PG: Awful gameplan, not prepared, not 1 good performance

[JayTWill]

It's Mikal, if he were the guy they thought they were getting, we'd be winning this series with ease. Losing his shot and being afraid of contact is just death. We're going through what the Sixer fans went through over the years with Ben Simmons culminating in passing up on that layup against the Hawks, except it's all happened in one season for us with him.

i won't argue that. he's not close to fulfilling the cost we paid for him. he's had moments where he's been great for shorter stretches in big moments in the playoffs but his inconsistency is maddening. we got him to be a 3 & d player who could also do more. but the shot got messed up before we ever got him and the defense, while good at times, is not consistent enough. so he's not even really being a good role player.

I will never understand why he changed his shot, it just made no sense and why nobody stepped in to tell him not to do it is crazy. I don't even know what they can do with him, you either trade him or hold out hope he fixes the shot, there's nothing in between that. After these playoffs, who is going to trade for him too?

Honestly, i'm not even sure how much his adjusted form affected his shooting numbers. He basically shot incredibly well everywhere on the court this regular season except for the above the break 3. The odd thing is now above the break 3 numbers have improved 7 percentage points to 37% this postseason but his midrange game has collapsed and he is shooting a higher volume of them. His corner 3 numbers have also fallen off of the cliff but on limited volume. The change is even more dramatic when you look at this series.

I don't know if he is struggling with mechanics or just another guy struggling to find any consistency in this offense. He can't make anything in this series for some reason but it is only a 4 game sample size.

Regular season
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shooting?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*mikal&DistanceRange=By+Zone&TeamID=1610612752&dir=D&sort=Mid-Range+FG+PCT&SeasonType=Regular+Season

Postseason
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shooting?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*mikal&DistanceRange=By%20Zone&PORound=0&TeamID=1610612752

Pacer's series
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shooting?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*mikal&DistanceRange=By%20Zone&PORound=3&TeamID=1610612752

[HEZI]

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

Notice the score is always a close or tie game. Not the case when he’s on the bench though because

-20 and -14

We lost by 9, he gave up around 11-13 points off turnovers, he quite literally assisted the Pacers.

Also, most of Hart's minutes were with KAT who was plus, also if it comes down to plus/minus they should have just played Wright and Shamet over the turnover machine.

So bench Brunson again? Oh oh

Brotha he was getting offensive rebounds and we got either a 3 or two from it so that negates the turnovers brotha. But your boys didnt look good with KAT brotha eww

[Guano]

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Im always a prisoner of the moment and mercury in retrograde has been beating my @ss forever.

[HerSports85]

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[dakomish23]

9 point loss, I have just shown you 3 turnovers that resulted in 6 points. Keep defending

The guys you want starting

Robinson
6 points
4 fouls
-20

Deuce
3 points
0 assists
1 turnover
-14

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

I remember when that pass happened I was pissed. We started the quarter down 8, finally clawed our way back to tie it and then he just throws a possession away. KAT was beasting again. Keep it simple. IDK why we keep making this more complicated than it has to be

[HopelessKnick]

I don’t think the west is that good either. A mid 49 win Timberwolves team is in the conference finals, the rockets were proven to be 1st round frauds, the warriors are washed, OKC for the world beaters they’re supposed to be needed 7 to get past a janky Nuggets team who fired their coach a month ago

Yeah well let us see. Would it be fair to say that for your assessment to be true the Pacers would need to make it a close tough 7 game finals series?

And anything less than a 6 game series would make my assessment more accurate?

That just boils it down to one team vs another instead of considering all the other teams at the top of the conference. Where the west will actually be represented by their lone dominant team (OKC) and the east will be represented by a 4 seed because their top teams choked.

I would still venture that a healthy Cleveland or Boston would smoke Minnesota Denver or GS, the other west semifinal teams.

My point is I see very little in the way of teams to fear in the western conference outside of OKC so them winning wouldn’t change my opinion

But do you realize what this ultimately boils down to? There aren't real realistic or plausible ways to jump over Boston and Cleveland talentwise (leaving next season and the Tatum injury aside). Now you can add Indiana to the mix as well. So if that is how you look at it---how does it make sense to keep Thibs?

