PG: that sucked

[prophet_of_rage]

"that's what happens when they let you run the show"
- donte divincenzo, knower of vibes

Brunson looking at Mikal, Mikal looking at Donte, vibes killed with 10 words.

Brunson is looking at Naz Reid. Mikal is kinda looking like 'Yup.'

Sent from my SM-S9080 using RealGM mobile app

[8516knicks]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=W09F6FrMDfp5_y1gKYgF1g

Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOR COMPARISION --

The shooting FGA attempts (normalized for 2 games to give comparision) during the REGULAR season:

BRUN 37
KAT 34
OG 28
Mikal 29
JOSH 20
Deuce 17
CAM 12
Precious 12
Sham 8

KAT, CAM, DEUCE and SHAM need to call their agents!!!

[8516knicks]

how do you guys expect to reign in jalen brunon's usage when his godfather is the gm, his close family friend is the coach, his actual father is on the coaching staff and you traded for all of his college teammates ? you also got him to agree to take less money for "the family". now you think you can take the ball out of his hands ? he's running the team lol

Shhhh ... Jalen is a hero.

Sent from my SM-S9080 using RealGM mobile app

But what you’re saying sham is that JB rather shoot than win, or doesn’t know that he’s hurting the team by not trying to see what fires he can start with KAT or some other little repeatable thing. Either way it’s a big indictment.

Ridiculous to think JB doesn't want to win. This is a COACHING challenge to solve.

[K_ick_God]

Shhhh ... Jalen is a hero.

Sent from my SM-S9080 using RealGM mobile app

But what you’re saying sham is that JB rather shoot than win, or doesn’t know that he’s hurting the team by not trying to see what fires he can start with KAT or some other little repeatable thing. Either way it’s a big indictment.

Ridiculous to think JB doesn't want to win. This is a COACHING challenge to solve.

Obv he wants to win and doesn’t want to lose. But how’s he going about it. You have to show some savvy and restraint if you want to win. He’s playing like he thinks the team sucks. And yeah Tom is to blame.

[Jstarks3]

just finished. I don't know why we don't just bench Towns if we don't run plays for him or even give him the ball at all.
Mitch or Achiuwa are at least better on defense and they can watch Brunson dribble the ball for 20 seconds on each possession too.
also great to see that we keep feeding OG in his hot offensive stretch.
Thibs is just a chess master.

I can’t believe you watched it non-live. Do you also let rats nibble on your gonads for fun?

hey i watch knick games non-live all the time. but not playoffs. that's just insanity. but if you have something important going on at the same time, i get it.

[GONYK]

Fun fact

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/shots-closest-defender?CloseDefDistRange=6+%20Feet%20-%20Wide%20Open&dir=D&sort=FGA

We've had 31 "wide open" (nearest defender is more than 6 feet away) field goal attempts in the last 2 games. That average of 15.5 is worst among teams in the playoffs. To be fair, only 4 teams have played 2 games, and the Pistons and Clippers are at 16.5 each but still

We're just not generating a ton of wide open looks. I mean hell, the Thunder had 34 wide open looks in their 1 game, and Minny had 30 in their 1 game. I get we didn't convert on our wide open looks (Mikal went 0-4 from 3 on wide open shots last night, yeesh), but we need to do a better job of generating them. And that's a coaching issue.

what would you suggest for that creation?

I mean, we need to run actual plays instead of "Jalen, go do something"

In the last 5 minutes or so, let Jalen go to work. But for the rest of the game, we need to create movement. You get wide open looks by confusing the defense off the ball, which comes down to coaching. Guys need to know what everyone else is doing, if they're all just winging it, they won't be able to work together

Admittedly, a guy like DDV would do wonders in that department. Guys who just run around off ball and find openings. Last year he led us in wide open FGs in the playoffs at 3.7 per game, with a 69.8% eFG

We need a coach who is gonna put guys in the best position to succeed. Play to their strengths rather than force them into predetermined roles. We have 3 guys who are really talented in at least one area, yet we're only catering to one of them. KAT can score from anywhere, Mikal is an elite mid range scorer, and Brunson is one of the best iso players in the league. It's on the coach to get them to gel

