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

[robillionaire]

So is Mitch going to play this year or what?

They say he’s fully practicing now so he’s probably healthy and getting close just needing a little more time to get into the groove of things. But if he plays a game or two and has some kind of setback or feels pain or whatever… well he might be done

[NoDopeOnSundays]

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

Everyone on a team forum is a homer, this is the reality of the situation. There is no team villain, yall got hit with a gentlemens sweep in the end. We have the 4th best odds to win the title, they are contenders, and they have room for improvement over the next 4 years because the core is locked up. Team Villain doesn't see the long term, it only focuses on the short term which is why 99% of yall quit posting.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

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.

He's a top 3 player, money is money and they didn't want to give him a supermax. The Grizz may explore moving JA this summer, you really need to look at what the second apron does.

Rozier gave them 17ppg in the playoffs, while making $1.98 million, he outplayed his contract and guys who were making 7-10x as much as him. You can't find any PG to give you that on less than $2 million per season, Mudiay was making $4.2 million his best year with us, Burks made $6 million and $10 million with us, and didn't average 17ppg. With the new rules, everyone they sign is basically doubled.

I'll say it again, the Celtics are going to have a payroll around $225-250 million next season, their luxury tax bill is going to be MORE than their salary. They are going to be a roster that costs half a billion next season. The Warriors used to talk about how they weren't affraid to spend with the previous luxury tax, and they quieted up real quick and made a lot of cost saving moves since then. And most importantly, **** the Celtics.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

So is Mitch going to play this year or what?

They say he’s fully practicing now so he’s probably healthy and getting close just needing a little more time to get into the groove of things. But if he plays a game or two and has some kind of setback or feels pain or whatever… well he might be done

I remember when this was supposed to be a December return, and now it's almost March. He better not get hurt after all this too.

[3toheadmelo]

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

Everyone on a team forum is a homer, this is the reality of the situation. There is no team villain, yall got hit with a gentlemens sweep in the end. We have the 4th best odds to win the title, they are contenders, and they have room for improvement over the next 4 years because the core is locked up. Team Villain doesn't see the long term, it only focuses on the short term which is why 99% of yall quit posting.

Not everyone here is a homer. A decent amount of us believe we’re fake contenders. You can see it in the past couple pages.

Team villain doesn’t need to post like I said. Our presence is known because we were right. Team H0mer is very loud right now because you guys are in denial about reality. We’re currently 0-5 against Boston, OKC, and Cleveland and have a losing record against winning teams. Team villain is playing the realistic game.

[3toheadmelo]

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.

He's a top 3 player, money is money and they didn't want to give him a supermax. The Grizz may explore moving JA this summer, you really need to look at what the second apron does.

Rozier gave them 17ppg in the playoffs, while making $1.98 million, he outplayed his contract and guys who were making 7-10x as much as him. You can't find any PG to give you that on less than $2 million per season, Mudiay was making $4.2 million his best year with us, Burks made $6 million and $10 million with us, and didn't average 17ppg. With the new rules, everyone they sign is basically doubled.

I'll say it again, the Celtics are going to have a payroll around $225-250 million next season, their luxury tax bill is going to be MORE than their salary. They are going to be a roster that costs half a billion next season. The Warriors used to talk about how they weren't affraid to spend with the previous luxury tax, and they quieted up real quick and made a lot of cost saving moves since then. And most importantly, **** the Celtics.

Well clearly Luka hasn’t looked like a top 3 player with the Lakers. Everything Nico said about his conditioning was true and it’s showing on the court. You’re ignoring the context on why they traded him to say they moved him only cause the CBA which isn’t true. Nico, Shams, Marc stein all said the main reason they moved Luka was cause of his awful conditioning, lack of defense, nothing about the CBA.

