Knicks · [Game Thread 4/26/23] Game 5 @ Cavs 7PM, MSG & NBATV (page 17)

LivingLegend @ 4/27/2023 10:04 AM
martin wrote:
Clean wrote:

Mitch is funny.

Mitch is fuckin hilarious

I find Mitch particularly hilarious after 18 boards and 3 blocks.

Jarrett Allen ——- 4 pts and 4 boards.

This had the feeling of Hibbert vs Chandler

LivingLegend @ 4/27/2023 10:09 AM
Clean wrote:

RJ didn’t have Josh Hart in his shorts for entire series but YES RJ was fantastic.

Hard to understand how but his decision making was almost perfect in terms of when he gave it up and when he shot —— and some 3s fell.

LivingLegend @ 4/27/2023 10:10 AM
Nalod wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:Not sure if anyone else was watching the NBA TV feed with Gus Johnson and G Anthony doing the game --- thought they were great and for a change seemed to be favoring the Knicks.

Gus had 2 great lines that made me laugh.

First Obi I think hit a mid-range plus banged in a 3 that lead to immediate Cavs timeout and Gus said Obi Toppin out here looking like John Havlichek.

Next there was a loose ball - Hart dove on the floor, flipped it to Brunson who hit Obi for the break away dunk. Gus goes --- Hart to Brunson to Toppin --- then he kept going Debussure to Bradley to the Pearl to Willis - thought it was funny because Gus seemed to be rooting for Knicks.

So much better than Mark Jax and JVG endless droning on some fake ass outrage. Thank Goodness we got Breen the other day between them.
Gus calls a clean game and Anthony is not to intrusive. Of course the outcome was great!!!!
It matters.
At least we don’t get Reggie and Bill Walton is gone from NBA.
League pass is done for seaosn and thus I don’t get MSG feeds anymore.

Agreed on all!

LivingLegend @ 4/27/2023 10:13 AM
One person really flying under the radar in the happiness of series win.

Thibs - hard to argue what he’s done with this squad and what we are seeing from the young guys.

GustavBahler @ 4/27/2023 10:21 AM
LivingLegend wrote:One person really flying under the radar in the happiness of series win.

Thibs - hard to argue what he’s done with this squad and what we are seeing from the young guys.

Not entirely..

GustavBahler wrote:Thibs pulled out all the stops to win this series. Did things he normally doesnt do to get a W

That combined with his playoff experience makes me optimistic about the next round.

technomaster @ 4/27/2023 10:57 AM
The interview with RJ and Hart at the end of the game was so fascinating visually. RJ towered over Hart - always hanging his head down to be closer to Hart's level. The man plays much bigger than his size - he's like a 6'3" guy who has the presence of a 6'7" bully. Sort like Draymond or Barkley or Zion (ha!).

I'm really thrilled by this team's potential. The Randle injury is a tough break - but he has 4 days to get ready to at it again. He seemed well and in good spirits on the bench as well as the post-game farewells to the Cavs team.

The Cavs team just had an unfortunate bad matchup against the Knicks for a 50+ win team. Allen and Mobley are accustomed to being the tallest/longest/most athletic bigs on the floor. Certainly one of them should have a favorable match up. Yet the Knicks were one of the few teams in the league that has bigger/longer/stronger players that could match their athleticism, so their own version of bullyball was neutralized.

Then there was the back court: The Cavs bought into trading for the 6'1" Mitchell as their SG and had to deal with the consequences (albeit coming from a 44 win, 9th seed team last year!). The Knicks loaded up on athletic wing defenders. On the surface, Quickley had an oddly poor offensive series, but look a little deeper and he devoted the bulk of his energy to defense. His advanced defensive metrics were off the charts and played a big role in neutralizing the Cavs guards, particularly in game 3 onward.

Buying out Kevin Love late in the season ended up being a critical decision for the Cavs and they really paid for it. Instead of having a big man who could score from anywhere and take center defenders out of the paint to the 3pt line, the Knicks always seemed to have a 7 footer in the paint on D. (Love made it to the second round with the Heat, so we'll have a nice opportunity to thank him for sabotaging the franchise that so handsomely rewarded him!)

Anyway, great series win. There were 3 notable players on the Knicks:
* Brunson is a legit #1 option on offense. The Cavs didn't have any good answers. I think putting a taller defender on Brunson tends to put him on an iso mindset and with the effect of disrupting flow of the Knicks offense. Still, it isn't a bad choice to let Brunson do his work - he produces points in those circumstances!