We all saw that what, 21-0 run in game 1? We have the talent, what we lack is cohesion. Brunson can get his whenever he wants, but Mikal and KAT need to be put in position to succeed cause their skillsets require setting up before getting the ball, Brunson doesn't

Guys need to be prepared, to know what the counter to the opponent's counters are. Say they're playing straight-up, you force them through a bunch of screens and pass the ball around until someone makes a mistake. If they start switching, force a mismatch in your favor and then punish it. If they're gonna put a C on Hart, either sub him out for someone who can shoot, tell him to let it fly, or read the defense and see if they overreact to drives which leads to a wide open dunk like on one possession late last night

If you have a multiple-choice test and just answer "C" on everything, you're gonna get some questions right. But you're gonna do worse than if you prepared and know what's coming at you. Even if something you didn't study for shows up, you're still prepared for most of the other questions.

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game. You're right that it comes down to cohesion.

Last year's team did not need a template for how things are supposed to go. They really seemed to understand how "read and react" is supposed to go. Probably because iHart was a great decision maker out of the pinch post and a perfect release valve for when Brunson got walled off.

We don't have a secondary decision maker so Brunson is trying to make all the decisions himself which has implications all over the place.

We have time to practice now. Thibs has to put in some basic wrinkles here.

The 5 guarding Josh is really limiting KAT's ability to play the iHart role.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Thibs deserves most of the blame for how iso heavy we play with Brunson but Brunson is a smart player, you would think at some point he’ll realize how bad our shots are that he’ll make some sort of adjustment

It took a coaching change for Donovan Mitchell to realize that, it's why his regular season was so scaled back compared to normal. They took him off the ball and spread the wealth. These guys are pros and even then most of them are not going to come up off the ball unless someone is telling them to do it.

the knicks don't have any secondary ball handling play creation. cavs still have garland + jerome.

hart + og + mikal are not playmakers. neither is kat. the roster's offensive skillset is quite limited outside of iso-ball. the difference between this year and the last 2 years is that the bench was markedly better hence they were able to win minutes when the starters were out. not this year. it caught up to them.

i actually think thibs has this team playing as well as it can due to it's makeup.

This is a cop out, the team we're struggling with right now is playing 2 non-shooters and 1 creator at times and still runs PnR despite the fact that they shouldn't be able to. They are still running an offense that has structure and flow, they aren't just parking Cade on a wing and telling him to go 1 on 1. We don't even pre-screen to try and get Thompson off Brunson, almost everything we do on offense is basically getting it out the mud.

All anyone has to do is look at all the actions the Pistons run, look at how frequently Duren, Reed and Stewart set screens for Cade, look at how they try and pre-screen for him when he doesn't have the ball to get OG off him so he can have a more favorable matchup when he gets it. KAT almost never screens for Brunson, neither does Mitch, instead Hart sets his screens and gets his layups sent into the 4th row by Duren who can easily track him down and contest.


Also, post game he says we needed rebounding, yet he played Mitch 1 minute in the 4th, so how is this getting as much out of the team? He plays a 6'4" guard/forward even though he says out of his own mouth we needed rebounding

[mpharris36]

what would you suggest for that creation?

I mean, we need to run actual plays instead of "Jalen, go do something"

In the last 5 minutes or so, let Jalen go to work. But for the rest of the game, we need to create movement. You get wide open looks by confusing the defense off the ball, which comes down to coaching. Guys need to know what everyone else is doing, if they're all just winging it, they won't be able to work together

Admittedly, a guy like DDV would do wonders in that department. Guys who just run around off ball and find openings. Last year he led us in wide open FGs in the playoffs at 3.7 per game, with a 69.8% eFG

We need a coach who is gonna put guys in the best position to succeed. Play to their strengths rather than force them into predetermined roles. We have 3 guys who are really talented in at least one area, yet we're only catering to one of them. KAT can score from anywhere, Mikal is an elite mid range scorer, and Brunson is one of the best iso players in the league. It's on the coach to get them to gel

We all saw that what, 21-0 run in game 1? We have the talent, what we lack is cohesion. Brunson can get his whenever he wants, but Mikal and KAT need to be put in position to succeed cause their skillsets require setting up before getting the ball, Brunson doesn't

Guys need to be prepared, to know what the counter to the opponent's counters are. Say they're playing straight-up, you force them through a bunch of screens and pass the ball around until someone makes a mistake. If they start switching, force a mismatch in your favor and then punish it. If they're gonna put a C on Hart, either sub him out for someone who can shoot, tell him to let it fly, or read the defense and see if they overreact to drives which leads to a wide open dunk like on one possession late last night

If you have a multiple-choice test and just answer "C" on everything, you're gonna get some questions right. But you're gonna do worse than if you prepared and know what's coming at you. Even if something you didn't study for shows up, you're still prepared for most of the other questions.

