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Warriors

1 (33.3%)

Celtics

2 (66.7%)

Total Members Voted: 3

Voting closed: June 13, 2022, 11:38:11 PM

[elephant]

After about every game, I just have the urge to say:

Fucking Noel!

His defense is awesome.

[kidcarter8]

Knicks taking a run at top seed!

Cash in Frank and Kevin!

[elephant]

Came across this on Twitter which, if true, is a pretty instructive stat:

The Knicks are 18-0 this season when RJ Barrett has a positive plus/minus.

[elephant]

Yep. It's true.

[chipstern]

The Rose Trade Was A No Brainer.

Proposed Trades For Horford Or Drummond Are No Sensers. 

Drummond?  Maybe [maybe] something to explore this summer if the price is right and Nerlens Noels doesn't come back.  Knick on wood. 

Horford? 

Lovely player.  Going to be 35.  Two more very pricey years after this one to pull the plug on Mitchell and/or Nerlens?  No fucking thanks. 

Meanwhile....defense...Defense...DEFENSE.  Ball movement.  Coherence.  Hitting open threes in rhythm. 

THIBS 

How many games have we gotten off to a sluggish start...offense out of sync....blown coverages and EZ pass lanes on defense. 

One minute in...two minutes in. 

TIME FUCKING OUT

Adjustments, and like tonight, by the end of the second quarter we are starting to pull away. 

None of our traditional third quarter brain farts. 

ADDENDUM

Seeing Derrick Rose on the court gives me a feeling of calm and confidence I have not known since Jason Kidd.

There is a serenity and sense of purpose and leadership to Derrick's game that also puts me in mind of...now don't laugh....Earl Monroe, Larry Johnson...when the Celtics got Bill Walton, the Lakers Ron Harper. 

Players who are not the dominating super heroes of their youth....age...injuries, diminuition of certain aspects of their game--but who have enough left, enough wisdom, enough experience, enough HEART, to make a contribution, as a role player or a significant chess piece. 

Okay...

There was a play tonight that got me to thinking about Red Holzman's Knicks, just smart, sharing, AWARE Hoops. 

Julius was backing his way in frp, the corner and could have engineered a shot for himself.  Instead, he read the floor, drew the double team and made a smart decisive unselfish play. 

A sharp pass to Rose at the top of the key, and Derrick took it like a pinball bouncing off a bumper, an instantaneous TOUCH PASS, the ball not even being caught so much as redirected, like BANG, into Noels deep in the box...FLUSH. 

Just watched it on replay, and it makes my skin tingle. 

[chipstern]

Came across this on Twitter which, if true, is a pretty instructive stat:

The Knicks are 18-0 this season when RJ Barrett has a positive plus/minus.

Yes, that came up on Alan Hahn's FACEBOOK Chat. 

An astonishing stat. 

Or as Thibs put it of our ever maturing, up and down like a yo-yo, but when he is on 20 year old.

"I don't worry about R.J." 

FOOTNOTE

FG% up from .402 to .430

3PT% up from .320 to .339

FT% up from .614 to .723, from 156-254 in 56 games to, so far, 94-130 in 34 games. 

Rebounds?  Up.  Assists?  Up.  Turnovers?  Down. 

R.J won't be 21 until June. 

PS: Last two games, seen some incremental improvement in High IQ's floater and midrage jumper.  Still forcing too many, bricking too many often not in control.  This too, will come with time, reps and as the game slows down. 

PPS: HOWfuckingEVER, he is shooting .382% from trey [52-136] and his free throw shooting, and his uncommon abillity to draw fouls and to entice the Refs to give him the benefit of the doubt on calls, is UnGODLY.  ROOKIES NEVER GET THE CALLS HE GETS.  IQ seemingly gets calls on made or missed 3 pointers every game, in a manner James Harden, he of the okey dokey, would deem dapp.  And IQ is 91-97 from the FT line, which is a .938 clip, WHICH IS Steph Curry, Steve Nash Mark Price FT shooting. 

PPPS: Julius Randle makes me so proud.  Wally Z was noting how JR often defers to his team mates in the first and second quarter, not so much looking for his shot, as to get them in rhythm, get them touches, build their confidence, then down the home stretch he scores because he knows he can and knows he MUST.  Tonight, ho hum, another day at the office for OUR CAPTAIN: 28-8-6-2-1.  And 3-6 from trey.  Last season, over 64 games, he was 64-231 [.277%]  This season, over 34 games he is 64-154 [.416%].  I mean WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?  Someone attributed an interesting quote about Julius tonight from his old team mate, Kobe Bryant: "He's Lamar Odom in Zach Randolph's body."  Things that make you go WHAT THE ACTULA FUCK? 

