It's hard to take the Celtics seriously since they have had these clunker games for multiple years and don't seem to fix it.
Never say never, but highly unlikely. I'd prefer the Knicks over the Pacers because the Celtics struggle with pace and that's the Pacers whole thing. Knicks are way too banged up. The Celtics have so much talent they can catch fire and win it all. But they will not win because of coaching and adjustments. Their issues are systemic, they will shoot 40 threes a game regardless of outcome and only make an effort to play D 70 percent of the games.
As much as I love their hustle & Hart (pun intended) I can't see them getting to the Finals at the rate they keep losing players.... hopefully someone does some Mr. Miaggi shit to OG's hammy....
Well Pacers are too dynamic. I think this is it for Knicks but hope they can still make it to Eastern Finals.
Well, Thibs had better start using all of his remaining players. I would also have a small chat with JB and suggest (gently) that he starts passing out of double and triple teams occasionally instead of twisting himself into a pretzel trying to score.
Thibs has been coaching this way for ten plus years as a head coach. He's only going 6 or 7 deep. The Knicks are just too banged up. They matchup well against the Pacers and can still eek out a series win.
He did very similar things with the Derrick Rose Bulls. One scorer and a field of hustle defenders that he just burned the fuck out year after year. The Knicks aren’t very deep and I get all of that but they simply need to figure out ways to steal 3 minutes a quarter to give some of these guys a rest. He refuses to give it a try and a burn out was inevitably incoming whether it was game 4 of the first round or game 7 of the finals.
The players deserve a lot of credit for taking full responsibility for a terrible game (no excuses made). In any event, it's hard to see how a team down four important players, with their star player playing hurt, is going to take a series that was always going to be close. If they do it will really be a very impressive performance.
Looks like the blow-out on sunday may have been a good thing.... and hopefully 2 days of rest continue to help
They sacrificed game 4 to get healthy and that's cool. I don't' think that was actually the intention, but giving the guys a rest during that blowout was huge. Brunson looked like his old self again. I just wish they played a cleaner game on offense. I'm getting a little tired of blowing fast breaks. I love Josh Hart, he plays his ass off, but he has to look to pass more on those. I get that he's a great coast to coast player, but there are times when he's basically going 1 on 3 on a fast break and forcing a bad shot when he's got guys open. The earliest OG can come back is the ECF. I heard the same thing about Porzingis. I don't think the Knicks have a chance against Boston without OG. Hopefully somebody knows voodoo or can't inject some good drugs into that hammy.
What a win! The main problem with NBA BB league-wide as I see it is that over the last 30 years it has turned into a ME game, not a TEAM game. I really hate that shit, so quite honestly I only watch if the Knicks are in the mix. I don't care about any of the other teams, zero interest. I'm a Knicks fan at the end of the day, not a basketball fan in the least across the board. If you look at some of the old games, the team work as compared to today, it's not even close. A prime example of this shitty trend was the epic fail in the 2004 Olympics. Embarrassingly hilarious how much talent the U.S. BB team had and they were 3rd place losers because of ME, ME, ME. Even seeing Lebron James' face on a commercial bores me comatose by default and I change the channel. Anyway, this Knicks team has got a lot more team work going on than I've seen in a long time. I doubt this assessment is ME. Hah. Let's wrap up this surprising puppy. Go Knicks!
Over the past several seasons, the NBA rosters have more closely resembled fantasy league rosters than what it used to be. Player movement at the top levels is so common and random now that I don't think the teams that buy into it are really able to establish a coaching foundation, the players just want to get stoned and have an All Star Game every night. There will still be teams and high profile players that buy into coaching, and the pendulum will swing back when some of those well- coached teams get a run on championships, but only then. I still think Steve Kerr is outstanding though.
The fun part with this Knicks team is that there's not one particular outstanding asshole that demands complete attention. Brunson is a diplomat and if someone screws up, there seems to be trust and the ball gets passed to the screw up. I like that, it's a ripple effect. Basically the Knicks as currently constituted are a gritty lunch pail crew that has gone way beyond expectations. I look at Game 4 as a heal up your wounded game, and the whiners who were crapping on Tom Thibodeau after the Knicks got destoyed are delusional. What I mean is, did anyone expect this?! C'MON, this season is a success regardless of the outcome the rest of the way, and anyone who gripes is crazy. This is a refreshing lockkeroom that plays for their Coach. Not sure if you meant Kerr as a player, you weren't clear, All I know know is, the Knicks are practically the Jets. '72 Knicks, '68 Jets, I'm a little nauseous.CAN SOMEONE JUST PLEASE WIN SOMETHING, ANYTHING.
I'm curious, btw, if Isiah Thomas caused Excoriation Disorder for, I don't know, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. Edit: Autocorrect. Tomas? Fck me.
Mitchell, Lavert and Allen were all game time decisions and none of them played. Usually in playoffs people play in those situations even if not 100%. It did kind of seem like throwing in the towel. There are some people on the Knicks that would play on one leg if they had to.
