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

[Gravy]

No one said that Wright was some kinda world beater.

He can defend the POA and he can handle the rock. That's what he's good at. He fills a role.

Contrary to belief, it's okay to give roleplayers minutes to help your starters.

He's a garbage time player on his way out of the league, waived by the Wizards a year ago. He shouldn't be the backup to Brunson in the ecf. This is crazy

What does any of this have to do with his defense and ability to help relieve pressure on Brunson with his ball handling tho?

There's only two other guys on the roster that can handle the ball outside of Brunson and Wright. One is unplayable, the other is a rookie who allegedly cannot read.

We have to work with what we have available. This series has been about guard play. Having a guy that can defend POA, get through screens and help Brunson with initiating is an actual need so why not play him?

Everyone poo poos the players outside of Thibs 7 man rotation, but the reality is that most teams aren't bringing all stars off of their bench and most coaches carve out roles for their guys who aren't starter level. Thibs couldn't be bothered back in December and here we are getting worked by a coach who leans into his roster to support his best 5.

Pacers had a guy drop 20 points in 12 minutes from their bench, here we are celebrating Wrights 3pts. Its not the same

[K_ick_God]

When you win nothing matters but a lot of our wins have been badly played by us

And a loss like last night really doesn’t make you feel good lol

They’re just being toyed with and making the most basic choices that are wrong … Pacers played really well but we had no plan and the lineups didn’t work

To be totally honest I still feel sort of mostly good about G1, because we did play well and we had them beat

Had last night built on G3 but we just lost, we’d feel better about it … it’s all kind of just bad basketball with the exception of G5 and 6 v Boston and G1 v Indy

Maybe we are all wrong / crazy but Tom’s game plan seemed just bad last two … and he hasn’t gotten the team to play well consistently

That would maybe be acceptable absent the G1 giveaway

[Capn'O]

Carlisle's also really good at mind games and they're winning.

"D'Antoni of Defense" is pretty on point. D'Antoni vs. Phil comes to mind.

[whocares1]

When you lost Ashley it's bad... One thing she will do is go to bat for Thibs no matter what. She ripped him apart.

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Can’t think of a professional person’s opinion who matters less than hers lol.

Why? Because she's a woman?? I'll really like to know your reasoning.

That’s hilarious. Maybe it’s bc she thought the Mavericks were trying to use Anthony Davis as a trade option to ultimately get Jimmy Butler, which she then later apologized for how bad that take was. But yes it’s clearly bc she’s a woman.

[MrDollarBills]

He's a garbage time player on his way out of the league, waived by the Wizards a year ago. He shouldn't be the backup to Brunson in the ecf. This is crazy

What does any of this have to do with his defense and ability to help relieve pressure on Brunson with his ball handling tho?

There's only two other guys on the roster that can handle the ball outside of Brunson and Wright. One is unplayable, the other is a rookie who allegedly cannot read.

We have to work with what we have available. This series has been about guard play. Having a guy that can defend POA, get through screens and help Brunson with initiating is an actual need so why not play him?

Everyone poo poos the players outside of Thibs 7 man rotation, but the reality is that most teams aren't bringing all stars off of their bench and most coaches carve out roles for their guys who aren't starter level. Thibs couldn't be bothered back in December and here we are getting worked by a coach who leans into his roster to support his best 5.

Pacers had a guy drop 20 points in 12 minutes from their bench, here we are celebrating Wrights 3pts. Its not the same

I'm talking about Wright's defense and ball handling being useful to the team, who needs what he brings. What does Mathurin have to do with that topic?

[Wildcat]

After we beat Boston I praised Thibs and said just do you Thibs don’t ever read this board and just do you. I don’t think he listened to the fans but listened to Josh Hart. It was reported that Hart presented the idea to Thibs about coming off the bench and was willing to make the sacrifice. That was a decision they made internally but it went along with what the fans wanted. It backfired

In fairness, the lineup change is negated if Hart comes in far too early because of KAT's fouling in yesterday's game. But also Thibs sub patterns are dog ****.

If their assumption was that the main problem on defense is towns, which after game 2 I believe was their thought process, then no, the lineup change isn’t negated by his 2 fouls. In fact the defense should have been even further beefed up with Mitch out there and Hart coming in for towns. Instead, we gave up 43 pts with zero resistance

No, the assumption is offense looks like dog **** with Hart out there. Hart's horrific D is just icing on the cake. And again, it's ridiculous that KAT couldn't stay on the floor from the get go to establish *their* game. Whatever advantages or schemes that were in the book went out the window when KAT sat because we already know from a couple of examples, Hart/Mitch seems to not be working.

