PG: Saved By The KAT

[Jalen Bluntson]

I think you're exaggerating just how close playoff games are. Especially with the Knicks. Even last year. Game 1 was close vs Philly. Game 2 they got "lucky." Game 3 they lost. Game 4 they "almost blew it." Game 5 "they blew it." Game 6 "they got lucky." It's always some ****. That's how it is in the playoffs. You gotta win ugly.

Yeah but against Philly you at least faced a genuinely good team. I know Embiid wasn't at 100% but it was worthy of celebration especially given the fact that the Knicks were without Randle and had a hobbled Mitch in there. So we had every right to be legitimately proud of what they did out there. Against OKC, Boston, Cleveland---heck against the Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Wolves, GSW, Rockets I would take a win in any shape or form but relying on historic runs and no-calls on fouls and some simple luck to beat a lame ass Pistons team? Like the team that has the 15th best roster out of the top 16 and is missing their second best player and best frontcourt defender?

I mean--like we knew all season long--in a couple days we'll be facing the Celtics. Either my assessment of the Pistons is right and we are barely beating a .500 team needing all the luck we can gather or my judgement is off and the Pistons are really much better than I give them credit for and we should do pretty well against the Celtics right? I genuinely hope I will be wrong, the Knicks play the Celtics at least 7 games long and I have to (gladly) eat my words. However I think (if Celtics are healthy again) in 2 weeks time there will be dozens of sobered up knick fans that will realize we needed a gigantic effort to beat a weak Pistons team. Fair enough?

I think this is revionist history. What people say about last year's team is not what was said at the moment (from the people who dislike last year's team). The same people saying this team stinks, were also **** Donte for being inconsistent, on Harteinstein for getting worked by Embiid and Turner, and the lack of depth. Some of those pepole didn't even think they'd beat the Sixers. And when they beat the Sixers, it was cause Embiid was hurt. And even with the players who went down in the Pacer series, people thought they still should've won that series.

I don't think anyone realisitically thought they were going to beat the Celtics last year. Healthy or not. But in order to **** on this team, that has to be said as if it were a real possibility.

As long as Thibs is head coach of the Knicks, the games will usually be close. The Knicks like slowing it down, especially in the playoffs. It's tough to blow teams out when you don't run. So the Knicks will play down to teams. All I know is that every single game last year was close, except for the three blowouts in the Pacer series. That's just the way it goes.

You also can't just call the Pistons a .500 team, they're better than that. They're not in the 2nd tier of teams in the East, but they're not a .500 team. A team in between those tiers is not a team the Knicks are going to blow out, this year or last. That's just the style of play.

The way we played in January we would have beaten anyone. That was 14 games. After that it was all grit no quit... Next man up mentality. We had no choice but to use the bench. That playoff team was not winning a title at all. They could have gotten by the pacers though if it didn't implode.

That was then and this is now. Healthier/more talented yet we have doubts. Boston beat us that much this year. The only outside hope is that we are a new team and they have not faced us fully healthy. Is it enough of a difference? Time will tell. Let's see what happens the rest of the current series both teams are in. Nothing is over yet.

[HopelessKnick]

Yeah but against Philly you at least faced a genuinely good team. I know Embiid wasn't at 100% but it was worthy of celebration especially given the fact that the Knicks were without Randle and had a hobbled Mitch in there. So we had every right to be legitimately proud of what they did out there. Against OKC, Boston, Cleveland---heck against the Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Wolves, GSW, Rockets I would take a win in any shape or form but relying on historic runs and no-calls on fouls and some simple luck to beat a lame ass Pistons team? Like the team that has the 15th best roster out of the top 16 and is missing their second best player and best frontcourt defender?

I mean--like we knew all season long--in a couple days we'll be facing the Celtics. Either my assessment of the Pistons is right and we are barely beating a .500 team needing all the luck we can gather or my judgement is off and the Pistons are really much better than I give them credit for and we should do pretty well against the Celtics right? I genuinely hope I will be wrong, the Knicks play the Celtics at least 7 games long and I have to (gladly) eat my words. However I think (if Celtics are healthy again) in 2 weeks time there will be dozens of sobered up knick fans that will realize we needed a gigantic effort to beat a weak Pistons team. Fair enough?

I think this is revionist history. What people say about last year's team is not what was said at the moment (from the people who dislike last year's team). The same people saying this team stinks, were also **** Donte for being inconsistent, on Harteinstein for getting worked by Embiid and Turner, and the lack of depth. Some of those pepole didn't even think they'd beat the Sixers. And when they beat the Sixers, it was cause Embiid was hurt. And even with the players who went down in the Pacer series, people thought they still should've won that series.

I don't think anyone realisitically thought they were going to beat the Celtics last year. Healthy or not. But in order to **** on this team, that has to be said as if it were a real possibility.

As long as Thibs is head coach of the Knicks, the games will usually be close. The Knicks like slowing it down, especially in the playoffs. It's tough to blow teams out when you don't run. So the Knicks will play down to teams. All I know is that every single game last year was close, except for the three blowouts in the Pacer series. That's just the way it goes.