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game. You're right that it comes down to cohesion.

Last year's team did not need a template for how things are supposed to go. They really seemed to understand how "read and react" is supposed to go. Probably because iHart was a great decision maker out of the pinch post and a perfect release valve for when Brunson got walled off.

We don't have a secondary decision maker so Brunson is trying to make all the decisions himself which has implications all over the place.

We have time to practice now. Thibs has to put in some basic wrinkles here.

The 5 guarding Josh is really limiting KAT's ability to play the iHart role.

Maybe this sounds so simple but when they post up KAT why does it have to be 20 feet away from the basket? Why can't we post up KAT closer to the basket. So that forces Duren's help way quicker and then you have Hart back side either screening for a moving OG or Mikal to the basket.

Also have we ever thought to run Hart to screen for KAT to force the big back on KAT?

Its just so vanilla...we try to post up KAT 20 feet away he takes a few dribbles and gets a little closer but then Duren is lurking because he isn't guarding Hart...but instead of doing anything Hart just stands there...why isn't he back screening for an actual shooter like Draymond does?

[DOT]

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game.

That's the thing that gets me too

Like, they say he's prepared more than anyone yet watching the games he's seemingly constantly unprepared for adjustments

I think he overprepares in very specific ways, like he crafts the game plan and then practices it to perfection, but for whatever reason is incapable of examining it for weaknesses. He assumes it is perfect and thus no need to think

Rather than taking a step back and trying to find a flaw and anticipate what the adjustment would be, then making an adjustment to counter that, then anticipating what the other coach will do, and on and on

It's like chess, you can memorize 1 strategy and practice all you want but if you only ever have 1 strategy, you won't know what to do when you run into an opponent who doesn't do what you expect. It's about anticipating moves and having counters prepared

I mean, I suck at chess, but I understand the theory. Thibs can only think like Thibs when if you want to be great you have to be able to think like your opponent. It's what limits him.

[mpharris36]

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game.

That's the thing that gets me too

Like, they say he's prepared more than anyone yet watching the games he's seemingly constantly unprepared for adjustments

I think he overprepares in very specific ways, like he crafts the game plan and then practices it to perfection, but for whatever reason is incapable of examining it for weaknesses. He assumes it is perfect and thus no need to think

Rather than taking a step back and trying to find a flaw and anticipate what the adjustment would be, then making an adjustment to counter that, then anticipating what the other coach will do, and on and on

It's like chess, you can memorize 1 strategy and practice all you want but if you only ever have 1 strategy, you won't know what to do when you run into an opponent who doesn't do what you expect. It's about anticipating moves and having counters prepared

I mean, I suck at chess, but I understand the theory. Thibs can only think like Thibs when if you want to be great you have to be able to think like your opponent. It's what limits him.

After KAT's ridiculous start to the season...everyone started playing there wing on KAT and there big in a helping position off Josh Hart...and we have yet to find a counter to that to get KAT good looks....its been basically all season and we still look confused how to get looks for a 7 footer that shoots like a guard.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

It took a coaching change for Donovan Mitchell to realize that, it's why his regular season was so scaled back compared to normal. They took him off the ball and spread the wealth. These guys are pros and even then most of them are not going to come up off the ball unless someone is telling them to do it.

the knicks don't have any secondary ball handling play creation. cavs still have garland + jerome.

hart + og + mikal are not playmakers. neither is kat. the roster's offensive skillset is quite limited outside of iso-ball. the difference between this year and the last 2 years is that the bench was markedly better hence they were able to win minutes when the starters were out. not this year. it caught up to them.

i actually think thibs has this team playing as well as it can due to it's makeup.

Idk why the fans can’t see this lol. Most of the top teams have multiple guys that can hunt 3pt shots, and multiple guys that attack off the bounce. We have a starting lineup that plays 4 on 5 and zero bench scoring. It makes NYK super easy to guard.

