Game Thread: Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks Thur, Feb 20, 2025 7:30pm

[knicks94]

Why is there always a Knick that can't play due to injury? I don't ever recall this being an issue in the 90's. I always remember those teams being at full strength most of the time with the exception of the season in which Ewing injured his wrist.

I'll give you ten million guesses and the first 9,999,999 do not count.

My theory is that today's players aren't physically or mentally conditioned to play an entire 82 games. It also does not help that Thibs does not have a problem playing some of his guys 47 minutes when he feels that he has to.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Why is there always a Knick that can't play due to injury? I don't ever recall this being an issue in the 90's. I always remember those teams being at full strength most of the time with the exception of the season in which Ewing injured his wrist.

I'll give you ten million guesses and the first 9,999,999 do not count.

My theory is that today's players aren't physically or mentally conditioned to play an entire 82 games. It also does not help that Thibs does not have a problem playing some of his guys 47 minutes when he feels that he has to.

Thibs. That's the answer.

[Guano]

Rose a visionary trading all those picks

Read on Twitter

DESTINATION MAR-A-LARGO!

If it's a catastrophic one I'm taking a direct flight there. While I love to backpack and spend time in the mountains I'm not built for post-apocalyptic times. I want to go out on the first wave. Rather perish than never eat a banh mi again.

Anyways we can casually watch mikal now knowing we're all going to die before that 2031 picks haunts the rest of our knicks fandom. Life's better when we find the positives

[Muskies97]

Mitch coming back would unironically be a huge boost to this teams offense vs good teams.

I'd rather see him parked in the dunker spot occupying the opposing big, rather than watching Josh Hart's fake floor spacing.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Team villain right now as we were right about our predictions about this team not being a contender

I don't see a team, I just see one member, and you're all alone.

Team Villain moves in silence. We aren't the loudest in ones in the room like team h0mer.

Nah, Team Villain was always announcing itself in threads, yall been down and out since October. It's been a wrap for that organization for a minute now, yall went out like Quiznos.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Like I said though, they almost made it to the finals with Rozier who's 10x worse. You don't need elite talent around them to win. You can put average players around them and they'll figure out a way to get back to the ECF at the very least like they do every year.

They did that before the 2nd apron was a thing, Rozier was on a value/rookie deal when they did that, they won't be able to get those kinds of players now. Their reign at the top was short like Leprechuans.


Two super max deals on 1 team is what the new CBA is going after and why you've already heard reports of the Celtics potentially shopping Brown. JA Wick is being floated as a potential player on the move, Luka got moved cause the Mavs didn't want to hand out 1 of those. It's a new NBA.

Let's be real. Luka got moved cause he was being a lazy fat fk.

You're missing the point. Rozier was ass. That man was ball hogging like crazy in the playoffs and they still almost made it to the finals. They don't need elite players to get far.

You're saying a lot of what ifs right now about Boston. They've been in the ECF like every year. They not going anywhere.

Luka puts up numbers regardless of being fat or not, if he can get moved anyone outside of like 4 guys are fair game.

I'm not missing the point, Rozier was on a rookie contract and outplayed his contract, he averaged 11.5ppg that season while making less than $2 million. He averaged 16.5ppg in the playoffs making less than $2 mill. That would be like Pacome, Huk or Kolek being a major contributor in our rotation right now. Those days are over though, because the 2nd apron makes it expensive to even sign your own rookies.



The 2nd apron will take them down, as will old age of key pieces. Realistically my feelings towards the Celtics are summed up here as well

Read on Twitter

[LFGK]

I don't disagree with his thoughts. Knicks are a Tier B team on at 3-4 year window. They're not at the levels of OKC, Boston, and Cleveland. That narrative could change if they can pull some real wins against them, but every one of these teams have exploited the weaknesses we see.

We are still improving as the season rolls along though. We have another gear to kick in when Mitch comes back as well. There are a lot of ifs but, let's not act like OKC/CLE have won anything yet either. Boston deserves the credit of having won it all. OKC is still figuring it out and so is Cleveland. They have more continuity than we do but, that's really the biggest advantage they have unless you want give them the coaching edge. I would.

