Official NBA General Discussion 2024-25 V2.0

[OhCanada]

The irony of this board thinking SGA would demand a trade from OKC after winning MVP and most likely winning a championship because OKC might not retain their players. Everyone leaves Toronto and the only players that didnt want to leave we traded and two of them are in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Pretty sure og wanted to leave

I never said he didnt.

[Los_29]

OG and Bridges and Kat got them past the Celtics so in a way mission accomplished there. But they completely overlooked the Pacers and how to match up with them at all.

Thibs is a pretty bad coach. KAT must be the worst defender of any big man in the league. Hart is a liability in halfcourt offense and not that good on D, just a hustle guy. Frustrating team to follow all year, it's a roller coaster of ups and downs

Hart looked really good last year in the playoffs. But now I can see why he’s bounced around the league.

Last year, the Knicks just played way over their heads. The shooting was never going to be sustainable.

[WaltFrazier]

OG and Bridges and Kat got them past the Celtics so in a way mission accomplished there. But they completely overlooked the Pacers and how to match up with them at all.

Thibs is a pretty bad coach. KAT must be the worst defender of any big man in the league. Hart is a liability in halfcourt offense and not that good on D, just a hustle guy. Frustrating team to follow all year, it's a roller coaster of ups and downs

Hart looked really good last year in the playoffs. But now I can see why he’s bounced around the league.

Last year, the Knicks just played way over their heads. The shooting was never going to be sustainable.

Last year DDV set a franchise record for made threes. He hasn't played as well for Minny, until tonight, but the Knicks miss him as a kickout outlet for Brunson, as well as a secondary ball handler and general energy guy.

[NinjaBro]

Knicks should've just kept Randle and DDV. DDV was perfect for them. Kat is just absolutely atrocious on D and the pacers are picking on him.

[Basketball_Jones]

Wow, Wolves got one. Huge blow out too. Wonder if it was just a rest game for OKC or they figured something out.

[bballsparkin]

We're really pinning our hopes on an oft-injured career loser lol I'm gonna watch and I want this team to be good next year but damn it's tough.

That's kinda extreme. Is Trey Murphy a career loser too? For sure the injured part that's a concern. PP and KG got excited for Ingram on Toronto. They seemed sincere. The fit is weird but lets see. They need to nail the draft and fit around the edges this off season.

[bballsparkin]

Knicks should've just kept Randle and DDV. DDV was perfect for them. Kat is just absolutely atrocious on D and the pacers are picking on him.

He has a beautiful turn around fade away shot from deep though. I'll give him that.

[Brinbe]

Not like Michael Malone runs a deep bench either but I guess he is good at utilising skilled bigs with questionable defense so maybe there's a fit there. Knicks kinda are setup like Nuggets East in a way. Plus Malone being a NYC-born and raised guy, I can see the fit there.

In his title year he ran a deeper bench didn't he? With Brown and KCP as well as the guys still there. The trouble was they lost bench guys after the chip and didn't replace

not really anything out of the ordinary for the playoffs. he mainly ran eight guys. of course that's a contrast to what others do like carlisle this year.

title year


last year


thibs this year


pacers

[Los_29]

Thibs is a pretty bad coach. KAT must be the worst defender of any big man in the league. Hart is a liability in halfcourt offense and not that good on D, just a hustle guy. Frustrating team to follow all year, it's a roller coaster of ups and downs

Hart looked really good last year in the playoffs. But now I can see why he’s bounced around the league.

Last year, the Knicks just played way over their heads. The shooting was never going to be sustainable.

Last year DDV set a franchise record for made threes. He hasn't played as well for Minny, until tonight, but the Knicks miss him as a kickout outlet for Brunson, as well as a secondary ball handler and general energy guy.

Yeah and Brunson and KAT have struggled defensively. Pacers have been destroying them.

[Los_29]

"We have the best starting lineup in the league"
"Our bench doesn't matter because of how good our starters are"
"We have the 2 best defenders in the league that can shut anyone down"

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

The two great wing defenders are limited in what they can do by the horrid defense of Kat and the below average D of Brunson. Along with Hart's lack of shooting ability.

But Thibs is so set in his ways I highly doubt he'll change the starters

I agree but it also highlights the fact teams shouldn’t pay 3+D players 40 million dollars. The Knicks defense has been atrocious and OG and Mikal can’t do anything about it.

[mdenny]

Thibs is a pretty bad coach. KAT must be the worst defender of any big man in the league. Hart is a liability in halfcourt offense and not that good on D, just a hustle guy. Frustrating team to follow all year, it's a roller coaster of ups and downs

Hart looked really good last year in the playoffs. But now I can see why he’s bounced around the league.

Last year, the Knicks just played way over their heads. The shooting was never going to be sustainable.

Last year DDV set a franchise record for made threes. He hasn't played as well for Minny, until tonight, but the Knicks miss him as a kickout outlet for Brunson, as well as a secondary ball handler and general energy guy.

