Knicks · [Game Thread 4/18/23] Game 2 at Cavs 7:30PM, TNT & MSG (page 1)

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YEAHHHHHHHH baby!!!! I cant wait

God forbit Hart's ankle is balky I would not hesitate to give McBride some run. He can guard any of their guards and hopefully would attack them on offense. I love our depth. I expect Cle to come out with maximum intensity and I expect us to match it. That's the one part about a Thibs team I dont worry about.

Looking for RJ/Grimes/IQ to bounce back and have better games scoring.

I hope they sit Hart and give him 3 more solid days to get his ankle right.

Hart plays such an all out physical game and we want him around here for another 3-4 years —- get him healthy or we will have him limping around at 70-80 % with potential long term ramifications.

Ramp up IQ, Grimes and Deuce minutes.

To win without Hart that would be SPECIAL and we might get some big Deuce minutes.

LivingLegend wrote:I hope they sit Hart and give him 3 more solid days to get his ankle right.

Hart plays such an all out physical game and we want him around here for another 3-4 years —- get him healthy or we will have him limping around at 70-80 % with potential long term ramifications.

Ramp up IQ, Grimes and Deuce minutes.

To win without Hart that would be SPECIAL and we might get some big Deuce minutes.

If Hart says he can go, I am sure Thibs will play - I'd rather keep him on the bench and only use in the final minutes of the game if I needed to.

I'd like to think our depth will be there for us to not need him.

Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Alpha1971 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Didn't RJ go 2-12 from the field in the last game? That's 16.6% shooting%. The best I can say about that is at least he didn't take 13 shots

Rookie wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Didn't RJ go 2-12 from the field in the last game? That's 16.6% shooting%. The best I can say about that is at least he didn't take 13 shots

I remember RJ saying when he drives he know Mitch is there to clean it up. That tells me RJ understands the break down of the defense is very impactful for the team (make or miss). And the fact that he had 6 assists is his true value. What I like about RJ is he can go 2-12 or 12-12, he still attacks downhill. And the way the cavs play help defense, that leaves a lot of open passing lanes for RJ.

Alpha1971 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Thibs pencils in 40 min per game for Randle & Brunson (+/- 2 minutes) but the rest is up for grabs depending on performance!

blkexec wrote:

Rookie wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Didn't RJ go 2-12 from the field in the last game? That's 16.6% shooting%. The best I can say about that is at least he didn't take 13 shots

I remember RJ saying when he drives he know Mitch is there to clean it up. That tells me RJ understands the break down of the defense is very impactful for the team (make or miss). And the fact that he had 6 assists is his true value. What I like about RJ is he can go 2-12 or 12-12, he still attacks downhill. And the way the cavs play help defense, that leaves a lot of open passing lanes for RJ.

RJ's career and season numbers are identical. 2.8 assists and 2.2 turnovers. The last game (6 assists) was an outlier. I wish he were a better player consistently but I cringe when he touches the ball

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First off lets see if Jhart plays and how he is moving.
He shot 16% but guess what, His defense was very good!
He shot 16%, but guess what, the knicks won.
Cringe until he is traded or he elevates his game.
We all cringing, but its part of being a fan. Just don’t know until you do.

Rookie wrote:

blkexec wrote:

Rookie wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Didn't RJ go 2-12 from the field in the last game? That's 16.6% shooting%. The best I can say about that is at least he didn't take 13 shots

I remember RJ saying when he drives he know Mitch is there to clean it up. That tells me RJ understands the break down of the defense is very impactful for the team (make or miss). And the fact that he had 6 assists is his true value. What I like about RJ is he can go 2-12 or 12-12, he still attacks downhill. And the way the cavs play help defense, that leaves a lot of open passing lanes for RJ.

RJ's career and season numbers are identical. 2.8 assists and 2.2 turnovers. The last game (6 assists) was an outlier. I wish he were a better player consistently but I cringe when he touches the ball

cause it's been 4 years and his decision making is still cringe worthy.

He's big and size helps. When he gets it going he's lot to handle. We need some better shooting and and bucket getting. We need to win with depth, not Brunson/Randle having to outplay Cle's stars

fishmike wrote:

Rookie wrote:

blkexec wrote:

Rookie wrote:

Alpha1971 wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:Thibs would play his ailing grandmother in a pre-season game.

I think Hart sits just based on his in game reaction with adrenaline flowing and the doubtful status he has right now.

I just hope Thibs doesn’t ratchet RJ minutes higher for no reason —— add to IQ, Grimes, Obi and Deuce —- don’t give us mor RJ (fools gold). That said - Thibs will give us more RJ

You sound like Thibs making decisions of who should play before the game. Let RJ play more if he deserves it

Didn't RJ go 2-12 from the field in the last game? That's 16.6% shooting%. The best I can say about that is at least he didn't take 13 shots

I remember RJ saying when he drives he know Mitch is there to clean it up. That tells me RJ understands the break down of the defense is very impactful for the team (make or miss). And the fact that he had 6 assists is his true value. What I like about RJ is he can go 2-12 or 12-12, he still attacks downhill. And the way the cavs play help defense, that leaves a lot of open passing lanes for RJ.