I agree we haven't proven where we are yet but, don't sleep on this team. We see what we almost did last year on fumes. We are a much better team right now than any point last season. I think our team health has to be 100% though to make any serious run. The ECF is my goal. The finals are within reach at that point. Still got work to do. Still have reason to believe we will improve this season. Fun times.

Respectfully, this sounds very much like homerism. OKC and Cleveland aren't figuring it out. They are -- like Boston -- are accomplishing their game plan on most nights, which is keeping opposing FG% and 3P% low (OKC 1st in both regards, Cleveland 6th & 20th). Knicks are 20th & and last.

Mitch or no Mitch, the Knicks of 24/25 season aren't going to miraculously become a better perimeter and interior D team. This team is fundamentality different than last year. Path to the ECF is through Boston. This team too many exploitable weakness that can't be corrected during the course of the season. An offense season and maybe a coaching change might fix that, but right now, I don't see the Knicks beating Boston in a 7 game series. I'd happily eat crow, but I see no evidence to suggest that'll change.

Mitch won't make the interior D better? What? The way Knick fans talk about their team you would think they are 28-26 hovering around .500 middle of the pack, not where they are currently. This Knick team can beat the Cavs idc what their record says. Mitch will make this defense look very different

[Jalen Bluntson]

I think the negative posters are more battered fan syndrome than even they know. After decades of being terrible, the hope died and the tank was the only replacement therapy they could unite around. After all the failed lottery picks and lousy HCs and GMs it was a pretty united front that we needed to draft our way out of the mess. That never happened either. In the meantime, people got used to rooting for their favorite players on other teams. So much so that they can't really fathom having a great team when it is right in front of us. None of us can really believe that Leon Rose was able to build a contender without the usual draft a superstar and have players flock to join each other.route. Outside of KAT, we didn't make any superstar trades. People didn't even consider him worthy of that title. They have a hard rime coming to terms with Brunson being one as well. It really is a case study of some kind that needs to be done. People so used to losing and disappointment year in and year our for 20+ years that it's hard to accept any success without thinking it's a smoke show. They don't want to be let down again so they stay down.

I am not lumping Wildcat in that group but, there are a lot of those people that come around when we lose. They stay around until we win again. Then they disappear until we lose again. They don't allow any positive vibes to exist without a full on attack against it. It's really sad to watch.

A team with two All Star players who both have been involved in MVP discussions.thenlast two years is a good start. Having all NBA level defenders around them and an all star level glue guy should be enough to get them on board. For some reason it is not good enough. There is always something else to complain about.

Hopefully we all get to celebrate a championship together soon. Then we can all unite and cheer as we cry in disbelief that it finally happened for us. It really is the only way to end the pain and give us a new lease on life as a Knicks fan.

[Capn'O]

After all the failed lottery picks and lousy HCs and GMs it was a pretty united front that we needed to draft our way out of the mess. That never happened either.

What we did do is draft a bunch of decent to good players and build a draft capital. You can do a lot of things from that position but if you're asset poor you need to move to that position to move forward. There are other ways to do it if you have good players already but aren't a contender.

I agree with the premise though. We have a good team now. We may need to rearrange the chairs a bit but the foundation is there.

[Jalen Bluntson]

After all the failed lottery picks and lousy HCs and GMs it was a pretty united front that we needed to draft our way out of the mess. That never happened either.

What we did do is draft a bunch of decent to good players and build a draft capital. You can do a lot of things from that position but if you're asset poor you need to move to that position to move forward. There are other ways to do it if you have good players already but aren't a contender.

I agree with the premise though. We have a good team now. We may need to rearrange the chairs a bit but the foundation is there.

We didn't follow the path that many people wanted to do. Tank for a superstar. The tank commanders took a while to get used to us winning going in another direction. Others just refuse to see anything positive. Others will act like they are ok with things but, they continuously put everything down and speak out against any positive feedback about the team. It's a real thing. We see it a lot around here but, it's everywhere. People cannot allow themselves to buy in.

As for the team, we are as close as we have been in a long time. Opinions may vary on how long but, it's been a really long time. I might drift back to game 7 in 94 for how long it has been but I did love that 99 team. I knew we weren't winning that year though. 2013(54 wins) was a messy team that most of us knew wasn't built to win it all either. Too many bad contracts and drama around that team. This team is built for the long haul with potential to shuffle the chairs to get to the promised land. I still think we have a shot this year. A longshot but, still a shot.

