Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on April 13, 2025, 06:03:46 AMI just posted on the Rangers yesterday, so I figured I might as well post on the Knicks, who are much more relevant this year.

If I'm being brutally honest, which I try to be as often as possible, I'm disappointed with the Knicks relative to expectations. I had expectations that this team would be borderline championship caliber this year, and they just haven't been close to that. While their record is fine, they have been utterly helpless this year against good teams, unable to win even one game against a top team (in 23-24 they beat the Celts multiple times), and they unloaded the truckload of draft capital they had to bring in Towns and Bridges this year.

Admittedly, for much of the season they weren't all healthy at the same time. But what team is, and also how realistic is it that they'll all be healthy through the playoffs? And even if they are, they have played multiple games in this very recent stretch with everyone in the lineup, and it just hasn't been all that great.

This feels like the culmination of the build, too. I'm not sure what other improvements will be made at this point. This pretty much looks like the group, and they look to be capped at no better than a second round loss this year.

I will leave you with this question: is this year's team better than last year's? If so, what evidence is there of that? If not, how should we feel about that given we blew our wad of trade capital on this team?

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The long storied tradition of fading late in games and on back to backs has followed Thibs wherever he has gone. The higher level of injuries have followed him too.

It's kinda time to get a new coach.

In case someone needed an article to hammer it home even more, here is a pretty good one:


https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44221755/tom-thibodeau-heavy-minute-knicks-again

Quote from: Uncle Mickey on April 13, 2025, 08:32:36 AM.

The long storied tradition of fading late in games and on back to backs has followed Thibs wherever he has gone. The higher level of injuries have followed him too.

It's kinda time to get a new coach.

In case someone needed an article to hammer it home even more, here is a pretty good one:


https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44221755/tom-thibodeau-heavy-minute-knicks-again

Mixed feelings on this. The Knicks have had much more success under Thibs than under any coach since Jeff Van Gundy. That was a long, long time ago. And 13 other head coaches have had the job since Van Gundy before Thibs.

The knocks Thibs gets for overusing his starters sometimes feel a little unfair to me. The Knicks bench is a joke. Is that Thibs' fault or is it the front office's fault? Thibs' job is to win with what he has. And he has absolutely done that in this job. I have no doubt guys like Hart, Brunson, Towns, OG, etc would get less minutes if they had more bench guys who could actually play at a respectable (if not good) level. No other quality team in the NBA is this thin after the starting five. Why is that Thibs' fault?

I am more optimistic than most going forward.  Two things, I think, count.  First, Brunson's injury might have helped because the time off was needed.  He takes a beating more than anyone else and there really is no good PG backup here.  Second, I think Mitchell is a huge depth upgrade and hopefully stays healthy.  Most playoff teams will shorten the bench and I think Thibs uses 7 guys and a 8th only for foul trouble. 

For the last few weeks, it crossed my mind that the Knicks may have tanked to finish 4th which would changed the 2nd round matchup to Cleveland assuming they beat the Dameless Bucks. Even if they werent, the Pacers maybe had the same thought & lost winnable games. 

What a huge fourth quarter tonight! Explosive stuff. KAT was a monster on the glass and defensively.

Epic, epic game. Towns was ridiculous late. Brunson back to back big games on the road too. Both of them. Tremendous stuff.

Really need to end this now on Tuesday night. If they are to have any shot whatsoever of being even competitive against the Celtics, they need some days off. These starters all play so many minutes as they have no bench.

They were lucky to win yesterday. Hart definately fouled Hardaway Jr. on the last shot and after the game it was admitted that refs  made a mistake.

What a win tonight! I'll admit I'm shocked.

Anytime your opponent goes 15 for 60 from three point range you have to win that game. The Celts get so many offensive boards though that they can afford a night like that and still be in the game. The Brunson layup miss at the end of regulation was heartbreaking. I'm so glad he got bailed out because he was one of the main reasons they were even in that position.

