play, and Precious started at 4) showed us when Mikal (29pts, 6 assists, 12-18 FG) got a lot more touches than just standing around, he was scoring and assisting. Everyone seemed to play like a PG (as a team we had 39 assists, Deuce with 8 assists and Cam with 6 off the bench) instead of just a few "lead playmakers" like Josh hogging the ball looking to "pad up his assist stat" (I know Josh is one of the most unselfish players in the L, I'm just exaggerating to prove a point), and we played HIGHLY EFFICIENT offense (KAT with 32 pts and 20 rbds on 10-12 FG, as a team we shot 51.5 FG% and 44.4 3P%), we looked legit UNSTOPPABLE from START to FINISH against a decent Wolves team on the road.

A lot of times I feel like with Josh being one of the lead playmakers the ball movement is anything but... it even feels forced. Just because a player can pass doesn't mean he should get the team's big chunk of the passing role. Quite a lot of times, he passes to guys like OG or Mikal not exactly at the right place and OG and Mikal have to bail Josh out by forcing a difficult shot out of isos against several defenders. Players with more natural/ better passing skills and instincts (e.g. Mikal, JB or even Kolek) would see such situations 3-4 plays in advance and avoid them.

Against top tier teams like the Thunder, Celtics, Cavs, IMO this WORKING BUT NOT EXACTLY ELITE ball movement will get exposed imo. This game today will be telling if our offense fails and we commit a lot of TOs, I'll be watching like a hawk at Josh being one of our lead playmakers, I hope I'm wrong but imo it won't end well for our team.

This is why I advocate Josh moving to the bench. He will STILL PLAY STARTER MINUTES ANYWAY, but as a team we set the tone at start of games with ELITE ball movement without Josh: SMOOTH, FLUID, ORGANIC, SPONTANEOUS which should be our baseline standard if we're serious about contending for the title.

---

Precious starting at 4 also gives us more size, paint protection to help out KAT (who has been a beast at rebounding but from my observation there's no doubt he does NOT love being the last line on defense and rebounding and would absolutely appreciate help from another competent big). Offensively, although his game surely can improve, Precious is now competent enough to dribble, drive, shoot mid range to 3 pt and finish around the rim, be a fastbreak threat. Our team can benefit more from HARD DUNKERS to energize the team and the crowd (at MSG or even on the road where we got lots of fans) and help build even more camaraderie among teammates, and I feel like only KAT is doing that (OG ocassionally too) and now Precious comes to the scene to DUNK HARD.

Maybe this will sound trivial af but if we get a player by trade deadline, let it be someone who has a flair of dunking hard and hyping up the crowd, imo it fills an underrated need that our team is lacking.

[sol537]

I too am for Hart going to the bench in a Manu Ginobli role with Precious starting next to KAT... I think that unlocks this team's next level. However, since we won 9 in a row with the current starting line-up, I don't see them mixing it up just yet. Perhaps when Mitch returns we could see that switch so that Mitch can back up Precious/KAT and Hart gets the bulk of the back-up duties for the rest of the guys and then Duece/Cap get the remaining minutes depending on match-ups.

Precious / Mitch @ 20 mins
KAT
OG / Hart @ 32 mins
Bridges
Brunson / Deuce @ 20 mins

8-man rotation... 8 guys Thibs trusts. A terrific balance of rebounding, defense, shooting, playmaking, and bench depth.

[spree2kawhi]

Not to burst bubbles, but imo Josh's getting lionshare of playmaking is the root cause of our working yet still clunky ball movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Josh's fan, he's incredible at defense, hustle plays and clutch rebounding. And he's very good at passing, it's just Thibs gives him TOO MUCH of a playmaking role which causes a particular player who's actually BETTER at playmaking standing around: MIKAL.

We want the ball movement to be like a well oiled machine: smooth, fluid, organic, and spontaneous, which the Wolves game (when Josh didn't play, and Precious started at 4) showed us when Mikal (29pts, 6 assists, 12-18 FG) got a lot more touches than just standing around, he was scoring and assisting. Everyone seemed to play like a PG (as a team we had 39 assists, Deuce with 8 assists and Cam with 6 off the bench) instead of just a few "lead playmakers" like Josh hogging the ball looking to "pad up his assist stat" (I know Josh is one of the most unselfish players in the L, I'm just exaggerating to prove a point), and we played HIGHLY EFFICIENT offense (KAT with 32 pts and 20 rbds on 10-12 FG, as a team we shot 51.5 FG% and 44.4 3P%), we looked legit UNSTOPPABLE from START to FINISH against a decent Wolves team on the road.

