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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

[kidcarter8]

BURKS!!!!

[chipstern]

Chip,

Dieng, Dedmon, and Poirier top my there and potentially cheap list at the moment.

Ah, Dedmon. 

Pretty similar size and age and skills profile.  That would also be a good pickup. 

I would think of Dieng as having an advantage, being a graduate of the Thibodeau School Of Hard Knicks, as a  Timberwolve. 

[facilitatorn]

Dieng is my favorite of the floaters. I’ve liked him for years. Also Thon Maker as an option to ponder.

[kidcarter8]

Al Horford is being sat down for the season by the Thunder, with two additional 27 million years on his contract.


one

[chipstern]

Two of Thibs' Top Assistants?

Associate Head Coach Johnnie Bryant and Assistant Coach Kenny Payne were both being courted by college programs. 

Word tonight is that they are staying put, which is great news. 

Great teachers, excellent reputation amongst collegians and pros, and a welcome degree of continuity. 

Having them onboard this summer to work with the likes of Toppin and Quickley, Randle and Barrett, let alone whomever we score in the draft and possible free agents, can only make us better.

As for the issue BoD raised as per our own free agents? 

Rose, Payton
Bullock, Burks
Noels, Gibson

Not to mention decisions on Ntilkina and Knox, Harper and Pinson. 

Seem like a good problem to have. 

FACIL.  Tonight was a gritty game between two gritty teams.  Was happy to see the Baby Greek have such a breakout game, and was flabbergated by the Bucks shooters. 

Yet another grind it out game. 

24-22?

Who'd have thunk it. 

Miami will be a good bar to measure our selves against. 

Oladipo will be fucking psyched, that's for sure.  A great fit for them.  And they have enough back court depth where he won't have to play enervating minutes.

On the other hand, Riley must be freaking out about LaMarcus spurning the Heat for the Nyets. 

[chipstern]

Dieng is my favorite of the floaters. I’ve liked him for years. Also Thon Maker as an option to ponder.

Thon has always intrigued me. 

But I don't think he has what it takes to earn Thibs' trust. 

[facilitatorn]

Tommy Beer seems to think we’ll be pursuing Dieng. He’s solid, skilled and can play with energy. He’d be someone besides Taj to take (and give) lumps so Randle and Noel don’t have to.

[bodiddley]

"It was a weird game." Derrick Rose.

I never heard of two of the guys Bucks started.
Nice of MIL to gift us a game.
MIL listed 4 of their regular starters as injured.
But they all played last night, without any noticeable issues.
Seemed like Bucks were just covering (read: falsifying) so the league wouldn't bust them for sitting out 4/5ths of their starters for rest.

The Mitch injury looked like very little.  Shame he's re-injured.
Dieng, Deadman, Shake Your ThonMaker, Poirier, Mozgov (kidding on the last one, but he still is on ORL's payroll this year and next according to Hoopshype)
Dieng with the Thibs connection sounds probable.
Unfortunately Randle and ObiT are really single position players.

Speaking of C's and Bucks starters, Brook Lopez looked small next to Tacko Fall last game.  Was weird to see.

Thanassis starting to bust out ...

[bodiddley]

Well, the MIL Nobodaddies gave the depleted Knix a run for their money.

So Randle is out and ObiT gets a mere 7 mins.  While the Bucks were playing their unknown squad, so would seem like a
a perfect opp for Toppings to show what he's got.  Not a good sign for our soon to be 24 year old rook.
Taj starts at PF next to Mitch, then Mitch becomes encrippled and Nerlens plays 31 mins.
Both starting Bigs are out and ObiT gets 7 minutes ...
There were a few plays where Bucks scored around the rim easily on ObiT.  Lopez waltzing around
him very early 1Q.  Some unknown Buck swooped past Topping on a drive when he seemed to have good position.

Otherwise Knix up 70-69 5:23 in the 3Q.  Burks starts off under the basket guarding Connaughton on the weakside baseline.
Pat C drifts out and up to the elbow, Burks doesn't really notice and when Taj feigns guarding the lane to prevent a drive, Burks
sticks with Taj's man on the baseline, but Taj is near enough to recover, and even after Taj does, Burks takes an extra step to guard
Taj's man and belatedly realizes he needs to close out on Connaught.  Pat C gets a super-wide open 3 with a Burks super-late closeout attempt.

