Nalod wrote:Our bench? Precious and Mitch don't score. Deuce needs to be better.
Indy bench is deep and they use it. Its their game. It's how they do what they do.
I don't see easy wins vs them because we'll tire.
OG has to create. We are offensively thin. Jalen can't do it all.
OG defense is the difference. Josh a menace. A wrecking ball. The "Juggernaut"!
Jules and Bojan are missed.
SVG was right. He did not say it was not a foul, he was just surprised they called it. WE got gifted.
Indy fans must be frustrated by how much Brunson got fouled.
Knicks were clutch when they needed to execute a stop and DDV got it done. McConnell is a handful. Haliburton is a long pass first PG and when heathy with length on defense. Brunson is a playmaking scoring machine.
Team USA seems front court heavy and I'd think someone will pull up injured and he gets the call.
The "rivalry renewed" was nice TV hype but these teams have not met in years or played an important game vs. each other in 20 years.
Fuck that noise. And Reggie on Wednesday.
Glad Obi did well but we get the win. He wanted out so he can play and get paid. I won't demonize him for that. IQ was on the same track.
Refs were kind to us. Im not going to be a homer about it. We got marginal calls. I did not say "Gifts", just we got home cooking.
Knicks looked tired. Mitch was a bubblehead a few times.
That 3pt shot by iHart to close the first half might have been the difference.
Why is Halliburton so annoying to watch? His highly animated reactions to seemingly every play vs. the stoic cool that is Jalen Brunson?
Love the Win. We are one sprained ankle from not advancing. With a thin bench we are susceptible. Thibs is doing what he needs to do win.
Its who we are but there is a ceiling I'm afraid to this team in this time and place. Teams get injured, Randle is missed.
Like Philly, we were just 3 games better than Indy this season. 47 wins vs. our 50. Parity.
good post Nalod
Especially agree with the bold. Haliburton hasn't been the same the all-star break. Definitely dealing with injuries. McConnell always seems to do well against the Knicks...I actually worry about him the most on this Indy team.
TheMTL wrote:KnickDanger wrote:TheMTL wrote:Panos wrote:We got NOTHING from the bench tonight.
Honestly, that's on Thibs. Guys need more than 4 minutes
I'm guessing if we lost you would say that was on Thibs too.
Not necessarily. It would depend on how we lost. But luckily we won. Not the prettiest but I'm taking it.
I am concerned about the 7-man rotation though. We gotta get an 8th guy working
did you actually watch the game? This is just such a bad take. McBride and Mitch were NOT good, the score started bleeding the second Brunson left the game. Coach had one move to make... One thing was working...
Honestly.. imagine just going with Precious and McBride MORE when it was clearly not working last night and losing. Thank god I didnt overplay anyone! Look at my good coaching 
~THibs
geeze
Ok they keep replaying that illegal screen and the more I watch it the more you see Turner intentionally stick his knee out on the screen. Now the issue is he probably did that about 8 other times and they chose to call it at the most crucial possession in the game.
Whatever, how many calls have gone against the Knicks? Its just something for the press to talk about.
I am usually on the side of giving players a break but playoff time is different. You do whatever you must to win. McBride and Precious minutes were all negative last night. It is what it is. Players will have a few months to rest after we win the championship.
DLeethal wrote:Either way, we might just need to resign to the fact that we are short on players and they rely on their deep bench. We don't have to try and match them. We can just do what we do, let Brunson outscore their backcourt by 30, dominate the offensive boards, limit turnovers, and try to control pace. Keep it close and Brunson wins it down the stretch. No need to try and match their bench or play at their pace. Their bench can outscore ours by 40 in a loss all they want.
I just dont get the panic... I guess I am old cause I still remember Ewing playing 38-40 minutes a night for 82 games followed by 40 minutes a night in the playoffs and being a big 4th qtr player. That was the culture. You didnt sit or want to sit to stay fresh, you wanted to be out on the floor.
We traded some depth and lost a couple guys. That leaves us thin.
Bottom line is we won the game in the 1st and 4th qtrs because our starter are much better than the Pacers. OG also didnt have a good game at all until the 4th when he did his thing.
You are spot on regarding Jordan Brunson. His ability to get to spots and get a shot he likes is getting at that level. These numbers are insane. 6-10 fgs, 8-8 fts, 21 pts and +13. All in the 4th. They should have rested him! That's on Thibs!
