Don’t give up on that Dallas pick conveying just yet. The league office has a long history of sticking it to Mark Cuban and his big mouth, even before they sent DWade to the FT line 80 times in game 5 of the Finals against Dallas. And we all know the league has a long history with shenanigans surrounding with the drawing of the draft lottery.
I’m not banking on it, but just don’t be surprised if one of the play in losers manage to catapult into the top of the lottery, and for the Dallas pick to fall to 11 and convey, which would be the preferred outcome for the league. It sends the message, we don’t mind if you tank the last week, but try not to make it obvious, and they’d get to send the message on the down low, without any additional headlines.
"When Brunson, Randle and Barrett have been on the court together this season, New York has given up 122.4 points per 100 possessions - in the 6th percentile of all five-man groupings league-wide according to Cleaning the Glass." So the obvious question is why not substitute Hart for Barrett with the 1s?
I know I am biased (I don't see a lot of the good that others see (want to see?) in RJ), but I really don't see what RJ adds when the Randle/Brunson iso machine is in full swing. If anything, his presence is greatly reducing Quentin Grimes touches/shots without replacing those opportunities with an efficient scoring option. And that ignores defense.
Frankly, there is part of me that hates saddling IQ with RJ as a prime option, but there is something to picking your poison in making these decisions.
On most teams, the player at the 3 is the best or amongst the top 3 players on their team. We have the unusual thing where our starting 3 is maybe 6th or 7th ? That said, if RJ is peak RJ we beat Cleveland.
I just hope he makes the kind of leap next year that IQ and Grimes have.
It’s funny that you say it’s unusual that RJ isn’t at the top 3 of the Knicks, and you’re not wrong, when the same is true of Okoro and the Cavs. Is he the 5th best player on that team? 6th?
I think these teams are very evenly matched and I’m afraid that means the team with the better star - Cleveland - and home court advantage is much more likely to win the series
I’m a little confused as to why Dallas thinks the #10 pick in the draft is better than having a clean(er) draft sheet from which to trade? If this pick conveys, the Mavs can then trade their 24, 25, 26, or 27 draft picks. (Obviously not in the same deal, but some combination of that).
If the pick does not convey, they can’t trade their 24 or 25 picks. That cuts a potential star trade from two unprotected firsts to one.
Aren’t they much more likely to be able to trade for a star than they are to draft one with the 10th overall pick?
What I’m saying is if the 2023 pick conveys, the Mavs can trade, for example, their 2024 and 2026 picks (plus whatever players and salary filler) to get a second (or third if Kyrie stays) star.
If it doesn’t convey, they can’t trade their 2024 or 2025 picks because of the protections on the 2024 pick.
I am not sure that the Macs would have done what they did if anyone else had the pick but the Knicks. Cuban completely f'ed up on Brunson (and pretty much every other decision this year) and yet blames everyone else. He is a vindictive little sh*t and I doubt that everything was rational in their decision-making.
Comment #1: Dallas’ very obvious dive this weekend will cost them and it won’t be worth the 10th pick they probably get. Cuban essentially had Luka quit on Slovenia Night. Arguably the most important game of the year for Luka. Secondly, Cuban told Luka and the other players that they are not capable of winning important games.
Comment #2: If RJ averages more than 30 minutes per game in the Cleveland series, the Knicks will lose. Ideally, he will not play more than 25 minutes per game. His lousy shooting (I kept wondering how many 3pt shots RJ would take this weekend before hitting one) and lousy defensive play will be playoff killers for the Knicks. If Grimes, Quickley and Hart average as many, or more minutes per game than RJ, the Knicks will win this round of the playoffs.
We won 3 out of 4 vs. the Cavs. The scores were 121-108 loss, 92-81 win, 105-103 win, 130-116 win. We only had Josh Hart for the last game.
Mitchell is great. But, other than Mitchell and Garland, the Cavs struggle to score. The team scores 112.3 ppg (25th). They win with defense giving up only 106.9 ppg (1st). We score 116.0 ppg (11th) We give up 113.1 ppg (13th place) . I feel like we are a bit better balanced and with the emergence of IQ and Grimes have more scoring options.
Mitchell is certainly capable of averaging 40, but if our guys have regular games, he will have to do that for the Cavs to score enough to win. I like our chances.
