Briggs delivers the kiss of death!
we should all worry Brunson goes in a slump now. 
BigDaddyG wrote:Nalod wrote:Knixkik wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
I still think grimes will fill that role and solve a lot of those issues.
In theory, but then who is Brunson guarding still? If he is a liability on Defense other teams can and will counter.
They'll just have to float him around to whatever player poses the lesser threat on offense. It's done all the time. We saw it two years ago when the Hawks stuck Trade on Bullock. The good thing is that JB still gives the effort and physicality. The coaches will have to figure out schemes to lessen JBs defensive weaknesses.
Exactly right. Most teams will have a player that Brunson can reasonably guard that’s primarily off the ball. Brunson is strong enough where an off-ball wing won’t be able to post him up. And with Robinson lurking there wouldn’t be much of that anyway. Grimes will likely guard the best playmaker when healthy.
BigDaddyG wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
To be fair, DSJ has been playing well so far. You can argue he played better the game before against Atlanta. But I agree,it'd be nice if we could handcuff JB with a decent 3&D guard. If only we had one 🤔
DSJ is on his best behavior right now trying to salvage his career. If he ever came back here he’d revert back to being a dud. He’s not built for NY
I just wanted to say it is refreshing to see an actual point guard running the team. A point guard that has the IQ to distribute, slow down/speed up tempo and to take over in the game. Rose is a good backup but I think Brunson was money well spent.
Knixkik wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:Nalod wrote:Knixkik wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
I still think grimes will fill that role and solve a lot of those issues.
In theory, but then who is Brunson guarding still? If he is a liability on Defense other teams can and will counter.
They'll just have to float him around to whatever player poses the lesser threat on offense. It's done all the time. We saw it two years ago when the Hawks stuck Trade on Bullock. The good thing is that JB still gives the effort and physicality. The coaches will have to figure out schemes to lessen JBs defensive weaknesses.
Exactly right. Most teams will have a player that Brunson can reasonably guard that’s primarily off the ball. Brunson is strong enough where an off-ball wing won’t be able to post him up. And with Robinson lurking there wouldn’t be much of that anyway. Grimes will likely guard the best playmaker when healthy.
Agree with everybody just want to add a glimpse of optimism. Post up players are slowly becoming extinct. Everybody wants to be a face up player which helps guys like JB who might be small but his lower body or base is strong. So ombre(sp?) for example doesn’t have a post up game, so JB could’ve guarded him (in stretches) and Grimes could’ve switched on the hot player which was DSJ.
If EF was guarding him and didn’t foul out, I believe it’s easier to over power EF in the post vs JB in the post.
Shoutout to Cam for stepping in and playing his role when EF foul out.
BigDaddyG wrote:Nalod wrote:Knixkik wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
I still think grimes will fill that role and solve a lot of those issues.
In theory, but then who is Brunson guarding still? If he is a liability on Defense other teams can and will counter.
They'll just have to float him around to whatever player poses the lesser threat on offense. It's done all the time. We saw it two years ago when the Hawks stuck Trade on Bullock. The good thing is that JB still gives the effort and physicality. The coaches will have to figure out schemes to lessen JBs defensive weaknesses.
exactly. He plays really hard so while he's got some shortcomings guarding players he's a guy who will get steals, deflections, make good switches, fight over/through screens. Brunson is NOT a 4/5 defense... I wouldnt say he's a good defensive player but I would say he can surely be a part of a top notch defense.
fishmike wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:Nalod wrote:Knixkik wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
I still think grimes will fill that role and solve a lot of those issues.
In theory, but then who is Brunson guarding still? If he is a liability on Defense other teams can and will counter.
They'll just have to float him around to whatever player poses the lesser threat on offense. It's done all the time. We saw it two years ago when the Hawks stuck Trade on Bullock. The good thing is that JB still gives the effort and physicality. The coaches will have to figure out schemes to lessen JBs defensive weaknesses.
exactly. He plays really hard so while he's got some shortcomings guarding players he's a guy who will get steals, deflections, make good switches, fight over/through screens. Brunson is NOT a 4/5 defense... I wouldnt say he's a good defensive player but I would say he can surely be a part of a top notch defense.
He does a good job working hard and creating offensive fouls.
fishmike wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:Nalod wrote:Knixkik wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
I still think grimes will fill that role and solve a lot of those issues.
In theory, but then who is Brunson guarding still? If he is a liability on Defense other teams can and will counter.
They'll just have to float him around to whatever player poses the lesser threat on offense. It's done all the time. We saw it two years ago when the Hawks stuck Trade on Bullock. The good thing is that JB still gives the effort and physicality. The coaches will have to figure out schemes to lessen JBs defensive weaknesses.
exactly. He plays really hard so while he's got some shortcomings guarding players he's a guy who will get steals, deflections, make good switches, fight over/through screens. Brunson is NOT a 4/5 defense... I wouldnt say he's a good defensive player but I would say he can surely be a part of a top notch defense.
Here's the thing - I genuinely believe that Thibs can increase a player's defensive abilities through both improved fundamentals and defensive schemes. I think defense is a team responsibility more than a player responsibility - like an umbrella. Only need one hole for the umbrella to stop working.
