Feel the important games are going to depend on OG’s and Mikal’s three point shooting! If not for Bridges making up for OG’s bad shooting last night, we lose that game.
Rookie@ 12/10/2024 8:51 AM
BigDaddyG wrote:
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Chandler wrote:Great game. We had them right where we want them. Let a little line out; reel it back in; let it out; reel it in
Never doubted them. Nice to have several guys who can hit clutch shots
SergioNYK@ 12/10/2024 9:26 AM
Fun game and good win! It was good to win a close one for a change. Big shot by KAT! Clutch defense by OG on that block on RJ! Mikal hit some big shots and ended up 5/8 from 3! Brunson with another great game running the show with 11 assists (32 team total!) and hit a huge 4 point play.
Nice to see RJ having a solid season and he played well. Wish that kid nothing but success!
EwingPSD@ 12/10/2024 9:40 AM
I thought the Raptors scored on many broken plays after the Knicks disrupted their offense. That happens sometimes but it felt like it was happening too much and I don't know why. Sometimes an offensive rebound or lose ball fell in their laps, leading to a score. Sometimes they would bottle up the ball handler and an extra unneeded defender snagging off towards the ball would lead to an open shot. If anyone else noticed good defense for 15-20 seconds not leading to a stop and thinks they know why I'm curious. I don't think they can be a really good defensive team with Towns at 5 but I think they can be better and hope they are getting there
VDesai@ 12/10/2024 9:48 AM
BTW - I didn't really realize this till watching back highlights. After Brunson found Towns under the basket for the layup to give us the go ahead basket, we took Brunson out of the game for defense with about 36 seconds left. McBride came in. Obviously OG makes the block on RJ and we get the ball, but then its OG dribbling around the top of the key without really knowing what to do with the ball and we look extremely organized. This is obviously due to Brunson being off the floor and no one really organizing the offense. I can't recall whether we had a timeout or not to use here.
Now, the big thing that happens here is that KAT sets up outside, and given his so dangerous with his first step is given a few feet of room behind the 3 point line to camp out. He spaces to the elbow to give OG some room to operate, and then he totally sets himself with a look straight at the basket. He gets the pass from OG and is immediately ready to let it fly, with no hesitation and its a perfect shot. Great recognition by KAT and phenomenal confidence to shoot it there. Really saved what could have been a catastrophic possession there after a great stop.
KAT is a supremely confident offensive player. I feel like for whatever the reason, the narrative was the he dissappears or floats through games. We have seen players like that who have offensive talent, but lose focus, or fear the moment. I don't see that with him. I feel like his issue has always been not being on the floor enough because of stupid foul trouble that he gets himself into. We have seen strides even over the course of 25 games to have him reduce those foul trouble issues.
Chandler@ 12/10/2024 10:01 AM
VDesai wrote:BTW - I didn't really realize this till watching back highlights. After Brunson found Towns under the basket for the layup to give us the go ahead basket, we took Brunson out of the game for defense with about 36 seconds left. McBride came in. Obviously OG makes the block on RJ and we get the ball, but then its OG dribbling around the top of the key without really knowing what to do with the ball and we look extremely organized. This is obviously due to Brunson being off the floor and no one really organizing the offense. I can't recall whether we had a timeout or not to use here.
Now, the big thing that happens here is that KAT sets up outside, and given his so dangerous with his first step is given a few feet of room behind the 3 point line to camp out. He spaces to the elbow to give OG some room to operate, and then he totally sets himself with a look straight at the basket. He gets the pass from OG and is immediately ready to let it fly, with no hesitation and its a perfect shot. Great recognition by KAT and phenomenal confidence to shoot it there. Really saved what could have been a catastrophic possession there after a great stop.
KAT is a supremely confident offensive player. I feel like for whatever the reason, the narrative was the he dissappears or floats through games. We have seen players like that who have offensive talent, but lose focus, or fear the moment. I don't see that with him. I feel like his issue has always been not being on the floor enough because of stupid foul trouble that he gets himself into. We have seen strides even over the course of 25 games to have him reduce those foul trouble issues.
Are you sure Brunson was out then? I recall vividly after the KAT miss Brunson being shown with his arms outstretched celebrating. Was that him walking onto court?