You also can't just call the Pistons a .500 team, they're better than that. They're not in the 2nd tier of teams in the East, but they're not a .500 team. A team in between those tiers is not a team the Knicks are going to blow out, this year or last. That's just the style of play.

The way we played in January we would have beaten anyone. That was 14 games. After that it was all grit no quit... Next man up mentality. We had no choice but to use the bench. That playoff team was not winning a title at all. They could have gotten by the pacers though if it didn't implode.

That was then and this is now. Healthier/more talented yet we have doubts. Boston beat us that much this year. The only outside hope is that we are a new team and they have not faced us fully healthy. Is it enough of a difference? Time will tell. Let's see what happens the rest of the current series both teams are in. Nothing is over yet.

I feel you should add to that that by the end of that 14 games stretch Randle went down for good. No team after losing it's second best player for the season will just keep destroying teams left and right. And Mitch was out the entire time too. Keep that in mind. A fully healthy Knick squad last year would have been able to challenge for a title. Meaning a team consisting of: JB-DD-OG-Randle-Hartenstein with Deuce, Hart, Precious and Mitch off the bench.

Are we truly more talented today? Is

Mikal + KAT better than DD + Randle + Hartenstein?

I highly doubt it. If KAT can unlock his full potential and average like 30+ points against anyone, than maybe. But as it stands currently, with a KAT that gets you 20/10 in the playoffs? Hell no. And I'm not even mentioning that we lost DD+ Randle + Hartenstein + 6 picks.

[HopelessKnick]

Yeah but against Philly you at least faced a genuinely good team. I know Embiid wasn't at 100% but it was worthy of celebration especially given the fact that the Knicks were without Randle and had a hobbled Mitch in there. So we had every right to be legitimately proud of what they did out there. Against OKC, Boston, Cleveland---heck against the Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Wolves, GSW, Rockets I would take a win in any shape or form but relying on historic runs and no-calls on fouls and some simple luck to beat a lame ass Pistons team? Like the team that has the 15th best roster out of the top 16 and is missing their second best player and best frontcourt defender?

I mean--like we knew all season long--in a couple days we'll be facing the Celtics. Either my assessment of the Pistons is right and we are barely beating a .500 team needing all the luck we can gather or my judgement is off and the Pistons are really much better than I give them credit for and we should do pretty well against the Celtics right? I genuinely hope I will be wrong, the Knicks play the Celtics at least 7 games long and I have to (gladly) eat my words. However I think (if Celtics are healthy again) in 2 weeks time there will be dozens of sobered up knick fans that will realize we needed a gigantic effort to beat a weak Pistons team. Fair enough?

I think this is revionist history. What people say about last year's team is not what was said at the moment (from the people who dislike last year's team). The same people saying this team stinks, were also **** Donte for being inconsistent, on Harteinstein for getting worked by Embiid and Turner, and the lack of depth. Some of those pepole didn't even think they'd beat the Sixers. And when they beat the Sixers, it was cause Embiid was hurt. And even with the players who went down in the Pacer series, people thought they still should've won that series.

I don't think anyone realisitically thought they were going to beat the Celtics last year. Healthy or not. But in order to **** on this team, that has to be said as if it were a real possibility.

As long as Thibs is head coach of the Knicks, the games will usually be close. The Knicks like slowing it down, especially in the playoffs. It's tough to blow teams out when you don't run. So the Knicks will play down to teams. All I know is that every single game last year was close, except for the three blowouts in the Pacer series. That's just the way it goes.

You also can't just call the Pistons a .500 team, they're better than that. They're not in the 2nd tier of teams in the East, but they're not a .500 team. A team in between those tiers is not a team the Knicks are going to blow out, this year or last. That's just the style of play.

I can only speak for myself. I was 50/50 on the Philly series because we were missing Randle and Mitch was iffy. I was 200% convinced we'd beat Indy and we would have if OG didn't go down with injury. And despite all that, 99% of my posts last season were positive. I gave like crazy prasie to Leon and the FO. So there is that. You try to spin it in a way where I'm among the group that is always negative but it is just untrue. I challenge you to find a handful negative posts by me in October, November, December and mostly january. You won't be able to. Heck I was telling everybody to give the team the first 20-30 games with no judgement. To let Mikal get used to the new team and everything. This team is just nowhere near the level it would need to be. But even then I would have been ok with a 50 win season and second round out if we hadn't traded all our picks 7 years into the future. Just ask Milwaukee and Phoeniy how that played out for them? They are now desperately looking to get those back.

If what you are saying about close games and style of play is true then let me ask you: So according to you we can expect a 6-7 game series against Boston with 5-6 close games, right? Like the slow pace and all is going to work both ways right? Or are we just be going to play close games against lesser competition and still get blown out by better competition?

And ?

[Fury]

I think this is revionist history. What people say about last year's team is not what was said at the moment (from the people who dislike last year's team). The same people saying this team stinks, were also **** Donte for being inconsistent, on Harteinstein for getting worked by Embiid and Turner, and the lack of depth. Some of those pepole didn't even think they'd beat the Sixers. And when they beat the Sixers, it was cause Embiid was hurt. And even with the players who went down in the Pacer series, people thought they still should've won that series.

