PG: Embarrassing loss to ORL

[NoDopeOnSundays]

This happens every season and people start thinking the sky is falling and then we run off another 8 in a row

Disagree, last year was different, he didn't start going crazy with the minutes until after Julius, OG and Ihart got hurt Jan-Feb. It started after IHart went out a couple games after Randle/OG, then he went ballistic with Hart's minutes and put Precious on the bench to start Josh at the 4.

This year right out of the gate he's been crazy with the minutes, we're at a point now where Mikal is playing the most minutes anyone has played in 12 years, he's the first guy to hit 39mpg in that time and his minutes are actually increasing. He's at 41mpg since December. With how hard he's pushing the team it's not going to make it to the playoffs healthy, we saw it fall apart last year, and that was with just 3 months of it, no way this team can last 8 months doing it.

[Butch718]

Yes, it is the exception, not the rule, but I think there is a lot deeper analysis that we can go into, beyond Jokic is the best player on the planet.

There are enough similarities that there are lessons that we can draw from this in that we have similarly top heavy rosters, and that both coaches will spam their players for 40+ minutes when they think the time is right. One coach had one of the most injury prone players in the game, MPJ, and kept him at under 30 minutes a game during the season before upping his minutes dramatically. We have OG. I'd even argue that we have a better PG on our bench. We get annoyed at Cam Payne, but Denver had old ass Reggie Jackson, chucker Bones Hyland, and journeyman Ish Smith.

Yea, Jokic was the best player in the game, but the Nuggets still pieced together a strong regular season where they kept him at 33 minutes, Murray at 33, Gordon at 30, MPJ at 29, Bruce Brown at 28.5. I'm not expecting those minutes for our guys, but I think it's too easy to say that there's nothing Thibs can do.

My last point: we're ass without Towns. Losing one top player on this top-heavy roster is devastating. If Thibs finds a way to burn through all our top guys in the regular season and not have anything left over the playoffs, he deserves to get fired.

So if they lose Towns, and they’re not good enough to beat an Orlando Magic team that’s without 2 of their best players and Mo Vagner, then this team’s issues go beyond the starters playing too many minutes.

The bench is pathetic, our starters play too many minutes, and our talent in the starting lineup is not good enough to overcome this come playoff time.

Or perhaps their legs are shot after all the back to backs they had to play 40+ minutes. Bench doesn’t know what to do because we don’t run practices anymore

It’s all the above.

But the bench is still pathetic. Lowest production in the league with or without the starters playing too many minutes.

[seren]

Not developing the bench and over working our 6 main guys is why the Knicks are playing this way.
Thibs was playing 6/7 guys in the 40's for the most part...Now he's forced to play guys and unfortunately -those guys will have to
develop chemistry as well. This is just part of the process...

It’s honestly just unbelievable what is going on. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Then you must have missed Nick Nurse, burn out the starters on the Raptors in future seasons, after they won in 2019. Also, Doc Rivers burning out the 76er's starters, until he was let go and now they have Nick Nurse, doing basically the same thing.

Fun fact: We are playing starters 184 mpg this season. Nurse had the starting five at 182 mpg in 2021. Previous was getting 23.5 mpg from the bench which is more than what he is getting this season.

[Fat Kat]

This happens every season and people start thinking the sky is falling and then we run off another 8 in a row

Yep. Like clockwork. Sports attract folks with panic disorders and it’s best to let them work their way of it.

[JayTWill]

so playing playoff rotations during the regular season isn't sustainable....who would have thought that would be the case.

Since like every team in the history of the NBA doesn't play like this...

Come on! We won the 2024 January Championship and the 2024 December Championship that no one else was competing for. The vibes were immaculate.

[Parraknick]

So if they lose Towns, and they’re not good enough to beat an Orlando Magic team that’s without 2 of their best players and Mo Vagner, then this team’s issues go beyond the starters playing too many minutes.

The bench is pathetic, our starters play too many minutes, and our talent in the starting lineup is not good enough to overcome this come playoff time.

Or perhaps their legs are shot after all the back to backs they had to play 40+ minutes. Bench doesn’t know what to do because we don’t run practices anymore

It’s all the above.

But the bench is still pathetic. Lowest production in the league with or without the starters playing too many minutes.

I don’t think any statistics about our bench are valid based on how they are used and the full context of everything

[Jalen Bluntson]

This happens every season and people start thinking the sky is falling and then we run off another 8 in a row

Only to fall apart when it matters most. Tired of watching this play out every single year. Thibs has done all he can do. He's not a championship level coach because he doesn't focus on getting to the playoffs with his team in tact.

[robillionaire]

This happens every season and people start thinking the sky is falling and then we run off another 8 in a row

Disagree, last year was different, he didn't start going crazy with the minutes until after Julius, OG and Ihart got hurt Jan-Feb. It started after IHart went out a couple games after Randle/OG, then he went ballistic with Hart's minutes and put Precious on the bench to start Josh at the 4.

