Knicks · GameThread: Playoff Game#6, Knicks look to close out in Atlanta, 7pm ESPN (page 11)

martin @ 5/1/2026 6:45 PM
Dayum

martin @ 5/1/2026 6:45 PM
Gotta love him

BlueKnickers @ 5/1/2026 6:46 PM
Panos wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
martin wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:What I love about the last two games is Brunson has finally seen the light and loosened his grip on the ball so everyone can take turns playmaking with KAT being the primary benefactor to his teammates.

It's wonderful, because now Brunson can go back to being dangerous without feeling the compulsion to carry the team on his back.

Brunson unlocked means he can lean in to his natural DNA as a player and focus on being the scorer he is without needing the ball as much to do it.

He's going to get so many more easy looks at the basket being a part of a daisy chain of passers instead of trying to always be the head of the snake.

Brunson was the bottleneck, not sure how anyone ever disputed this. He is so fantastic at what he does well that he did need to hand over the ball distribution keys to his colleagues and just be himself without the burden of being a point guard.

This team needs to run its passing game by committee. Anyone can bring the ball up the court. Everyone, including Brunson, just needs to keep moving off the ball and rotate around KAT like he's the center of their universe. KAT is the Sun and he will pass to the orbiting moons if they keep moving their feet, including Brunson.

Brunson's assist numbers may fluctuate more, but I doubt his averages will drop much. If anything, they may go up, because more movement means easier passes to cutters and less forced passes late in the clock from overdribbling.

If Brunson does this, then they should go to the Finals. This is everything I was asking for and this is the version of Brunson required to be a contender. Keep it up fellas.

This.

And wait until someone steps up enough to take over Harts starting position. It may be a while cause Hart absolutely raises his game when he needs to but I think he could even be more effective with relatively the same minutes off the bench.

Mo, you have like $20-$100M waiting for you from the Knicks if you can fill that position well enough. Opportunity of a life time.

My wishlist for next season is to see Mo, Kolek and McCullar integrated into the rotation.

Mo may be a Hart replacement. It would certainly increase our size instead of putting Hart on bigs like we often do. But even as a guy off the bench without replacing Hart, he will need minutes.

Kolek should replace Alvarado, he's just a better player. Don't know if Brown or the FO favors Jose, but this is one thing I take issue with Brown over.

McCullar can replace either of Shamet or Deuce if they are moved or not re-signed. People are still asleep about his abilities, but he can dime much better than Deuce or Shamet, he's a superior defender than either of them (and they are pretty good defenders), his handle gives us another ball handler which we need and he can play the role of opportunistic scorer coming off the bench.


Maybe not the rebounder that Landry Fields was, but does he remind you a little bit of him?

TBH, my memory of Landry Fields game is fuzzier than my memory of his sofa that I slept on before I became a world famous mega-star and was fist-bumping Beyonce in the green room at the Grammys. So, not sure about that comparison.

My reason for sticking with Kevin is he is a very fundamentally sound player on both ends with the added benefit of defensive superpowers and the size to guard positions 1 through 3 and maybe even 4.

The team demonstrated great team defense the past two games, but you should always be looking to incorporate great individual defenders into your rotation. Players like that develop the habit of turning around games with their presence or making game winning defensive plays. McCullar should be one of those guys for us.

martin @ 5/1/2026 6:50 PM
Man I got a lot of respect for this guys game. Does whatever a team needs. Raises his game when needed. High IQ. His athleticism jumps out of nowhere. Physically imposing and knows how to use his physicality. Not the most talented or skilled but all out hustle.

martin wrote:Gotta love him

BlueKnickers @ 5/1/2026 6:57 PM
martin wrote:Man I got a lot of respect for this guys game. Does whatever a team needs. Raises his game when needed. High IQ. His athleticism jumps out of nowhere. Physically imposing and knows how to use his physicality. Not the most talented or skilled but all out hustle.

martin wrote:Gotta love him


I would pick Josh to beat out Draymond on Survivor: Murder Island NBA Edition

LivingLegend @ 5/2/2026 8:21 AM
martin wrote:Dayum

Lost a bit in all of this to a degree are the contributions of Chris Jent and Brendan O'Connor.

