are the Knicks LEGIT contenders?!

[NoDopeOnSundays]

We need a new coach, and to prioritize wings in the off-season. Thibs and the front office have an obsession with combo guards off the bench, we don't have a single rotation wing player outside of OG that is 6'7" or taller.

[JonFromVA]

We need a new coach, and to prioritize wings in the off-season. Thibs and the front office have an obsession with combo guards off the bench, we don't have a single rotation wing player outside of OG that is 6'7" or taller.

It's not quite that bad when you consider things like wingspan/strength and not just height ... Bridges and Hart can hold their own; but it does take energy to play elite defense.

Before the Hunter trade the Cavs also had a ton of undersized guys but it's just easier to make it work when they've got a pair of mobile 7 footers in the front-court that defend the entire floor.

Anyway, I learned a long time ago never to draw conclusions from a game on the second night of a back to back - that's not something that happens in the playoffs.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

We need a new coach, and to prioritize wings in the off-season. Thibs and the front office have an obsession with combo guards off the bench, we don't have a single rotation wing player outside of OG that is 6'7" or taller.

It's not quite that bad when you consider things like wingspan/strength and not just height ... Bridges and Hart can hold their own; but it does take energy to play elite defense.

Before the Hunter trade the Cavs also had a ton of undersized guys but it's just easier to make it work when they've got a pair of mobile 7 footers in the front-court that defend the entire floor.

Anyway, I learned a long time ago never to draw conclusions from a game on the second night of a back to back - that's not something that happens in the playoffs.

The lack of perimeter size is bad, as in our starting wings are the biggest on the team and after that we have nothing but guards that are 6'1" to 6'5". They don't prioritize size in the draft or free agency, and it's been a weird thing for years now, the kid we drafted last summer is the first wing player they've taken over 6'7" since the FO has been here, and he doesn't play


We need more depth, but with our coach we are where you were last year when you had JB Thibberstaff, a better coach would help issues with this team. The offense has no structure and just relies on out talenting other teams, that's fine when you're beating up on the 3-8 seeds, but it falls apart against the 1-2 seeds.

[Celts17Pride]

Knicks are 0-2 against the Cavs and have loss by an average of 22 ppg

Knicks are 0-2 against the Celtics and have loss by an average of 25 ppg

Don’t know how anyone can take the Knicks as serious contenders at this point in the season.

[Pharmcat]

Knicks are 0-2 against the Cavs and have loss by an average of 22 ppg

Knicks are 0-2 against the Celtics and have loss by an average of 25 ppg

Don’t know how anyone can take the Knicks as serious contenders at this point in the season.

they are pretenders, frauds.

[cgf]

Dude lives in an alternate reality.

Spent all off season **** on the Celtics and telling everyone how good the Knicks are

Completely clueless

Ok so I missed that one sorry. Point is you beat us in a meaingnless regular season game. Come playoffs we will wipe yall off the floor.

Knicks are not there yet. Celtics and Cavs are better.

Knicks are like a top 7 team though. They're really good.

Maybe Mitch makes a difference or they trade him to firm up that bench with a couple of good rotation players.

Then maybe use Deuce to get a center like Kessler.

With the way we handled the Nuggets and Grizzlies, it's not a stretch to say that we're the 4th best team in a 3-team league right now...unfortunately.

Hopefully we can get healthy, Thibs can develop our blended lineups when we have Brunson & Towns staggered, and things look different when we have a top tier rim protector & offensive rebounder to pair with Karl...because I still think we could look a lot tougher when we can recreate the Minny model with Towns at the 4.

But whether that'll happen, and if that'll close the gap on the top 3 or just push us further ahead from the rest of the pack, if it does happen, remains to be seen. Luckily we've been a lot of fun against 26 of the 29 other teams in the league this season, and this core is just hitting their primes, so our FO has time to build up the depth and make tweaks.

So still not contenders atm, but if things go our way down the stretch, that may still change.

[Sweet Serenity]

We beat them 109-86 at the start of January & they beat us 114-112 2 weeks ago.

What the hell are you talking about ?

Dude lives in an alternate reality.

Spent all off season **** on the Celtics and telling everyone how good the Knicks are

Completely clueless

Ok so I missed that one sorry. Point is you beat us in a meaingnless regular season game. Come playoffs we will wipe yall off the floor.

[RHODEY]

Dude lives in an alternate reality.

Spent all off season **** on the Celtics and telling everyone how good the Knicks are

Completely clueless

Ok so I missed that one sorry. Point is you beat us in a meaingnless regular season game. Come playoffs we will wipe yall off the floor.

we came within four with our bench unit. We'll get ya when it matters

[Celts17Pride]

We need a new coach, and to prioritize wings in the off-season.

Knicks just spent a ton of money and draft picks on Bridges and Anunoby

Brunson is one of the worse defensive players at his position, Towns may very well be the worse defensive player at his position. Not sure any coach will be able to fix that.

[Celts17Pride]

Knicks are 0-2 against the Cavs and have loss by an average of 22 ppg

Knicks are 0-2 against the Celtics and have loss by an average of 25 ppg

Don’t know how anyone can take the Knicks as serious contenders at this point in the season.