I don't think anyone realisitically thought they were going to beat the Celtics last year. Healthy or not. But in order to **** on this team, that has to be said as if it were a real possibility.

As long as Thibs is head coach of the Knicks, the games will usually be close. The Knicks like slowing it down, especially in the playoffs. It's tough to blow teams out when you don't run. So the Knicks will play down to teams. All I know is that every single game last year was close, except for the three blowouts in the Pacer series. That's just the way it goes.

You also can't just call the Pistons a .500 team, they're better than that. They're not in the 2nd tier of teams in the East, but they're not a .500 team. A team in between those tiers is not a team the Knicks are going to blow out, this year or last. That's just the style of play.

I can only speak for myself. I was 50/50 on the Philly series because we were missing Randle and Mitch was iffy. I was 200% convinced we'd beat Indy and we would have if OG didn't go down with injury. And despite all that, 99% of my posts last season were positive. I gave like crazy prasie to Leon and the FO. So there is that. You try to spin it in a way where I'm among the group that is always negative but it is just untrue. I challenge you to find a handful negative posts by me in October, November, December and mostly january. You won't be able to. Heck I was telling everybody to give the team the first 20-30 games with no judgement. To let Mikal get used to the new team and everything. This team is just nowhere near the level it would need to be. But even then I would have been ok with a 50 win season and second round out if we hadn't traded all our picks 7 years into the future. Just ask Milwaukee and Phoeniy how that played out for them? They are now desperately looking to get those back.

If what you are saying about close games and style of play is true then let me ask you: So according to you we can expect a 6-7 game series against Boston with 5-6 close games, right? Like the slow pace and all is going to work both ways right? Or are we just be going to play close games against lesser competition and still get blown out by better competition?

And ?

I don’t know how many games they win against Boston but i do feel like most of the games will be close.

But the slow pace vs fast pace thing, if you’re the better team, slowing down the pace equalizes things a bit. So I don’t think Boston will slow the pace if they face us. They’re going to control the pace and shoot a lot of 3s.

[HopelessKnick]

I can only speak for myself. I was 50/50 on the Philly series because we were missing Randle and Mitch was iffy. I was 200% convinced we'd beat Indy and we would have if OG didn't go down with injury. And despite all that, 99% of my posts last season were positive. I gave like crazy prasie to Leon and the FO. So there is that. You try to spin it in a way where I'm among the group that is always negative but it is just untrue. I challenge you to find a handful negative posts by me in October, November, December and mostly january. You won't be able to. Heck I was telling everybody to give the team the first 20-30 games with no judgement. To let Mikal get used to the new team and everything. This team is just nowhere near the level it would need to be. But even then I would have been ok with a 50 win season and second round out if we hadn't traded all our picks 7 years into the future. Just ask Milwaukee and Phoeniy how that played out for them? They are now desperately looking to get those back.

If what you are saying about close games and style of play is true then let me ask you: So according to you we can expect a 6-7 game series against Boston with 5-6 close games, right? Like the slow pace and all is going to work both ways right? Or are we just be going to play close games against lesser competition and still get blown out by better competition?

And ?

I don’t know how many games they win against Boston but i do feel like most of the games will be close.

But the slow pace vs fast pace thing, if you’re the better team, slowing down the pace equalizes things a bit. So I don’t think Boston will slow the pace if they face us. They’re going to control the pace and shoot a lot of 3s.

But then what you are essentially saying is that Thibs' strategy sucks right?

[K_ick_God]

You’re not winning last year either and didn’t you say Randle was bad?

[K_ick_God]

A lot what Hopeless is doing is based on the good play of DD and Randle against a thin Lakers team. Four games. And he said Randle sucked for a long time.

To be fair, I’m happy with KAT and this is against a decent but limited Pistons team. But KAT is the highest ceiling player on either roster.

iHart was a huge part of things that KAT can’t do and Mitch can’t do, erasing shots and keying offense. But — he was basically a non-factor in the playoffs. My speculative suspicion is that both iHart and Randle were saving their bodies for cash.

[HopelessKnick]

You’re not winning last year either and didn’t you say Randle was bad?

No. There is a difference in admitting that you dislike a certain player vs. that player is bad. I dislike Randle from a personality/character standpoint...he is the type of guy I disliked playing with. From a basketball standpoint he was a mixed bag---he had his strength and weaknesses. He is a legit 20point scorer that can rebound, play physical, get to the line and get sometimes hot from outside and playmake a little. His Turnovers and decision making and defensive lapses were bad at times. He is not a multiple time all-star because he is a bad basketball player.

KAT imo is better if you look at it strictly one on one. However if you add DD to the mix who is one of the best bench players out there who stepped in as a starter and genuinely played better than what we have seen from Bridges and he scorer 40points in game 7 against the Pacers...then that trade is pretty even. And then you add a Detroit pick who I am sure the FO just tossed in with no expection it would convey and now stands as a nice 17th pick in a deep draft...then yes ..one is much less enthusiastic about the trade. We gave up a lot. Still not bad but KAT really has to bring it. Like really.