I've never seen us play offensive basketball like this -- particularly our off ball sets (and not only off Kat action)
I've never seen us play defensive basketball like this -- the ball pressure, the getting over screens, the Kat improvement -- everyone on point in their rotations/roles.

Brown gets credit for much of this BUT I would expect these 2 guys are nailing the details.

Also the guy working with Hart on his shooting/confidence is doing something right --- at least thus far.

LivingLegend @ 5/2/2026 8:31 AM
Also - whomever is working on OG pre-game routine and overall mindset/confidence needs a raise.

I think running much of the offense thru Kat has opened up MAX OG - 1 because of easy baskets but just more opportunities with ball out of Jalen's hands because Kat isn't going to chuck everytime and best passer on team.

I don't recall OG being on the floor every time down the court recently --- not sure what's changed (ultra aggression maybe) where he is delivering the blow rather than taking hits on his drives. He seems to be coming down more balanced - again I suspect someone is working very hard with him.

We've seen guys like Hart (shooting), OG (scoring), Kat (D) - vet guys - improve right before our eyes.

nycericanguy @ 5/2/2026 9:25 AM
the thing that jumped out at me about the box score in this game is, we were just 13 for 36 from 3... a very average 36%.

So it wasn't one of those fluky games where a team just goes nuts from 3 and shoots 25 for 45 from 3 or something.

BlueKnickers @ 5/2/2026 11:16 AM
nycericanguy wrote:the thing that jumped out at me about the box score in this game is, we were just 13 for 36 from 3... a very average 36%.

So it wasn't one of those fluky games where a team just goes nuts from 3 and shoots 25 for 45 from 3 or something.

We were ripping through their interior like newspaper panties on Jessica Alba

martin @ 5/2/2026 12:26 PM
It base level motivations, we get it

martin @ 5/2/2026 1:26 PM
LivingLegend wrote:Also - whomever is working on OG pre-game routine and overall mindset/confidence needs a raise.

I think running much of the offense thru Kat has opened up MAX OG - 1 because of easy baskets but just more opportunities with ball out of Jalen's hands because Kat isn't going to chuck everytime and best passer on team.

I don't recall OG being on the floor every time down the court recently --- not sure what's changed (ultra aggression maybe) where he is delivering the blow rather than taking hits on his drives. He seems to be coming down more balanced - again I suspect someone is working very hard with him.

We've seen guys like Hart (shooting), OG (scoring), Kat (D) - vet guys - improve right before our eyes.

Anne Hathaway

BlueKnickers @ 5/2/2026 2:07 PM
martin wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:Also - whomever is working on OG pre-game routine and overall mindset/confidence needs a raise.

I think running much of the offense thru Kat has opened up MAX OG - 1 because of easy baskets but just more opportunities with ball out of Jalen's hands because Kat isn't going to chuck everytime and best passer on team.

I don't recall OG being on the floor every time down the court recently --- not sure what's changed (ultra aggression maybe) where he is delivering the blow rather than taking hits on his drives. He seems to be coming down more balanced - again I suspect someone is working very hard with him.

We've seen guys like Hart (shooting), OG (scoring), Kat (D) - vet guys - improve right before our eyes.

Anne Hathaway

martin @ 5/2/2026 5:46 PM
So nice, gotta watch it twice!!

51min video of absolutely glory

martin @ 5/2/2026 6:56 PM
LivingLegend @ 5/2/2026 8:57 PM
BlueKnickers wrote:
martin wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:Also - whomever is working on OG pre-game routine and overall mindset/confidence needs a raise.

I think running much of the offense thru Kat has opened up MAX OG - 1 because of easy baskets but just more opportunities with ball out of Jalen's hands because Kat isn't going to chuck everytime and best passer on team.

I don't recall OG being on the floor every time down the court recently --- not sure what's changed (ultra aggression maybe) where he is delivering the blow rather than taking hits on his drives. He seems to be coming down more balanced - again I suspect someone is working very hard with him.

