I for one am enjoying how Kat plays.
He is setting solid screens, he's not settling for too many 3's, HE MOVES THE BALL QUICKLY - either shooting it or passing it and he is taking advantage of switches. Love his rebounding in preseason and tonight - think he has tools/feet to be solid defender at center.
Unselfish, plays within the structure/flow of the offense - I honestly think we have significant room to improve how/where/when he gets the ball. Also nice that defenses have to finally guard our center and also that he made 9 of 10 from line tonight.
Solid game ---- it's nice to think we could be playing without 4 bench guys right now if we factor in Mitch/Precious/Shamet/Matt Ryan (?) who could all fit somewhere in bench rotation.
Josh Hart player of the game for me. He shot the ball making himself a player that had to be defended. He could have still been more aggressive on wide open shots but Hart has to be more aggressive so his man doesn't leave him to guard another player. If Hart is more of an aggressive connector it will help OG and Bridges support Kat and Brunson as the third scorer.
Fun to see Hali healthy and sucking. have to give him credit as he does not whine too much when things are not going right.
Magic Johnson also played with a smiling joy and I found it obnoxious. Obviously I was no Laker fan. I guess my first fanboy experience was with the early 70's team and Clyde was my boyhood hero.
WE got indy perhaps on a bad night.
Turner was rendered to little because of the space.
Kat also went after him.
Mikal did good by staying midrange. No time to think and the shot looked better. WE need his range.
OG again looked "elegant". He also passes the ball quickly.
Not enough passing? It was a blow out so we something right.
Like to see Josh hit that long ball! Like Mikal he is taking it to the rim. He takes a beating doing it.
Our Bench is really thin at the moment. thats going to catch up if continued.
Deuce shooting is beautiful.
Kat long range was more judicious.
Fun night. Enjoyed the Yankee game to, looked like nice night for NY sports until Freddie Fucking Freeman just owned that pitch.
Yankees let that one slip. Stealing the home advantage in he first game would have been sweet.
EwingsGlass wrote:VDesai wrote:We got the wing stop D we were hoping for. We also looked the like hustling Knicks of last year. KAT used his size and ate up boards. So now the conclusion is we are very good. The unfortunate thing is Boston is absurdly good.
Felt like a lot of good individual efforts but the team isn’t running any offensive sets with any fluidity. We blew out the team that knocked us out last year and still have a ton of upside. I want to see better ball movement.
Agreed and this gives me hope of a super high ceiling we aren’t close to reaching yet.
fishmike wrote:EwingsGlass wrote:fishmike wrote:this is much more like the squad I expected and I think most everyone else as well
I think there is more passing to be had. Each of Brunson, KAT and Mikal are still removing their rust. Taking their shots to get in their own rhythm. Pretty sure once they get some confidence we will see another layer of basket basket with an implement led 5-out.
Btw, Dadiet might be my newest heartthrob. His shot is pure. Plays smart and got hungry for that block. He has some interesting upside.
maybe, but the way we can score and defend I think we take a lot of early shots (in the clock) and I like that alot.We know Jalen is great and can carry a team. KAT is a 4x all star. These guys are enough to get a decent team to 50 wins. We have Mikal/OG/Josh as the 3/4/5 scorers. That's nuts because tonight Josh showed exactly what to expect when you try to hide a non defender on him, and I phucking loved it. 20/10/3 on 8-15 from the field is just nasty. I really just think we are so loaded at the top we are going to overwhelm you at some point. Tonight was the 2nd qtr.
Yes, Josh looking like Josh was great to see. His full court individual fast breaks are game changers. Some back breaking rebounds. The Josh we know and love.
I saw someone on Twitter compare Mikal to Rip Hamilton on offense. I dig it.
I like how KAT is playing but also. He was posting up a big shotblocking C with ease. Grabbing power boards. Defense looked sharp. First time we’ve played Indy in a long time where Turner wasn’t just feasting from 3.
Good win, still feel like we are little small. There were to many unopposed drives to the rim. can't wait till Mitch and Precious get back. I'd still pickup Marcus Morris.