OG is probably my favorite Knick. I love his cool demeanor and he just does so much out there on both ends of the floor. He can shoot, he has a great handle for his size, he throws his body around, and he plays big time defense. Just such a good player.

The Knicks only shot 54.8% from the free throw line. That just has to be better if they want to win more games. You can't be that bad there against this team. The Celts won't shoot 25% from three again.

I'm elated about this win. I was hoping to just have one of the two games in Boston be close. To actually win one is huge.

MAGICAL stuff tonight!

Funnily, I actually think the Knicks can play a lot better than they played tonight. Weirdly it was far from their best, despite the result. They were quite sloppy for much of the game.

Obviously, the Celtics are a complete mess right now and can also play much, much better than they have in these two games. That goes without saying. They were awful.

When the Celtics were inbounding the ball down by 1 with 24.2 seconds left in the game, I was really worried. I thought they would milk the clock down to almost zero and end up with Tatum or Brown on the line for two with 1.3 seconds left or something. When Tatum ended up with an uncontested dunk with 18 seconds left, I was actually ok with that. I don't think the Knicks let him score on purpose, but if they did it wasn't the absolute worst idea.

Brunson was very clutch with those two free throws to go back up by one. I can't even imagine that kind of pressure.

As strong a position as the Knicks appear to be in, this is FAR from over. A loss in game three would swing the momentum big time. The Celts have been much better on the road than at home for whatever reason. They can easily win game three. The Knicks would still be in a pretty solid overall position if that happened, but things would feel different.

I'd rather not even mess around with that. Just get up 3-0 on Saturday please.

Great night. I was flicking back and forth between the Yankees and Knicks. Both teams were getting beat, and it looked like it was going to be a downer night. The Yankees escaped a based loaded 10th inning, then hit a walk off sac fly. I flipped it over and the Knicks had come back...luckily, I was taping it and I could watch the comeback (and melt down by the Celtics) and win by one     

This Knicks ride so far, is a bit reminiscent of the Giants 2007 run. Insomuch as we were underdogs against nearly every opponent, we played inspiring defense, and we had a Mr. Clutch handling the ball.

Please let the magic last till the same sweet ending as that magical run!!! 

I've barely watched both series, especially these two games. EVERY time I flipped the channel to them something bad has happened almost immediately, as if on cue. They're tough mentally, and believe. Now The Monster has to roar. Summon the old Garden. The Willis/Clyde Garden. We have never had these effing bastards down 0-2 coming into our den.

The little guy is carrying the team on his little back.

Quote from: Bob In PA on May 08, 2025, 02:55:02 PMThe little guy is carrying the team on his little back.

He's been great no doubt, but I thought last night featured contributions from everyone at different times during the game. Towns was awesome early in the game and kept things close in the early going while others like Brunson and OG were quiet. Then Brunson stepped up later as did Bridges. Hart was also awesome last night and continues to be reminiscent of a 90s Knicks player, the type of guy you want on your team in the playoffs. Mitch had a really strong performance off the bench last night too. Deuce made some plays and brought some pop off the bench. I really thought everyone did something last night.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on May 08, 2025, 05:20:38 PMHe's been great no doubt, but I thought last night featured contributions from everyone at different times during the game. Towns was awesome early in the game and kept things close in the early going while others like Brunson and OG were quiet. Then Brunson stepped up later as did Bridges. Hart was also awesome last night and continues to be reminiscent of a 90s Knicks player, the type of guy you want on your team in the playoffs. Mitch had a really strong performance off the bench last night too. Deuce made some plays and brought some pop off the bench. I really thought everyone did something last night.

True dat...BUT...do you think the Knicks would be where they are at without JB? He's the "little engine that could" - he pulls the train, albeit, some very good pull-trains behind him

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on May 08, 2025, 05:50:05 PMTrue dat...BUT...do you think the Knicks would be where they are at without JB? He's the "little engine that could" - he pulls the train, albeit, some very good pull-trains behind him

Absolutely not. He is phenomenal. Best PG the Knicks have had since the days of Walt Clyde.