So you take KAT + Bridges over Randle + DD + Hartenstein + 6picks?

[HopelessKnick]

A lot what Hopeless is doing is based on the good play of DD and Randle against a thin Lakers team. Four games. And he said Randle sucked for a long time.

To be fair, I’m happy with KAT and this is against a decent but limited Pistons team. But KAT is the highest ceiling player on either roster.

iHart was a huge part of things that KAT can’t do and Mitch can’t do, erasing shots and keying offense. But — he was basically a non-factor in the playoffs. My speculative suspicion is that both iHart and Randle were saving their bodies for cash.

I didn't say Randle sucked. I said I disliked Randle do to his personality and some aspects of his game. When someone is a 3-time all-star one would be utterly foolish to say that that guy sucks. In fact before he dislocated his shoulder I was praising him left and right for having turned a corner and playing the best ball of his knick career. He was in straight attack mode, beasting left and right.

And I take into consideration contracts as well. Donte's contract is a gift. Randle makes 30mill. and is probably going to sign an extension at much less than KAT's contract. Considering the fact that KAT plays very little defense, his contract really sucks. Like 55mill. for someone playing only one side of the court (at times elite admittedly) but at other times also completely dissapears. The least I expect from KAT, especially in the playoffs are 25 shots a game and getting 28-30 points. That is what he would need to do to justify that gigantic contract.

He has played a good series so far overall but I want him to be much more aggressive and put himself in position to be effective. So far Tobias Harris has shot more free throws in the series than KAT. That's an absolute absolute no go really. KAT has shot less than 3 FTs per game. That's a joke, especially considering the fact the Pistons have absolutely NO ONE to guard him. If he posted up consistantly instead of playing face-up 25 feet from the basket he would be able to punish the Pistons much much more. Be tough. Be effective. Be aggressive. Make the refs HAVE to call fouls.
You say you are elite big man? You wanna be tough? You are like 280lbs ? Than seek contact, go deep into the paint, punish the Pistons....all stuff he barely does really...

[Fury]

And ?

I don’t know how many games they win against Boston but i do feel like most of the games will be close.

But the slow pace vs fast pace thing, if you’re the better team, slowing down the pace equalizes things a bit. So I don’t think Boston will slow the pace if they face us. They’re going to control the pace and shoot a lot of 3s.

But then what you are essentially saying is that Thibs' strategy sucks right?

Against non-elite teams, we should play faster

[HopelessKnick]

I don’t know how many games they win against Boston but i do feel like most of the games will be close.

But the slow pace vs fast pace thing, if you’re the better team, slowing down the pace equalizes things a bit. So I don’t think Boston will slow the pace if they face us. They’re going to control the pace and shoot a lot of 3s.

But then what you are essentially saying is that Thibs' strategy sucks right?

Against non-elite teams, we should play faster

That was a very euphemistic way to say that Thibs strategy sucks....thank you for admitting. Essentially what you are saying is that Thibs' coaching is making us more likely to lose against teams like the Pistons....whom we are 4-4 over the entire season with a single convincing win.

But let us leave it at that. I'll be back in 2 weeks.

[Jalen Bluntson]

A lot what Hopeless is doing is based on the good play of DD and Randle against a thin Lakers team. Four games. And he said Randle sucked for a long time.

To be fair, I’m happy with KAT and this is against a decent but limited Pistons team. But KAT is the highest ceiling player on either roster.

iHart was a huge part of things that KAT can’t do and Mitch can’t do, erasing shots and keying offense. But — he was basically a non-factor in the playoffs. My speculative suspicion is that both iHart and Randle were saving their bodies for cash.

I didn't say Randle sucked. I said I disliked Randle do to his personality and some aspects of his game. When someone is a 3-time all-star one would be utterly foolish to say that that guy sucks.

And I take into consideration contracts as well. Donte's contract is a gift. Randle makes 30mill. and is probably going to sign an extension at much less than KAT's contract. Considering the fact that KAT plays very little defense, his contract really sucks. Like 55mill. for someone playing only one side of the court (at times elite admittedly) but at other times also completely dissapears. The least I expect from KAT, especially in the playoffs are 25 shots a game and getting 28-30 points. That is what he would need to do to justify that gigantic contract.

He has played a good series so far overall but I want him to be much more aggressive and put himself in position to be effective. So far Tobias Harris has shot more free throws in the series than KAT. That's an absolute absolute no go really. KAT has shot less than 3 FTs per game. That's a joke, especially considering the fact the Pistons have absolutely NO ONE to guard him. If he posted up consistantly instead of playing face-up 25 feet from the basket he would be able to punish the Pistons much much more. Be tough. Be effective. Be aggressive. Make the refs HAVE to call fouls.
You say you are elite big man? You wanna be tough? You are like 280lbs ? Than seek contact, go deep into the paint, punish the Pistons....all stuff he barely does really...