Now that was more like it! Great bounce back win! Credit to Thibs and Brunson for their leadership! That triggers down! The defensive effort and execution was a lot better. To hold a team like Indy to 98 points and only 3 threes is an elite defensive effort. Haliburton didn't even score a point! I thought Hart set the tone to start the game. His hustle and effort was insane and he wasn't even 100%. Brunson was Brunson. KAT had some nice buckets inside and out. OG did his thing too. I thought Mikal was the player of the game. He's been ridiculed unfairly in the media and by fans for that changing his shot fiasco. I even read some fans already saying the trade was a bust and so on. But that's why we traded for Mikal! Guy is a seasoned vet! He had a great game on both ends! I also loved how he talked shit to the Pacers bench. We need that! Great game by him!! Gotta give kudos to Payne. He was good off the bench! Loved that defensive sequence forcing a 24 second shot clock violation. And the Hukster did some nice things off the bench in garbage time. Loved Deuce's advice about earning Thibs trust. It won't take much to overtake Sims spot as the backup 5 if he keeps working hard.
Overall, great game! Only pet peeve was Thibs going with 8 guys. That is not sustainable! Got to hope Shamet comes back quickly or we call up Matt Ryan. I'd personally love to give 10 mpg to Dadiet. Might as well get the rook out there until the wheels fall off if they do at all. Or find some lineups for Kolek.
Most impressed by our defense last night!
Indy had to work hard every time to get off a decent shot with our first unit.
KAT and Bridges had good solid games to kick off their Mecca run.
KAT rebounded well.
Josh and Bridges highly efficient on offense helped get us going in second quarter .
Good win. Hopefully the start of a long streak!
Cavs and Heat next. What a brutal schedule to start lmao
Siakim is a tough assignment. OG gets it done.
Indy'd depth was impressive last year and I assume will be again.
We held them to 98 pts!
Our Depth is a bit shallow right now.
Early season is not a good test and knicks were hungry.
Still, it was a quality win from a team that should be again in the top half of the east.
fishmike wrote:this is much more like the squad I expected and I think most everyone else as well
Well yeah we aren’t playing the NBA’s best team on the road with a chip on their shoulder. This is a 50+ win team and the negativity about changing DDV/Randle for Mikal/KAT is nonsense
LivingLegend wrote:I for one am enjoying how Kat plays.He is setting solid screens, he's not settling for too many 3's, HE MOVES THE BALL QUICKLY - either shooting it or passing it and he is taking advantage of switches. Love his rebounding in preseason and tonight - think he has tools/feet to be solid defender at center.
Unselfish, plays within the structure/flow of the offense - I honestly think we have significant room to improve how/where/when he gets the ball. Also nice that defenses have to finally guard our center and also that he made 9 of 10 from line tonight.
Solid game ---- it's nice to think we could be playing without 4 bench guys right now if we factor in Mitch/Precious/Shamet/Matt Ryan (?) who could all fit somewhere in bench rotation.
If Mitch can be healthy for the playoffs and we can have both him and KAT on the floor watch out
Philc1 wrote:LivingLegend wrote:I for one am enjoying how Kat plays.He is setting solid screens, he's not settling for too many 3's, HE MOVES THE BALL QUICKLY - either shooting it or passing it and he is taking advantage of switches. Love his rebounding in preseason and tonight - think he has tools/feet to be solid defender at center.
Unselfish, plays within the structure/flow of the offense - I honestly think we have significant room to improve how/where/when he gets the ball. Also nice that defenses have to finally guard our center and also that he made 9 of 10 from line tonight.
Solid game ---- it's nice to think we could be playing without 4 bench guys right now if we factor in Mitch/Precious/Shamet/Matt Ryan (?) who could all fit somewhere in bench rotation.
If Mitch can be healthy for the playoffs and we can have both him and KAT on the floor watch out
I mentioned Mitch above but at same time I don't trust him any longer. Maybe he could be impactful and maybe he'll be hurt 1st game back.
Don't love his fit any longer as we are building a highly-skilled offensive team with emphasis on skilled.
Still learning what Mikal can do. I do really like the look off pass to OG.
LivingLegend wrote:Philc1 wrote:LivingLegend wrote:I for one am enjoying how Kat plays.He is setting solid screens, he's not settling for too many 3's, HE MOVES THE BALL QUICKLY - either shooting it or passing it and he is taking advantage of switches. Love his rebounding in preseason and tonight - think he has tools/feet to be solid defender at center.
