mrmovies779
The Greatest Teacher,Failure is.
- Feb 5, 2013
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OT: NBA & Basketball - 2023-24 Season
- Thread starter sbjnyc
- Start date
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
Yeah, Sabonis Sr is the only guy I can think of who was a true Center and could run his team like a PG, but the NBA never got that version of him.
JimmyG89
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- May 1, 2010
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The ECF really does tell me the Knicks aren't that far off. Brunson is a top 5 player in the East.
Giannis, Embiid, Butler, Tatum, and Brunson. These guys are all #1 players on teams.
Find shooting and find someone that can create offense and I think you're going to see a team that will be right there in the end.
The only thing that could hold them back is Thibs. Has no idea how to run an offense.
Giannis, Embiid, Butler, Tatum, and Brunson. These guys are all #1 players on teams.
Find shooting and find someone that can create offense and I think you're going to see a team that will be right there in the end.
The only thing that could hold them back is Thibs. Has no idea how to run an offense.
East Coast Bias
Registered User
Gotta move on from Randle IMO. He just can’t adapt. He’s a good start, bad team guy.
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
...I mean he seemed to be adapting pretty great until he rushed back from a 4-6 week injury after just 2.
Julius could just be a playoff choker, but we don't know that yet and his presence did pull Bam away from the rim even if he had two crap games against miami versus just three good ones.
The same way having to deal with Julius kept Mobley from helping on Brunson & Barrett in the Cleveland series.
JimmyG89
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- May 1, 2010
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I think that is part of it, but one of the reasons why I do think Thibs will hold them back at times is because he overplays them way too much in the regular season. You can't have guys log that many minutes without some sort of rest.
I'm not saying I don't appreciate that someone like Randle, Barrett, or Brunson play every game they possibly can, but at the same time you need to save these guys from themselves at points of the season to prepare for a postseason.
With 5 games left when Randle got hurt, the Knicks were far enough behind the Cavs and were 2.5 games up on the Nets. Maybe the plan was for Randle and others to sit when it was official that they were the 5 seed, but I've seen enough from Thibs to know that was probably not the case.
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
I can't even blame Thibs too badly for that. Randle was 19th in the NBA for minutes and Brunson was around 28th; the only knicks in the top 50. We utilized / leaned-on our bench more in the regular season than any other team who won a round.
Plus Julius is such a rhythm / streaky shooter that I don't think sitting him before the playoffs much would've been a good idea. Maybe we could've gotten away with riding Obi more and that would've avoided it, but that's hindsight talking.
Some things are just up to the sporting gods and we just happened to draw the short straw at the worst possible time for this run. But in the end that may not be the worst thing in the world.
Our kids got valuable experience, Brunson got to prove himself again, Julius will have a chip on his shoulder after all of the articles about how he choked again, and Obi having another big game when starting for Julius (on that stage) could help interest in him this summer.
East Coast Bias
Registered User
Beyond the fact that I personally don’t think he’s capable of playing in a fluid offense, he’s got issues that aren’t X’s and O’s
The biggest issues with him are personality traits. He’s lazy and impatient. The minute he doesn’t have it, or things get hard, he crumbles.
I can forgive a lot. there is way too much footage of him just mailing plays in. Giving up on plays. Walking back on defense. That’s the stuff that’s cancerous. You can’t let that stuff go.
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
Again he was part of a pretty fluid offense until injuring his ankle and was hugely efficient in a very fluid offense with the Pels.
To your other point, there are also a ton of plays where Julius busts his ass to double/trap guys on the perimeter, closing out aggressively, battling for offensive boards with multiple guys, etc.
...and a lot of those compilations of Randle's "lazy plays" include a lot of plays where Randle "gets blown by" because he's sticking to his assignment and can't hedge further without conceding the corner 3.
Sure Mitch can help on those plays without it being a problem, but Mitch is a special defender, Mitch's guy is seldom a dangerous 3pt shooter, and we can afford Mitch picking up fouls on the defensive end a lot more than we can Julius or Jalen.