[kNicksGmen]

When you win nothing matters but a lot of our wins have been badly played by us

And a loss like last night really doesn’t make you feel good lol

They’re just being toyed with and making the most basic choices that are wrong … Pacers played really well but we had no plan and the lineups didn’t work

To be totally honest I still feel sort of mostly good about G1, because we did play well and we had them beat

Had last night built on G3 but we just lost, we’d feel better about it … it’s all kind of just bad basketball with the exception of G5 and 6 v Boston and G1 v Indy

Maybe we are all wrong / crazy but Tom’s game plan seemed just bad last two … and he hasn’t gotten the team to play well consistently

That would maybe be acceptable absent the G1 giveaway

Yea results trump everything at the end of the day. Lots of the knicks "great" wins had a lot of questionable coaching and performances etc - but when it's a W we don't harp on it.

[K_ick_God]

Anyway it’s depressing

[Wildcat]

But all of our comebacks involve Hart in there. When Robinson went to the bench we did end up tying the game in the 2nd quarter with Hart. Then Robinson came back and Pacers took the lead going into halftime. Opening the 3rd the Pacers extended the lead again despite Hart not being on the floor.

Harts turnovers yesterday likely cost us the game, today isn't the day to defend him.

Sure they did. All that work your two big lineup did of looking like crap was thrown away by Hart

So who are we blaming for the notoriously slow 1st quarters? Mikal? OJ? Mitch now? Brunson? Or ... the big elegant in the room, KAT (or Thibs, pick one).

[K_ick_God]

When you win nothing matters but a lot of our wins have been badly played by us

And a loss like last night really doesn’t make you feel good lol

They’re just being toyed with and making the most basic choices that are wrong … Pacers played really well but we had no plan and the lineups didn’t work

To be totally honest I still feel sort of mostly good about G1, because we did play well and we had them beat

Had last night built on G3 but we just lost, we’d feel better about it … it’s all kind of just bad basketball with the exception of G5 and 6 v Boston and G1 v Indy

Maybe we are all wrong / crazy but Tom’s game plan seemed just bad last two … and he hasn’t gotten the team to play well consistently

That would maybe be acceptable absent the G1 giveaway

Yea results trump everything at the end of the day. Lots of the knicks "great" wins had a lot of questionable coaching and performances etc - but when it's a W we don't harp on it.

You know what I think … not to be nasty or harsh, but Thibs doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore and G1 was a disaster waiting to happen. Most games it just shows up like last night, but eventually it will cause a disaster.

A pilot flying the wrong way could just fly through some turbulence or hit a mountain. Same problem, different results.

[K_ick_God]

the they are better and what can you do crowd. Sure I mean I guess we can go the route...but these playoffs are on the margins. We blew game 1 with awful coaching and players mentally and physically making mistakes down the stretch. All these games have been "winnable" never a game where we are getting completely outplayed.

There is zero creativity. The one time we sort of get creative with the rotations and minutes is because of foul trouble in game 3.

Haliburton was feeling it...not adjustment. No scheme change. Maybe try picking up full court with Wright or McBride then having Mikal and OG in help shooting the gaps...maybe try some different things to get his frustrated. Nope same defensive coverage pretty much all series...allowing them to search out our weakest defenders and pick us apart.

He just doesn't have the capabilities to take us to the next level because he simply knows one thing...play his most trust worthy guys no matter what the situation and matchup is.

I don't think we have ever run a 5-out lineup by putting Deuce with the starters. We should absolutely be trying to match Brunson minutes with McConnel so that we can put Brunson on McConnel and hedge and recover to him because he isn't a shooter. Instead the first 9 minutes or so of every qtr is the same damn ****.

last year, the pacers lost to the celtics by basically choking every game down the stretch. was it bad coaching?

Not every “choke” is the same. We didn’t just get unlucky in G1

[MrDollarBills]

Gotta be honest, we have not played a complete good game in this post season outside of Game 6 in Boston. Every other game there has been a ton of mess. We consistently look unprepared, lost on defense, no one ever talks to each other, offense is a slog that at times can be unwatchable.

The inconsistent effort from the players, the poor coaching...its a a miracle from God we're even here. But these guys have been mentally resilient and time after time they manage to claw their way out of the hole they've dug themselves.