Randle doesn't play defense AT ALL and wants a max. KAT is better on offense all around. KAT getting mugged all series and not getting calls is his fault now? Make them call fouls?

[RHODEY]

brother why u watching the playoffs if you have this defeated mindset? If you don't think the Knicks are playing different defensively in the playoffs then they were in the reg season, idk what to tell you.

Agreed and Pistons >Magic -- who are currently comprised of 2 good forwards and then they drop off the cliff after that. No point guard and cant score for ****.

I neither have a defeated nor undefeated mindset. I just tell things straight as I see them. Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep and fought Boston tooth and nails and I said as much. Even without Randle and Mitch I was confident we would have beat Indy and we would have. I legitimately think a completely healthy knick squad could have won the title last season. I was positive and said it back then. Despite losing to a clearly inferior team in Indy I was positive and made multiple posts saying the Knicks are in great shape.

This year I just don't see it. Bridges trade was a straight catstrophe. Whenever I watch them play against a team over .500 there is like zero flow, everything seems forced and out of synch. Bridges frequently dissapears. If you count together all the important games of the season against the elite and the playoffs, Bridges has averaged like 11points/3rebounds on inefficient shooting. And I have seen too many games where OG and Bridges combine like for 2-10 from 3 or so. When I watch those other playoff matchups I just see higher level of play. It has nothing to do with a defeated mindset, I just see and call higher level of play. When I watch the Pistons play, I'm always astonished how bad they are. IMO they are literally a .500 team that got lucky a couple eastern conference teams had catastrophic injury luck so they won 4-5 games more than they are supposed to. If you put a healthy Orlando team vs. a healthy Pistons team I'm convinced Orlando blows them out of the water.

Despite all that I picked the Knicks in 5 and had some small hope we'd play better than in the regular season and Mitch would be playing 25minutes or so and bolster the team. I said in multiple posts that with Brunson the Knicks have the best player, not the Pistons. I thought the Knicks would win 1-2 close games and have 2 wire to wire rock solid wins. I'm shocked we trailed like 90% of the time at home and needed a historic run to close out game one and really needed a meltdown by the young Pistons in game 3 and a lot of luck in game 4 to be up 3-1. Like really honestly it could be 2-2 or we could be down 3-1. It's not even me alone saying it. Many analysts said after game 4 that the Knicks-Pistons series is one of the few series where after 4 games it is still unclear who the better team is. It is how I genuinely see it.

I refrained from making even a SINGLE negative post about Thibs or Bridges or KAT up until around the all-star break. I'm not one of the doom and gloomers but what I see on the floor is completely unconvincing. If I had to rank both teams out of all 16 playoff teams I would put the Knicks at like 12-13 and the Pistons at like 14-15. That's just how I see and analyze this. I think the Boston series will---unfotunately--prove me right. The Pistons would not beat any playoff team maybe other than Miami. Not one. They would suffer sweeps against many of these teams. I'm baffled people can't see how low their level of play is.

You maybe meant this for someone else, I never called you that.

[spree2kawhi]

Spoiler:

Agreed and Pistons >Magic -- who are currently comprised of 2 good forwards and then they drop off the cliff after that. No point guard and cant score for ****.

I neither have a defeated nor undefeated mindset. I just tell things straight as I see them. Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep and fought Boston tooth and nails and I said as much. Even without Randle and Mitch I was confident we would have beat Indy and we would have. I legitimately think a completely healthy knick squad could have won the title last season. I was positive and said it back then. Despite losing to a clearly inferior team in Indy I was positive and made multiple posts saying the Knicks are in great shape.

This year I just don't see it. Bridges trade was a straight catstrophe. Whenever I watch them play against a team over .500 there is like zero flow, everything seems forced and out of synch. Bridges frequently dissapears. If you count together all the important games of the season against the elite and the playoffs, Bridges has averaged like 11points/3rebounds on inefficient shooting. And I have seen too many games where OG and Bridges combine like for 2-10 from 3 or so. When I watch those other playoff matchups I just see higher level of play. It has nothing to do with a defeated mindset, I just see and call higher level of play. When I watch the Pistons play, I'm always astonished how bad they are. IMO they are literally a .500 team that got lucky a couple eastern conference teams had catastrophic injury luck so they won 4-5 games more than they are supposed to. If you put a healthy Orlando team vs. a healthy Pistons team I'm convinced Orlando blows them out of the water.

Despite all that I picked the Knicks in 5 and had some small hope we'd play better than in the regular season and Mitch would be playing 25minutes or so and bolster the team. I said in multiple posts that with Brunson the Knicks have the best player, not the Pistons. I thought the Knicks would win 1-2 close games and have 2 wire to wire rock solid wins. I'm shocked we trailed like 90% of the time at home and needed a historic run to close out game one and really needed a meltdown by the young Pistons in game 3 and a lot of luck in game 4 to be up 3-1. Like really honestly it could be 2-2 or we could be down 3-1. It's not even me alone saying it. Many analysts said after game 4 that the Knicks-Pistons series is one of the few series where after 4 games it is still unclear who the better team is. It is how I genuinely see it.