If at the start of this campaign I'd been told about all that transpired this season I would have been delirious. Whenever this season ends, it's been a good year. Of course, I want the Knicks to beat Cleveland and march into the next round. But, if they show up, play hard, smart, and make this series into a battle-----I will be happy with any outcome.
Given that Mitchell's the preeminent opposing star, Thibs has to make another Cav's player beat them, right? Maybe, I am selling Garland short, but I am fine with the Knick defenders handling him 1 on 1. We are going to see what Knick defenders can help in the paint and still blitz their guy on the 3 point line. Mitch, I-Hart, and Sims can share in the glory by resolutely defending the key.
Call me old fashioned [in sports fandom I am], but I hate losing when a team's given uncontested threes. This should be fun. It's not wrong or just empty macho posturing to say that playoff basketball separates the men from the boys. Set the picks. Take the charges. Box your men out. Hoop boldly. Don't back down from the challenges presented. Victory is worth the effort.
Question, thought experiment, unnecessarily negative pondering after such a wonderful season - whatever you wanna call it, I have to throw it out there bc I can’t stop thinking about it:
If Brunson gets targeted throughout the series / playoffs in a way that the Knicks cannot cover up or recover from, how - if at all - does it affect the way Leon Rose builds the team moving forward? Does it make RJ a definite goner, in exchange for another wing defender? Does it make re-signing IQ at all costs a necessity? (I think that should be a given regardless.) Is there any universe where, despite an objectively incredible offensive season (not to mention all the intangibles) it makes Brunson movable, especially when considering IQ’s rise and vastly superior defense?
Once the game’s start, I’ll be a better in-the-moment fan, but during this lull I can’t help but think this roster is going to look very different next year, with defense the clear focus.
I'm an RJ guy and I readily admit that he needs to defend better and more consistently. Aside from Randle (also my guy) injury return RJ has to be the x factor. I think it is unrealistic and possibly a negative for him to eliminate 3s from his shot diet but if he can continue to make plays off his drives he can be a similar boost to the offense & team like IHart with his passing.
Don’t give up on that Dallas pick conveying just yet. The league office has a long history of sticking it to Mark Cuban and his big mouth, even before they sent DWade to the FT line 80 times in game 5 of the Finals against Dallas. And we all know the league has a long history with shenanigans surrounding with the drawing of the draft lottery.
I’m not banking on it, but just don’t be surprised if one of the play in losers manage to catapult into the top of the lottery, and for the Dallas pick to fall to 11 and convey, which would be the preferred outcome for the league. It sends the message, we don’t mind if you tank the last week, but try not to make it obvious, and they’d get to send the message on the down low, without any additional headlines.
"When Brunson, Randle and Barrett have been on the court together this season, New York has given up 122.4 points per 100 possessions - in the 6th percentile of all five-man groupings league-wide according to Cleaning the Glass." So the obvious question is why not substitute Hart for Barrett with the 1s?
I know I am biased (I don't see a lot of the good that others see (want to see?) in RJ), but I really don't see what RJ adds when the Randle/Brunson iso machine is in full swing. If anything, his presence is greatly reducing Quentin Grimes touches/shots without replacing those opportunities with an efficient scoring option. And that ignores defense.
Frankly, there is part of me that hates saddling IQ with RJ as a prime option, but there is something to picking your poison in making these decisions.
Right on Peter, right on!
On most teams, the player at the 3 is the best or amongst the top 3 players on their team. We have the unusual thing where our starting 3 is maybe 6th or 7th ? That said, if RJ is peak RJ we beat Cleveland.
I just hope he makes the kind of leap next year that IQ and Grimes have.
It’s funny that you say it’s unusual that RJ isn’t at the top 3 of the Knicks, and you’re not wrong, when the same is true of Okoro and the Cavs. Is he the 5th best player on that team? 6th?
I think these teams are very evenly matched and I’m afraid that means the team with the better star - Cleveland - and home court advantage is much more likely to win the series
I thought about Okoro after, I wrote that. Mitchell is the best player, but I think our depth is better. Fingers crossed!
I’m a little confused as to why Dallas thinks the #10 pick in the draft is better than having a clean(er) draft sheet from which to trade? If this pick conveys, the Mavs can then trade their 24, 25, 26, or 27 draft picks. (Obviously not in the same deal, but some combination of that).