[Guano]

Spoiler:

I think the negative posters are more battered fan syndrome than even they know. After decades of being terrible, the hope died and the tank was the only replacement therapy they could unite around. After all the failed lottery picks and lousy HCs and GMs it was a pretty united front that we needed to draft our way out of the mess. That never happened either. In the meantime, people got used to rooting for their favorite players on other teams. So much so that they can't really fathom having a great team when it is right in front of us. None of us can really believe that Leon Rose was able to build a contender without the usual draft a superstar and have players flock to join each other.route. Outside of KAT, we didn't make any superstar trades. People didn't even consider him worthy of that title. They have a hard rime coming to terms with Brunson being one as well. It really is a case study of some kind that needs to be done. People so used to losing and disappointment year in and year our for 20+ years that it's hard to accept any success without thinking it's a smoke show. They don't want to be let down again so they stay down.

I am not lumping Wildcat in that group but, there are a lot of those people that come around when we lose. They stay around until we win again. Then they disappear until we lose again. They don't allow any positive vibes to exist without a full on attack against it. It's really sad to watch.

A team with two All Star players who both have been involved in MVP discussions.thenlast two years is a good start. Having all NBA level defenders around them and an all star level glue guy should be enough to get them on board. For some reason it is not good enough. There is always something else to complain about.

Hopefully we all get to celebrate a championship together soon. Then we can all unite and cheer as we cry in disbelief that it finally happened for us. It really is the only way to end the pain and give us a new lease on life as a Knicks fan.

There might be some of that. But i think some see the Knicks are locked into (for the rest of the decade)a team that can't win it all. I have some doubts about the team but more than that hope.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Spoiler:

I think the negative posters are more battered fan syndrome than even they know. After decades of being terrible, the hope died and the tank was the only replacement therapy they could unite around. After all the failed lottery picks and lousy HCs and GMs it was a pretty united front that we needed to draft our way out of the mess. That never happened either. In the meantime, people got used to rooting for their favorite players on other teams. So much so that they can't really fathom having a great team when it is right in front of us. None of us can really believe that Leon Rose was able to build a contender without the usual draft a superstar and have players flock to join each other.route. Outside of KAT, we didn't make any superstar trades. People didn't even consider him worthy of that title. They have a hard rime coming to terms with Brunson being one as well. It really is a case study of some kind that needs to be done. People so used to losing and disappointment year in and year our for 20+ years that it's hard to accept any success without thinking it's a smoke show. They don't want to be let down again so they stay down.

I am not lumping Wildcat in that group but, there are a lot of those people that come around when we lose. They stay around until we win again. Then they disappear until we lose again. They don't allow any positive vibes to exist without a full on attack against it. It's really sad to watch.

A team with two All Star players who both have been involved in MVP discussions.thenlast two years is a good start. Having all NBA level defenders around them and an all star level glue guy should be enough to get them on board. For some reason it is not good enough. There is always something else to complain about.

Hopefully we all get to celebrate a championship together soon. Then we can all unite and cheer as we cry in disbelief that it finally happened for us. It really is the only way to end the pain and give us a new lease on life as a Knicks fan.

There might be some of that. But i think some see the Knicks are locked into (for the rest of the decade)a team that can't win it all. I have some doubts about the team but more than that hope.

There's more than some of that. There's all of that.

Fortunately we have tradable players and will begin getting picks back next year. Plus players we can draft. Maybe some ring chasers look our way. We aren't locked into anything honestly. We are secured with a really good team under contract for the next 3-4 years. That's actually a good place to be as a franchise. Saying they can't win it all is whatever. There is no team geared to own the league like the superteam era. This team can get there with minor tweaks as is. Not sure why anyone thinks we can't win it all honestly. It's a silly take to have.

[thebuzzardman]

I'm sure Josh Hart's injury is no big deal and will be offset by the awesome wing depth the Knicks have and also their robust collection of quality backup PFs.

[3toheadmelo]

I don't see a team, I just see one member, and you're all alone.

Team Villain moves in silence. We aren't the loudest in ones in the room like team h0mer.