The team we're playing has 1 creator They're playing Ausar Thompson and Duren in their starting 5, two guys that cannot shoot. The easiest adjustment to that is take Hart out of the game, play two bigs and have Mitch guard Ausar. You hard trap Cade on any screen that Ausar sets, and any time he's not involved in the play Mitch roams on defense, which is what they're doing to us. That is the funniest thing about people defending Thibs at this point, it's that the Pistons have the same weaknesses but we don't exploit them.


Instead, our coach thinks having a 6'4" guy on the floor for 40+ mpg who can't shoot is a good idea, this is what happens when Hart sets a screen too.



They both get out on KAT, leaving Hart and because he's only 6'4" and the guy defending him is 6'11" he can just send his weak ass attempt. His man hit a corner three on the other end on that same play too, because he was whining about not getting the call instead of getting back on D.

[K_ick_God]

I guess KAT is just not someone you can put in motion to get him shots. He shoots a set shot.

It's certainly not ALL Tom's fault. There is something about KAT that doesn't seem to translate. Kind of strange. Maybe he's missing Alpha genes or something. He should be able to dominate with his skill. That's what every GM thought and projected several years back.

Quite a mystery if you think about it. Why is this guy not on top of the world just on his offense alone. Dirk and those guys couldn't defend either. It's his lack of mobility I suppose.

[Jeff Van Gully]

what would you suggest for that creation?

I mean, we need to run actual plays instead of "Jalen, go do something"

In the last 5 minutes or so, let Jalen go to work. But for the rest of the game, we need to create movement. You get wide open looks by confusing the defense off the ball, which comes down to coaching. Guys need to know what everyone else is doing, if they're all just winging it, they won't be able to work together

Admittedly, a guy like DDV would do wonders in that department. Guys who just run around off ball and find openings. Last year he led us in wide open FGs in the playoffs at 3.7 per game, with a 69.8% eFG

We need a coach who is gonna put guys in the best position to succeed. Play to their strengths rather than force them into predetermined roles. We have 3 guys who are really talented in at least one area, yet we're only catering to one of them. KAT can score from anywhere, Mikal is an elite mid range scorer, and Brunson is one of the best iso players in the league. It's on the coach to get them to gel

We all saw that what, 21-0 run in game 1? We have the talent, what we lack is cohesion. Brunson can get his whenever he wants, but Mikal and KAT need to be put in position to succeed cause their skillsets require setting up before getting the ball, Brunson doesn't

Guys need to be prepared, to know what the counter to the opponent's counters are. Say they're playing straight-up, you force them through a bunch of screens and pass the ball around until someone makes a mistake. If they start switching, force a mismatch in your favor and then punish it. If they're gonna put a C on Hart, either sub him out for someone who can shoot, tell him to let it fly, or read the defense and see if they overreact to drives which leads to a wide open dunk like on one possession late last night

If you have a multiple-choice test and just answer "C" on everything, you're gonna get some questions right. But you're gonna do worse than if you prepared and know what's coming at you. Even if something you didn't study for shows up, you're still prepared for most of the other questions.

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game. You're right that it comes down to cohesion.

Last year's team did not need a template for how things are supposed to go. They really seemed to understand how "read and react" is supposed to go. Probably because iHart was a great decision maker out of the pinch post and a perfect release valve for when Brunson got walled off.

We don't have a secondary decision maker so Brunson is trying to make all the decisions himself which has implications all over the place.

We have time to practice now. Thibs has to put in some basic wrinkles here.

The 5 guarding Josh is really limiting KAT's ability to play the iHart role.

i have a fundamental issue with the assertion that the players don't move and that there are no plays. maybe they're not what we want, but to suggest the ball is just being rolled out there and it's whatever is kinda wild. (that's more for dot.)

i don't think thibs is scripting every movement, but i clearly see actions and patterns of movement at times. not 5 guys at the gym playing pickup.

i fully agree the offense can and should be more dynamic. some of the risks i am concerned about taking are indeed just part of the game now.

[Buttah304]

If these numbers don’t concern you then I feel as a group RealGM should get a collective lobotomy.

Brunson’s USG% on the year is around 28% and last night it was 39.4% - that represents a 40% increase.