A lot of times I feel like with Josh being one of the lead playmakers the ball movement is anything but... it even feels forced. Just because a player can pass doesn't mean he should get the team's big chunk of the passing role. Quite a lot of times, he passes to guys like OG or Mikal not exactly at the right place and OG and Mikal have to bail Josh out by forcing a difficult shot out of isos against several defenders. Players with more natural/ better passing skills and instincts (e.g. Mikal, JB or even Kolek) would see such situations 3-4 plays in advance and avoid them.

Against top tier teams like the Thunder, Celtics, Cavs, IMO this WORKING BUT NOT EXACTLY ELITE ball movement will get exposed imo. This game today will be telling if our offense fails and we commit a lot of TOs, I'll be watching like a hawk at Josh being one of our lead playmakers, I hope I'm wrong but imo it won't end well for our team.

This is why I advocate Josh moving to the bench. He will STILL PLAY STARTER MINUTES ANYWAY, but as a team we set the tone at start of games with ELITE ball movement without Josh: SMOOTH, FLUID, ORGANIC, SPONTANEOUS which should be our baseline standard if we're serious about contending for the title.

---

Precious starting at 4 also gives us more size, paint protection to help out KAT (who has been a beast at rebounding but from my observation there's no doubt he does NOT love being the last line on defense and rebounding and would absolutely appreciate help from another competent big). Offensively, although his game surely can improve, Precious is now competent enough to dribble, drive, shoot mid range to 3 pt and finish around the rim, be a fastbreak threat. Our team can benefit more from HARD DUNKERS to energize the team and the crowd (at MSG or even on the road where we got lots of fans) and help build even more camaraderie among teammates, and I feel like only KAT is doing that (OG ocassionally too) and now Precious comes to the scene to DUNK HARD.

Maybe this will sound trivial af but if we get a player by trade deadline, let it be someone who has a flair of dunking hard and hyping up the crowd, imo it fills an underrated need that our team is lacking.

Robinson, Payne, Kolek, Dadiet for Kessler, Sexton and two miniature contracts.

[TheGreenArrow]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=W09F6FrMDfp5_y1gKYgF1g

[Jalen Bluntson]

I'm a liar.

I wanted it really bad but since we lost I'm discrediting it.

In truth I think it is gimmicky but also find it kinda fun. I do think it would be better if they made it in collaboration somehow with a euro champion squad just for fun.

It definitely added some excitement to those games but, I think it's because we just wanna win something!!! ANYTHING!!

Like this game tonight.

I know i shouldn't put too much stock in just one game. But I'm a long time Knicks fan and I can't help be pessimistic. I have this doubt that we just beat up on cupcakes and that we're gonna get dog walked tonight. That this team is a paper tiger. So I really want this win to put that doubt to rest.

Yeah. I'm excited but, I'm not climbing out on a limb. I'm a couple steps from the ledge. Worst case scenario just don't get mollywhopped.

[GettinitDone]

Not to burst bubbles, but imo Josh's getting lionshare of playmaking is the root cause of our working yet still clunky ball movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Josh's fan, he's incredible at defense, hustle plays and clutch rebounding. And he's very good at passing, it's just Thibs gives him TOO MUCH of a playmaking role which causes a particular player who's actually BETTER at playmaking standing around: MIKAL.

We want the ball movement to be like a well oiled machine: smooth, fluid, organic, and spontaneous, which the Wolves game (when Josh didn't play, and Precious started at 4) showed us when Mikal (29pts, 6 assists, 12-18 FG) got a lot more touches than just standing around, he was scoring and assisting. Everyone seemed to play like a PG (as a team we had 39 assists, Deuce with 8 assists and Cam with 6 off the bench) instead of just a few "lead playmakers" like Josh hogging the ball looking to "pad up his assist stat" (I know Josh is one of the most unselfish players in the L, I'm just exaggerating to prove a point), and we played HIGHLY EFFICIENT offense (KAT with 32 pts and 20 rbds on 10-12 FG, as a team we shot 51.5 FG% and 44.4 3P%), we looked legit UNSTOPPABLE from START to FINISH against a decent Wolves team on the road.