Brunson is a student of the game. A skill player with a focus on offense. He can't lob a floater of a guy with an 7'8 foot wingspan and he probably will have trouble defending a 3 pointer from a 7 foot player. So, aside from ball denial, he probably should not be matched up with Bol Bol.
I think he has good defensive fundamentals though. As Clyde said last night, you defend with your feet, not with your hands. I think he has the footwork to stay in front of his man. He fights over screens. And he plays with tenacity.
He probably doesn't get as many steals per minute as Quickley with his length -- and he is not exactly clogging the passing lanes, but fundamentally, Brunson has a huge basketball intelligence. I would expect him to be in the right place at the right time as much as possible - as the scheme requires. I would expect him to fight over screens as required by the defensive scheme and to rotate properly. Compare this to Fournier who tends to get lost watching the play unravel and loses track of his guy, Brunson tends to rotate better and close weakside gaps a bit better (small sample set). He won't deceive folks with his long hands to interrupt the passing lane the way IQ does, but he will be positioned better to cover his man more often than not.
I think we should be talking about Fournier's defense and not Brunson's. I need Fournier to be more presently aware of the game on defense. I can see BBRRR coming to a theater near us soon as Reddish's defense has been pretty solid.
I said it the night he signed here and I’ll say it again. We stole brunson. I still can’t believe we got him that easily, but that’s probably more because the Knicks made the PG position look like a mythological figure for decades. That was the real unicorn. And we didn’t have it until now.
doomed wrote:I said it the night he signed here and I’ll say it again. We stole brunson. I still can’t believe we got him that easily, but that’s probably more because the Knicks made the PG position look like a mythological figure for decades. That was the real unicorn. And we didn’t have it until now.
I honestly thought the Mavs might trade him to the Knicks at the deadline to get back their first round pick for more flexibility plus a young guy. Either quickley or Toppin. Obviously glad it didn’t happen.
He did not look max last night. Bucks size cut all our guys down to size last night.
Nalod wrote:He did not look max last night. Bucks size cut all our guys down to size last night.
Holiday is probably the best defensive PG in the league, including Marcus Smart. Brunson could not deal with him and the length and athleticism of the Bucks big men, but a lot of other PGs cannot handle that either. Both Brunson and the Knicks will learn and play better next time. I am not worried other than why RJ cannot hit a 3pt shot.
TheGame wrote:Nalod wrote:He did not look max last night. Bucks size cut all our guys down to size last night.
Holiday is probably the best defensive PG in the league, including Marcus Smart. Brunson could not deal with him and the length and athleticism of the Bucks big men, but a lot of other PGs cannot handle that either. Both Brunson and the Knicks will learn and play better next time. I am not worried other than why RJ cannot hit a 3pt shot.
Im not worried about RJ. It will come. Its not a knock on Brunson. He has been great. Its early,. new team and new role for him in the NBA.
Nalod wrote:TheGame wrote:Nalod wrote:He did not look max last night. Bucks size cut all our guys down to size last night.
Holiday is probably the best defensive PG in the league, including Marcus Smart. Brunson could not deal with him and the length and athleticism of the Bucks big men, but a lot of other PGs cannot handle that either. Both Brunson and the Knicks will learn and play better next time. I am not worried other than why RJ cannot hit a 3pt shot.
Im not worried about RJ. It will come. Its not a knock on Brunson. He has been great. Its early,. new team and new role for him in the NBA.
How many more years do we have to start the season this way?
martin wrote:Nalod wrote:TheGame wrote:Nalod wrote:He did not look max last night. Bucks size cut all our guys down to size last night.
Holiday is probably the best defensive PG in the league, including Marcus Smart. Brunson could not deal with him and the length and athleticism of the Bucks big men, but a lot of other PGs cannot handle that either. Both Brunson and the Knicks will learn and play better next time. I am not worried other than why RJ cannot hit a 3pt shot.
Im not worried about RJ. It will come. Its not a knock on Brunson. He has been great. Its early,. new team and new role for him in the NBA.
How many more years do we have to start the season this way?
4? Last year he was a bit down with virus?
Year before he was a teen.
How long? As long as it takes! LOL
Panos wrote:panos (from Game Thread) wrote:I'm not as thrilled with Brunson leading the charge as some here. I expected him to be a better distributor and get more people involved. I don't see that. I just see a guy that is so herky jerky in his movements (which makes him an effective scorer) but which also may make him unable to see the court, or for his teammates to know where to be or what to expect. I'm sorry to say, I'm not a big fan so far.
he's missed too many open 3s. The team has not shot well. IQ/Randle/Fournier/RJ are all sporting really turdy FG%s. The eye test fail on Brunson is longer athletic guys take him out of his game (there's a reason Bucks gave up so much for Holiday) and so far he's missed too many open looks. Could have won us the Memphis game. Had a few others that were tough... its happens.
Brunson is really good. He's a good next step in personnel. He's got another step to take before hitting that Lowry zone but if he stays healthy its possible. He's got an impressive IQ and skill set.