NBA teams AVG time of possession in 24-25 was 14.4 seconds - Brunson himself was at 10.6 seconds in Game 2 in case you are wondering why we are never a hockey assist away from a functional possession. There is no mismatch hunting, transition oops, double screens, stagger screens, pin downs or curl plays. We don’t push the pace off a missed FG or FTA - it’s stuck in the mud.

As far as touches are concerned, Brunson had 104 last night when he was closer to 84 on the season.

In fact, if you look at game 2 as far as who Jalen passed the ball to, Bridges received 38, Hart 32 and KAT only had 12 passes delivered from JB.

This offense is an utter indictment of Thibs and it’s truly the worst coaching I’ve seen him do across 6 years as a Knick HC. He has no clue how to adapt to his player personnel or the opposing HC, he will never be proactive to seek a way to win on the margins. It’s laughable.

[Jeff Van Gully]

I mean, we need to run actual plays instead of "Jalen, go do something"

In the last 5 minutes or so, let Jalen go to work. But for the rest of the game, we need to create movement. You get wide open looks by confusing the defense off the ball, which comes down to coaching. Guys need to know what everyone else is doing, if they're all just winging it, they won't be able to work together

Admittedly, a guy like DDV would do wonders in that department. Guys who just run around off ball and find openings. Last year he led us in wide open FGs in the playoffs at 3.7 per game, with a 69.8% eFG

We need a coach who is gonna put guys in the best position to succeed. Play to their strengths rather than force them into predetermined roles. We have 3 guys who are really talented in at least one area, yet we're only catering to one of them. KAT can score from anywhere, Mikal is an elite mid range scorer, and Brunson is one of the best iso players in the league. It's on the coach to get them to gel

We all saw that what, 21-0 run in game 1? We have the talent, what we lack is cohesion. Brunson can get his whenever he wants, but Mikal and KAT need to be put in position to succeed cause their skillsets require setting up before getting the ball, Brunson doesn't

Guys need to be prepared, to know what the counter to the opponent's counters are. Say they're playing straight-up, you force them through a bunch of screens and pass the ball around until someone makes a mistake. If they start switching, force a mismatch in your favor and then punish it. If they're gonna put a C on Hart, either sub him out for someone who can shoot, tell him to let it fly, or read the defense and see if they overreact to drives which leads to a wide open dunk like on one possession late last night

If you have a multiple-choice test and just answer "C" on everything, you're gonna get some questions right. But you're gonna do worse than if you prepared and know what's coming at you. Even if something you didn't study for shows up, you're still prepared for most of the other questions.

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game. You're right that it comes down to cohesion.

Last year's team did not need a template for how things are supposed to go. They really seemed to understand how "read and react" is supposed to go. Probably because iHart was a great decision maker out of the pinch post and a perfect release valve for when Brunson got walled off.

We don't have a secondary decision maker so Brunson is trying to make all the decisions himself which has implications all over the place.

We have time to practice now. Thibs has to put in some basic wrinkles here.

The 5 guarding Josh is really limiting KAT's ability to play the iHart role.

Maybe this sounds so simple but when they post up KAT why does it have to be 20 feet away from the basket? Why can't we post up KAT closer to the basket. So that forces Duren's help way quicker and then you have Hart back side either screening for a moving OG or Mikal to the basket.

Also have we ever thought to run Hart to screen for KAT to force the big back on KAT?

Its just so vanilla...we try to post up KAT 20 feet away he takes a few dribbles and gets a little closer but then Duren is lurking because he isn't guarding Hart...but instead of doing anything Hart just stands there...why isn't he back screening for an actual shooter like Draymond does?

it's the high post triple threat. shoot the midrange if uncontested (usually never left alone). drive if closed out on. keep an eye out for cutters if one gets free. maybe only jokic better at the action that's supposed to come from that.

it's also much easier to establish that position. even in today's NBA most teams won't just let KAT set up shop 5 feet away.

edit: it was a disaster for Detroit when KAT got that low post position in game 1.

[Spree2Houston]

I guess KAT is just not someone you can put in motion to get him shots. He shoots a set shot.

It's certainly not ALL Tom's fault. There is something about KAT that doesn't seem to translate. Kind of strange. Maybe he's missing Alpha genes or something. He should be able to dominate with his skill. That's what every GM thought and projected several years back.