Updated:

Knicks are 0-2 against the Cavs and have loss by an average of 22 ppg

Knicks are 0-3 against the Celtics and have loss by an average of 21 ppg

[Stanq]

I think Knicks have to realize OG and Bridges are not enough to cover for Brunson and KAT defensively. Robinson coming back would help, but I don't think it is enough to rise to contention - you need more wingspan in that rotation to make other teams uncomfortable.

[NY2k1]

I think Knicks have to realize OG and Bridges are not enough to cover for Brunson and KAT defensively. Robinson coming back would help, but I don't think it is enough to rise to contention - you need more wingspan in that rotation to make other teams uncomfortable.

Big Mitch coming back will be a big boost and will help more than a lot of people realize, but the main concern is if he can play heavy minutes this season and how long it'll take for him to get back into the swing of things conditioning-wise, etc. But also what you're saying, the Knicks need more wingspan depth in the rotation.

[hugepatsfan]

We need a new coach, and to prioritize wings in the off-season. Thibs and the front office have an obsession with combo guards off the bench, we don't have a single rotation wing player outside of OG that is 6'7" or taller.

It's not quite that bad when you consider things like wingspan/strength and not just height ... Bridges and Hart can hold their own; but it does take energy to play elite defense.

Before the Hunter trade the Cavs also had a ton of undersized guys but it's just easier to make it work when they've got a pair of mobile 7 footers in the front-court that defend the entire floor.

Anyway, I learned a long time ago never to draw conclusions from a game on the second night of a back to back - that's not something that happens in the playoffs.

The lack of perimeter size is bad, as in our starting wings are the biggest on the team and after that we have nothing but guards that are 6'1" to 6'5". They don't prioritize size in the draft or free agency, and it's been a weird thing for years now, the kid we drafted last summer is the first wing player they've taken over 6'7" since the FO has been here, and he doesn't play


We need more depth, but with our coach we are where you were last year when you had JB Thibberstaff, a better coach would help issues with this team. The offense has no structure and just relies on out talenting other teams, that's fine when you're beating up on the 3-8 seeds, but it falls apart against the 1-2 seeds.

In regards to the bold, for a typical team that concern can be alleviated to some degree in the playoffs. Typically you'll extend minutes of your starters so if they're the only ones on the team with size then you'll get more floor time with size by way of their extended minutes.

Thibs is already playing Bridges/Anunoby at their career playoff minutes though, so not sure he'll push them even further in the playoffs. He's definitely atypical in his rotations for today's game so this built in improvement come playoff time might not be there for the Knicks.

[Celts17Pride]

Tidbit I found on ESPN:

New York is 26-6 against teams with losing records, and 11-14 against teams with winning records. The Knicks are now 20th overall in defensive rating -- a shocking number for a Tom Thibodeau-coached team. Against top-10 offenses this season, the number is even worse -- dipping all the way down to 29th in the NBA, ahead of only the Toronto Raptors, per ESPN Research.

[Sweet Serenity]

Ok so I missed that one sorry. Point is you beat us in a meaingnless regular season game. Come playoffs we will wipe yall off the floor.

we came within four with our bench unit. We'll get ya when it matters

I’m starting to feel sorry for you now lol

[RHODEY]

we came within four with our bench unit. We'll get ya when it matters

I’m starting to feel sorry for you now lol

No need, good game.

[Sweet Serenity]

Knicks are 0-2 against the Cavs and have loss by an average of 22 ppg

Knicks are 0-2 against the Celtics and have loss by an average of 25 ppg

Don’t know how anyone can take the Knicks as serious contenders at this point in the season.

Updated:

Knicks are 0-2 against the Cavs and have loss by an average of 22 ppg

Knicks are 0-3 against the Celtics and have loss by an average of 21 ppg

The almighty RHODEY blessed us with his intelligence & told me that because they came within 4 with their “bench unit” yesterday that the’ll get us in the playoffs.

No one questions the almighty RHODEY so we may as well forfeit if we meet them in the playoffs.

[Jamaaliver]

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[cgf]

Watch on YouTube

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Isn't that the same guy who said Brunson wasn't a difference maker?

Anyways, still probably no...but it's starting to look more and more like we might just be contenders. #2 defrtg over our last 10 games as the bench is finally coming together, with a soft part of our schedule until Brunson is back, the Knicks could ride some real momentum into the postseason.

[JujitsuFlip]

lol is he any worse than they are at this point?

And Bogdanovic was just dumb from the get go. I was saying from day 1 that Alec Burks would make more of an impact for us than Bojan, and unfortunately I ended up being right even before Bogey got hurt. Bogdan & Caruso would've been awesome though.

Hard to say, since he's off the steroids now lol

Idk if the Heat even really play Burks so you all can probably acquire him again at this deadline.

lol that probably doesn't help.

We could do worse, but with Deuce, Payne, Shamet, & Kolek, guard creation isn't as big of a need for our bench as another wing defender who can hit some shots...which is why I keep brining up Okeke, unless someone better gets bought out.

https://www.fearthesword.com/2025/4/3/24400807/cleveland-cavaliers-sign-chuma-okeke-to-finalize-roster

Sorry cgf... Cavs signed your guy!