This year right out of the gate he's been crazy with the minutes, we're at a point now where Mikal is playing the most minutes anyone has played in 12 years, he's the first guy to hit 39mpg in that time and his minutes are actually increasing. He's at 41mpg since December. With how hard he's pushing the team it's not going to make it to the playoffs healthy, we saw it fall apart last year, and that was with just 3 months of it, no way this team can last 8 months doing it.

Because our depth was way better last year imo

[R-DAWG]

They also had the best player on the planet. I mean they’re the exception, not the rule.

Yes, it is the exception, not the rule, but I think there is a lot deeper analysis that we can go into, beyond Jokic is the best player on the planet.

There are enough similarities that there are lessons that we can draw from this in that we have similarly top heavy rosters, and that both coaches will spam their players for 40+ minutes when they think the time is right. One coach had one of the most injury prone players in the game, MPJ, and kept him at under 30 minutes a game during the season before upping his minutes dramatically. We have OG. I'd even argue that we have a better PG on our bench. We get annoyed at Cam Payne, but Denver had old ass Reggie Jackson, chucker Bones Hyland, and journeyman Ish Smith.

Yea, Jokic was the best player in the game, but the Nuggets still pieced together a strong regular season where they kept him at 33 minutes, Murray at 33, Gordon at 30, MPJ at 29, Bruce Brown at 28.5. I'm not expecting those minutes for our guys, but I think it's too easy to say that there's nothing Thibs can do.

My last point: we're ass without Towns. Losing one top player on this top-heavy roster is devastating. If Thibs finds a way to burn through all our top guys in the regular season and not have anything left over the playoffs, he deserves to get fired.

So if they lose Towns, and they’re not good enough to beat an Orlando Magic team that’s without 2 of their best players and Mo Vagner, then this team’s issues go beyond the starters playing too many minutes.

The bench is pathetic, Thibs is beyond stubborn, our starters play too many minutes, and the talent in the starting lineup is not good enough to overcome this come playoff time.

I am of course oversimplifying things, but it’s pretty much spot on.

In short, we are a top heavy top without elite talent. We have really good players on the team, but nowhere near enough depth.

All of this is the result of going all-in on OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. Leaves too many holes on the roster without any path to fill them.

It’s why I hated the Bridges trade the night it happened. It was committing to be a 2nd tier team for the next 3-4 years at the cost of all tradable draft assets for the next 7. It still doesn’t make sense.

There is a big difference when you have Nikola Jokic on your roster.

[TheGreenArrow]

Read on Twitter

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Leon’s got to figure this out Folksssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Butch718]

Or perhaps their legs are shot after all the back to backs they had to play 40+ minutes. Bench doesn’t know what to do because we don’t run practices anymore

It’s all the above.

But the bench is still pathetic. Lowest production in the league with or without the starters playing too many minutes.

I don’t think any statistics about our bench are valid based on how they are used and the full context of everything

Sorry, but the talent on the bench is just not good enough. Are we really expecting an injury riddled Mitch to sustain being healthy come playoff time, with Duece being the only dependable bench player that can score? This team needs a legit wing that can shoot off the bench, and a big that can provide interior defense. Everyone is waiting for Mitch to come back and the dude will get injured at some point again. Shamet is not a legit wing. Cam Payne does not provide enough of a spark off the bench either. Also, Hamstring injuries are always worse than they appear, so even of duece comes back, who knows how productive he will be.

[seren]

So if they lose Towns, and they’re not good enough to beat an Orlando Magic team that’s without 2 of their best players and Mo Vagner, then this team’s issues go beyond the starters playing too many minutes.

The bench is pathetic, our starters play too many minutes, and our talent in the starting lineup is not good enough to overcome this come playoff time.

Or perhaps their legs are shot after all the back to backs they had to play 40+ minutes. Bench doesn’t know what to do because we don’t run practices anymore

It’s all the above.

But the bench is still pathetic. Lowest production in the league with or without the starters playing too many minutes.

This was by design. Our best bench player is McBride who wasn’t in the regular rotation until last January. Nobody is calling Thibs to give the bench 100 minutes a game. All he needs to do is strategically rest starters throughout the game and go easy on them during the blowouts. There is no excuse what Thibs has been doing. At the very start I was like maybe he is trying to make sure the starters get used to playing with each other which is still a lame excuse but whatever. It became a cartoonishly stubborn way of doing things with the dude keeping them on the floor until the last minute of the games even when we have 20+ leads.

And how can we even judge the bench when they get absolutely no time? Kolek had 36 for the Gleague just a few days ago. How bad could he be not to get even 5 mpg consistently? Both Dadiet and Hukporti showed flashes. Nobody is saying they should get 30 minutes a game. All you have to do is give them a few meaningful minutes throughout the game and give the frigging starters some rest. That is all

[Parraknick]

It’s all the above.

