First Round Matchup Set: Knicks vs Pistons

[thebuzzardman]

I see this series unfolding in a comparable way to the 2013 Pacers series, even as the Pistons are less talented than the old Pacers.

Whoever wins game 1 wins the series, with the home team winning every remaining home game.

Knicks have the clear edge in talent but Detroit have the momentum and seem more united. Hopefully Thibs can rally the troops ahead of Saturday and get them mentally ready for a strong playoff run.

Thibsdale plans only last 1/2 of 1 game.

[3toheadmelo]

I’ll have the gt up later today or tommorow

[robillionaire]

I see this series unfolding in a comparable way to the 2013 Pacers series, even as the Pistons are less talented than the old Pacers.

Whoever wins game 1 wins the series, with the home team winning every remaining home game.

Knicks have the clear edge in talent but Detroit have the momentum and seem more united. Hopefully Thibs can rally the troops ahead of Saturday and get them mentally ready for a strong playoff run.

The pistons went 2-6 in their last 8 games (granted one of the 2 was against the Knicks but we also had multiple players resting) so idk how much momentum they have really.

Meanwhile the bucks came in on an 8 game win streak so maybe it’s good they have Indiana

[thebuzzardman]

Knicks offseason starts in 2 weeks

[Adelheid]

Knicks offseason starts in 2 weeks

very early preparations for cancun, huh

[KnicksGadfly]

Read on Twitter

Smart moves from the Pistons but it's probably not going to stop the Knicks from taking over the arena...

[Jeff Van Gully]

I’ll have the gt up later today or tommorow

hang on, melo. do we continue from the regular season or do we ask the longest in-season win streak to kick this off?

[3toheadmelo]

I’ll have the gt up later today or tommorow

hang on, melo. do we continue from the regular season or do we ask the longest in-season win streak to kick this off?

I thought we continue from regular season but I’m fine with whatever you guys wanna do. You guys pick lol

[Jeff Van Gully]

I’ll have the gt up later today or tommorow

hang on, melo. do we continue from the regular season or do we ask the longest in-season win streak to kick this off?

I thought we continue from regular season but I’m fine with whatever you guys wanna do. You guys pick lol

ok, cool. let me confirm. i'm good either way. i just don't want to put any bad forum juju on this war we about to fight.

will hit you back asap.

[kNicksGmen]

knicks in 6 but there will be at least 1 blowout win/loss.

[rajajackal]

I’ll have the gt up later today or tommorow

hang on, melo. do we continue from the regular season or do we ask the longest in-season win streak to kick this off?

i know Context had a long one. i think someone else matched or came close, can't remember

[rajajackal]

for the record i think melo having a 16 game win streak to the championship is exactly what this forum deserves

[god shammgod]

let melo cook

[dakomish23]

Knicks better not take a minute of this series or playoffs for granted. Things can fall apart real fast with injuries. I got Knicks in 6 b/c I think Cade might go nuclear for two DET wins. But otherwise, we must leverage our playoff experience to close out games - even with Thibs terrible crunch time management working against us.

[thebuzzardman]

Every Melo gamethread

[NYKinMIA]

[nedleeds]

Thibs will deploy drop coverage and Cade will average 35+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pistons in 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knicks in 5, which secures Thibs, Leon, and Sam Rose at CAA for 3 more years of being the 2014 Charlotte Bobcats.

It's playoff time baby.

OUR TIME!

ROLL IT!

Watch on YouTube

[DOT]

This team is built to spread teams out and punish them from 3 while giving Brunson space to isolate

Thibs will instead opt to try to win in a slugfest, which we're really not built for

Against the Pistons this year, Brunson is averaging 28/8/3 on 51/42 splits (.605 TS), however there is some nuance needed. When his primary defender is Tim Hardway, he's scored 29 points on 10/17 shooting (65%) in 9 minutes, and when guarded by Malik Beasley, he's scored 15 points on 6/9 shooting (66.7%) in 5 minutes. However, when guarded by Cade, he has only scored 18 points on 6/16 shooting (38%) in 11 minutes, and only 2 points on 1/2 shooting when guarded by Ausar Thompson in 6 minutes

Essentially, our best course of action would be to spread them out and run Brunson through all sorts of screening action to get favorable matchups and then punish that, but knowing Thibs, that's too much to ask

We'll probably be able to brute force our way to wins through talent alone this series, but that's only gonna get us so far. We should win in 4 or 5, but I think we win in 6.

[MrDollarBills]

Tom needs to play Mitch and Towns together and I'd also keep Precious in the rotation. If Josh continues to be a non factor and hurts the team, i give Tucker a shot in his spot. At least Tucker can take and make open threes...that has to be a possibility.

This series is gonna be super physical and there needs to be some toughness out there

Delon Wright should be playing over Cam.

Mitch
Karl
OG
Mikal
Brunson

Bench 3:

Wright, Hart or Tucker, Precious. I would give Shamet a shot but I doubt Tom will.

OG stays glued to Cade.

Mikal and OG are gonna have to gut it out minutes wise but i think Tom needs to be mindful that Detroit may not go to a shorter rotation based on their play style which prioritizes high energy physical defense. They're gonna keep rotating in fresh bodies. The threat of guys being cooked by the 4th is real.

I dunno. I'm trying to be positive because we have the experience and talent that should handle these guys, but Cade is a serious problem, Detroit has good depth, they're a middle of the pack shooting team. Tom has been horrific from the bench. I hope after a few days of practice and film he can put together a good strategy on both ends that doesn't allow Cade to just post up whenever he gets a switch and guys focus on the three pt line instead of that stupid ass drop coverage.

I need to see these guys prepared to play because I haven't seen it especially since Brunson returned.

[MrDollarBills]

Also, I will be watching Karl this series. I need to see some grit and intelligent play. No dumb fouls and on offense, do not let Stewart punk you.

If I don't see these things being done, I think Leon needs to seriously consider approaching Milwaukee if the Bucks bow out in Round 1.