IN any event agree we looked disorganized and i was wondering why the ball was in OG's hand at that moment and was thinking he wanted to put the dagger in against his old team (not that the Knicks think that way)
VDesai@ 12/10/2024 10:04 AM
EwingPSD wrote:I thought the Raptors scored on many broken plays after the Knicks disrupted their offense. That happens sometimes but it felt like it was happening too much and I don't know why. Sometimes an offensive rebound or lose ball fell in their laps, leading to a score. Sometimes they would bottle up the ball handler and an extra unneeded defender snagging off towards the ball would lead to an open shot. If anyone else noticed good defense for 15-20 seconds not leading to a stop and thinks they know why I'm curious. I don't think they can be a really good defensive team with Towns at 5 but I think they can be better and hope they are getting there
The defense looked "stretched" - guys were covering a lot of ground and can chase for 20 seconds, but towards the end of the clock its hard to stay with that final cut, or if there's an offensive rebound guys are caught out of position. If they can switch more, there's a bit less ground to cover, or even if they are switching but not communicating, there's less efficient movement on D and teams know they can exploit that. In some respects this was the Knicks strategy last year. The Knicks hunted specific kinds of shots that either generated long rebounds at the circle for guys that could position and pursue like Josh Hart or positioned their big guys inside like Hartenstein and Robinson who could dominate offensive boards. The key, especially with Hartenstein in the game, is Hartenstein was coached to recognize where the open man would likely be post rebound and we could often exploit with a corner 3 or a better matchup.
I think the Knicks have already been getting defensively, but it seems to happen in spurts. Communication is inconsistent, but every so often they seem to find a way to get a few stops in a row and when they are going offensively, they can put up a big lead in a hurry. This usually happens when OG can roam and help defensively - essentially play free safety and freelance a bit over the court. His contests are unbelievable and he can create so many turnovers. Teams almost want to make sure he has to guard someone one on one so he can't roam as much and they can exploit the other defenders on the Knicks.
As the year progresses I think the communication gets better. I also think there are some lineups that let them switch more - either KAT or Brunson are off the floor and Achiuwa and/or McBride are in. Nice to see Achiuwa back - when he is locked in, he can occasionally resemble another OG with his ability to disrupt with help defense and his range from the 3 pt line to the basket. He is probably the best traditional shotblocker on the team at the basket too. Credit to Dwayne Casey or Nick Nurse or whomever coached up these guys in Toronto to be so good at anticipation. I don't want to call it guessing, because I think they make the right move so often that they just are well prepared /instinctual in their movement.
VDesai@ 12/10/2024 10:07 AM
Chandler wrote:
VDesai wrote:BTW - I didn't really realize this till watching back highlights. After Brunson found Towns under the basket for the layup to give us the go ahead basket, we took Brunson out of the game for defense with about 36 seconds left. McBride came in. Obviously OG makes the block on RJ and we get the ball, but then its OG dribbling around the top of the key without really knowing what to do with the ball and we look extremely organized. This is obviously due to Brunson being off the floor and no one really organizing the offense. I can't recall whether we had a timeout or not to use here.
Now, the big thing that happens here is that KAT sets up outside, and given his so dangerous with his first step is given a few feet of room behind the 3 point line to camp out. He spaces to the elbow to give OG some room to operate, and then he totally sets himself with a look straight at the basket. He gets the pass from OG and is immediately ready to let it fly, with no hesitation and its a perfect shot. Great recognition by KAT and phenomenal confidence to shoot it there. Really saved what could have been a catastrophic possession there after a great stop.
KAT is a supremely confident offensive player. I feel like for whatever the reason, the narrative was the he dissappears or floats through games. We have seen players like that who have offensive talent, but lose focus, or fear the moment. I don't see that with him. I feel like his issue has always been not being on the floor enough because of stupid foul trouble that he gets himself into. We have seen strides even over the course of 25 games to have him reduce those foul trouble issues.
Are you sure Brunson was out then? I recall vividly after the KAT miss Brunson being shown with his arms outstretched celebrating. Was that him walking onto court?
IN any event agree we looked disorganized and i was wondering why the ball was in OG's hand at that moment and was thinking he wanted to put the dagger in against his old team (not that the Knicks think that way)
Yes Brunson was out- here is the game log.
42.0 Knicks Full timeout 108 108 36.0 Karl-Anthony Towns makes 1-foot layup (Jalen Brunson assists) 110 108 36.0 Raptors Full timeout 110 108 36.0 Miles McBride enters the game for Jalen Brunson 110 108 28.1 OG Anunoby blocks RJ Barrett 's 2-foot driving layup 110 108 25.1 Mikal Bridges defensive rebound 110 108 6.1 Karl-Anthony Towns makes 29-foot three point jumper (OG Anunoby assists) 113 108 6.1 Raptors Full timeout 113 108 6.1 Kelly Olynyk enters the game for Jakob Poeltl 113 108 6.1 Ja'Kobe Walter enters the game for Davion Mitchell 113 108 4.2 Ja'Kobe Walter steps out of bounds turnover 113 108 4.2 Jalen Brunson enters the game for Miles McBride 113 108 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 113 108 0.0 End of Game 113 108
VDesai@ 12/10/2024 10:10 AM
BTW I'm not sure if we had a timeout left or not in that scenario. If we did, I'm really not sure why we didn't use it. Maybe given the clock situation, Thibs thought Toronto would foul (we got possession with 25.1 left so the Raptors would have been pretty limited on time to tie it without fouling - and I also don't know how many timeouts they had). That said it works out and I think you have to give KAT a lot of credit for positioning and conviction to shoot to save us in that situation, as we seemed rather aimless.