Clean wrote:I am usually on the side of giving players a break but playoff time is different. You do whatever you must to win. McBride and Precious minutes were all negative last night. It is what it is. Players will have a few months to rest after we win the championship.
The curfew for the minutes police is suspended!!!!
Media: Coach, are you concerned over the minutes your playing your starters? Josh?
Thibs: Its the playoffs, if he dies, he dies. He'll have all summer to resurrect!
VDesai wrote:Ok they keep replaying that illegal screen and the more I watch it the more you see Turner intentionally stick his knee out on the screen. Now the issue is he probably did that about 8 other times and they chose to call it at the most crucial possession in the game.Whatever, how many calls have gone against the Knicks? Its just something for the press to talk about.
Turner never for one second stopped moving. Never planted. Ever. I get they dont call it but I thought it was pretty obvious.
Clean wrote:I am usually on the side of giving players a break but playoff time is different. You do whatever you must to win. McBride and Precious minutes were all negative last night. It is what it is. Players will have a few months to rest after we win the championship.
100% man, these guys are not made of paper. They are gonna be OK!
Did Josh/OG/Jalen/DD look tired in crunch time last night? I mean honest question for everyone. Like this coach knows these players.
fishmike wrote:DLeethal wrote:Either way, we might just need to resign to the fact that we are short on players and they rely on their deep bench. We don't have to try and match them. We can just do what we do, let Brunson outscore their backcourt by 30, dominate the offensive boards, limit turnovers, and try to control pace. Keep it close and Brunson wins it down the stretch. No need to try and match their bench or play at their pace. Their bench can outscore ours by 40 in a loss all they want.
I just dont get the panic... I guess I am old cause I still remember Ewing playing 38-40 minutes a night for 82 games followed by 40 minutes a night in the playoffs and being a big 4th qtr player. That was the culture. You didnt sit or want to sit to stay fresh, you wanted to be out on the floor.We traded some depth and lost a couple guys. That leaves us thin.
Bottom line is we won the game in the 1st and 4th qtrs because our starter are much better than the Pacers. OG also didnt have a good game at all until the 4th when he did his thing.
You are spot on regarding Jordan Brunson. His ability to get to spots and get a shot he likes is getting at that level. These numbers are insane. 6-10 fgs, 8-8 fts, 21 pts and +13. All in the 4th. They should have rested him! That's on Thibs!
Yea we are entering a house money push the rest of the way. Next year we get to replenish the depth. For now, the trades left us thin and we fight like hell to go as far as we can like this. Maybe Thibs finds a guy who can help us and maybe he doesn't. But we will milk these guys as much as possible. Josh has been doing this for months now, I see no reason he's just gonna slow down. The other guys are playing 42-44 mins or whatever, that's playoff basketball. Hopefully we can blow these guys out once or twice and get them legit rest in a game.
I think the panic is moreso looking at their bench scoring totals versus ours and somehow thinking if we played Precious more that would even it out. The only thing that would do is help us lose. Let their bench do what they do, our starters will do what they do. Wins are determined by who wins the bench scoring.
fishmike wrote:Clean wrote:I am usually on the side of giving players a break but playoff time is different. You do whatever you must to win. McBride and Precious minutes were all negative last night. It is what it is. Players will have a few months to rest after we win the championship.
100% man, these guys are not made of paper. They are gonna be OK! Did Josh/OG/Jalen/DD look tired in crunch time last night? I mean honest question for everyone. Like this coach knows these players.
Everyone else seems like they are good with 2-3 min rest in each half. "Good" in terms of having enough energy to finish the game strong like they did last night. Josh can just play the whole damn game and maybe get 2-3 mins in the first half.
DLeethal wrote:fishmike wrote:Clean wrote:I am usually on the side of giving players a break but playoff time is different. You do whatever you must to win. McBride and Precious minutes were all negative last night. It is what it is. Players will have a few months to rest after we win the championship.
100% man, these guys are not made of paper. They are gonna be OK! Did Josh/OG/Jalen/DD look tired in crunch time last night? I mean honest question for everyone. Like this coach knows these players.
Everyone else seems like they are good with 2-3 min rest in each half. "Good" in terms of having enough energy to finish the game strong like they did last night. Josh can just play the whole damn game and maybe get 2-3 mins in the first half.