You think adding an 8th man off the bench is going to have us beat Indiana next season with Thibs? Or Cleveland?

The Boston series was the ultimate fluke. An abberation---all the realistic moves we can make playerwise in the offseason are limited if you want to bring back the same core. If you keep the same core, the same coach what would make you think we'll have a different outcome next season?

[Capn'O]

I'm sure it is playing a part. He was more active even in the post series. He seems limited but that also has to be on thibs and brunson to make an adjustment playing him for shorter stints and get rest because he doesn't have the extra pop.

I don't think it's the ankle. He's had that the whole playoffs and everyone's dinged up. I think Indy has a great plan for him to take away his options and force him to go hero ball. Like what Larry Brown did to Kobe in 2004.

I think this is what always will happen when you only have one creator on the whole roster.

For sure but the Pacers scheming has really highlighted it.

[HerSports85]

And then ppl come on here and say coaching not the issue. Boy I tell you …

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[K_ick_God]

KAT was +3 so maybe not as bad as I thought originally. What kind of dummy coach watches G3 and then doesn't make sure KAT is featured early and often? Thibs' focus was on Brunson putting up as many shots as possible. Jus terribull lol

[HopelessKnick]

And then ppl come on here and say coaching not the issue. Boy I tell you …

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I think after losing to the Pacers the FO will 100% make some change in the offseason. It will either be a coaching change or they will trade someone of the core. They are not rolling this back. Even leaving results aside for a moment---just looking at how the team played as a whole the entire season and especially down the stretch and in the playoff----this team is not a top 5 team and Thibs is not a top 5 coach. Either you make a coaching change and hope someone more creative can make the part work better together or you break up the core.

Rolling it back is only going to waste next season. And that is leaving aside the very questionable vibes over the summer and througout next season....

[MrDollarBills]

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It's a legitimate issue. He just looks lost and screws up coverage constantly.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Yeah well let us see. Would it be fair to say that for your assessment to be true the Pacers would need to make it a close tough 7 game finals series?

And anything less than a 6 game series would make my assessment more accurate?

That just boils it down to one team vs another instead of considering all the other teams at the top of the conference. Where the west will actually be represented by their lone dominant team (OKC) and the east will be represented by a 4 seed because their top teams choked.

I would still venture that a healthy Cleveland or Boston would smoke Minnesota Denver or GS, the other west semifinal teams.

My point is I see very little in the way of teams to fear in the western conference outside of OKC so them winning wouldn’t change my opinion

But do you realize what this ultimately boils down to? There aren't real realistic or plausible ways to jump over Boston and Cleveland talentwise (leaving next season and the Tatum injury aside). Now you can add Indiana to the mix as well. So if that is how you look at it---how does it make sense to keep Thibs?

You think adding an 8th man off the bench is going to have us beat Indiana next season with Thibs? Or Cleveland?

The Boston series was the ultimate fluke. An abberation---all the realistic moves we can make playerwise in the offseason are limited if you want to bring back the same core. If you keep the same core, the same coach what would make you think we'll have a different outcome next season?

by your logic, how would Indiana have done it this season?

[sol537]

The more I think about the game, the more it becomes clear how poorly coached it was. Holy hell.

To give up 43 points in the first quarter?

To play Josh, Mikal, and JB so many minutes when it was clear they didn’t have it on either end, when you got guys like Mitch, Deuce, Shamet, and Wright who have been giving you more productive minutes all series long… man, talk about inflexible coaching. Disaster class.

[HopelessKnick]

That just boils it down to one team vs another instead of considering all the other teams at the top of the conference. Where the west will actually be represented by their lone dominant team (OKC) and the east will be represented by a 4 seed because their top teams choked.

I would still venture that a healthy Cleveland or Boston would smoke Minnesota Denver or GS, the other west semifinal teams.

My point is I see very little in the way of teams to fear in the western conference outside of OKC so them winning wouldn’t change my opinion

But do you realize what this ultimately boils down to? There aren't real realistic or plausible ways to jump over Boston and Cleveland talentwise (leaving next season and the Tatum injury aside). Now you can add Indiana to the mix as well. So if that is how you look at it---how does it make sense to keep Thibs?

You think adding an 8th man off the bench is going to have us beat Indiana next season with Thibs? Or Cleveland?