Rozier gave them empty calories in the playoffs. Celtics fans hated him because he was taking shots away from Tatum and Brown. He was playing hero ball jacking up shots with bad defense. Mudiay averaged 15 PPG for us. Alec Burks just gave us 15 PPG in the playoffs. That’s similar production that Rozier gave them. You can find gunners anywhere for cheap. That won’t be an issue for Boston. I’m all for seeing Boston fail and would love to steal Tatum/Brown from them but I just don’t see them falling apart anytime soon man.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

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

Everyone on a team forum is a homer, this is the reality of the situation. There is no team villain, yall got hit with a gentlemens sweep in the end. We have the 4th best odds to win the title, they are contenders, and they have room for improvement over the next 4 years because the core is locked up. Team Villain doesn't see the long term, it only focuses on the short term which is why 99% of yall quit posting.

Not everyone here is a homer. A decent amount of us believe we’re fake contenders. You can see it in the past couple pages.

Team villain doesn’t need to post like I said. Our presence is known because we were right. Team H0mer is very loud right now because you guys are in denial about reality. We’re currently 0-5 against Boston, OKC, and Cleveland and have a losing record against winning teams. Team villain is playing the realistic game.

Everyone here is a homer, you were a homer when we had the player you liked. You're a homer still, you can deny it but anybody that spends time posting on a team themed board and has used the word "we" when describing a team is a homer, you're one of us, you're part of the system. We've always had a losing record vs .500 or better team, that's just a feature of your coach through 5 seasons, are you now saying we have a coaching problem as well? Team Villain is just 1 man, it's over brother, time to let go. You had a nice little run, but it's 2025 and Terror squad and Dipset are dead now too. You're waiting on sham to come back, and all he's gonna do is stan Mitch in his happy little corner. It's over.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

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.

He's a top 3 player, money is money and they didn't want to give him a supermax. The Grizz may explore moving JA this summer, you really need to look at what the second apron does.

Rozier gave them 17ppg in the playoffs, while making $1.98 million, he outplayed his contract and guys who were making 7-10x as much as him. You can't find any PG to give you that on less than $2 million per season, Mudiay was making $4.2 million his best year with us, Burks made $6 million and $10 million with us, and didn't average 17ppg. With the new rules, everyone they sign is basically doubled.

I'll say it again, the Celtics are going to have a payroll around $225-250 million next season, their luxury tax bill is going to be MORE than their salary. They are going to be a roster that costs half a billion next season. The Warriors used to talk about how they weren't affraid to spend with the previous luxury tax, and they quieted up real quick and made a lot of cost saving moves since then. And most importantly, **** the Celtics.

Well clearly Luka hasn’t looked like a top 3 player with the Lakers. Everything Nico said about his conditioning was true and it’s showing on the court. You’re ignoring the context on why they traded him to say they moved him only cause the CBA which isn’t true. Nico, Shams, Marc stein all said the main reason they moved Luka was cause of his awful conditioning, lack of defense, nothing about the CBA.

Rozier gave them empty calories in the playoffs. Celtics fans hated him because he was taking shots away from Tatum and Brown. He was playing hero ball jacking up shots with bad defense. Mudiay averaged 15 PPG for us. Alec Burks just gave us 15 PPG in the playoffs. That’s similar production that Rozier gave them. You can find gunners anywhere for cheap. That won’t be an issue for Boston. I’m all for seeing Boston fail and would love to steal Tatum/Brown from them but I just don’t see them falling apart anytime soon man.

They literally said they don't want to give him a supermax, because tying up money now is dangerous. This is America, this is Captialism, money is the root cause of everything. And saying he doesn't look like a top 3 player after 3 games and missing 2 months is crazy work.


Rozier made less than $2 million, he was +1.2 net rating for the 19 games in the playoffs. You can name anyone you want, you're going to be hard pressed to find someone making $1.9 million, being net positive and scoring 17ppg. Burks made 5x as much as Rozier and was net negative in the playoffs for us, Mudiay made 2x as much as Rozier and was net negative. Once again, this would be like Kolek, Pac or Huk dropping 16ppg for us in the playoffs, it would be such a massive boost that it's extremely rare for a player to outplay their contract like that. We're trying to get them to be rotational players, and you're trying to say a guy making $1.9 million and outplaying guys making much more than him sucked, it's wild. It's found money when a guy can do that, it's why value deal players are so important.