But I think Game 1 broke us as a team mentally. Seriously. We played with fire all postseason long and the check has finally come due.

[Gravy]

What does any of this have to do with his defense and ability to help relieve pressure on Brunson with his ball handling tho?

There's only two other guys on the roster that can handle the ball outside of Brunson and Wright. One is unplayable, the other is a rookie who allegedly cannot read.

We have to work with what we have available. This series has been about guard play. Having a guy that can defend POA, get through screens and help Brunson with initiating is an actual need so why not play him?

Everyone poo poos the players outside of Thibs 7 man rotation, but the reality is that most teams aren't bringing all stars off of their bench and most coaches carve out roles for their guys who aren't starter level. Thibs couldn't be bothered back in December and here we are getting worked by a coach who leans into his roster to support his best 5.

Pacers had a guy drop 20 points in 12 minutes from their bench, here we are celebrating Wrights 3pts. Its not the same

I'm talking about Wright's defense and ball handling being useful to the team, who needs what he brings. What does Mathurin have to do with that topic?

The Pacers have multiple guys that can drop 20pts off the bench.

Delon Wright was able to survive on the court without doing much negative or positive which is commendable for a 4th string pg. But we need more than a participation trophy performance to win these games against a deep team. They got Mathurin, who do we have to counter that

[Enzo954]

Can’t think of a professional person’s opinion who matters less than hers lol.

I can't stand her, but in this instance she's 100% correct.

Her takes sometimes irk me as well. But dismissing a woman in sports like that for whatever reason when they been in sports journalism for about 10 years, graduated at the top of their class and been covering the knicks on many national platforms pisses me TF off.

When did I dismiss her for being a woman?

[Clyde_Style]

Gotta be honest, we have not played a complete good game in this post season outside of Game 6 in Boston. Every other game there has been a ton of mess. We consistently look unprepared, lost on defense, no one ever talks to each other, offense is a slog that at times can be unwatchable.

The inconsistent effort from the players, the poor coaching...its a a miracle from God we're even here. But these guys have been mentally resilient and time after time they manage to claw their way out of the hole they've dug themselves.

But I think Game 1 broke us as a team mentally. Seriously. We played with fire all postseason long and the check has finally come due.

This roster lacks chemistry. Thibs is a whole other issue and the club should retire him, but I do not see this group of guys playing in harmony with one another ever really.

That they got this far is due solely to there being several individuals on the team who can and do have great performances that lifts the team to victory. That's a testament to the talent on this roster, but NOT to their ability to play consistently good and fundamentally sound basketball. This is actually a terrible team if you like to watch the game be played well. This is the most unenjoyable basketball team with some level of success imaginable. That's coaching and lack of chemistry at this point.

They could run it back with a new coach and see how it goes, but they may have to make a bold move and blow a hole in the starting lineup with a big trade, because the pieces do not fit well together.

[MrDollarBills]

Another thing that really bothers me is how after 90+ games, Brunson and KAT have zero offensive synergy.

Like if they were destroying opponents to the tune of 75 points or better combined we'd probably be up in this series big. Everything is just grind for points 1 v 1.

I dunno how that gets fixed.

[KnixinSix]

The trio of McBride, Wright and Shamet were a +8 in Game 3.

That 3-man lineup didn't play a second together in Game 4.

///

The trio of Robinson, Shamet and Hart were a team-high +12 in Game 3.

That 3-man lineup didn't play a second together in Game 4.

All KAT/Brunson combinations are a like -60 over the series. Thibs did not stagger their minutes NEARLY enough.

[KnixinSix]

Another thing that really bothers me is how after 90+ games, Brunson and KAT have zero offensive synergy.

Like if they were destroying opponents to the tune of 75 points or better combined we'd probably be up in this series big. Everything is just grind for points 1 v 1.

I dunno how that gets fixed.

Better coaching

[Clyde_Style]

Another thing that really bothers me is how after 90+ games, Brunson and KAT have zero offensive synergy.

Like if they were destroying opponents to the tune of 75 points or better combined we'd probably be up in this series big. Everything is just grind for points 1 v 1.

I dunno how that gets fixed.

They are uniquely suited to complement each other on offense quite well actually.

It is an indictment against them that they haven't figured it out. That mostly falls on Brunson as the floor general though.

The ultimate blame belongs to Thibs. Brunson can do those things if it was mandated.

[Context]

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