Quite a mystery if you think about it. Why is this guy not on top of the world just on his offense alone. Dirk and those guys couldn't defend either. It's his lack of mobility I suppose.

In terms of Defense, an underrated reason is KAT’s foot size. He has large feet and it attributes to being slow footed on defense. Mitch is a 7ft but with tiny feet ( for a 7footer). He's quicker on his feet and can cover more ground defensively than KAT.

[3toheadmelo]

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game. You're right that it comes down to cohesion.

Last year's team did not need a template for how things are supposed to go. They really seemed to understand how "read and react" is supposed to go. Probably because iHart was a great decision maker out of the pinch post and a perfect release valve for when Brunson got walled off.

We don't have a secondary decision maker so Brunson is trying to make all the decisions himself which has implications all over the place.

We have time to practice now. Thibs has to put in some basic wrinkles here.

The 5 guarding Josh is really limiting KAT's ability to play the iHart role.

Maybe this sounds so simple but when they post up KAT why does it have to be 20 feet away from the basket? Why can't we post up KAT closer to the basket. So that forces Duren's help way quicker and then you have Hart back side either screening for a moving OG or Mikal to the basket.

Also have we ever thought to run Hart to screen for KAT to force the big back on KAT?

Its just so vanilla...we try to post up KAT 20 feet away he takes a few dribbles and gets a little closer but then Duren is lurking because he isn't guarding Hart...but instead of doing anything Hart just stands there...why isn't he back screening for an actual shooter like Draymond does?

it's the high post triple threat. shoot the midrange if uncontested (usually never left alone). drive if closed out on. keep an eye out for cutters if one gets free. maybe only jokic better at the action that's supposed to come from that.

it's also much easier to establish that position. even in today's NBA most teams won't just let KAT set up shop 5 feet away.

edit: it was a disaster for Detroit when KAT got that low post position in game 1.

Whenever KAT got the ball in the mid/low post he got triple teamed instantly.

[Jeff Van Gully]

If these numbers don’t concern you then I feel as a group RealGM should get a collective lobotomy.

Brunson’s USG% on the year is around 28% and last night it was 39.4% - that represents a 40% increase.

NBA teams AVG time of possession in 24-25 was 14.4 seconds - Brunson himself was at 10.6 seconds in Game 2 in case you are wondering why we are never a hockey assist away from a functional possession. There is no mismatch hunting, transition oops, double screens, stagger screens, pin downs or curl plays. We don’t push the pace off a missed FG or FTA - it’s stuck in the mud.

As far as touches are concerned, Brunson had 104 last night when he was closer to 84 on the season.

In fact, if you look at game 2 as far as who Jalen passed the ball to, Bridges received 38, Hart 32 and KAT only had 12 passes delivered from JB.

This offense is an utter indictment of Thibs and it’s truly the worst coaching I’ve seen him do across 6 years as a Knick HC. He has no clue how to adapt to his player personnel or the opposing HC, he will never be proactive to seek a way to win on the margins. It’s laughable.

dr. buttah, context matters.

it's easy to look at those numbers and not think about why. that usage wasn't the gameplan. the variance you point out inherently says as much. they know we know we should be moving the ball. that's why they forced the ISOs and won.

if you listen to thibs talk, you often hear him agreeing with what posters complain about and trying to get the players to execute it. is it possible he can't? sure. different conversation. but to think a 2X COY doesn't know what you're saying makes me laugh out loud on this forum.

like, "oh snap. user X really thinks they not only 'know ball' more than a lifelong professional... they think said pro doesn't even conceptually know what we're talking about." it's insulting to the coach and readers.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

I mean, we need to run actual plays instead of "Jalen, go do something"

In the last 5 minutes or so, let Jalen go to work. But for the rest of the game, we need to create movement. You get wide open looks by confusing the defense off the ball, which comes down to coaching. Guys need to know what everyone else is doing, if they're all just winging it, they won't be able to work together

Admittedly, a guy like DDV would do wonders in that department. Guys who just run around off ball and find openings. Last year he led us in wide open FGs in the playoffs at 3.7 per game, with a 69.8% eFG