The second apron is going to make it punitive to have teams like the Celtics. They're going to be the most expensive team in American sports history next season, they're going to be spending double what NFL teams spend for a 53 man roster That isn't sustainable and that's how it's meant to be. Again, **** The Celtics.

[Capn'O]

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

We're back down the 1.5%. Unfortunately.

https://www.dw.com/en/risk-of-large-asteroid-striking-earth-falls-to-15/a-71691599

The asteroid is estimated to be around 40-90 meters (130-300 feet) wide, which would not cause a global catastrophe but is still capable of causing significant destruction to a city.

Though, I bet if it hit in the ocean not that far from land it could be a huge issue.

[3toheadmelo]

Everyone on a team forum is a homer, this is the reality of the situation. There is no team villain, yall got hit with a gentlemens sweep in the end. We have the 4th best odds to win the title, they are contenders, and they have room for improvement over the next 4 years because the core is locked up. Team Villain doesn't see the long term, it only focuses on the short term which is why 99% of yall quit posting.

Not everyone here is a homer. A decent amount of us believe we’re fake contenders. You can see it in the past couple pages.

Team villain doesn’t need to post like I said. Our presence is known because we were right. Team H0mer is very loud right now because you guys are in denial about reality. We’re currently 0-5 against Boston, OKC, and Cleveland and have a losing record against winning teams. Team villain is playing the realistic game.

Everyone here is a homer, you were a homer when we had the player you liked. You're a homer still, you can deny it but anybody that spends time posting on a team themed board and has used the word "we" when describing a team is a homer, you're one of us, you're part of the system. We've always had a losing record vs .500 or better team, that's just a feature of your coach through 5 seasons, are you now saying we have a coaching problem as well? Team Villain is just 1 man, it's over brother, time to let go. You had a nice little run, but it's 2025 and Terror squad and Dipset are dead now too. You're waiting on sham to come back, and all he's gonna do is stan Mitch in his happy little corner. It's over.

I wasn’t a homer for all the 5 years Randle was here. I only became a homer after last year in January. That was the first time since 2013 I felt like we had a legit chance to do something special. Over 10 years bro.

Team villian is multiple people. We don’t need to post all the time.

Team h0mer is looking like the Drake stans after he dropped push ups and that AI song with Pac. Thinking you won before you’re inevitably faced with harsh reality.

[TheGreenArrow]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=W09F6FrMDfp5_y1gKYgF1g

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Not everyone here is a homer. A decent amount of us believe we’re fake contenders. You can see it in the past couple pages.

Team villain doesn’t need to post like I said. Our presence is known because we were right. Team H0mer is very loud right now because you guys are in denial about reality. We’re currently 0-5 against Boston, OKC, and Cleveland and have a losing record against winning teams. Team villain is playing the realistic game.

Everyone here is a homer, you were a homer when we had the player you liked. You're a homer still, you can deny it but anybody that spends time posting on a team themed board and has used the word "we" when describing a team is a homer, you're one of us, you're part of the system. We've always had a losing record vs .500 or better team, that's just a feature of your coach through 5 seasons, are you now saying we have a coaching problem as well? Team Villain is just 1 man, it's over brother, time to let go. You had a nice little run, but it's 2025 and Terror squad and Dipset are dead now too. You're waiting on sham to come back, and all he's gonna do is stan Mitch in his happy little corner. It's over.

I wasn’t a homer for all the 5 years Randle was here. I only became a homer after last year in January. That was the first time since 2013 I felt like we had a legit chance to do something special. Over 10 years bro.

Team villian is multiple people. We don’t need to post all the time.

Team h0mer is looking like the Drake stans after he dropped push ups and that AI song with Pac. Thinking you won before you’re inevitably faced with harsh reality.

You talking about us being fake contenders, while thinking last Jan we were a real contender? Brother, what?

Team Villain is just 1 person, that's it, nobody repping the flag anymore. Gang task force hit yall hard. And we did win, we got rid of Randle.