Speaking of whom, compare Julius to Brunson. Brunson is just as "lazy" against the Ball and he doesn't make anywhere near the defensive impact that Julius does; whether when they're dialed in or in general.
But nobody complains about Brunson pacing himself and being selective with what fouls to take because we typically accept that from guys who carry that kind of offensive burden.
...despite the team having a much better kid sitting behind Brunson than we do sitting behind Randle.
And our coach is Thibs, can you imagine an NBA coach less likely to just let that kind of s*** go if it was as cancerous as you're implying? This is the guy who brought Jimmy in to try and bully KAT/Wiggins into busting their asses.
That guy is in love with Randle despite Julius being as lazy as people try to make him out to be? I find that to be a hard sell.
Last edited:
n8
WAAAAAAA!!!
RangerBlues
Registered User
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
CHI: Jonathan Kuminga
GSW: Obadiah Toppin + 1 of DAL/MIL/DET FRP
NYK: Patrick Williams
Let's go
RangerBlues
Registered User
mrmovies779
The Greatest Teacher,Failure is.
- Feb 5, 2013
- 7,502
- 7,497
I don't like the Toppin trade,but he was never going to get the minutes here with Randle here.Signing DiVincenzo is meh for me
17futurecap
Registered User
RangerBlues
Registered User
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
I was hoping we'd target someone bigger who could cover the 3 & 4, but I've liked DDV so far this preseason. Feels like he'll fit right in.
Also would be cool if RJ's FT shooting and finishing were this improved in the regular season, cause boy does the kid know how to get to the line/rim.
Also would be cool if RJ's FT shooting and finishing were this improved in the regular season, cause boy does the kid know how to get to the line/rim.
17futurecap
Registered User
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
I'm still bummed we didn't get a full series of Knicks-Celtics last spring, those games are always wild.
Anyways we almost beat one of the East top two with our top two shooting like butt. The kids did well and we got good looks, but with Brunson & Randle both fighting it last night we can't exactly be surprised we couldn't snag the W.
DDV missed all 4 of his shots but I liked his game otherwise, his smarts & tenacity should fit right in and the playmaking / spacing upgrade he is to that 2nd unit over Toppin helped IQ go off like he did.
Anyways we almost beat one of the East top two with our top two shooting like butt. The kids did well and we got good looks, but with Brunson & Randle both fighting it last night we can't exactly be surprised we couldn't snag the W.
DDV missed all 4 of his shots but I liked his game otherwise, his smarts & tenacity should fit right in and the playmaking / spacing upgrade he is to that 2nd unit over Toppin helped IQ go off like he did.
17futurecap
Registered User
Panarin's change in hair style obviously improved his game. Can't say the same about Randle's.
East Coast Bias
Registered User
He’s unwatchable.
That was one of the worst shooting I’ve ever seen last night. And not just good defense. The Knicks couldn’t hit 10s of wide open 3s. It was like watching a high school team
17futurecap
Registered User
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
Glad Julius got going, shame Jalen went back to trying to outsuck him though. Barrett is a monster and going to win MIP at this rate, but he can't keep carrying this team without those two at least trying to help him...
Being serious, it's a bummer that our stars have been so awful at putting the ball in the hoop in 6 of our first 7 games, but I've really enjoyed seeing RJ, IQ, and Mitch looking better than ever...and DDV looks like a great fit.
Assuming Randle & Brunson start scoring like we're used to at some point...cause it's not like either one is playing terrible out there, they're just not hitting shots they normally make...this team could take another step.
Being serious, it's a bummer that our stars have been so awful at putting the ball in the hoop in 6 of our first 7 games, but I've really enjoyed seeing RJ, IQ, and Mitch looking better than ever...and DDV looks like a great fit.
Assuming Randle & Brunson start scoring like we're used to at some point...cause it's not like either one is playing terrible out there, they're just not hitting shots they normally make...this team could take another step.