But the bench is still pathetic. Lowest production in the league with or without the starters playing too many minutes.

I don’t think any statistics about our bench are valid based on how they are used and the full context of everything

Sorry, but the talent on the bench is just not good enough. We are really expecting an injury riddled Robinson to sustain being healthy come playoff time, with Duece being the only dependable real bench player. This team needs a legit wing that can shoot off the bench, and a big that can provide interior defense. Everyone is waiting for Mitch to come back and the dude will get injured at some point again. Shamet is not a legit wing.

Totally agree with you on those wishlist items.

But as things stand, I would rather play our inferior bench than the current strategy.

Who knows, some of the guys might develop. If they don’t, at least the starters might have the energy to finish fourth quarters.

[seren]

It’s all the above.

But the bench is still pathetic. Lowest production in the league with or without the starters playing too many minutes.

I don’t think any statistics about our bench are valid based on how they are used and the full context of everything

Sorry, but the talent on the bench is just not good enough. We are really expecting an injury riddled Robinson to sustain being healthy come playoff time, with Duece being the only dependable real bench player. This team needs a legit wing that can shoot off the bench, and a big that can provide interior defense. Everyone is waiting for Mitch to come back and the dude will get injured at some point again. Shamet is not a legit wing.

Same excuse was made about McBride when he wasn’t playing last year. Precious was playing 30+ mpg averaging double double last year as a starter. These are excuses. Bench should play for the sake of health. If we lose a game or two because of that, let be it.

[Besart19]

Brunson could have played better if he wasn't hobbled. OG could play better if he wasn't hobbled. KAT/Deuce could have played if they weren't injured. The bench could play better if they ever got a consistent role and minutes to form chemistry with the rest of the team. Which in turn would help prevent the players from getting banged up.

Imagine not blaming the person who makes all of this happen. Do lots of coke to work harder to make more money to buy lots of coke to work harder.

Thibs has reached his plateau. We will stagnate and after another year of wasted time he will be fired. It's all been done before everywhere he has ever coached.

and his training sessions are super exhaustive too…

We lost Woodson and Bryant in the process while promoting Rick Brunson… if having Thibs as a boss wasnt enough of a tribulation

[Jeff Van Gully]

Brunson could have played better if he wasn't hobbled. OG could play better if he wasn't hobbled. KAT/Deuce could have played if they weren't injured. The bench could play better if they ever got a consistent role and minutes to form chemistry with the rest of the team. Which in turn would help prevent the players from getting banged up.

Imagine not blaming the person who makes all of this happen. Do lots of coke to work harder to make more money to buy lots of coke to work harder.

Thibs has reached his plateau. We will stagnate and after another year of wasted time he will be fired. It's all been done before everywhere he has ever coached.

we blaming thibs for deuce?

[robillionaire]

Brunson could have played better if he wasn't hobbled. OG could play better if he wasn't hobbled. KAT/Deuce could have played if they weren't injured. The bench could play better if they ever got a consistent role and minutes to form chemistry with the rest of the team. Which in turn would help prevent the players from getting banged up.

Imagine not blaming the person who makes all of this happen. Do lots of coke to work harder to make more money to buy lots of coke to work harder.

Thibs has reached his plateau. We will stagnate and after another year of wasted time he will be fired. It's all been done before everywhere he has ever coached.

we blaming thibs for deuce?

What I think is funny is that the bench that doesn’t get to play much are the ones who have been injured the most, Mitch coming off the bench behind Ihart last year missing the whole season now, shamet shoulder dislocation in preseason. Precious hamstring in preseason out 2 months. Payne’s missed games, deuce is missing games

[sol537]

Thibs ain’t it. He’s our Mark Jackson. Hopefully Dan Hurley is our Kerr…

[spree8]

This happens every season and people start thinking the sky is falling and then we run off another 8 in a row

Yep. Like clockwork. Sports attract folks with panic disorders and it’s best to let them work their way of it.

Typical. Call people crazy for stating facts. Thibs loyalists just drank the koolaid and are ready to die on this hill for him regardless of the facts of him being the maniac he is. Dude is a cautionary tale and likely why most modern coaches play 10+ player rotations regardless of who’s out.

[Butch718]

I don’t think any statistics about our bench are valid based on how they are used and the full context of everything

Sorry, but the talent on the bench is just not good enough. We are really expecting an injury riddled Robinson to sustain being healthy come playoff time, with Duece being the only dependable real bench player. This team needs a legit wing that can shoot off the bench, and a big that can provide interior defense. Everyone is waiting for Mitch to come back and the dude will get injured at some point again. Shamet is not a legit wing.

Same excuse was made about McBride when he wasn’t playing last year. Precious was playing 30+ mpg averaging double double last year as a starter. These are excuses. Bench should play for the sake of health. If we lose a game or two because of that, let be it.

I am okay with the rookies getting burn even if it does not yield results.

But the overall bench still sucks.