Nah, Team Villain was always announcing itself in threads, yall been down and out since October. It's been a wrap for that organization for a minute now, yall went out like Quiznos.

We didn’t need to announce ourselves. Our presence was always felt just by being right on everything which had y’all shook. Team h0mer is very loud right now. In denial about us being fake contenders. Team h0mer out here looking like

[3toheadmelo]

They did that before the 2nd apron was a thing, Rozier was on a value/rookie deal when they did that, they won't be able to get those kinds of players now. Their reign at the top was short like Leprechuans.


Two super max deals on 1 team is what the new CBA is going after and why you've already heard reports of the Celtics potentially shopping Brown. JA Wick is being floated as a potential player on the move, Luka got moved cause the Mavs didn't want to hand out 1 of those. It's a new NBA.

Let's be real. Luka got moved cause he was being a lazy fat fk.

You're missing the point. Rozier was ass. That man was ball hogging like crazy in the playoffs and they still almost made it to the finals. They don't need elite players to get far.

You're saying a lot of what ifs right now about Boston. They've been in the ECF like every year. They not going anywhere.

Luka puts up numbers regardless of being fat or not, if he can get moved anyone outside of like 4 guys are fair game.

I'm not missing the point, Rozier was on a rookie contract and outplayed his contract, he averaged 11.5ppg that season while making less than $2 million. He averaged 16.5ppg in the playoffs making less than $2 mill. That would be like Pacome, Huk or Kolek being a major contributor in our rotation right now. Those days are over though, because the 2nd apron makes it expensive to even sign your own rookies.



The 2nd apron will take them down, as will old age of key pieces. Realistically my feelings towards the Celtics are summed up here as well

Read on Twitter

They literally only moved him because of his lazy conditioning. You’re not looking at the context of things.

Rozier was ass. Idgaf about his 11 PPg. You can find any PG to do that we had Mudiay and Burks putting up numbers for us.

You’re saying a lot of what ifs for Boston. As long as Tatum and Brown are healthy, I just don’t see them falling apart. It is what it is.

[LFGK]

After all the failed lottery picks and lousy HCs and GMs it was a pretty united front that we needed to draft our way out of the mess. That never happened either.

What we did do is draft a bunch of decent to good players and build a draft capital. You can do a lot of things from that position but if you're asset poor you need to move to that position to move forward. There are other ways to do it if you have good players already but aren't a contender.

I agree with the premise though. We have a good team now. We may need to rearrange the chairs a bit but the foundation is there.

We didn't follow the path that many people wanted to do. Tank for a superstar. The tank commanders took a while to get used to us winning going in another direction. Others just refuse to see anything positive. Others will act like they are ok with things but, they continuously put everything down and speak out against any positive feedback about the team. It's a real thing. We see it a lot around here but, it's everywhere. People cannot allow themselves to buy in.

As for the team, we are as close as we have been in a long time. Opinions may vary on how long but, it's been a really long time. I might drift back to game 7 in 94 for how long it has been but I did love that 99 team. I knew we weren't winning that year though. 2013(54 wins) was a messy team that most of us knew wasn't built to win it all either. Too many bad contracts and drama around that team. This team is built for the long haul with potential to shuffle the chairs to get to the promised land. I still think we have a shot this year. A longshot but, still a shot.

this is it in a nutshell.




This team can win a title THIS season if healthy come playoff time. D will get tighter when the playoffs start and will obv be better with OG and Mitch back

[8516knicks]

So is Mitch going to play this year or what?

[Lord Commander]

We're going streaking and you bitches are gonna love it!!

[NYKinMIA]

there's too much random shyt in here to be a GT, so clean that up please.

Windhorst stays up at night worrying if he can make it McDonald's before they stop serving breakfast.

[rajajackal]

Rose a visionary trading all those picks

Read on Twitter

DESTINATION MAR-A-LARGO!

If it's a catastrophic one I'm taking a direct flight there. While I love to backpack and spend time in the mountains I'm not built for post-apocalyptic times. I want to go out on the first wave. Rather perish than never eat a banh mi again.

Anyways we can casually watch mikal now knowing we're all going to die before that 2031 picks haunts the rest of our knicks fandom. Life's better when we find the positives

transcendent levels of self awareness