* The redemption arc of RJ is a big deal - usually it gets harder for players the longer a series goes on as opponents figure them out. But instead, it looks like RJ figured out his defenders and found a way to get stronger as the series went on. That's not to diminish his contributions in the first two games - he had big steals and assists early on, plus was part of the gang of defenders keeping Mitchell and Garland at bay. He did his part making things difficult for two smaller, quicker players. RJ may not get enough credit for his contributions. The biggest thing to note was that he gave the team what they needed when they needed it.

* Mitch really dominated late in the series. It's almost like a switch went off and he realized what a physical advantage he had over his opponents, so long as the refs don't call tick tack fouls early! He dominated on D and rebounds. We've talked about it for years, but when he's right he's about as impactful as any big in the game. I initially considered calling out the Knicks two-headed center monster for giving the Cavs 48 minutes of strong effort. Hartenstein was great too and did everything he was supposed to.

Moving forward:
I'm a little worried about Randle's injury and whether he'll be ready for the next series. He seemed in good spirits as the game drew to a close. Grimes seemed to be celebrating and fist pumping like his shoulder didn't hurt either. :) I think we can beat the Heat without Randle/Grimes at 100%, but at the same time it makes our margin of error much smaller.

fishmike @ 4/27/2023 10:59 AM
LivingLegend wrote:One person really flying under the radar in the happiness of series win.

Thibs - hard to argue what he’s done with this squad and what we are seeing from the young guys.

I have been riding Thib's jock since he got here and our dodos were saying he doenst play a modern offense, he plays guys too much, he doesnt develop youth, he only rides vets, he doesnt make adjustments, etc etc

He's the best coach we have have since Riley was running the thing. He's not perfect but he knows wtf he's doing and this squad is SUCH a Thib's squad his mark is all over this team. I love it.

martin @ 4/27/2023 11:04 AM
LivingLegend wrote:Not sure if anyone else was watching the NBA TV feed with Gus Johnson and G Anthony doing the game --- thought they were great and for a change seemed to be favoring the Knicks.

Gus had 2 great lines that made me laugh.

First Obi I think hit a mid-range plus banged in a 3 that lead to immediate Cavs timeout and Gus said Obi Toppin out here looking like John Havlichek.

Next there was a loose ball - Hart dove on the floor, flipped it to Brunson who hit Obi for the break away dunk. Gus goes --- Hart to Brunson to Toppin --- then he kept going Debussure to Bradley to the Pearl to Willis - thought it was funny because Gus seemed to be rooting for Knicks.

I need to see and hear this tape

martin @ 4/27/2023 11:05 AM
LivingLegend wrote:
KnickDanger wrote:
Chandler wrote:Im going to do a hula dance I’m so happy

Knicks beat Cavs and Briggs’s Kiss of Death (TM)

Briggsy puts his money where his mouth is though. He’s on a winning streak.

Briggs had Cavs 4-0.

Miami 4-0 too

LivingLegend @ 4/27/2023 11:08 AM
martin wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:Not sure if anyone else was watching the NBA TV feed with Gus Johnson and G Anthony doing the game --- thought they were great and for a change seemed to be favoring the Knicks.

Gus had 2 great lines that made me laugh.

First Obi I think hit a mid-range plus banged in a 3 that lead to immediate Cavs timeout and Gus said Obi Toppin out here looking like John Havlichek.

Next there was a loose ball - Hart dove on the floor, flipped it to Brunson who hit Obi for the break away dunk. Gus goes --- Hart to Brunson to Toppin --- then he kept going Debussure to Bradley to the Pearl to Willis - thought it was funny because Gus seemed to be rooting for Knicks.

I need to see and hear this tape

Wish I knew how to find that and/or post it but I’m useless on that front.

It was funny - Gus was basically saying the ball never touched the floor and they were playing like the yesteryear Knicks - I think Anthony was laughing at it as well.

fishmike @ 4/27/2023 11:22 AM
technomaster wrote:Buying out Kevin Love late in the season ended up being a critical decision for the Cavs and they really paid for it.
absolutely killed them... they had no answer for Mitch. Jarret Allen was gimpy and Jules treated Mobley like a bad kid. I thought they would give Lopez a few minutes just to throw a body on Mitch but they just never did and we just owned them on the glass. Absolutely cost them the series
EwingsGlass @ 4/27/2023 12:30 PM
LivingLegend wrote:
Clean wrote:

RJ didn’t have Josh Hart in his shorts for entire series but YES RJ was fantastic.

Hard to understand how but his decision making was almost perfect in terms of when he gave it up and when he shot —— and some 3s fell.

Barrett deserves a ton of credit. He played much tighter. From 2, this is the Barrett many of us are hoping for. Tighten up that 3 and work on a more explosive first step and I am a believer. He can do it.

fishmike @ 4/27/2023 1:15 PM
EwingsGlass wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
Clean wrote:

RJ didn’t have Josh Hart in his shorts for entire series but YES RJ was fantastic.