A lot of times I feel like with Josh being one of the lead playmakers the ball movement is anything but... it even feels forced. Just because a player can pass doesn't mean he should get the team's big chunk of the passing role. Quite a lot of times, he passes to guys like OG or Mikal not exactly at the right place and OG and Mikal have to bail Josh out by forcing a difficult shot out of isos against several defenders. Players with more natural/ better passing skills and instincts (e.g. Mikal, JB or even Kolek) would see such situations 3-4 plays in advance and avoid them.

Against top tier teams like the Thunder, Celtics, Cavs, IMO this WORKING BUT NOT EXACTLY ELITE ball movement will get exposed imo. This game today will be telling if our offense fails and we commit a lot of TOs, I'll be watching like a hawk at Josh being one of our lead playmakers, I hope I'm wrong but imo it won't end well for our team.

This is why I advocate Josh moving to the bench. He will STILL PLAY STARTER MINUTES ANYWAY, but as a team we set the tone at start of games with ELITE ball movement without Josh: SMOOTH, FLUID, ORGANIC, SPONTANEOUS which should be our baseline standard if we're serious about contending for the title.

---

Precious starting at 4 also gives us more size, paint protection to help out KAT (who has been a beast at rebounding but from my observation there's no doubt he does NOT love being the last line on defense and rebounding and would absolutely appreciate help from another competent big). Offensively, although his game surely can improve, Precious is now competent enough to dribble, drive, shoot mid range to 3 pt and finish around the rim, be a fastbreak threat. Our team can benefit more from HARD DUNKERS to energize the team and the crowd (at MSG or even on the road where we got lots of fans) and help build even more camaraderie among teammates, and I feel like only KAT is doing that (OG ocassionally too) and now Precious comes to the scene to DUNK HARD.

Maybe this will sound trivial af but if we get a player by trade deadline, let it be someone who has a flair of dunking hard and hyping up the crowd, imo it fills an underrated need that our team is lacking.

Robinson, Payne, Kolek, Dadiet for Kessler, Sexton and two miniature contracts.

Add John Collins, he dunks HARD!, and I'll think about it

[whocares1]

Not to burst bubbles, but imo Josh's getting lionshare of playmaking is the root cause of our working yet still clunky ball movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Josh's fan, he's incredible at defense, hustle plays and clutch rebounding. And he's very good at passing, it's just Thibs gives him TOO MUCH of a playmaking role which causes a particular player who's actually BETTER at playmaking standing around: MIKAL.
.

The reason why Josh gets so much playmaking responsibility is bc teams put their centers on him. So Knicks run a lot of pick and rolls with Josh as the screener. He also is elite at finishing at the rim so any rebound opportunities he gets is usually to push the break which is important to our offense since we have one of the slowest paces in the league. Josh’s playmaking ability is just a byproduct of taking what defense is giving us, and it’s working so why change it.

[GettinitDone]

Not to burst bubbles, but imo Josh's getting lionshare of playmaking is the root cause of our working yet still clunky ball movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Josh's fan, he's incredible at defense, hustle plays and clutch rebounding. And he's very good at passing, it's just Thibs gives him TOO MUCH of a playmaking role which causes a particular player who's actually BETTER at playmaking standing around: MIKAL.
.

The reason why Josh gets so much playmaking responsibility is bc teams put their centers on him. So Knicks run a lot of pick and rolls with Josh as the screener. He also is elite at finishing at the rim so any rebound opportunities he gets is usually to push the break which is important to our offense since we have one of the slowest paces in the league. Josh’s playmaking ability is just a byproduct of taking what defense is giving us, and it’s working so why change it.

It's working against the L's BOTTOM DWELLERS. Against top tier teams? We're about to learn the hard way.

Just because it's working doesn't mean it's ELITE.

To contend for a title, we can't be just GOOD, we need to be elite. The Wolves game showed us our ball movement was ELITE, moved around fluidly without a player holding the ball for 2-3 secs looking around for someone to pass to (I find Josh doing this quite a lot).

[spree2kawhi]

Not to burst bubbles, but imo Josh's getting lionshare of playmaking is the root cause of our working yet still clunky ball movement. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Josh's fan, he's incredible at defense, hustle plays and clutch rebounding. And he's very good at passing, it's just Thibs gives him TOO MUCH of a playmaking role which causes a particular player who's actually BETTER at playmaking standing around: MIKAL.

