Hope we win, but hard to see how we pull this out. And maybe it would be better to exit vs. the Pacers vs getting slaughtered by the Celtics.
82% of teams who win game 5 after being tied 2-2 go on to win the series so this is a MUST win. And this team has given us no reason to think they will not respond and play well. Have to hope Brunson is healthier though. He's the engine and we need him at close to his 40 ppg best! Rebounding is a huge key and Thibs needs to figure out a way to slow them down too.
I like our chances today! These hicks aren't the same team on the road and the Garden will be rocking!
Guys never fear- I will be in the BUILDING tonight at MSG. Super cool vibes will be within several hundred feet of the Knicks. In all seriousness I'm glad that this is the game I'm going to. Feels like the Knicks need the crowd most tonight, and given the helplessness of being a fan, at least it will feel like I'm making a very small contribution to the crowd noise/atmosphere. Sittin up top on the Bridge - I promise not to jump :)
Will re-post something I put in the last game thread, but more relevant to this one:
Was having a thought this morning about do you start Precious or Miles and I thought how about neither? I think maybe you start Burks. Burks gives you more size than Miles and more importantly, if Brunson is hobbled, he gives you additional shot creation in the SL. He is probably (sadly) the next best guy on the roster to break down the defense and get his own shot. I know last week I was digging his grave, but a cpl decent games in a row now, it seems he can be relied upon to get some buckets. He adds a shooter to the lineup as another outlet for Brun besides DDV - especially from the corners, so it replaces some of what you lost with OG.
Keeps Miles as a sparkplug off the bench for defense and 3 pt shooting. Precious can focus on playing the 5 behind Hartenstein. Maybe you bag this Sims minutes. Still a player short, but I think this may balance the team better.
franco12 wrote:Hope we win, but hard to see how we pull this out. And maybe it would be better to exit vs. the Pacers vs getting slaughtered by the Celtics.
Way to look in the bright side
Hopefully Thibs makes a starting lineup shift. We need to go small and live with the results. Are best depth is at G/F now so start Deuce - or even Burks - scheme defensively for Siakam in the post or just let him try to beat us with 2s. Sims should not see the court and Precious/iHart lineups should be few and far between and not to start the game.
I'm at peace with whatever happens. This team hit it's limit with the Bogie injury. Having Mitch and OG go down and Brunson playing on one leg was just a waterfall that no one could overcome. If we do this team is legendary. If not, they made us proud and we are about to have an epic season next year.
I was thinking about Sacramento - they lose Malik fucking Monk and cratered out of the playoffs. Teams don't withstand the type of stuff this team withstood this year. It just doesn't happen. Beating Philly in a historic first round series was enough of a cherry on the top of a great season for me.
That said, we are playing with house money, I still like to win with house money. So let's whoop these guys at MSG tonight.
Dont think it really matters who we start, I trust our coaching staff has looked at all angles, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, I trust our coaching staff has looked at all angles, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
The guys coming off the bench (Burks, Sims, McBride etc) are going to play serious minutes no matter what
DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
i mean it's pick your poison, rebounding and paint protection has been our identity and having what would be the smallest starting 5 in the NBA goes completely against that.
Deuce unfortunately hasn't given us any spacing either this series.
ultimately the 5th starter isn't going 48 though so we need all these guys to play well.
DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
As much as I dislike using Hart as a full time 4 we have to do it. Our best offensive lineup currently is:
PG: Brunson
SG: Burks
SF: DDV
PF: Hart
C: Hartenstein
nycericanguy wrote:DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
i mean it's pick your poison, rebounding and paint protection has been our identity and having what would be the smallest starting 5 in the NBA goes completely against that.
Deuce unfortunately hasn't given us any spacing either this series.
ultimately the 5th starter isn't going 48 though so we need all these guys to play well.
We withheld that identity for 30+ games during the season, and had our best success without OG when we inserted Deuce into the starting lineup and went small. Had some really good wins during that time. Also, I think we may need to let Deuce pressure Haliburton like he did with Curry. We gotta try to switch it up a little bit tonight IMO.
If Burks is shooting well than I think Burks offers more size and similar shooting. Burks also a guy that can creat out of ISO - that's not the thing your wanting to lead with offensively, but with Brunson limited, it adds something to our offense. OG was calling his own number a lot when in and it was effective. If Burks is guarded by Nembhard, Hali or Pascal he will either have a size or quicks advantage that we can exploit and he can probably exploit more than Deuce.
even though our guys are going down like it's the beaches of Normandy I believe we are still in the driver's seat. Indy is not a good road team. This is why getting #2 matters so much, precisely for this. while I don't like our chances in the ECF at all, I do think it is important we get there to further develop our younger guys. Guys like Deuce and Sims might be of immense value to us next year because of what they'll pick up in getting to the ECF
DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
Everyone else see that this is a fact but some poster refuse to see the truth. It is what it is I guess.
Clean wrote:DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
Everyone else see that this is a fact but some poster refuse to see the truth. It is what it is I guess.
Start Josh and tell him to shoot. That's how we beat Philly and for some reason he's back to refusing to shoot 3s again.
Ratings battle tonight? I'll be curious to see if Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut draws as large an audience as Knicks/Pacers playoff matchup. That girl is box office. Knicks/Pacers is losing its draw since nobody anywhere cares about the Pacers and the Knicks have to be serious underdogs at this point to win another game or even make the games close.
DLeethal wrote:Clean wrote:DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
Everyone else see that this is a fact but some poster refuse to see the truth. It is what it is I guess.
Start Josh and tell him to shoot. That's how we beat Philly and for some reason he's back to refusing to shoot 3s again.
I think a lot of it has to do with fatigue. Josh exerts a lot of energy with his shooting form. In stead of using his leagues to help provide momentum for his shot, he jumps up and using his wrist and elbows to kind of flick at the rim. Too many moving parts.
BigDaddyG wrote:DLeethal wrote:Clean wrote:DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
Everyone else see that this is a fact but some poster refuse to see the truth. It is what it is I guess.
Start Josh and tell him to shoot. That's how we beat Philly and for some reason he's back to refusing to shoot 3s again.
I think a lot of it has to do with fatigue. Josh exerts a lot of energy with his shooting form. In stead of using his leagues to help provide momentum for his shot, he jumps up and using his wrist and elbows to kind of flick at the rim. Too many moving parts.
Hard disagree that Josh who flies all over the court and grabs every rebound is too tired to take jump shots.
DLeethal wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:DLeethal wrote:Clean wrote:DLeethal wrote:nycericanguy wrote:Dont think it really matters who we start, end of day we need guys that play to play well. Tonight is our season on the line.
We need to help them play well with some reasonable spacing. Siakam is roaming off Precious like he isn't even on the court.
Everyone else see that this is a fact but some poster refuse to see the truth. It is what it is I guess.
Start Josh and tell him to shoot. That's how we beat Philly and for some reason he's back to refusing to shoot 3s again.
I think a lot of it has to do with fatigue. Josh exerts a lot of energy with his shooting form. In stead of using his leagues to help provide momentum for his shot, he jumps up and using his wrist and elbows to kind of flick at the rim. Too many moving parts.
Hard disagree that Josh who flies all over the court and grabs every rebound is too tired to take jump shots.
He said it himself on the Roommates Podcast. Hard to be energy/hustle/defense guy and then have enough for offense.