[Wildcat]

We've rank higher defensively earlier in the season.I see now reason why we cant do it again , especially when adding Mitch. We might never be great defensively but I believe we can be solid.

Being ranked roughly 19th earlier defensively isn't a trailblazing statistic. I love your optimism, but that's not how it general turns out. I know they'll get better. They're just not going to get better this season.

We ranked higher than 19th , I recall 11th or 10th at one point. All without Mitch. So I dont think its "optimism" to expect us to return to that with Mitch , OG and players having an additional 25 + games of familiarity.

Depends on what stat you're looking at. I looked into this the other day. If you're going by Defensive Efficiency they topped off at 14th in January before dropping back down to current 18th. Call it what you will, but you're putting a lot of faith in Mitch that I would consider optimism.

[LFGK]

Everyone here is a homer, you were a homer when we had the player you liked. You're a homer still, you can deny it but anybody that spends time posting on a team themed board and has used the word "we" when describing a team is a homer, you're one of us, you're part of the system. We've always had a losing record vs .500 or better team, that's just a feature of your coach through 5 seasons, are you now saying we have a coaching problem as well? Team Villain is just 1 man, it's over brother, time to let go. You had a nice little run, but it's 2025 and Terror squad and Dipset are dead now too. You're waiting on sham to come back, and all he's gonna do is stan Mitch in his happy little corner. It's over.

I wasn’t a homer for all the 5 years Randle was here. I only became a homer after last year in January. That was the first time since 2013 I felt like we had a legit chance to do something special. Over 10 years bro.

Team villian is multiple people. We don’t need to post all the time.

Team h0mer is looking like the Drake stans after he dropped push ups and that AI song with Pac. Thinking you won before you’re inevitably faced with harsh reality.

You talking about us being fake contenders, while thinking last Jan we were a real contender? Brother, what?

Team Villain is just 1 person, that's it, nobody repping the flag anymore. Gang task force hit yall hard. And we did win, we got rid of Randle.

[MrDollarBills]

@ "gang task force hit yall hard"

Love this board

[Wildcat]

We ranked higher than 19th , I recall 11th or 10th at one point. All without Mitch. So I dont think its "optimism" to expect us to return to that with Mitch , OG and players having an additional 25 + games of familiarity.

Mitch factor in theory is a much bigger factor for Thibs system than many think

Did Knickfans catch selective amnesia?

Did we? Because you're talking about him like he has had injury issues his entire career.

[Wildcat]

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

Whose burner account is this?

The Knicks interior D was held up last season by I-Hart and Mitch. We don't have I-Hart. Having the expectation that Mitch is going to shoulder KAT inefficiency seems highly unrealistic. Forget about the Cavs, this team needs to prove they can beat Boston, because that's who they are facing in the 2nd Round.

[DOT]

They literally said they don't want to give him a supermax, because tying up money now is dangerous. This is America, this is Captialism, money is the root cause of everything. And saying he doesn't look like a top 3 player after 3 games and missing 2 months is crazy work.

[LFGK]

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

Whose burner account is this?

The Knicks interior D was held up last season by I-Hart and Mitch. We don't have I-Hart. Having the expectation that Mitch is going to shoulder KAT inefficiency seems highly unrealistic. Forget about the Cavs, this team needs to prove they can beat Boston, because that's who they are facing in the 2nd Round.

and he will be back real soon. If you really don't think he helps this teams defense there really is nothing to discuss.

[Wildcat]

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

Whose burner account is this?

The Knicks interior D was held up last season by I-Hart and Mitch. We don't have I-Hart. Having the expectation that Mitch is going to shoulder KAT inefficiency seems highly unrealistic. Forget about the Cavs, this team needs to prove they can beat Boston, because that's who they are facing in the 2nd Round.

and he will be back real soon. If you really don't think he helps this teams defense there really is nothing to discuss.

Coming in with 2/3 of the season done, building team chemistry, hoping our generally injury prone Center isn't ever going to have a set back, and missing the other anchor. Yeah, that's how it usually works.

Yep, nothing to discuss. Salute.