We've seen guys like Hart (shooting), OG (scoring), Kat (D) - vet guys - improve right before our eyes.

Anne Hathaway

Lots of repetition and drill work —— OG stays after hours whenever coach asks.

BlueKnickers @ 5/2/2026 9:33 PM
LivingLegend wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
martin wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:Also - whomever is working on OG pre-game routine and overall mindset/confidence needs a raise.

I think running much of the offense thru Kat has opened up MAX OG - 1 because of easy baskets but just more opportunities with ball out of Jalen's hands because Kat isn't going to chuck everytime and best passer on team.

I don't recall OG being on the floor every time down the court recently --- not sure what's changed (ultra aggression maybe) where he is delivering the blow rather than taking hits on his drives. He seems to be coming down more balanced - again I suspect someone is working very hard with him.

We've seen guys like Hart (shooting), OG (scoring), Kat (D) - vet guys - improve right before our eyes.

Anne Hathaway

Lots of repetition and drill work —— OG stays after hours whenever coach asks.

Precisely.

When coach demands more time perfecting his inside/outside game with an emphasis on penetrating to the rim, OG dutifully complies.

Happy Coach, Happy Life

blkexec @ 5/3/2026 6:41 AM
LivingLegend wrote:
martin wrote:Dayum

Lost a bit in all of this to a degree are the contributions of Chris Jent and Brendan O'Connor.

I've never seen us play offensive basketball like this -- particularly our off ball sets (and not only off Kat action)
I've never seen us play defensive basketball like this -- the ball pressure, the getting over screens, the Kat improvement -- everyone on point in their rotations/roles.

Brown gets credit for much of this BUT I would expect these 2 guys are nailing the details.

Also the guy working with Hart on his shooting/confidence is doing something right --- at least thus far.

If they wa on Thibs staff he would still be the Knicks coach. That’s all I was asking for. Give Thibs a coaching staff that’s creative with the offense and creates an offense that fit our personnel. Also

PLAY DA YOOTS

LivingLegend @ 5/3/2026 8:09 AM
blkexec wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
martin wrote:Dayum

Lost a bit in all of this to a degree are the contributions of Chris Jent and Brendan O'Connor.

I've never seen us play offensive basketball like this -- particularly our off ball sets (and not only off Kat action)
I've never seen us play defensive basketball like this -- the ball pressure, the getting over screens, the Kat improvement -- everyone on point in their rotations/roles.

Brown gets credit for much of this BUT I would expect these 2 guys are nailing the details.

Also the guy working with Hart on his shooting/confidence is doing something right --- at least thus far.

If they wa on Thibs staff he would still be the Knicks coach. That’s all I was asking for. Give Thibs a coaching staff that’s creative with the offense and creates an offense that fit our personnel. Also

PLAY DA YOOTS

One of biggest criticisms of Thibs was that he often ignored his staff -- he was going to go down his way on his own terms and HE DID.

martin @ 5/3/2026 8:10 AM
blkexec wrote:
LivingLegend wrote:
martin wrote:Dayum

Lost a bit in all of this to a degree are the contributions of Chris Jent and Brendan O'Connor.

I've never seen us play offensive basketball like this -- particularly our off ball sets (and not only off Kat action)
I've never seen us play defensive basketball like this -- the ball pressure, the getting over screens, the Kat improvement -- everyone on point in their rotations/roles.

Brown gets credit for much of this BUT I would expect these 2 guys are nailing the details.

Also the guy working with Hart on his shooting/confidence is doing something right --- at least thus far.

If they wa on Thibs staff he would still be the Knicks coach. That’s all I was asking for. Give Thibs a coaching staff that’s creative with the offense and creates an offense that fit our personnel. Also

PLAY DA YOOTS

Truth

LivingLegend @ 5/3/2026 8:10 AM
Thibs tombstone will read --- INFLEXIBLE
martin @ 5/3/2026 9:30 AM
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