Burks should have played in between his man on the elbow 3-line and the baseline Big, which would put him in
the line of the baseline pass while allowing him to close out in time.  And he needed to process quicker Taj's recovery.
That's the kind of play I'd trust RJB and Bullox to make.  Burks tends to lose sigh of his man, react slow on switches, give up open 3's.

I'm sure Mr. Thibs notices this stuff.  It was a one point game.  Lucky Connaighton missed, but he's a good 3-point shootist and Bucks had been hot form outside.

One the hustle side, Burks did nearly steal the ball from Nwowa in the 2Q, and had a nice save of a ball going out of bounds 3Q (a risky save really towards midcourt,
but got it to Elf to keep the Knick posession.

[bodiddley]

Bucks zone bothered the Knix.
Earlier this year teams were zoning the Knix some, when the Knix 3-point shooting was poor.  The soft spot in the zone was 8-10 foot paint jumpers for Noel or Taj.
Bucks zone kept the Knix from driving.
NYK got their first FT's with 2:07 left in the 3Q, when know caught it on th move and was whacked heading rimward.
MIL only had 11 fouls total for the game.
Knix just 8 FT's for 48 mins.

[bodiddley]

I was wondering why the Bucks gave up on DJ Wilson, although he's always injured and tantalizing but inconsistent when he plays.
But they have Nwora and Diakite in the pipeline.  And Thanassis as well.
Interesting energy players.
Nwora looked quite good.
And of course they added PJ Tuck for the playoff run in the DJW + Auggy deal.

Forbes has a poor game on both ends.  Gave up an open 3 to Burks at the end of the 3Q with the shot clock dwindling.  Drifted purposelessly in a couple steps which allowed Noel to screen for Burks.  Fornbes just needed to follow his man Burks and contest the last 2 secs of the shot clock.  Then he made a bad read to leave Burks open for the tiebreaking/game winning 3 late in the 4Q.  In between he missed a lot of shots including some ugly ones.  And missed the jack that could have tied it.  Was he trying to bank it in from 26' straight-on?   Was one of the very few vets MIL played and he had a bad game.

[facilitatorn]

The Post is reporting Dieng to the Spurs.

[kidcarter8]

They will always be smarter than us

[chipstern]

Marquese Chris waived by the Spurs.  Will apparently sign Dieng to replace Aldridge. 

Austin Rivers waived by Thunder.  Bucks apparently showing interest. 

Meanwhile....

Al Horford to sit out rest of season

Horford, under contract for two more seasons, will remain a member of the Thunder and will continue to train at the team’s facility. Coach Mark Daigneault said Horford is unlikely to travel for away games. “When I arrived, I understood the direction of the team, we had a great individual plan in place for me, and I feel like as a result I’ve played really good basketball for the Thunder,” Horford said in a statement. “At the same time, I know what it’s like to be a young, aspiring player, and at this point in the season I understand how important playing meaningful minutes is for their careers and their development.” – via Joe Mussatto @ USA Today Sports

2020-2021 [$27,500,000]   2021-2022 [$27,000,000] [2022-2023] $26,500,000

Meanwhile, Sam Presti accumulates draft assets by the bushel, and empowers his puppies. 

Moses Brown, a 21 year old second year 7'2" 245 pound center out of Archbishop Malloy and UCLA, notched 21 points and 23 rebounds last night against the Celtics.  As a rookie he had a 2-way contract with the Blazers. 

There's gold in them thar hills.

PS: Rookie Theo Maledon, 19 years old, taken #34 by Philly in last year's second round, played 37 minutes at the point for OKC, and was 22-8-4-2. 

[elephant]

Look. Just because it hasn't been mentioned. With the Knicks wilting at the end, Burks hits the three to win the game. Period.

As simple as that.

Basketball stats often don't reflect the situational nature of things — there are guys (not many) that come through in critical moments. Burks has done that for the Knicks this year. He makes a huge difference.

BTW, that zone did a number on Barrett in the 4th quarter. Wasn't it three times he tried to pass that ball off in the crowded paint, and the Bucks game up with the ball?