3toheadmelo wrote:kNicksGmen wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:Context matters. The Pistons were legitimately good. We absolutely deserved to win the Celtics series. The Pacers were on their way to winning the chip until Hali tore his Achilles. We were definitely contenders and this is coming from someone who wasn’t high on the team for majority of the year. Results are what matters. I don’t care about any other fan fiction.
ehhh disagree about the pistons specifically. They didn't really play well at all most of the series. Knicks were pretty awful most of the games but pulled out wins down the stretch with Kat/Brunson heroics (and game 1 Cam Payne lol).
I don't disagree the about the knicks "deserving" to win the celtics series - but that doesn't change the fact of how flukey/unlikely winning the 1st 2 games on the road was after being down 20 in both. Knicks were blown out of the building at home in game 3 and blown out on the road in game 5 (with no tatum). Sure they deserved to win, but they were not nearly as good as boston. Going into the year I always said they can beat Boston if they get luck with shooting variance or injuries - they got both (not just referring to tatum, but also the knicks being COMPLETELY HEALTHY WHICH WAS A MIRACLE).
Pacers series, outside of the 1st 3 1/2 quarters of game one they were pretty thoroughly outplayed despite Turner missing all his wide open 3s.
Pacers definitely had some special magic last year and results do matter - but like I said so does context. Nothing I said is "fan fiction". They were going to get smoked by any number of teams that came out of the west if they managed to get there. You can call that "fan fiction". OKC would have slaughtered them in 5.
I don’t play what if games. You’re going on a fan fiction rant when the reality is that we got to the ECF. Losing to the pacers who were literally about to win the chip is nothing to be shamed about.
Being completely healthy wasn’t a “miracle”. You’re forgetting that we just hired Casey Smith who’s considered to be one of the best trainers in the league. He did what he was supposed to do.
Nonsense. I never said it was something to be ashamed about - but rather it wasn't sustainable or repeatable. Meaning if the knicks stuck with Thibs, and the East remained the same (Tatum and Hali didn't get hurt) - the knicks are not favorites to get back to the ECF or to make the Finals. They would be at best ranked 4th in the conference.
Being as healthy as they were was absolutely a miracle. Comparing what the pacers did against OKC to what the knicks could have done is just as much "fan fiction" as my assumption OKC would have clamped us. Matchups matter. The pacers ridiculous offense (and underrated defense) is what kept them in that series - along with more of their black magic late in games. The only reason the knicks were/are such favorites to make it to the finals this season is due to Tatum and Hali injuries.
It's simple and I'll repeat it again. Results matter, but so does context. The knicks playoff success last season was not indicative of a realistic, repeatable success going forward. Regardless of the coach. You're already trying to paint a false narrative that "if the knicks just kept Thibs they would do just as good as last season or better" - which is what you like to call "fan fiction" or "what ifs"