I refrained from making even a SINGLE negative post about Thibs or Bridges or KAT up until around the all-star break. I'm not one of the doom and gloomers but what I see on the floor is completely unconvincing. If I had to rank both teams out of all 16 playoff teams I would put the Knicks at like 12-13 and the Pistons at like 14-15. That's just how I see and analyze this. I think the Boston series will---unfotunately--prove me right. The Pistons would not beat any playoff team maybe other than Miami. Not one. They would suffer sweeps against many of these teams. I'm baffled people can't see how low their level of play is.

You maybe meant this for someone else, I never called you that.

Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep

Wth is this? I get it, I saw the series, but this is not how it works We lost the series against Indiana. You cannot boast about last year’s team applying that type of logic.

[HopelessKnick]

A lot what Hopeless is doing is based on the good play of DD and Randle against a thin Lakers team. Four games. And he said Randle sucked for a long time.

To be fair, I’m happy with KAT and this is against a decent but limited Pistons team. But KAT is the highest ceiling player on either roster.

iHart was a huge part of things that KAT can’t do and Mitch can’t do, erasing shots and keying offense. But — he was basically a non-factor in the playoffs. My speculative suspicion is that both iHart and Randle were saving their bodies for cash.

I didn't say Randle sucked. I said I disliked Randle do to his personality and some aspects of his game. When someone is a 3-time all-star one would be utterly foolish to say that that guy sucks.

And I take into consideration contracts as well. Donte's contract is a gift. Randle makes 30mill. and is probably going to sign an extension at much less than KAT's contract. Considering the fact that KAT plays very little defense, his contract really sucks. Like 55mill. for someone playing only one side of the court (at times elite admittedly) but at other times also completely dissapears. The least I expect from KAT, especially in the playoffs are 25 shots a game and getting 28-30 points. That is what he would need to do to justify that gigantic contract.

He has played a good series so far overall but I want him to be much more aggressive and put himself in position to be effective. So far Tobias Harris has shot more free throws in the series than KAT. That's an absolute absolute no go really. KAT has shot less than 3 FTs per game. That's a joke, especially considering the fact the Pistons have absolutely NO ONE to guard him. If he posted up consistantly instead of playing face-up 25 feet from the basket he would be able to punish the Pistons much much more. Be tough. Be effective. Be aggressive. Make the refs HAVE to call fouls.
You say you are elite big man? You wanna be tough? You are like 280lbs ? Than seek contact, go deep into the paint, punish the Pistons....all stuff he barely does really...

Randle doesn't play defense AT ALL and wants a max. KAT is better on offense all around. KAT getting mugged all series and not getting calls is his fault now? Make them call fouls?

The refs have a standard of how they are instructed to call the playoffs. They do not have seperate instructions for every playoff series. Like call it tighter in the Wolves-Lakers series but let them play more physical in the Knicks-Pistons series and keep the GSW-Rockets series at a mid level of physical play. ALL the playoff series are super physical--all of them. Just watch how in every series people are pushing, holding, shoving all over the place.

KAT catches the ball a lot at the 3 point line--trying to drive on 6'8 guys or smaller. That is an ineffective play. He has a set shot. He can neither shoot easily over those guys if they are standing near, nor can he consistantly drive on them. He drives and then gets stuck somewhere along and hopes for calls. That is not the way to get to the line the way ALL the playoff series are officiated. If he establishes position near the post and gets into the paint using his 7feet/270-280 body and goes up at the basket he will be much much more likely to force the refs to make calls. Look at almost all the fouls that Randle draws....literally all of them are directly in the paint.

If you are stuck somewhere on your drive, even if their is contact, chances are you won't get the call. The Pistons should have no one to defend KAT in the post. It is an automatic double team or KAT scores or gets fouled. Easy to see. Needs an ultra aggressive attitude.

[HopelessKnick]

Agreed and Pistons >Magic -- who are currently comprised of 2 good forwards and then they drop off the cliff after that. No point guard and cant score for ****.

I neither have a defeated nor undefeated mindset. I just tell things straight as I see them. Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep and fought Boston tooth and nails and I said as much. Even without Randle and Mitch I was confident we would have beat Indy and we would have. I legitimately think a completely healthy knick squad could have won the title last season. I was positive and said it back then. Despite losing to a clearly inferior team in Indy I was positive and made multiple posts saying the Knicks are in great shape.

This year I just don't see it. Bridges trade was a straight catstrophe. Whenever I watch them play against a team over .500 there is like zero flow, everything seems forced and out of synch. Bridges frequently dissapears. If you count together all the important games of the season against the elite and the playoffs, Bridges has averaged like 11points/3rebounds on inefficient shooting. And I have seen too many games where OG and Bridges combine like for 2-10 from 3 or so. When I watch those other playoff matchups I just see higher level of play. It has nothing to do with a defeated mindset, I just see and call higher level of play. When I watch the Pistons play, I'm always astonished how bad they are. IMO they are literally a .500 team that got lucky a couple eastern conference teams had catastrophic injury luck so they won 4-5 games more than they are supposed to. If you put a healthy Orlando team vs. a healthy Pistons team I'm convinced Orlando blows them out of the water.