The Boston series was the ultimate fluke. An abberation---all the realistic moves we can make playerwise in the offseason are limited if you want to bring back the same core. If you keep the same core, the same coach what would make you think we'll have a different outcome next season?

by your logic, how would Indiana have done it this season?

Indiana is a team that on pure talent is IMO 4th best in the east---probably just slightly behind the Knicks but they have a top 5 coach in the league. Someone that actually has won a title with a team many thought was not gonna be able to win. And they beat a superior team in the finals too. Indiana basically bet on Carlisle and Carlisle---in contrast to Thibs does have a playoff proven track record.

What would the Knicks be betting on? Their core players are 27-30 years old. Any significant improvement there is rather unlikely. What would be the rational?

Indy and also NY is resembling a bit Atlanta---but both teams are more talented. If Tatum recover, neither team will be able to beat them in a series (9 out of 10 times). Cleveland is unproven in the playoffs still but at least they can hope for Mobley to make a jump. The Knicks ultimately can't bank on major improvements by their players or coach.

[Gravy]

Both teams have stretches where they play as poorly as each other. The Pacers just have better individual offensive players and more consistent shooters. Knicks fans seem to think Delon Wright is as good as Mathurin and KAT is Dirk.

NO. We think he's important in this series to release pressure from Brunson. Wright is a tactical response to what Carlisle is throwing at Brunson and when he's played it has worked.

It has nothing to do with this video game player rating ****. We need additional playmaking, ball handlings, and guard defense to slow Indy's attack on the other end and those are the things Wright can do well.

Delon had 2pts 1 assist in game 3, and 3pts 1 assist in game 4(zero rebounds in both). Where is the playmaking and ball handling? This guy is Frank all over again including celebrating him hitting one shot like it affected the game or the one steal. Might as well get Maurice Ndour back and see what he can do

[HerSports85]

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It's a legitimate issue. He just looks lost and screws up coverage constantly.

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But you know what it's not just him. We rarely put pressure on the ball and sprint to inside the 3pt line. Like what kind of garbage is this. Are we not watching film correctly?

[mpharris36]

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It's a legitimate issue. He just looks lost and screws up coverage constantly.

Read on Twitter

But you know what it's not just him. We rarely put pressure on the ball and sprint to inside the 3pt line. Like what kind of garbage is this. Are we not watching film correctly?

legit pathetic defense by Brunson

[GONYK]

I don't think it's the ankle. He's had that the whole playoffs and everyone's dinged up. I think Indy has a great plan for him to take away his options and force him to go hero ball. Like what Larry Brown did to Kobe in 2004.

I think this is what always will happen when you only have one creator on the whole roster.

For sure but the Pacers scheming has really highlighted it.

I think the Pacers scheming and the Knicks scheming really highlight it

[HerSports85]

It's a legitimate issue. He just looks lost and screws up coverage constantly.

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But you know what it's not just him. We rarely put pressure on the ball and sprint to inside the 3pt line. Like what kind of garbage is this. Are we not watching film correctly?

legit pathetic defense by Brunson

Got Haliburton looking like Magic Johnson with a 3 ball smh. The game is just too easy and comfortable for him right now.

[HopelessKnick]

The more I think about the game, the more it becomes clear how poorly coached it was. Holy hell.

To give up 43 points in the first quarter?

To play Josh, Mikal, and JB so many minutes when it was clear they didn’t have it on either end, when you got guys like Mitch, Deuce, Shamet, and Wright who have been giving you more productive minutes all series long… man, talk about inflexible coaching. Disaster class.

If you look at Indy, Mathurin had been great for them all season long but Carlisle showed a willingness to bench him when he wasn't bringing it: Hence you saw him playing just 10 minutes in consecutive games in this series. If Mathurin was on the Knicks, Thibs would be playing him 30 minutes off the bench come hell or high water. Thibs has the minutes distribution in his mind and he is not going to waver from it at all...no matter how someone performs.

IMO it is ok to lose...but how you do it matters....if you simply, stubbornly stick to something not working in hopes it will ultimately work...that's bad coaching. Great coaches show a daringness and willingness to adapt in every conceivable way. The exact opposite of Thibs.