Unselfish, plays within the structure/flow of the offense - I honestly think we have significant room to improve how/where/when he gets the ball. Also nice that defenses have to finally guard our center and also that he made 9 of 10 from line tonight.
Solid game ---- it's nice to think we could be playing without 4 bench guys right now if we factor in Mitch/Precious/Shamet/Matt Ryan (?) who could all fit somewhere in bench rotation.
If Mitch can be healthy for the playoffs and we can have both him and KAT on the floor watch out
I mentioned Mitch above but at same time I don't trust him any longer. Maybe he could be impactful and maybe he'll be hurt 1st game back.
Don't love his fit any longer as we are building a highly-skilled offensive team with emphasis on skilled.
I think Mitch fits off the bench just fine. Let him an Kolek get some chemistry and watch how many lobs he catches. Plus we still need an Embiid defender. How quick people forget about that. His only issue is injuries.
LivingLegend wrote:Philc1 wrote:LivingLegend wrote:I for one am enjoying how Kat plays.He is setting solid screens, he's not settling for too many 3's, HE MOVES THE BALL QUICKLY - either shooting it or passing it and he is taking advantage of switches. Love his rebounding in preseason and tonight - think he has tools/feet to be solid defender at center.
Unselfish, plays within the structure/flow of the offense - I honestly think we have significant room to improve how/where/when he gets the ball. Also nice that defenses have to finally guard our center and also that he made 9 of 10 from line tonight.
Solid game ---- it's nice to think we could be playing without 4 bench guys right now if we factor in Mitch/Precious/Shamet/Matt Ryan (?) who could all fit somewhere in bench rotation.
If Mitch can be healthy for the playoffs and we can have both him and KAT on the floor watch out
I mentioned Mitch above but at same time I don't trust him any longer. Maybe he could be impactful and maybe he'll be hurt 1st game back.
Don't love his fit any longer as we are building a highly-skilled offensive team with emphasis on skilled.
Mitch is around just to fuck with Embiid, not revenge-style but accidental fall on him. And the Cavs too but he just has to stare at them and make them weak in the knees.
ramtour420 wrote:EwingsGlass wrote:Clean wrote:I love HUk man! He protects the paint.
Gonna replace Sims pretty quick. He kind of sees the game different, imo. Though that Sims move putting the ball in the floor for the dunk was surprising.
I think he surprised himself. Seems like the first time I his 4 seasons here. I hope he will do it more. He better
I’ve always felt Sims was a 4 pretending to be a 5.
I don’t know what his outside shooting looks like but the way he moves with and without the ball is impressive
Even with the minor scare for McBride, it was fun to see a glimpse of what the top 6 can be together. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy and build chemistry until Mitch is back and we can see how great this rotation really can be.
Knixkik wrote:Even with the minor scare for McBride, it was fun to see a glimpse of what the top 6 can be together. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy and build chemistry until Mitch is back and we can see how great this rotation really can be.
When your 6-9 slots are Deuce, Cam, Precious, and Mitch, that is not half bad.
KEEPCAMBYNY wrote:Clean wrote:Kat played good defense. Got tough boards. Spread the floor and hit his shots. Great game from him.
Honestly, he kinda reminded me of Ewing on those drives and going to work in the post. I think with him, OG, and Bridges the Pacers just aren’t a match for us anymore. Last year I thought that their length/athleticism on the perimeter kind of gave us problems, but having OG and Mikal changed that. In the playoffs, they would find mismatches to exploit against us whereas this year our guys can switch and there really weren’t mismatches that they could exploit. Also last year iHart was nearly a zero on offense, Turner dominated him to be honest. KAT changes all that, he can do everything that Myles can and then some. He pulled Turner away from the basket and practically scored on him at will in the post.
Look at this defense:
Last year, Turner would’ve hit that shot at 0:15 over DDV. However, Bridges’ length allowed him to close out on that shot.We are now a matchup nightmare for the Pacers the KAT/Bridges moves literally took all of their advantages away. Nice chess move by Leon!