Despite all that I picked the Knicks in 5 and had some small hope we'd play better than in the regular season and Mitch would be playing 25minutes or so and bolster the team. I said in multiple posts that with Brunson the Knicks have the best player, not the Pistons. I thought the Knicks would win 1-2 close games and have 2 wire to wire rock solid wins. I'm shocked we trailed like 90% of the time at home and needed a historic run to close out game one and really needed a meltdown by the young Pistons in game 3 and a lot of luck in game 4 to be up 3-1. Like really honestly it could be 2-2 or we could be down 3-1. It's not even me alone saying it. Many analysts said after game 4 that the Knicks-Pistons series is one of the few series where after 4 games it is still unclear who the better team is. It is how I genuinely see it.

I refrained from making even a SINGLE negative post about Thibs or Bridges or KAT up until around the all-star break. I'm not one of the doom and gloomers but what I see on the floor is completely unconvincing. If I had to rank both teams out of all 16 playoff teams I would put the Knicks at like 12-13 and the Pistons at like 14-15. That's just how I see and analyze this. I think the Boston series will---unfotunately--prove me right. The Pistons would not beat any playoff team maybe other than Miami. Not one. They would suffer sweeps against many of these teams. I'm baffled people can't see how low their level of play is.

You maybe meant this for someone else, I never called you that.

Yeah it was directed at LFGK.

[RHODEY]

Spoiler:

I neither have a defeated nor undefeated mindset. I just tell things straight as I see them. Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep and fought Boston tooth and nails and I said as much. Even without Randle and Mitch I was confident we would have beat Indy and we would have. I legitimately think a completely healthy knick squad could have won the title last season. I was positive and said it back then. Despite losing to a clearly inferior team in Indy I was positive and made multiple posts saying the Knicks are in great shape.

This year I just don't see it. Bridges trade was a straight catstrophe. Whenever I watch them play against a team over .500 there is like zero flow, everything seems forced and out of synch. Bridges frequently dissapears. If you count together all the important games of the season against the elite and the playoffs, Bridges has averaged like 11points/3rebounds on inefficient shooting. And I have seen too many games where OG and Bridges combine like for 2-10 from 3 or so. When I watch those other playoff matchups I just see higher level of play. It has nothing to do with a defeated mindset, I just see and call higher level of play. When I watch the Pistons play, I'm always astonished how bad they are. IMO they are literally a .500 team that got lucky a couple eastern conference teams had catastrophic injury luck so they won 4-5 games more than they are supposed to. If you put a healthy Orlando team vs. a healthy Pistons team I'm convinced Orlando blows them out of the water.

Despite all that I picked the Knicks in 5 and had some small hope we'd play better than in the regular season and Mitch would be playing 25minutes or so and bolster the team. I said in multiple posts that with Brunson the Knicks have the best player, not the Pistons. I thought the Knicks would win 1-2 close games and have 2 wire to wire rock solid wins. I'm shocked we trailed like 90% of the time at home and needed a historic run to close out game one and really needed a meltdown by the young Pistons in game 3 and a lot of luck in game 4 to be up 3-1. Like really honestly it could be 2-2 or we could be down 3-1. It's not even me alone saying it. Many analysts said after game 4 that the Knicks-Pistons series is one of the few series where after 4 games it is still unclear who the better team is. It is how I genuinely see it.

I refrained from making even a SINGLE negative post about Thibs or Bridges or KAT up until around the all-star break. I'm not one of the doom and gloomers but what I see on the floor is completely unconvincing. If I had to rank both teams out of all 16 playoff teams I would put the Knicks at like 12-13 and the Pistons at like 14-15. That's just how I see and analyze this. I think the Boston series will---unfotunately--prove me right. The Pistons would not beat any playoff team maybe other than Miami. Not one. They would suffer sweeps against many of these teams. I'm baffled people can't see how low their level of play is.

You maybe meant this for someone else, I never called you that.

Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep

Wth is this? I get it, I saw the series, but this is not how it works We lost the series against Indiana. You cannot boast about last year’s team applying that type of logic.

Im confused...

[HopelessKnick]

Spoiler:

I neither have a defeated nor undefeated mindset. I just tell things straight as I see them. Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep and fought Boston tooth and nails and I said as much. Even without Randle and Mitch I was confident we would have beat Indy and we would have. I legitimately think a completely healthy knick squad could have won the title last season. I was positive and said it back then. Despite losing to a clearly inferior team in Indy I was positive and made multiple posts saying the Knicks are in great shape.

This year I just don't see it. Bridges trade was a straight catstrophe. Whenever I watch them play against a team over .500 there is like zero flow, everything seems forced and out of synch. Bridges frequently dissapears. If you count together all the important games of the season against the elite and the playoffs, Bridges has averaged like 11points/3rebounds on inefficient shooting. And I have seen too many games where OG and Bridges combine like for 2-10 from 3 or so. When I watch those other playoff matchups I just see higher level of play. It has nothing to do with a defeated mindset, I just see and call higher level of play. When I watch the Pistons play, I'm always astonished how bad they are. IMO they are literally a .500 team that got lucky a couple eastern conference teams had catastrophic injury luck so they won 4-5 games more than they are supposed to. If you put a healthy Orlando team vs. a healthy Pistons team I'm convinced Orlando blows them out of the water.