I wonder if Achiuwa should be taking some of Robinson's minutes to give the big guy some rest. He's looking like those legs could use a break. Achiuwa played Siakam pretty well this season and would free OG up a little bit. Turner plays a soft outside in Center and I am not nearly as worried about his 3ball as the Aarons.
DLeethal wrote:I think the panic is moreso looking at their bench scoring totals versus ours and somehow thinking if we played Precious more that would even it out. The only thing that would do is help us lose. Let their bench do what they do, our starters will do what they do. Wins are determined by who wins the bench scoring.
It’s more complicated than that. Besides the obvious statistical disparity Carlisle’s strategy is meant to physically wear out our guys and we lose yesterday if we don’t get that gift call against Turner in the final minute of the game
VDesai wrote:Ok they keep replaying that illegal screen and the more I watch it the more you see Turner intentionally stick his knee out on the screen. Now the issue is he probably did that about 8 other times and they chose to call it at the most crucial possession in the game.Whatever, how many calls have gone against the Knicks? Its just something for the press to talk about.
like i said last night it had to be a situation where the Knicks were advocating for that and who knows maybe the refs even told Turner to watch it, that it was getting to be too much to ignore
it has to have been something like that because the whistle was quick like they were specifically on the lookout for it. ANd it wasn't just the knee. It was the step with his right leg was late, then the knee and then the slight shoulder. Nothing Miami-esque but i wouldn't consider that call in a vacuum. He sets a lot of screens and i suspect there was a lot of bitching about them during the game etc
fishmike wrote:DLeethal wrote:Either way, we might just need to resign to the fact that we are short on players and they rely on their deep bench. We don't have to try and match them. We can just do what we do, let Brunson outscore their backcourt by 30, dominate the offensive boards, limit turnovers, and try to control pace. Keep it close and Brunson wins it down the stretch. No need to try and match their bench or play at their pace. Their bench can outscore ours by 40 in a loss all they want.
I just dont get the panic... I guess I am old cause I still remember Ewing playing 38-40 minutes a night for 82 games followed by 40 minutes a night in the playoffs and being a big 4th qtr player. That was the culture. You didnt sit or want to sit to stay fresh, you wanted to be out on the floor.We traded some depth and lost a couple guys. That leaves us thin.
Bottom line is we won the game in the 1st and 4th qtrs because our starter are much better than the Pacers. OG also didnt have a good game at all until the 4th when he did his thing.
You are spot on regarding Jordan Brunson. His ability to get to spots and get a shot he likes is getting at that level. These numbers are insane. 6-10 fgs, 8-8 fts, 21 pts and +13. All in the 4th. They should have rested him! That's on Thibs!
tail wagging the dog IMO with the minutes police
If McBride or Precious or Mitch get hot/impactful their minutes will happen. It's not like the coach and players are running around with synchronized stop watches
In principle i like the idea of Burks on TJ and Precious on Obi, but the coach has to read the game and see who is getting sh!t done
Ia McBride dealing with an injury, he seems to have fallen off a cliff offensievely?
Chandler wrote:VDesai wrote:Ok they keep replaying that illegal screen and the more I watch it the more you see Turner intentionally stick his knee out on the screen. Now the issue is he probably did that about 8 other times and they chose to call it at the most crucial possession in the game.Whatever, how many calls have gone against the Knicks? Its just something for the press to talk about.
like i said last night it had to be a situation where the Knicks were advocating for that and who knows maybe the refs even told Turner to watch it, that it was getting to be too much to ignore
it has to have been something like that because the whistle was quick like they were specifically on the lookout for it. ANd it wasn't just the knee. It was the step with his right leg was late, then the knee and then the slight shoulder. Nothing Miami-esque but i wouldn't consider that call in a vacuum. He sets a lot of screens and i suspect there was a lot of bitching about them during the game etc
Interestingly enough the same ref made the out of bounds call that was clearly wrong that we had to get a challenge on. So I'm not sure what this ref was doing last night but he was searching for the whistle - that said it was on both sides so probably nothing nefarious. Your right though, he made the call immediately without hesitation so he was looking for something on that screen and saw it right away.