Hard to understand how but his decision making was almost perfect in terms of when he gave it up and when he shot —— and some 3s fell.

Barrett deserves a ton of credit. He played much tighter. From 2, this is the Barrett many of us are hoping for. Tighten up that 3 and work on a more explosive first step and I am a believer. He can do it.

man RJ was great because he just played a good RJ game. This has not been a good "effort" season for him and he just got better as the series went on. He played with great intensity and poise. Most of all he played with great energy. Bullyball to the rim with some short jumpers and he's cooking. The open floor stuff is fantastic. RJ looked great in transition.
MaTT4281 @ 4/27/2023 1:15 PM
EwingsGlass wrote:
Barrett deserves a ton of credit. He played much tighter. From 2, this is the Barrett many of us are hoping for. Tighten up that 3 and work on a more explosive first step and I am a believer. He can do it.

This hasn't been Star-J. This has been sustainable - consistent effort on defense, better judgment on offense, and yes, hitting those layups!

I am waiting for a Star-J game though where he goes 6-9 from 3 and puts up 40+...but am thrilled to sign up for this version of RJ any day!

fishmike @ 4/27/2023 1:34 PM
MaTT4281 wrote:
EwingsGlass wrote:
Barrett deserves a ton of credit. He played much tighter. From 2, this is the Barrett many of us are hoping for. Tighten up that 3 and work on a more explosive first step and I am a believer. He can do it.

This hasn't been Star-J. This has been sustainable - consistent effort on defense, better judgment on offense, and yes, hitting those layups!

I am waiting for a Star-J game though where he goes 6-9 from 3 and puts up 40+...but am thrilled to sign up for this version of RJ any day!

EXACTLY. Keep attacking the basket but actually making good passes when its not there and being focus on D and rebounding.
BigDaddyG @ 4/27/2023 1:36 PM
Ricky Rubio probably uses the rationale when he reminds people he was drafted ahead of Seth Curry.

fishmike @ 4/27/2023 1:58 PM
BigDaddyG wrote:Ricky Rubio probably uses the rationale when he reminds people he was drafted ahead of Seth Curry.
bench talent counts... Rubio, yeah man he sure played well.

This wasnt a close series. They got beat every which way.

TPercy @ 4/27/2023 4:35 PM
fishmike wrote:
BigDaddyG wrote:Ricky Rubio probably uses the rationale when he reminds people he was drafted ahead of Seth Curry.
bench talent counts... Rubio, yeah man he sure played well.

This wasnt a close series. They got beat every which way.

And from a talent perspective...turns out their guys aren't that good. Our bench vastly outclasses theirs. Evan Mobley has 0 offensive bag and isn't a consistent shooter. Allen is a glorified rim runner with above average defense. Dmith and Garland are good but Brunson is just better.

Chandler @ 4/27/2023 5:01 PM
fishmike wrote:
MaTT4281 wrote:
EwingsGlass wrote:
Barrett deserves a ton of credit. He played much tighter. From 2, this is the Barrett many of us are hoping for. Tighten up that 3 and work on a more explosive first step and I am a believer. He can do it.

This hasn't been Star-J. This has been sustainable - consistent effort on defense, better judgment on offense, and yes, hitting those layups!

I am waiting for a Star-J game though where he goes 6-9 from 3 and puts up 40+...but am thrilled to sign up for this version of RJ any day!

EXACTLY. Keep attacking the basket but actually making good passes when its not there and being focus on D and rebounding.

RJ was also the beneficiary of JB. They were playing Okoro on JB a lot, and even Levert so RJ had the chance to bully up

Chandler @ 4/27/2023 5:08 PM
i don't know what happened to the Cavs. Game 2 they were extra physical. Grimes got rapped in the teeth. JB got whacked in the head half dozen times. Allen tried to kill Jules on a break away (IMO he should have been suspended) Then they turned into a bunch of marshmellows

I'm not sure what caused the change. Perhaps Thibs had some devious schemes we don't yet appreciate where he took their aggression and used it against them -- Judo, ninja style

whatever it was, they did not present as the top rated D, and if Mobley and Allen are not giving you top rated D they are a liability on offense. We were able to cheat off of 2 or sometimes three guys to blitz or threaten a blitz on Garland and DM

Sending Obi and Hart on leakouts as a way to improve our defensive rebounding was genius. It forced the Cavs to cover those guys and not crash the glass. And since Obi is not a great defensive rebounder anyway we net benefitted.

Clean @ 4/27/2023 5:37 PM
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