PG: A win is a win...I guess

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Start Mitch and KAT? Wouldn't the cost of Jonas BE Mitch?

Precious is, what, 7 million per? Where's the other 5 million come from? Deuce? No thanks.

If Jonas got a buyout we'd be able to sign him, he has another guaranteed year, but CAA mob ties could make up the difference after next year.

I wouldn't want to trade assets for him - Precious, Sims and Payne works, but if you're going to trade those guys it should be for a wing and not another C. It doesn't really matter what Payne does, he's not playing much.

I guess that depends on if the Knicks think Kolek is ready to absorb those Payne minutes, providing the PG play that Payne provides in a better way than Deuce, plus some microwave scoring.

Also, I've always thought the Knicks were looking to deal 1 out 2 of Precious/Mitch, but if it's Precious, that leaves them with no backup PFs, though Precious is more a small 5 than a 4, but still.

Clearing Sims and Precious does solve some of the C glut. A little.

I don't think they're giving Kolek any minutes this season, he will only play if Brunson and Payne are both out. If they start Mitch/KAT, it makes Hart the primary ball handler with the second unit and Deuce the scorer.

The lack of pressure to get a wing seems to me like they're going to start Mitch, we've heard really nothing about them looking at the market for a wing. They're probably banking on Hart accepting a role off the bench, he becomes the backup 2/3/4, it's the only way to make sense of the way they're carrying this.

[KnixinSix]

frustrating win...have at it

2nd game of a back to back against a team that plays very hard under their coach.

Fatigue factor is a very real thing under Thibodeau. We need guys he will play to save him from himself. Either a trade for a 5 and/or Mitch returning.

[KnixinSix]

If Jonas got a buyout we'd be able to sign him, he has another guaranteed year, but CAA mob ties could make up the difference after next year.

I wouldn't want to trade assets for him - Precious, Sims and Payne works, but if you're going to trade those guys it should be for a wing and not another C. It doesn't really matter what Payne does, he's not playing much.

I guess that depends on if the Knicks think Kolek is ready to absorb those Payne minutes, providing the PG play that Payne provides in a better way than Deuce, plus some microwave scoring.

Also, I've always thought the Knicks were looking to deal 1 out 2 of Precious/Mitch, but if it's Precious, that leaves them with no backup PFs, though Precious is more a small 5 than a 4, but still.

Clearing Sims and Precious does solve some of the C glut. A little.

I don't think they're giving Kolek any minutes this season, he will only play if Brunson and Payne are both out. If they start Mitch/KAT, it makes Hart the primary ball handler with the second unit and Deuce the scorer.

The lack of pressure to get a wing seems to me like they're going to start Mitch, we've heard really nothing about them looking at the market for a wing. They're probably banking on Hart accepting a role off the bench, he becomes the backup 2/3/4, it's the only way to make sense of the way they're carrying this.

Thibs already came out and said expect to see KAT some minutes at the 4.

[thebuzzardman]

I guess that depends on if the Knicks think Kolek is ready to absorb those Payne minutes, providing the PG play that Payne provides in a better way than Deuce, plus some microwave scoring.

Also, I've always thought the Knicks were looking to deal 1 out 2 of Precious/Mitch, but if it's Precious, that leaves them with no backup PFs, though Precious is more a small 5 than a 4, but still.

Clearing Sims and Precious does solve some of the C glut. A little.

I don't think they're giving Kolek any minutes this season, he will only play if Brunson and Payne are both out. If they start Mitch/KAT, it makes Hart the primary ball handler with the second unit and Deuce the scorer.

The lack of pressure to get a wing seems to me like they're going to start Mitch, we've heard really nothing about them looking at the market for a wing. They're probably banking on Hart accepting a role off the bench, he becomes the backup 2/3/4, it's the only way to make sense of the way they're carrying this.

Thibs already came out and said expect to see KAT some minutes at the 4.

Precious has been making those Taj Gibson 3s so Thibs probably ready to start him

[thebuzzardman]

So, the sweet spot for Precious playing seems to be 20 mpg.

Less than that and feels like he doesn't get in sync.

More than that and seems like he gets exposed.

[BKlutch]

So, the sweet spot for Precious playing seems to be 20 mpg.

Less than that and feels like he doesn't get in sync.

More than that and seems like he gets exposed.

If we could also play Payne and Deuce 20 mpg and 10-15 for Shamet, some our our starters would still have energy to play in the 4th.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

So, the sweet spot for Precious playing seems to be 20 mpg.

Less than that and feels like he doesn't get in sync.

More than that and seems like he gets exposed.

The coach is just weird, last season Precious started 18 games, he averaged 12.5ppg, 9.5rpg, 1.8bpg, 1.1spg in 36mpg and then when Mitch came back he was basically mothballed. After doing that he started playing 16.6mpg, Tom essentially rewarded him playing well with no minutes after Mitch was back.


He was doing that next to IHart mostly, so it's just confusing as to why we don't see him playing a lot with KAT.

[GONYK]

Jonas only makes sense if they actually plan on starting Mitch and KAT together and then staggering their minutes, with Jonas as an insurance policy and guy that soaks up a few minutes.