Despite all that I picked the Knicks in 5 and had some small hope we'd play better than in the regular season and Mitch would be playing 25minutes or so and bolster the team. I said in multiple posts that with Brunson the Knicks have the best player, not the Pistons. I thought the Knicks would win 1-2 close games and have 2 wire to wire rock solid wins. I'm shocked we trailed like 90% of the time at home and needed a historic run to close out game one and really needed a meltdown by the young Pistons in game 3 and a lot of luck in game 4 to be up 3-1. Like really honestly it could be 2-2 or we could be down 3-1. It's not even me alone saying it. Many analysts said after game 4 that the Knicks-Pistons series is one of the few series where after 4 games it is still unclear who the better team is. It is how I genuinely see it.

I refrained from making even a SINGLE negative post about Thibs or Bridges or KAT up until around the all-star break. I'm not one of the doom and gloomers but what I see on the floor is completely unconvincing. If I had to rank both teams out of all 16 playoff teams I would put the Knicks at like 12-13 and the Pistons at like 14-15. That's just how I see and analyze this. I think the Boston series will---unfotunately--prove me right. The Pistons would not beat any playoff team maybe other than Miami. Not one. They would suffer sweeps against many of these teams. I'm baffled people can't see how low their level of play is.

You maybe meant this for someone else, I never called you that.

Last season I saw a team that, if healthy, would have blown out the Pacers in a sweep

Wth is this? I get it, I saw the series, but this is not how it works We lost the series against Indiana. You cannot boast about last year’s team applying that type of logic.

It's not about boasting or not. Look at the context. People are essentially saying "Why are you being so negative?" and I'm laying out why. To sum it up: We are strategically in a much worse position this season than last. We lost Randle, DD, Hartenstein and 6 valuable picks for essentially a team no one is even sure is better than last year's team. It is in THAT context that I'm using last year and explaining why I'm being down on the Knicks.

[Jalen Bluntson]

I didn't say Randle sucked. I said I disliked Randle do to his personality and some aspects of his game. When someone is a 3-time all-star one would be utterly foolish to say that that guy sucks.

And I take into consideration contracts as well. Donte's contract is a gift. Randle makes 30mill. and is probably going to sign an extension at much less than KAT's contract. Considering the fact that KAT plays very little defense, his contract really sucks. Like 55mill. for someone playing only one side of the court (at times elite admittedly) but at other times also completely dissapears. The least I expect from KAT, especially in the playoffs are 25 shots a game and getting 28-30 points. That is what he would need to do to justify that gigantic contract.

He has played a good series so far overall but I want him to be much more aggressive and put himself in position to be effective. So far Tobias Harris has shot more free throws in the series than KAT. That's an absolute absolute no go really. KAT has shot less than 3 FTs per game. That's a joke, especially considering the fact the Pistons have absolutely NO ONE to guard him. If he posted up consistantly instead of playing face-up 25 feet from the basket he would be able to punish the Pistons much much more. Be tough. Be effective. Be aggressive. Make the refs HAVE to call fouls.
You say you are elite big man? You wanna be tough? You are like 280lbs ? Than seek contact, go deep into the paint, punish the Pistons....all stuff he barely does really...

Randle doesn't play defense AT ALL and wants a max. KAT is better on offense all around. KAT getting mugged all series and not getting calls is his fault now? Make them call fouls?

The refs have a standard of how they are instructed to call the playoffs. They do not have seperate instructions for every playoff series. Like call it tighter in the Wolves-Lakers series but let them play more physical in the Knicks-Pistons series and keep the GSW-Rockets series at a mid level of physical play. ALL the playoff series are super physical--all of them. Just watch how in every series people are pushing, holding, shoving all over the place.

KAT catches the ball a lot at the 3 point line--trying to drive on 6'8 guys or smaller. That is an ineffective play. He has a set shot. He can neither shoot easily over those guys if they are standing near, nor can he consistantly drive on them. He drives and then gets stuck somewhere along and hopes for calls. That is not the way to get to the line the way ALL the playoff series are officiated. If he establishes position near the post and gets into the paint using his 7feet/270-280 body and goes up at the basket he will be much much more likely to force the refs to make calls. Look at almost all the fouls that Randle draws....literally all of them are directly in the paint.

If you are stuck somewhere on your drive, even if their is contact, chances are you won't get the call. The Pistons should have no one to defend KAT in the post. It is an automatic double team or KAT scores or gets fouled. Easy to see. Needs an ultra aggressive attitude.

No

[K_ick_God]

It’s a hard lesson to learn granted but a few wins don’t make a player’s flaws disappear. I am talking about both KAT and Randle, and DiVo.

We do need another Donte.