We need a coach who is gonna put guys in the best position to succeed. Play to their strengths rather than force them into predetermined roles. We have 3 guys who are really talented in at least one area, yet we're only catering to one of them. KAT can score from anywhere, Mikal is an elite mid range scorer, and Brunson is one of the best iso players in the league. It's on the coach to get them to gel

We all saw that what, 21-0 run in game 1? We have the talent, what we lack is cohesion. Brunson can get his whenever he wants, but Mikal and KAT need to be put in position to succeed cause their skillsets require setting up before getting the ball, Brunson doesn't

Guys need to be prepared, to know what the counter to the opponent's counters are. Say they're playing straight-up, you force them through a bunch of screens and pass the ball around until someone makes a mistake. If they start switching, force a mismatch in your favor and then punish it. If they're gonna put a C on Hart, either sub him out for someone who can shoot, tell him to let it fly, or read the defense and see if they overreact to drives which leads to a wide open dunk like on one possession late last night

If you have a multiple-choice test and just answer "C" on everything, you're gonna get some questions right. But you're gonna do worse than if you prepared and know what's coming at you. Even if something you didn't study for shows up, you're still prepared for most of the other questions.

Thibs main strength is that he prepares his teams better than anyone. Multiple players have said this.

If it is true though, I have no idea why we have slow starts seemingly every game. You're right that it comes down to cohesion.

Last year's team did not need a template for how things are supposed to go. They really seemed to understand how "read and react" is supposed to go. Probably because iHart was a great decision maker out of the pinch post and a perfect release valve for when Brunson got walled off.

We don't have a secondary decision maker so Brunson is trying to make all the decisions himself which has implications all over the place.

We have time to practice now. Thibs has to put in some basic wrinkles here.

The 5 guarding Josh is really limiting KAT's ability to play the iHart role.

i have a fundamental issue with the assertion that the players don't move and that there are no plays. maybe they're not what we want, but to suggest the ball is just being rolled out there and it's whatever is kinda wild. (that's more for dot.)

i don't think thibs is scripting every movement, but i clearly see actions and patterns of movement at times. not 5 guys at the gym playing pickup.

i fully agree the offense can and should be more dynamic. some of the risks i am concerned about taking are indeed just part of the game now.

There really is no structure on offense, there was a video from a month ago that basically said that we still had a junk offense, an elite junk offense but a junk one nonetheless. At the time this video was made, the KAT/Brunson screen had only registered 10 made threes for KAT because of how little we actually used it.

Watch on YouTube

This is a regular season offense, it's "organic" and that's fine for the regular season but playoffs are about X's and O's which is why our offense usually craters in the playoffs and just reverts to "Get er done Jalen". It is essentially 5 guys playing pickup, it's also why we have such awful inbounds / out of timeout plays, because just out hustling guys means nothing there.

[MrDollarBills]

the knicks don't have any secondary ball handling play creation. cavs still have garland + jerome.

hart + og + mikal are not playmakers. neither is kat. the roster's offensive skillset is quite limited outside of iso-ball. the difference between this year and the last 2 years is that the bench was markedly better hence they were able to win minutes when the starters were out. not this year. it caught up to them.

i actually think thibs has this team playing as well as it can due to it's makeup.

Idk why the fans can’t see this lol. Most of the top teams have multiple guys that can hunt 3pt shots, and multiple guys that attack off the bounce. We have a starting lineup that plays 4 on 5 and zero bench scoring. It makes NYK super easy to guard.

The team we're playing has 1 creator They're playing Ausar Thompson and Duren in their starting 5, two guys that cannot shoot. The easiest adjustment to that is take Hart out of the game, play two bigs and have Mitch guard Ausar. You hard trap Cade on any screen that Ausar sets, and any time he's not involved in the play Mitch roams on defense, which is what they're doing to us. That is the funniest thing about people defending Thibs at this point, it's that the Pistons have the same weaknesses but we don't exploit them.


Instead, our coach thinks having a 6'4" guy on the floor for 40+ mpg who can't shoot is a good idea, this is what happens when Hart sets a screen too.



They both get out on KAT, leaving Hart and because he's only 6'4" and the guy defending him is 6'11" he can just send his weak ass attempt. His man hit a corner three on the other end on that same play too, because he was whining about not getting the call instead of getting back on D.

Thibs has watched this same sh*t all season and finds nothing wrong with it.