Absolutely not and I highly doubt the coach or FO wants to either.
He might play next to Precious some and that’s about it.
From what we know of Thibs. Kat and this starting unit ain’t changing. But during the game is where Thibs will experiment with everybody at different positions including Kat.
I was one who wanted to see KAT eventually move to the 4 position but after watching the recent Knicks/Heat game, he looked so long and quicker than Adebayo that I’ve changed my mind.
I still think Knicks need to find an upgrade at PF and move OG to his more natural position
NY Post writing about a possible Giannis trade involving Towns, but Im not buying it. Besides the fact that I dont believe Brunson/Giannis would yield much better results that Dame/Giannis. Rose's history with Towns makes me doubtful that there would be a trade.
Stein reported that multiple rival teams suggested an ulterior motive for New York’s acquisition of Towns because “having a player of Towns’ caliber on the roster for a potential future Antetokounmpo offer was among the Knicks’ motivations for giving in on their long-held reluctance to include Donte DiVincenzo in trade talks.”
This a weird question for me. I answered "no" but I want to play minutes at 4. I want him to play minutes at 4 after Mitch returns. I want the team to have an elite offense (top 3) with him at 5 and be around 10th on D. I want the team to be a top defensive team with him playing 4 (top 3) and be at least around 10th on O. Having two attacks that are different but elite is a key to them winning a championship IMO
Playing mitch at the 5 and KAT at the 4 will just clog the paint again. We don't throw many lobs so we won't punish the big for doubling off Mitch. It just makes no sense to me. The whole point of trading for KAT is to open up the paint. At least Hart can hit the occasional 3 or cut if they double off him.
Clean wrote:Playing mitch at the 5 and KAT at the 4 will just clog the paint again. We don't throw many lobs so we won't punish the big for doubling off Mitch. It just makes no sense to me. The whole point of trading for KAT is to open up the paint. At least Hart can hit the occasional 3 or cut if they double off him.
Playing Kat at the 4 and Mitch at the 5 with OG at the 3, Bridges or Deuce at the 2, and JB at point spaces the floor better than any lineup the Thib Knicks ever played before this season. They just finished a game away from the CFs and had the 2nd best offensive rating in the postseason with less shooting. The 5 out lineup is lethal but a team can be very good offensively and not clogged with a 4 out lineup
Clean wrote:Playing mitch at the 5 and KAT at the 4 will just clog the paint again. We don't throw many lobs so we won't punish the big for doubling off Mitch. It just makes no sense to me. The whole point of trading for KAT is to open up the paint. At least Hart can hit the occasional 3 or cut if they double off him.
KAT at center has more room and floor space to utilize his bag. He’s a multi-skilled big man. Putting him at the 4 makes him 1 dimensional and clogs driving lanes for everybody. But Thibs will utilize that flexibility during games in key moments. On a temporary basis.
I'm happy with him in either position - or playing both when Mitch comes back.
I am happy with the way the starting 5 has looked.
KAT is spreading the floor and playing good defense. He has stepped up and been more aggressive and rebounded well.
KAT has only been hampered by foul trouble.
Think it’s more a question of depth right now.
As well as consistent aggression from OG.
Once Mitch comes back, he will solidify the backup center position.
Getting Shamet back will help as well as having Payne back.
If not, I am sure we will add to depth at trade deadline.
Long season but things look promising.
Name of the game is to have things rolling come playoffs.
Ira wrote:I'm happy with him in either position - or playing both when Mitch comes back.
There could be situations were they will play at the same time.
Thibs can play around with things for a while and see what works.
KAT at the 5 gives us the best floor spacing but less rim protection... we knew this before the trade - not new information
IHart was not as good a floor spacer but had excellent chemistry with Brunson, moved quicker, set better picks and we had more ball movement/cutting from the Nova guys
So either KAT improves with rim protection or we add Mitch at the 5 and give up the 5 and out spacing we traded for... or
We wait until Precious heals and put him at the 4 so we get more toughness, defensive tenacity and slightly better outside shooting (vs Hart).