That way you can trade Precious for some kind of veteran wing and have Hart off the bench with that wing. But, if they trade actual assets for Jonas it's idiotic.

Agreed on both counts, but I'm not sure starting KAT and Mitch together makes sense to begin with.

Against certain teams it makes sense, like the Cavs, you nullify their advantage and turn them back into a small team because their guards would be guarding OG and Mikal, there's no where to hide Garland.

Yea, but that is situational. I wouldn't be making major roster construction choices built around that starting lineup.

[BadNewsBarnes]

I wish the NBA would figure out how they want to officiate games.

Yeah...the refs are consistently inconsistent...

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Agreed on both counts, but I'm not sure starting KAT and Mitch together makes sense to begin with.

Against certain teams it makes sense, like the Cavs, you nullify their advantage and turn them back into a small team because their guards would be guarding OG and Mikal, there's no where to hide Garland.

Yea, but that is situational. I wouldn't be making major roster construction choices built around that starting lineup.

I'm starting to think that has always been the plan, we're looking at centers with our limited asset base. The lack of rumors about wings, they just slide Hart to the bench and start Mitch. If Mitch gets hurt, you will have whatever big we're looking at to be the backup and go right back to starting Hart.

Then you trade Mitch in the offseason.

[GONYK]

Against certain teams it makes sense, like the Cavs, you nullify their advantage and turn them back into a small team because their guards would be guarding OG and Mikal, there's no where to hide Garland.

Yea, but that is situational. I wouldn't be making major roster construction choices built around that starting lineup.

I'm starting to think that has always been the plan, we're looking at centers with our limited asset base. The lack of rumors about wings, they just slide Hart to the bench and start Mitch. If Mitch gets hurt, you will have whatever big we're looking at to be the backup and go right back to starting Hart.

Then you trade Mitch in the offseason.

Perhaps. It works against Cleveland, but having Mitch and Val without Precious gets shredded against Boston.

[gavran]

They don't ask how, they ask how many.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Yea, but that is situational. I wouldn't be making major roster construction choices built around that starting lineup.

I'm starting to think that has always been the plan, we're looking at centers with our limited asset base. The lack of rumors about wings, they just slide Hart to the bench and start Mitch. If Mitch gets hurt, you will have whatever big we're looking at to be the backup and go right back to starting Hart.

Then you trade Mitch in the offseason.

Perhaps. It works against Cleveland, but having Mitch and Val without Precious gets shredded against Boston.

Being big against the Celtics may work as well, the Wolves had success against them last season. The Grizz beat them this season staying big as well, but that requires the coach to think outside the box, as in the Grizz had Jackson on Jrue which resulted in Jrue attempting 17 threes Clarke was on KP, you put your better switching big on KP so that when they run screens for him you get the more mobile big on the guards/wings.

I don't think Tom has that kind of coaching in him, but if they're playing two bigs against the Celtics one of them should be on Jrue. I think we lose to the Celtics playing standard our big on your big and that's that.

Val is unplayable against the Cs.

[GONYK]

I'm starting to think that has always been the plan, we're looking at centers with our limited asset base. The lack of rumors about wings, they just slide Hart to the bench and start Mitch. If Mitch gets hurt, you will have whatever big we're looking at to be the backup and go right back to starting Hart.

Then you trade Mitch in the offseason.

Perhaps. It works against Cleveland, but having Mitch and Val without Precious gets shredded against Boston.

Being big against the Celtics may work as well, the Wolves had success against them last season. The Grizz beat them this season staying big as well, but that requires the coach to think outside the box, as in the Grizz had Jackson on Jrue which resulted in Jrue attempting 17 threes

I don't think Tom has that kind of coaching in him, but if they're playing two bigs against the Celtics one of them should be on Jrue. I think we lose to the Celtics playing standard our big on your big and that's that.

Val is unplayable against the Cs.

If one of our bigs was JJJ, I'd agree

And yes, Val is unplayable the deeper you get into the playoffs. He's almost like a big man version of Bogey.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Perhaps. It works against Cleveland, but having Mitch and Val without Precious gets shredded against Boston.

Being big against the Celtics may work as well, the Wolves had success against them last season. The Grizz beat them this season staying big as well, but that requires the coach to think outside the box, as in the Grizz had Jackson on Jrue which resulted in Jrue attempting 17 threes

I don't think Tom has that kind of coaching in him, but if they're playing two bigs against the Celtics one of them should be on Jrue. I think we lose to the Celtics playing standard our big on your big and that's that.

Val is unplayable against the Cs.

If one of our bigs was JJJ, I'd agree

And yes, Val is unplayable the deeper you get into the playoffs. He's almost like a big man version of Bogey.

Cavs got them this year staying big too, but they also threw in a zone here and there as well. If Mitch is Bill Russell like everyone seems to think, put him on Jrue and have him help off him, if Jrue beats us hitting threes so be it. What happens when you stay big against the C's is they start doing weird things like running post ups for Pritchard or Brown tries to take guys off the dribble, because their entire offense really just revolves around getting your big in rotation.