We want the ball movement to be like a well oiled machine: smooth, fluid, organic, and spontaneous, which the Wolves game (when Josh didn't play, and Precious started at 4) showed us when Mikal (29pts, 6 assists, 12-18 FG) got a lot more touches than just standing around, he was scoring and assisting. Everyone seemed to play like a PG (as a team we had 39 assists, Deuce with 8 assists and Cam with 6 off the bench) instead of just a few "lead playmakers" like Josh hogging the ball looking to "pad up his assist stat" (I know Josh is one of the most unselfish players in the L, I'm just exaggerating to prove a point), and we played HIGHLY EFFICIENT offense (KAT with 32 pts and 20 rbds on 10-12 FG, as a team we shot 51.5 FG% and 44.4 3P%), we looked legit UNSTOPPABLE from START to FINISH against a decent Wolves team on the road.

A lot of times I feel like with Josh being one of the lead playmakers the ball movement is anything but... it even feels forced. Just because a player can pass doesn't mean he should get the team's big chunk of the passing role. Quite a lot of times, he passes to guys like OG or Mikal not exactly at the right place and OG and Mikal have to bail Josh out by forcing a difficult shot out of isos against several defenders. Players with more natural/ better passing skills and instincts (e.g. Mikal, JB or even Kolek) would see such situations 3-4 plays in advance and avoid them.

Against top tier teams like the Thunder, Celtics, Cavs, IMO this WORKING BUT NOT EXACTLY ELITE ball movement will get exposed imo. This game today will be telling if our offense fails and we commit a lot of TOs, I'll be watching like a hawk at Josh being one of our lead playmakers, I hope I'm wrong but imo it won't end well for our team.

This is why I advocate Josh moving to the bench. He will STILL PLAY STARTER MINUTES ANYWAY, but as a team we set the tone at start of games with ELITE ball movement without Josh: SMOOTH, FLUID, ORGANIC, SPONTANEOUS which should be our baseline standard if we're serious about contending for the title.

---

Precious starting at 4 also gives us more size, paint protection to help out KAT (who has been a beast at rebounding but from my observation there's no doubt he does NOT love being the last line on defense and rebounding and would absolutely appreciate help from another competent big). Offensively, although his game surely can improve, Precious is now competent enough to dribble, drive, shoot mid range to 3 pt and finish around the rim, be a fastbreak threat. Our team can benefit more from HARD DUNKERS to energize the team and the crowd (at MSG or even on the road where we got lots of fans) and help build even more camaraderie among teammates, and I feel like only KAT is doing that (OG ocassionally too) and now Precious comes to the scene to DUNK HARD.

Maybe this will sound trivial af but if we get a player by trade deadline, let it be someone who has a flair of dunking hard and hyping up the crowd, imo it fills an underrated need that our team is lacking.

Robinson, Payne, Kolek, Dadiet for Kessler, Sexton and two miniature contracts.

He’s too expensive and I remember him being dunked on hard Sexton is tough as nails and an exciting player too. The trade should work financially as Utah does have these small, meaningless contracts to serve as fillers. We could add picks but I don’t think we’d need to.

[KnixinSix]

Are Brunson and Deuce still “questionable” for the game?

Anyone know?

[thebuzzardman]

5 hours until the inevitable yet delectable heartbreak.

Can't wait for the infighting and maybe even some bans!

[Context]

Read on Twitter

Spoiler:

LETS **** GO!!!!!

[K_ick_God]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=W09F6FrMDfp5_y1gKYgF1g

Dumb.

[Context]

5 hours until the inevitable yet delectable heartbreak.

Can't wait for the infighting and maybe even some bans!

Spoiler:

NO! NO! and:

Spoiler:

NO! Buzz!

Spoiler:

:lol:

Spoiler:

We win this and some will argue, why- "the win"
wasn't convincing enough

[RHODEY]

I'm a liar.

I wanted it really bad but since we lost I'm discrediting it.

In truth I think it is gimmicky but also find it kinda fun. I do think it would be better if they made it in collaboration somehow with a euro champion squad just for fun.

It definitely added some excitement to those games but, I think it's because we just wanna win something!!! ANYTHING!!

Like this game tonight.

I know i shouldn't put too much stock in just one game. But I'm a long time Knicks fan and I can't help be pessimistic. I have this doubt that we just beat up on cupcakes and that we're gonna get dog walked tonight. That this team is a paper tiger. So I really want this win to put that doubt to rest.

Thunder IMO are like a top 2 team in the league right now, really almost nobody beats those teams on their own home court...even other top 2 visiting teams cant expect a win. But if we do win...my oh my.