The pity of the ball handling problem is that it's not even difficult to address. Even if they had a guy like Dennis Schroeder off the bench it would REALLY help.

So in terms of moving forward...it's relatively easy for them to address as a franchise next season. But again...it seems like this particular problem gets hilighted every post-season. You need at least 3 guys in your rotation who can dribble the ball under pressure. Every point guard can do it. But hart, OG and Bridges in the heart of your starting lineup just screams for 6th and 7th guys in the rotation that have steady handles. All 3 of those guys are below average to severely below average in ballhandling for their role/position.

Rj and Randall - both above average in ballhandling for their role/position.

Dante and IQ go without saying.

That's one thing in the aftermath of the OG trade that I noticed immediately. Yah we were much worse defensively....but it was refreshing to see multiple guys on the floor that could dribble.

But anycase...it's one of the easiest problems to have unless it's too late. There are tons of low contract guys around the league you could pick up to address it.

I love lunch bucket basketball but you can see how having Hart, OG and Bridges in a starting lineup is gonna have problems against pressure defenses. OG and Bridges seems like a great tandem....but adding a guy like Hart to them might be overkill. As much as I also like Hart...one of those 3 positions need to offer an alternative to the point guard dribbling the ball in half court sets.

For the ppl calling Brunson a ball hog....what else are they supposed to do? None of the others can put the ball on the floor and attack from the perimeter. The Pacers have multiple guys who can do that. Multiple average to above average ballhandling at each position.

But this series can turn on a dime. I think the Knicks should forego all offensive rebounds and just get back after every attempt. If they can slow the pace down I think they can reel off consecutive wins.

I think if it came down to pure halfcourt sets with no defensive switching.....Brunson is the better one on one scorer than haliburton. The trick is gonna be simplifying the game to that match up back and forth. The switching and rotations are where haliburton's assists come from. Take those away by playing strict man defense. Go under and over screens. There's no point in having OG and Bridges if the opposition can just set screens to create the match up of their choosing. Just ends up having the best knick defenders become spectators to the actions.

Last point: give precious a chance. He's an elite man defender. If you got og/bridges/hart/precious out there with noone switching/rotating and everyone dedicated to their assigned player? All 4 of them are mobile enough and strong enough to get through screens. Plus precious can get hot if his confidence gets a boost.

[Boogie!]

Wow, Wolves got one. Huge blow out too. Wonder if it was just a rest game for OKC or they figured something out.

Idk looked like wolves were just hitting all the 3s they were missing the past few games. Don’t think it’s sustainable.

[Boogie!]

Danny green was just on Gilbert’s podcast talking about they recreated kawhis shot when he came into the league which is how he ended up becoming a better shooter. Then you watch guys that were supposed to be good shooters (dick) be meh at this level.

[YogurtProducer]

Had a few tonight but man. **** anyone on this board who acts like people were crazy for thinking Pascal/OG/Barnes/FVV has potential to be something.

Needed a star creator with shooting and some depth. Scottie didn’t pan out. Gary Trent definitely didn’t pan out. Ugh.

Norm for GTJ was the beginning of the end IMO. Norm this season was getting All Star talks as he was keeping LAC afloat along Harden/Zubac. If you look at his numbers thought it is around what he was doing for us in Tampa. Meanwhile, GTJ signed for the minimum with MIL and is a complete scrub.

We traded a borderline all star for a guy who turned out to be Vet min caliber. Jumping in the lottery and grabbing Barnes forced the FO's hand afterwards but I am pretty confident now we overeacted in 2021 IMO. Its not a coincidence our old core are all key players on good teams now.

Now we have to delude ourselves into thinking IQ/RJ/Ingram are gonna do anything next to Scottie.

You do the GTJ/Norm trade every time but it worked out about as badly as it could.

GTJ didn’t develop at all, and Norm managed to add to his game late in his career.

Just an all around everything bad that could happen happeneed type deal

[Boogie!]

Needed a star creator with shooting and some depth. Scottie didn’t pan out. Gary Trent definitely didn’t pan out. Ugh.

Norm for GTJ was the beginning of the end IMO. Norm this season was getting All Star talks as he was keeping LAC afloat along Harden/Zubac. If you look at his numbers thought it is around what he was doing for us in Tampa. Meanwhile, GTJ signed for the minimum with MIL and is a complete scrub.

We traded a borderline all star for a guy who turned out to be Vet min caliber. Jumping in the lottery and grabbing Barnes forced the FO's hand afterwards but I am pretty confident now we overeacted in 2021 IMO. Its not a coincidence our old core are all key players on good teams now.

Now we have to delude ourselves into thinking IQ/RJ/Ingram are gonna do anything next to Scottie.

You do the GTJ/Norm trade every time but it worked out about as badly as it could.

GTJ didn’t develop at all, and Norm managed to add to his game late in his career.

Just an all around everything bad that could happen happeneed type deal

No idea why people keep pushing the you do the norm trade every time. Wasn’t even equal talent value at the time and again gtjs potential was always gonna be limited.