PPPPS: We have now gone from a fantasy trade every other day involving Julius, to projections of a Max Contract if he can get us into the second round of the playoffs. 


PPPPPS: To Dream The IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. 

[facilitatorn]

Quickley has the most free throw hits in his first hundred (ninety four) of any player in the last 20 years, as far back as they could easily run those stats.

This game was awesome to see simply because of how much and how clearly you could hear Thibs coaching. The man earned his check tonight.

[bodiddley]

Since RJB plays 48 mins a night, it has to be true.
Kidding, and his minutes dipped for a while.

Interesting how Randle has stopped dominating the 1Q recently and has been looking to get teammates involved more in the 1st half.
___________________________________________________________

[bodiddley]

We have a starting C and PF.
C remains the easiest position to add a solid backup.
Noel is making $5M, just a little more than Clyde.
We're only paying Noah $6.4M this year (ha!)

Thomas Bryant $8.3M
Theis $5M (should see a nice raise)
Cauley_Stein $4.1M
Biyombo $3.5M
Khem Birch $3M
Mo Wagner $2.1M
ALex Len $1.7M

It's just not where you blow your cap space.
Pick up a Noel or someone like the above around $5M and add a $22M shooter.
We've been cycling through journeymen wings since at least Phil (Afflalo, Courtney Lee, Jarrett Jack, Zonja, Ellington, Bullox, Burks, Rivers).  I'm fine with such players as backups, but to up the team another level, we need a legit starting wing, someone who can knock down shots and defend.  Bullocks has done a solid job, but he's really a backup.  Knox was supposed ot be that guy.

We did have a brief interlude where we tried to develop yute - Dot and Trier.
I don't have any problem with any of those guys we tried (though Zonja is and always has been a classic mistake player).   But none of them has stuck as a viable starter.  And we lose continuity with the frequent reshuffle. 

If Knix want to contend, upgrading a starting wing next to RJB is key.  Bullox would then bolster the bench.  That's where our $27M should go, not to an aging C. 
Who? 
Oladipo is out there.  Er, how healthy is he?   Can he get his mojo back?  He's actually another driver.  But at his peak he's an all-around threat. 
Trent Jr. is intriguing.  And likely a luxury for POR.  Devonte Graham?
Porter Jrs. -- Otto or Michael?  Ol' Eric Gordon? 
Others: Osman,  Uber, Wiggins

Others who might be more serviceable starters/backups:
Caruso?  Connaughton?  T Ross?  Jer Lamb?  Thybulle?
Whatever happened to Patrick McCaw?  Went to TOR and met the ghost of Landry Fields?

I did that quickly -- would need to see a list of Wing FA's.
Minny did fairly well picking up Malik Beasley -- which i thought was an overpay at the time.

[bodiddley]

Saw a short vid clip on ESPn with Fizz talking about CV vaccinations now.  He said that as Knick coach he sat down with Knick team physician Dr. Lisa Callahan and learned about the flu vaccine.  Then along with Dr. C, he talked to the players about the science and their concerns.  It sounded like most of the Knicks got the flu vaccine with some holdouts which were freely allowed. 

Interesting, as hoops season is during flu season.  And once one player gets the flu but comes to work, it's easy to spread through a team/lockerroom.  I hadn't considered it before, but a team getting flu shots could be a competitive advantage, with the potential to change the outcome of a few games.  Though you can imagine a lot of healthy young athletes not being the most receptive audience.

[kidcarter8]

Thomas Bryant $8.3M
Theis $5M (should see a nice raise)
Cauley_Stein $4.1M
Biyombo $3.5M
Khem Birch $3M
Mo Wagner $2.1M
ALex Len $1.7M

No idea how many bigs we will need to add next year
But I would be interested in Theis - and Bryant of course if he proved healthy.

Birch I never liked much but Bo is right - his numbers are solid this year.  Not sure if he knows RJ fron their Canada experience

[kidcarter8]

MY bad - I reread it.  I guess you mean for this year.

Interesting about Celts - making the playoffs is not really their aim.  If they do not feel they can win the conference, are they sellers?

[facilitatorn]

There’s no one out there in the coming FA season who isn’t top priority for their current team that would clearly move the needle for us except maybe Drummond.

We’re probably better off re-upping our current guys except Iggy, Payton, and Rivers. We need those spots for our draft picks next year.

[bodiddley]

I was real intrigued by Khem Birch last year.
But this year his hands seemed a bit suspect in the few games I saw parts of.
Still a good screen setter, boarder, post defender.

I just meant in general there is a glut of backup C's and such folks, such as Noel, can be picked up on the cheap and contribute fairly well.

[facilitatorn]

A backup (or starting) center who can move the way Thibs’ centers move on this team is more rare.