If the pick does not convey, they can’t trade their 24 or 25 picks. That cuts a potential star trade from two unprotected firsts to one.
Aren’t they much more likely to be able to trade for a star than they are to draft one with the 10th overall pick?
What I’m saying is if the 2023 pick conveys, the Mavs can trade, for example, their 2024 and 2026 picks (plus whatever players and salary filler) to get a second (or third if Kyrie stays) star.
If it doesn’t convey, they can’t trade their 2024 or 2025 picks because of the protections on the 2024 pick.
I am not sure that the Macs would have done what they did if anyone else had the pick but the Knicks. Cuban completely f'ed up on Brunson (and pretty much every other decision this year) and yet blames everyone else. He is a vindictive little sh*t and I doubt that everything was rational in their decision-making.
Comment #1: Dallas’ very obvious dive this weekend will cost them and it won’t be worth the 10th pick they probably get. Cuban essentially had Luka quit on Slovenia Night. Arguably the most important game of the year for Luka. Secondly, Cuban told Luka and the other players that they are not capable of winning important games.
Comment #2: If RJ averages more than 30 minutes per game in the Cleveland series, the Knicks will lose. Ideally, he will not play more than 25 minutes per game. His lousy shooting (I kept wondering how many 3pt shots RJ would take this weekend before hitting one) and lousy defensive play will be playoff killers for the Knicks. If Grimes, Quickley and Hart average as many, or more minutes per game than RJ, the Knicks will win this round of the playoffs.
We won 3 out of 4 vs. the Cavs. The scores were 121-108 loss, 92-81 win, 105-103 win, 130-116 win. We only had Josh Hart for the last game.
Mitchell is great. But, other than Mitchell and Garland, the Cavs struggle to score. The team scores 112.3 ppg (25th). They win with defense giving up only 106.9 ppg (1st). We score 116.0 ppg (11th) We give up 113.1 ppg (13th place) . I feel like we are a bit better balanced and with the emergence of IQ and Grimes have more scoring options.
Mitchell is certainly capable of averaging 40, but if our guys have regular games, he will have to do that for the Cavs to score enough to win. I like our chances.
If at the start of this campaign I'd been told about all that transpired this season I would have been delirious. Whenever this season ends, it's been a good year. Of course, I want the Knicks to beat Cleveland and march into the next round. But, if they show up, play hard, smart, and make this series into a battle-----I will be happy with any outcome.
Given that Mitchell's the preeminent opposing star, Thibs has to make another Cav's player beat them, right? Maybe, I am selling Garland short, but I am fine with the Knick defenders handling him 1 on 1. We are going to see what Knick defenders can help in the paint and still blitz their guy on the 3 point line. Mitch, I-Hart, and Sims can share in the glory by resolutely defending the key.
Call me old fashioned [in sports fandom I am], but I hate losing when a team's given uncontested threes. This should be fun. It's not wrong or just empty macho posturing to say that playoff basketball separates the men from the boys. Set the picks. Take the charges. Box your men out. Hoop boldly. Don't back down from the challenges presented. Victory is worth the effort.
Question, thought experiment, unnecessarily negative pondering after such a wonderful season - whatever you wanna call it, I have to throw it out there bc I can’t stop thinking about it:
If Brunson gets targeted throughout the series / playoffs in a way that the Knicks cannot cover up or recover from, how - if at all - does it affect the way Leon Rose builds the team moving forward? Does it make RJ a definite goner, in exchange for another wing defender? Does it make re-signing IQ at all costs a necessity? (I think that should be a given regardless.) Is there any universe where, despite an objectively incredible offensive season (not to mention all the intangibles) it makes Brunson movable, especially when considering IQ’s rise and vastly superior defense?
Once the game’s start, I’ll be a better in-the-moment fan, but during this lull I can’t help but think this roster is going to look very different next year, with defense the clear focus.
I'm an RJ guy and I readily admit that he needs to defend better and more consistently. Aside from Randle (also my guy) injury return RJ has to be the x factor. I think it is unrealistic and possibly a negative for him to eliminate 3s from his shot diet but if he can continue to make plays off his drives he can be a similar boost to the offense & team like IHart with his passing.