If anyone should’ve been traded at peak value it should’ve been fvv.

[WaltFrazier]

Knicks should've just kept Randle and DDV. DDV was perfect for them. Kat is just absolutely atrocious on D and the pacers are picking on him.

I'm starting to think about that what if more and more. Make the Bridges trade then stop. Trouble was, having lost Hartenstein and with Robinson hurt they would have had to get another C until Robinson returned. The variables would have been all different.

I wish Randle had been healthy, and OG not got hurt vs Pacers, in last year's playoffs. IMO the Knicks go to the ECF and give Boston a tough series. Then they could have made a clearer decision on keeping Randle.

[WaltFrazier]

"We have the best starting lineup in the league"
"Our bench doesn't matter because of how good our starters are"
"We have the 2 best defenders in the league that can shut anyone down"

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

The two great wing defenders are limited in what they can do by the horrid defense of Kat and the below average D of Brunson. Along with Hart's lack of shooting ability.

But Thibs is so set in his ways I highly doubt he'll change the starters

I agree but it also highlights the fact teams shouldn’t pay 3+D players 40 million dollars. The Knicks defense has been atrocious and OG and Mikal can’t do anything about it.

You're right, except they did eliminate the defending champs before this series. Oh and this series isn't over yet . We'll see what game 3 brings

[WaltFrazier]

Hart looked really good last year in the playoffs. But now I can see why he’s bounced around the league.

Last year, the Knicks just played way over their heads. The shooting was never going to be sustainable.

Last year DDV set a franchise record for made threes. He hasn't played as well for Minny, until tonight, but the Knicks miss him as a kickout outlet for Brunson, as well as a secondary ball handler and general energy guy.

The pity of the ball handling problem is that it's not even difficult to address. Even if they had a guy like Dennis Schroeder off the bench it would REALLY help.

So in terms of moving forward...it's relatively easy for them to address as a franchise next season. But again...it seems like this particular problem gets hilighted every post-season. You need at least 3 guys in your rotation who can dribble the ball under pressure. Every point guard can do it. But hart, OG and Bridges in the heart of your starting lineup just screams for 6th and 7th guys in the rotation that have steady handles. All 3 of those guys are below average to severely below average in ballhandling for their role/position.

Rj and Randall - both above average in ballhandling for their role/position.

Dante and IQ go without saying.

That's one thing in the aftermath of the OG trade that I noticed immediately. Yah we were much worse defensively....but it was refreshing to see multiple guys on the floor that could dribble.

But anycase...it's one of the easiest problems to have unless it's too late. There are tons of low contract guys around the league you could pick up to address it.

I love lunch bucket basketball but you can see how having Hart, OG and Bridges in a starting lineup is gonna have problems against pressure defenses. OG and Bridges seems like a great tandem....but adding a guy like Hart to them might be overkill. As much as I also like Hart...one of those 3 positions need to offer an alternative to the point guard dribbling the ball in half court sets.

For the ppl calling Brunson a ball hog....what else are they supposed to do? None of the others can put the ball on the floor and attack from the perimeter. The Pacers have multiple guys who can do that. Multiple average to above average ballhandling at each position.

But this series can turn on a dime. I think the Knicks should forego all offensive rebounds and just get back after every attempt. If they can slow the pace down I think they can reel off consecutive wins.

I think if it came down to pure halfcourt sets with no defensive switching.....Brunson is the better one on one scorer than haliburton. The trick is gonna be simplifying the game to that match up back and forth. The switching and rotations are where haliburton's assists come from. Take those away by playing strict man defense. Go under and over screens. There's no point in having OG and Bridges if the opposition can just set screens to create the match up of their choosing. Just ends up having the best knick defenders become spectators to the actions.

Last point: give precious a chance. He's an elite man defender. If you got og/bridges/hart/precious out there with noone switching/rotating and everyone dedicated to their assigned player? All 4 of them are mobile enough and strong enough to get through screens. Plus precious can get hot if his confidence gets a boost.

Agree about Precious on D but the trouble is if he plays with one of Hart or Robinson then 2 non shooters isn't good.

Payne can dribble but he has really struggled this playoffs. A couple months ago Brunson and McBride and Payne were all hurt and Thibs started Delon Wright at PG backed up by the rookie Kolek who's a good passer. The rookie isn't going to play now but Delon could be giving steady playmaking along with his 6'5 solid defense. But as soon as the other point guards returned, Thibs dropped him from the rotation immediately. So it's hard to play him now. Might seem like grasping at straws to talk about Delon, but this is a Thibs issue, he doesn't develop a bench he just calls on guys out of the blue when injuries make it desperate.

[Son Goku 25]

Are Pacers really gonna win the ship?

[Raps in 4]

Knicks should've just kept Randle and DDV. DDV was perfect for them. Kat is just absolutely atrocious on D and the pacers are picking on him.

Randle is a traffic cone on defence too.