The Celtics have a pattern where big teams can get to them, they also try to match and go big with Horford/KP and their offense takes a hit when they do that.

[GONYK]

Being big against the Celtics may work as well, the Wolves had success against them last season. The Grizz beat them this season staying big as well, but that requires the coach to think outside the box, as in the Grizz had Jackson on Jrue which resulted in Jrue attempting 17 threes

I don't think Tom has that kind of coaching in him, but if they're playing two bigs against the Celtics one of them should be on Jrue. I think we lose to the Celtics playing standard our big on your big and that's that.

Val is unplayable against the Cs.

If one of our bigs was JJJ, I'd agree

And yes, Val is unplayable the deeper you get into the playoffs. He's almost like a big man version of Bogey.

Cavs got them this year staying big too, but they also threw in a zone here and there as well. If Mitch is Bill Russell like everyone seems to think, put him on Jrue and have him help off him, if Jrue beats us hitting threes so be it. What happens when you stay big against the C's is they start doing weird things like running post ups for Pritchard or Brown tries to take guys off the dribble, because their entire offense really just revolves around getting your big in rotation.

The Celtics have a pattern where big teams can get to them, they also try to match and go big with Horford/KP and their offense takes a hit when they do that.

I guess I don't have any real faith in Mitch as a defender away from the rim. The guy is brilliant as an interior defender, especially in containing PnR, but if we're getting him away from that, then he really kind of diminishes what we want to do on both ends.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

If one of our bigs was JJJ, I'd agree

And yes, Val is unplayable the deeper you get into the playoffs. He's almost like a big man version of Bogey.

Cavs got them this year staying big too, but they also threw in a zone here and there as well. If Mitch is Bill Russell like everyone seems to think, put him on Jrue and have him help off him, if Jrue beats us hitting threes so be it. What happens when you stay big against the C's is they start doing weird things like running post ups for Pritchard or Brown tries to take guys off the dribble, because their entire offense really just revolves around getting your big in rotation.

The Celtics have a pattern where big teams can get to them, they also try to match and go big with Horford/KP and their offense takes a hit when they do that.

I guess I don't have any real faith in Mitch as a defender away from the rim. The guy is brilliant as an interior defender, especially in containing PnR, but if we're getting him away from that, then he really kind of diminishes what we want to do on both ends.

We're not beating the Celtics then with Thibs as the coach if he's not playing two bigs, because he'll stick KAT on KP, and he will not take him off that matchup. He guards you center with our center, and that is the end of that. At least starting two bigs would put him into a situation where he has to pick which one goes on KP, while the other would hopefully go on the worst shooter in the lineup. That would also force the Celtics to play Horford/KP more.

[GONYK]

Cavs got them this year staying big too, but they also threw in a zone here and there as well. If Mitch is Bill Russell like everyone seems to think, put him on Jrue and have him help off him, if Jrue beats us hitting threes so be it. What happens when you stay big against the C's is they start doing weird things like running post ups for Pritchard or Brown tries to take guys off the dribble, because their entire offense really just revolves around getting your big in rotation.

The Celtics have a pattern where big teams can get to them, they also try to match and go big with Horford/KP and their offense takes a hit when they do that.

I guess I don't have any real faith in Mitch as a defender away from the rim. The guy is brilliant as an interior defender, especially in containing PnR, but if we're getting him away from that, then he really kind of diminishes what we want to do on both ends.

We're not beating the Celtics then with Thibs as the coach if he's not playing two bigs, because he'll stick KAT on KP, and he will not take him off that matchup. He guards you center with our center, and that is the end of that. At least starting two bigs would put him into a situation where he has to pick which one goes on KP, while the other would hopefully go on the worst shooter in the lineup. That would also force the Celtics to play Horford/KP more.

In a scenario where we move Precious and acquire Val, I agree, beating the Celtics becomes a problem

[j4remi]

In a scenario where we move Precious and acquire Val, I agree, beating the Celtics becomes a problem

Neither Precious nor Val will be a deciding factor of a series against the C's. KAT will have to come up big and he'll be playing the vast majority of minutes at C.

[Knicksman780]

I think it's obvious why some of us are upset even after this win. We are 45 games in. Last season we were 28-17. This season we are 29-16. A measley 1 game improvement. This off-season we saw the FO pretty much give away every asset we had meaning what you see in front of you is what you have. Sure we can make some minor additions and subtractions but this is the core for the next 3 years. This is the core the FO believes will bring us a championship after 50 years.

The reality is that we are only a 1 game improved team. Reality is that Thibs is still doing the same shiz and running his starters into the ground. Reality is we will probably be banged up and injured just as much as last post season and won't be able to make a finals run. Reality is that Thibs gets out coached almost every night. Reality is that our starting
1 and 5 can't guard anything. Reality is even if our bench got decent minutes, I'm not confident they can produce to the level our bench did last season. Reality is that many think we took a huge step forward this season with this roster but nothing so far this season has actually showed that. Reality is that we are a treadmill team going no where.

Reality is 50% of your post is either a biased opinion or what *may or may not* happen in the future. If you claim "reality" you have to stick with facts...