G6: Knicks at Pacers

[ducler]

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[Topofthekey]

This is the kind of game that a team loses due to complacency

Let's hope that doesn't happen to Pacers here

[boomershadow]

There's surely gonna be a bit of a learning curve as the players learn and get comfortable with the kind of sets Bjorkgren wants the team running.

[Topofthekey]

Knew it. Had a feeling they were going to lose this game

[Pacersike]

The worst part about Brogdon getting the ball stolen on a bad pass, giving another bad pass that Victor has to chase on our half of the court, getting his shot blocked on the perimeter, all in the final 2 minutes, is him saying things like: "That's the difference in the game. Their bigs."

Both our headcoach and point guard thinking we are still allowed to make a play after a clear backcourt violation, doesn't exactly scream great clutchness decision making.

Sure, we need better bigs but if better decisions are being made in the final minutes, we can win this game. We also need a better ballhandler.

[Topofthekey]

Going into the game with a 4-1 record, up against a team they had already beaten, coming off a blowout win in their last game, I just had a feeling that they were going to get complacent and expect an easy W without having to try too hard

I'm not sure complacency was the root problem here, there were stretches where the team seemed to be on autopilot

It's the NBA, there are no free wins

[Scoot McGroot]

Over his last 4 games, when rounded, Sabonis has played 41, 37, 37, and 39 minutes each game. Brogdon has played 36, 35, 37, and 41 minutes each game. Have to assume that a bit of exhaustion this early in the season sets in late in games.

For all the talk of Bjorkgren pre-season being that he’d rotate guys and rotations and starting lineups, he’s leaned real heavy on his starters and a smaller rotation. This year, we’ve played 9 players “rotation minutes”, while last year, we played 12 guys “rotation minutes”. Granted, super small sample sizes, and injury concerns and whatnot, but still. I’d like to see him start getting minutes to some of the other guys like Sumner, Sampson, Martin, etc, for short runs in the middle of the game, and save some energy for the starters to finish strong at closing time.

[boomershadow]

They kinda just coughed that one up there at the end lol.

The problem with the team in the last few years is that they just did the same stuff over and over and over again, so often that they had it pretty well refined, but also so often that the opposing defenses knew what was coming. They got real sloppy to close the game out yesterday and it definitely caused the L, but I like that they were still trying to move to the ball and run the new offense. Sharpness in the execution will almost surely get better as the team gets more reps playing this way.

[Topofthekey]

Over his last 4 games, when rounded, Sabonis has played 41, 37, 37, and 39 minutes each game. Brogdon has played 36, 35, 37, and 41 minutes each game. Have to assume that a bit of exhaustion this early in the season sets in late in games.

For all the talk of Bjorkgren pre-season being that he’d rotate guys and rotations and starting lineups, he’s leaned real heavy on his starters and a smaller rotation. This year, we’ve played 9 players “rotation minutes”, while last year, we played 12 guys “rotation minutes”. Granted, super small sample sizes, and injury concerns and whatnot, but still. I’d like to see him start getting minutes to some of the other guys like Sumner, Sampson, Martin, etc, for short runs in the middle of the game, and save some energy for the starters to finish strong at closing time.

Yes, I was just thinking about that

Only 8 players saw real minutes this game

Maybe it was Bjorkgren trying to keep his win streak alive

You know, a bit like when you first got a shiny new car, you're extra careful with it, trying to keep it as pristine as you can for as long as possible, but once you've gotten your first scratch or dent on it, you no longer worry about that

Let's hope that now that he has gotten his first career loss, the team will start playing guys like Sumner and Stanley more

[Topofthekey]

They kinda just coughed that one up there at the end lol.

The problem with the team in the last few years is that they just did the same stuff over and over and over again, so often that they had it pretty well refined, but also so often that the opposing defenses knew what was coming. They got real sloppy to close the game out yesterday and it definitely caused the L, but I like that they were still trying to move to the ball and run the new offense. Sharpness in the execution will almost surely get better as the team gets more reps playing this way.

The Knicks basically swarmed Domas everytime he touched the ball near the basket

Normally, you'd punish them for doing that by making them pay elsewhere, but Vic, Aaron, Myles, and Doug were a combined 7 for 42 from 3pt range

That's a yikes

Their plan was to basically neutralize Domas and dare the Pacers to shoot, but other than Brogdon and Justin, no one was hitting their shots

Just hitting 2 more of the 42 3pt attempts would have given the team the W

The silver lining is, they can't be shooting this badly the entire season, the shots will start going in at some point

Yes, they'll surely get sharper in their execution too as they get more time to gel, so that's also another silver lining

[basketballwacko2]

I watched this game and was disgusted by the performance. 2 and 1/2 hours of my life wasted.