RJ's career and season numbers are identical. 2.8 assists and 2.2 turnovers. The last game (6 assists) was an outlier. I wish he were a better player consistently but I cringe when he touches the ball

cause it's been 4 years and his decision making is still cringe worthy.

He's big and size helps. When he gets it going he's lot to handle. We need some better shooting and and bucket getting. We need to win with depth, not Brunson/Randle having to outplay Cle's stars

THats how we won game one? Our bench destroyed Clev while they had to play Mobley and Allen 40plus min each.

I think this game will be very different from game 1. Some predictions:
* Brunson will not get into foul trouble...
* The Cavs will do what they can to keep the ball out of Brunson's hands - he'll see a lot of Osman and long defenders.
* This will be the Quickley game - his ability to take over as lead guard will be critical to victory.
* The Knicks will need to get RJ or Grimes going
* If Hart is struggling physically, McBride will be a welcome change of pace vs Mitchell and especially Garland.

I kind of think the Brunson foul trouble this past game really threw both teams off their game plans. Quickley played as the solo PG (which may have undermined his game). The Knicks are used to playing a lot of isolation and are comfortable winning ugly. Without Brunson, our defense doesn't have any notable weaknesses to exploit and this may have disrupted the Cavs more than it did us.

BTW, Josh Hart has been upgraded to questionable (50/50) as of late this morning. I think he'll play.

Hope Randle took his tranquilizers cause I bet Cleveland tries to bait him.

Hart is such a gamer that he would play through this even if not advisable. I just hope he doesn't play and get re-injured. That said he is pretty crucial to have against Mitchell - if we don't have him we need to see Grimes/Quickley really step up.

SergioNYK wrote:Hope Randle took his tranquilizers cause I bet Cleveland tries to bait him.

Easiest way to beat the Knicks - make him lose his cool. His control has been way better, but he gave a few of those frustration fouls (If he feels like he didn't draw a whistle, he often follows up with a loose ball foul out of frustration. Can't be giving up too many free points.

Knicks have to watch the traps. They forced turnovers down the stretch from us when they needed it. Our spacing was bad and it made it easier to trap us or have us run into our own guys.

Cavs are a great defensive team, but I expect the Knicks to have a better game offensively. Big believer in Quickly and Grimes bouncing back.

Should be another battle tonight!

VDesai wrote:

SergioNYK wrote:Hope Randle took his tranquilizers cause I bet Cleveland tries to bait him.

Easiest way to beat the Knicks - make him lose his cool. His control has been way better, but he gave a few of those frustration fouls (If he feels like he didn't draw a whistle, he often follows up with a loose ball foul out of frustration. Can't be giving up too many free points.

Knicks have to watch the traps. They forced turnovers down the stretch from us when they needed it. Our spacing was bad and it made it easier to trap us or have us run into our own guys.

Cavs are a great defensive team, but I expect the Knicks to have a better game offensively. Big believer in Quickly and Grimes bouncing back.

Should be another battle tonight!

Randle and RJ will take a ton of bad shots. It will be interesting to see how the try to force the ball out of Brunson's hands. That being said every team knows this

VDesai wrote:

SergioNYK wrote:Hope Randle took his tranquilizers cause I bet Cleveland tries to bait him.

Easiest way to beat the Knicks - make him lose his cool. His control has been way better, but he gave a few of those frustration fouls (If he feels like he didn't draw a whistle, he often follows up with a loose ball foul out of frustration. Can't be giving up too many free points.

Knicks have to watch the traps. They forced turnovers down the stretch from us when they needed it. Our spacing was bad and it made it easier to trap us or have us run into our own guys.

Cavs are a great defensive team, but I expect the Knicks to have a better game offensively. Big believer in Quickly and Grimes bouncing back.

Should be another battle tonight!

I wouldn't be surprised if the refs take the physicality out of the game. The refs tried to give game 1 to the Cavs but they just couldn't match us physically. Okoro had a couple of dangerous plays. He trailed Obi on a leak out and hit Obi's foot while he was coming down from the dunk causing Obi to fall out of control into the backstop. Okra then ran to the other side of the court and obliterated Brunson. I was pretty happy when Randle smashed his face and it was a basketball move and not a flagrant

There was also the Mitchell dive out of bounds to save the ball. Great play but the ball hit out of bounds on the throw in and should have been Knicks ball. The Mitchell shove on Randle was obviously a tech and not called. IQ was getting manhandled with no calls and yet Cavs were getting some contact fouls where the Knicks get none. Putting Brunson in would trouble was total BS, Garland was doing much more obvious holding and no calls.

Anyway, I wouldn't be shocked to see the refs put Randle in foul trouble tonight....and I mean for offensive fouls.