We move Hart to the bench as our team tries to find it's chemistry and figure out how we can play differently (vs last year).
We move OG to the 3 so he has the physical advantages, Bridges to the 2 (same gain) and we will now be larger/longer vs now when we have 1 giant center (who is not great defensively) playing alongside OG at the 4, Bridges at the 3, Hart (can't shoot) and Brunson.
While I applaud Thibs efforts to run a more progressive offense - Brunson's play style is still iso-oriented and we really excelled playing with a defensive-minded center last year in playoffs. We should keep working on this but may realize that simply replacing Randle with KAT at the 4 (and playing Mitch when healthy) gives us better balance so we don't lose as much of our defensive identity. Right now we look like we are trying to copy the Celtics but are not as good offensively, and far worse defensively. I think we should focus on keeping last year's identity/system in place - with slightly improved outside shooting and size.
HofstraBBall wrote:I am happy with the way the starting 5 has looked.
KAT is spreading the floor and playing good defense. He has stepped up and been more aggressive and rebounded well.
KAT has only been hampered by foul trouble.Think it’s more a question of depth right now.
As well as consistent aggression from OG.
Once Mitch comes back, he will solidify the backup center position.
Getting Shamet back will help as well as having Payne back.
If not, I am sure we will add to depth at trade deadline.
Long season but things look promising.
Name of the game is to have things rolling come playoffs.
A little bothered by the fact KAT isn’t getting calls right now.
jskinny35 wrote:KAT at the 5 gives us the best floor spacing but less rim protection... we knew this before the trade - not new informationIHart was not as good a floor spacer but had excellent chemistry with Brunson, moved quicker, set better picks and we had more ball movement/cutting from the Nova guys
So either KAT improves with rim protection or we add Mitch at the 5 and give up the 5 and out spacing we traded for... or
We wait until Precious heals and put him at the 4 so we get more toughness, defensive tenacity and slightly better outside shooting (vs Hart).
We move Hart to the bench as our team tries to find it's chemistry and figure out how we can play differently (vs last year).
We move OG to the 3 so he has the physical advantages, Bridges to the 2 (same gain) and we will now be larger/longer vs now when we have 1 giant center (who is not great defensively) playing alongside OG at the 4, Bridges at the 3, Hart (can't shoot) and Brunson.
While I applaud Thibs efforts to run a more progressive offense - Brunson's play style is still iso-oriented and we really excelled playing with a defensive-minded center last year in playoffs. We should keep working on this but may realize that simply replacing Randle with KAT at the 4 (and playing Mitch when healthy) gives us better balance so we don't lose as much of our defensive identity. Right now we look like we are trying to copy the Celtics but are not as good offensively, and far worse defensively. I think we should focus on keeping last year's identity/system in place - with slightly improved outside shooting and size.
JJJ would be the perfect PF next to him, but don’t think we have the assets.
I’m changing my tune on this a bit after seeing KAT has 84.6% Opp FG% at the rim this year which is worst in the NBA.
On offense he’s been better than advertised, a truly elite weapon. But we need to mix it up and get some rim protection in the game around him.
I still think the key is to improve the PF, which may happen as soon as Precious comes back. Sims is slowly improving, but if he fails, I think that Huk is a solid backup C. The C rotation will improve dramatically with Mitch back. But meanwhile, I think we are good at C and I’d leave Towns starting there.
Now, the more I watch this team, the more I’m tempted about the idea of starting Precious at 4 and having Hart be the Swiss-army knife off the bench. Precious has shown improvement on offense, so he won’t be a liability, but his D and height will help Towns on D.
If Mitch comes back and dominate off the bench which leads to more wins, what does Thibs do?
KAT isn’t a PF or Center. He’s a 4.5
He doesn’t have a position. Just build around that. Precious is the best type of center to play with Kat cause he can shoot and score. With Mitch they lesve him open or let him clog the paint.