VDesai@ 12/10/2024 11:15 AM
Note on RJ - he had an impressive game last not beyond just scoring. Got some boards, a few nice assists. What I noticed about him that seemed difference was that he moved smoothly and with confidence. He was such a mecahnical guy here, everything he seemed to do was slow. In Toronto he seems to know his role in the offense and attacks. He is strong and explosive for his size and when he shoots in rhythm he can get hot (he's always been hot and cold with the 3 ball). Good for him - he probably had no shot with Randle here playing a semi-similar style and the spacing never really working for him to operate freely.
BTW he still can only really finish left. For some reason, despite knowing him his game better than any other organization, he we did a terrible job of forcing him right. Of course he is gonna try to get left and his success in the NBA is as a result of him being able to get left, but we seemed to force him left at times as if we didn't know. Even on the last possession where Towns did a good job of staying with him, he gave him the left. Fortunately he kept in front and OG came to help. Frustrating to watch at times though! When he goes right he sometimes misses the rim entirely!
DLeethal@ 12/10/2024 12:16 PM
Seasons have ebbs and flows. The key to being a great team is winning games where you aren't playing well or near your best. That was one of the few times we did that tonight. We went through a handful of games where winning was easy. Last couple games we have been struggling and normally get blown out in those games (we have either been blowing teams out or getting blown out much of the season). To win a game on the road we played like shit - albeit not vs a great team - is still a good sign IMO.
OG is a tremendous defender but it seems to me all the minutes is leading him to be less of a shutdown guy this year. Yes he made the game winning defensive play but RJ Barrett should never be lighting up OG. RJ as a slower footed non shooter/driving wing is a guy that OG should eat alive.
KAT is just a machine. An MVP caliber player smack in his prime.
LivingLegend@ 12/10/2024 12:21 PM
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Rookie@ 12/10/2024 1:25 PM
LivingLegend wrote:
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Choose the form of you’re destroyer
Ray, were you thinking of the stay puff marshmallow man?
BigDaddyG@ 12/10/2024 2:09 PM
Rookie wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Choose the form of you’re destroyer
Ray, were you thinking of the stay puff marshmallow man?
Classic. I own that movie in almost every format except the PSP UMD.
Rookie@ 12/10/2024 9:22 PM
BigDaddyG wrote:
Rookie wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Choose the form of you’re destroyer
Ray, were you thinking of the stay puff marshmallow man?
Classic. I own that movie in almost every format except the PSP UMD.
Rick Moranus tried to pick up my ex wife at Nuts About You, a health food store on the upper West side back in the day. Come to think of it, he could have done me a huge favor if he had a stronger rap. He should have probably led with I am the key master
BigDaddyG@ 12/10/2024 11:20 PM
Rookie wrote:
BigDaddyG wrote:
Rookie wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Choose the form of you’re destroyer
Ray, were you thinking of the stay puff marshmallow man?
Classic. I own that movie in almost every format except the PSP UMD.
Rick Moranus tried to pick up my ex wife at Nuts About You, a health food store on the upper West side back in the day. Come to think of it, he could have done me a huge favor if he had a stronger rap. He should have probably led with I am the key master
Pre Honey I Shrunk the kids? If not, it might've been a wrap.
Rookie@ 12/10/2024 11:39 PM
BigDaddyG wrote:
Rookie wrote:
BigDaddyG wrote:
Rookie wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Choose the form of you’re destroyer
Ray, were you thinking of the stay puff marshmallow man?
Classic. I own that movie in almost every format except the PSP UMD.
Rick Moranus tried to pick up my ex wife at Nuts About You, a health food store on the upper West side back in the day. Come to think of it, he could have done me a huge favor if he had a stronger rap. He should have probably led with I am the key master
Pre Honey I Shrunk the kids? If not, it might've been a wrap.
lol you have socks and underwear older than me 🤣😁😂
BigDaddyG@ 12/11/2024 12:10 AM
Rookie wrote:
BigDaddyG wrote:
Rookie wrote:
BigDaddyG wrote:
Rookie wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
Philc1 wrote:KAT so soft!
SO SOFT!!!
Choose the form of you’re destroyer
Ray, were you thinking of the stay puff marshmallow man?
Classic. I own that movie in almost every format except the PSP UMD.
Rick Moranus tried to pick up my ex wife at Nuts About You, a health food store on the upper West side back in the day. Come to think of it, he could have done me a huge favor if he had a stronger rap. He should have probably led with I am the key master
Pre Honey I Shrunk the kids? If not, it might've been a wrap.
lol you have socks and underwear older than me 🤣😁😂