Philc1 wrote:DLeethal wrote:I think the panic is moreso looking at their bench scoring totals versus ours and somehow thinking if we played Precious more that would even it out. The only thing that would do is help us lose. Let their bench do what they do, our starters will do what they do. Wins are determined by who wins the bench scoring.
It’s more complicated than that. Besides the obvious statistical disparity Carlisle’s strategy is meant to physically wear out our guys and we lose yesterday if we don’t get that gift call against Turner in the final minute of the game
We were winning when we had that gift call so why would we lose?
I don't disagree with your premise though, that's what they do, and the Knicks have the things that they do well too. We have the ultimate closer, we dominate the offensive boards like we did in the 4th, we can put the clamps on in the 4th quarter like we did last night. Each team has their angles to work throughout the game. Ours doesn't have to be a deep bench, we can't pretend like we have a lot of options there and play guys for the sake of playing guys. Their bench is really good, we start playing scrubs we are gonna get killed.
In terms of wearing out, our team did the complete opposite late in the 4th quarter. Josh started rebounding like a madman, OG put the clamps on better than he did all game, Jalen was automatic down the stretch and had 20+ in the 4th. Nothing that indicates our guys were tired.
JesseDark wrote:Ia McBride dealing with an injury, he seems to have fallen off a cliff offensievely?
Its not easy to walk off the bench and consistently pour in 2-3 3 pointers. I think he had a bad game but its not indicative of who he is. He didn't get as many minutes because he continues to struggle defensively against McConnell. This guy is one of the best on ball defenders in the NBA against point guards, but McConnell has his number.
EwingsGlass wrote:DLeethal wrote:fishmike wrote:Clean wrote:I am usually on the side of giving players a break but playoff time is different. You do whatever you must to win. McBride and Precious minutes were all negative last night. It is what it is. Players will have a few months to rest after we win the championship.
100% man, these guys are not made of paper. They are gonna be OK! Did Josh/OG/Jalen/DD look tired in crunch time last night? I mean honest question for everyone. Like this coach knows these players.
Everyone else seems like they are good with 2-3 min rest in each half. "Good" in terms of having enough energy to finish the game strong like they did last night. Josh can just play the whole damn game and maybe get 2-3 mins in the first half.
I wonder if Achiuwa should be taking some of Robinson's minutes to give the big guy some rest. He's looking like those legs could use a break. Achiuwa played Siakam pretty well this season and would free OG up a little bit. Turner plays a soft outside in Center and I am not nearly as worried about his 3ball as the Aarons.
I think he should, but Mitch usually comes through whenever I start to doubt him. But yes he's probably in the worst shape of everyone on the team and least equipped to run up and down at a frenetic pace. Precious makes more sense in this series but Thibs probably sticks with Mitch.
Chandler wrote:fishmike wrote:DLeethal wrote:Either way, we might just need to resign to the fact that we are short on players and they rely on their deep bench. We don't have to try and match them. We can just do what we do, let Brunson outscore their backcourt by 30, dominate the offensive boards, limit turnovers, and try to control pace. Keep it close and Brunson wins it down the stretch. No need to try and match their bench or play at their pace. Their bench can outscore ours by 40 in a loss all they want.
I just dont get the panic... I guess I am old cause I still remember Ewing playing 38-40 minutes a night for 82 games followed by 40 minutes a night in the playoffs and being a big 4th qtr player. That was the culture. You didnt sit or want to sit to stay fresh, you wanted to be out on the floor.We traded some depth and lost a couple guys. That leaves us thin.
Bottom line is we won the game in the 1st and 4th qtrs because our starter are much better than the Pacers. OG also didnt have a good game at all until the 4th when he did his thing.
You are spot on regarding Jordan Brunson. His ability to get to spots and get a shot he likes is getting at that level. These numbers are insane. 6-10 fgs, 8-8 fts, 21 pts and +13. All in the 4th. They should have rested him! That's on Thibs!
tail wagging the dog IMO with the minutes police
If McBride or Precious or Mitch get hot/impactful their minutes will happen. It's not like the coach and players are running around with synchronized stop watches
In principle i like the idea of Burks on TJ and Precious on Obi, but the coach has to read the game and see who is getting sh!t done
Thibs has proven he will ride the bench when they are going like he did a few times with Deuce, and with Bogie, and with Precious in round 1. But he isn't gonna lose the game to save the starters a few mins of rest.
