I just don’t understand how a team can come out so flat knowing that their second best player and best rebounder will be out, they are playing in front of a delirious home crowd and are playing in front of legends from the past. It’s just so disappointing.
And the Sims experiment is over. He should not play except in extreme cases. Precious is 10x the player and Huk needs to be developed because he will be 2x the player. Keep Sims on the bench.
Finally, Jalen has been targeted many times this season and Thibs has not found a way to neutralize this strategy.
If he doesn’t, or if the Knicks don’t acquire players to help (or have the big man come back healthy) it is going to be one reason we exit the playoffs way too early.
No matter how you slice it, this was a very disappointing loss. And tonight will not be a cakewalk. Toronto has been playing very well of late, RJ will be up for the game, and Toronto fans always get up to defeat the Knicks.
The Knicks need to be ready from the opening tip. I’d hate to play Atlanta in the do-or-die tournament game coming off two losses to inferior teams.
The JB point is an important one, but a lot of it falls on Jalen himself. We've seen him offer more resistance. Granted, he's not 100%, but it's a 2-way street.
In my opinion, regarding that last clip where you said you couldn’t figure out how to stop it:
Im obviously not in Thibs’ huddles so idk what the coverage was supposed to be, but it seems to me Josh Hart was useless on this possession. OG is getting back into the play and Huk is hedging (maybe too far) - Brunson seems to want to rotate to the roller but can’t bc he needs to guard the corner shooter. That has to be Hart’s job. If he stays home and guards both guys, Brunson can commit to the roller and at least get in the way. He might get posterized, but it is what it is.
I was way too disgusted by this game overall. It’s December. It probably doesn’t matter. But it should’ve been an automatic win no matter who played and wasn’t solely bc the team came out with no fire or focus. That to me is inexcusable. And yet, all that matters is they’re playing their best ball come spring, and nights like these will (hopefully) teach them some lessons and help them grow as a unit.
You are right Mike but I keep thinking about playoff positioning + the teams that succeed in the post season generally are successful in the regular season. The Sixers learned that hard lesson last season.
A thought I've had this year is how silly - and absolutely unyielding - NBA narratives are. All that matters is exceeding perceived expectations. If you can do that, you'll be the apple of everyone's eye.
Listen to any NBA podcast and you'd think the Hawks have a better record than the Knicks. They're 13-12.
In the grand scheme of things, this team has been mostly good. Not sure where they'll end up but losing to the Pistons - who are already sub-.500 darlings themselves - is not the end of the world.
Sims has a bad few minutes and he's already out of the rotation... nuts. Dude has been playing great for like 10 games straight. I get he does not have the pedigree but the super short leash was not as necessary as Thibs made it out to be IMO.
Fizdale catching a stray early Monday morning. LOL.
Fizdale deserves all the strays for his amusement when the team would be down 30+ like the one photo we always see.
Is there ever a bad time for that?
I just don’t understand how a team can come out so flat knowing that their second best player and best rebounder will be out, they are playing in front of a delirious home crowd and are playing in front of legends from the past. It’s just so disappointing.
And the Sims experiment is over. He should not play except in extreme cases. Precious is 10x the player and Huk needs to be developed because he will be 2x the player. Keep Sims on the bench.
Finally, Jalen has been targeted many times this season and Thibs has not found a way to neutralize this strategy.
If he doesn’t, or if the Knicks don’t acquire players to help (or have the big man come back healthy) it is going to be one reason we exit the playoffs way too early.
No matter how you slice it, this was a very disappointing loss. And tonight will not be a cakewalk. Toronto has been playing very well of late, RJ will be up for the game, and Toronto fans always get up to defeat the Knicks.
The Knicks need to be ready from the opening tip. I’d hate to play Atlanta in the do-or-die tournament game coming off two losses to inferior teams.
Toronto used to be one of our houses of horror (Utah still is). This will be a tough one
The JB point is an important one, but a lot of it falls on Jalen himself. We've seen him offer more resistance. Granted, he's not 100%, but it's a 2-way street.
In my opinion, regarding that last clip where you said you couldn’t figure out how to stop it:
Im obviously not in Thibs’ huddles so idk what the coverage was supposed to be, but it seems to me Josh Hart was useless on this possession. OG is getting back into the play and Huk is hedging (maybe too far) - Brunson seems to want to rotate to the roller but can’t bc he needs to guard the corner shooter. That has to be Hart’s job. If he stays home and guards both guys, Brunson can commit to the roller and at least get in the way. He might get posterized, but it is what it is.
I was way too disgusted by this game overall. It’s December. It probably doesn’t matter. But it should’ve been an automatic win no matter who played and wasn’t solely bc the team came out with no fire or focus. That to me is inexcusable. And yet, all that matters is they’re playing their best ball come spring, and nights like these will (hopefully) teach them some lessons and help them grow as a unit.
That's as good a guess as any Mike.
You are right Mike but I keep thinking about playoff positioning + the teams that succeed in the post season generally are successful in the regular season. The Sixers learned that hard lesson last season.
A thought I've had this year is how silly - and absolutely unyielding - NBA narratives are. All that matters is exceeding perceived expectations. If you can do that, you'll be the apple of everyone's eye.
Listen to any NBA podcast and you'd think the Hawks have a better record than the Knicks. They're 13-12.
In the grand scheme of things, this team has been mostly good. Not sure where they'll end up but losing to the Pistons - who are already sub-.500 darlings themselves - is not the end of the world.
The decision by the team to honor the Isiah Era Knicks on Homecoming night sure was a strange one.
Jalen was also switching strangely. Hopefully it really is mainly a communication problem.
Him is very raw but seems to have more potential than Sims. Will be some ups and downs but it’s time to move on to Huk.
That means they were a minus-20 in the 18 minutes he sat, which feels right.
I think you mean minus 18 in the 20 minutes he sat. Still impressive
You always catch these Alex. I need to hire you as an editor.
I’ll have you talk to my agent
Sims has a bad few minutes and he's already out of the rotation... nuts. Dude has been playing great for like 10 games straight. I get he does not have the pedigree but the super short leash was not as necessary as Thibs made it out to be IMO.