They have to get Giannis end of story. As currently constructed they wont win a title. They will be competitive but not enough to get to the end. Towns for Giannis is the trade to make. Its probably unlikely but have to try. More likely though the Knicks wont make major changes. The Pacers on the other hand have a good team and have a good shot at beating OKC imo. That series will be fun to watch.
I don’t know how well Giannis and Brunson work together in all honesty. They both need the ball in their hands. Similar to Giannis and Lillard - they were better when Giannis ran the show by himself surrounded by three point shooters. I think they just need a more open minded coach and the current roster is good enough plus/minus a couple pieces. Thibs has always been this way, but the problem is more of the fact that he runs a close minded offense rather than a personnel problem. The Knicks have five starters that can hit open 3’s. Find a coach that moves the ball and finds the open man. I also don’t get why they don’t ever run true pick and rolls with KAT and Brunson. Both are good shooters and Brunson is amazing from the foul line in. They run lazy pick and rolls to try to get a switch and then run an ISO if they do. The Pacers aren’t allowing switching either. Thibodeau wants to run isolation plays for his best scorers, play a slow pace and let his bigs own the boards and score on put backs. The Knicks make Bridges, OG and Hart essentially useless on most plays.
I wonder if the Knicks go down that route. On one hand Thibs got this team as far as its been in decades but on the other seems to be missing something. Hes only had this roster for one year so could improve. Like it or not the Knicks might have regressed. They were up 2-0 against Indiana last year and on their way to beating them if not for injuries. This year they have been outplayed while fully healthy...
SGA vs. Haliburton is a complete marketing nightmare for the NBA in two tiny markets. Limited star power with a point guard who only looks to get fouled and another one who wins with basketball intelligence. The NHL finals might perform better if they get a McDavid/Panthers rematch.
I said this to a buddy at the time who was excited about the KAT trade.... They shouldve kept Hartenstein and Vincenzo and traded Randle for a perimeter defender and a bag of basketballs* *granted I'm not in tune with all the trade dynamics/requirements in the NBA these days.
I don't think they need to have major roster changes. What they need is a fucking competent offensive coordinator and game plan or dare I say...head coach. Our game plan is currently iso ball...running aimlessly ...maybe a pass out . That is why Brunson looks so brilliant because he has IQ to get to his spots. This issue is coaching not talent.
Turnovers and lack of an offensive game plan ...talent isn't the issue . Sucks but a fun fucking season
I disagree. It's good to see new teams & players in these games it's like a breath of fresh air. It gets tiring seeing the same franchises & players playing in these things much of the time. The Knicks would've beena story because it's New York and they're the Knicks and haven't wona championship in forever but they choked away game 1 then lost game 2 at home. It is what it is. I don't know much about the Thunder or their star player I hear he won league MVP? I'm looking forward to seeing them play. I hope the Pacers don't win it all.
Losing the first 2 games at home is why their season ended last night. The game 1 loss how they lost it felt like a death blow at the time when they followed that up by losing game 2 it became a nearly impossible uphill climb.
I agree. I actually think this finals will be very entertaining. I would have liked for the Knicks to be in it but I think the Pacers and Thunder both playing entertaining game. I could see this series going to game 7.
Yep game 1 was the deadly loss. If they win that game then I believe it goes 7 if not over. It just sucked the life out of the Knicks. It then put so much pressure on them in game 2 and they lost that to. They were coasting in game 1 and had all the confidence for game 2, instead they collapsed and never fully recovered.
No doubt about it. I agree with everything you said. Those first 2 games especially game 1 changed the courses of both teams seasons.
You’re both missing the point though. The series doesn’t have national appeal. SGA nor Haliburton are heavily marketed stars and they play for two of the smallest fan bases in the league. The ratings are going to be bad from that standpoint alone even if the product is good.
yeah ratings will probably suffer with those two teams and I suspect it will hit harder when it only goes to 4 or 5 games. OKC is way better
It doesnt matter who is in the finals. The NBA doesnt have marketable stars anymore. Ratings have dropped hence the name of the thread. The NBA final ratings have been poor the last 5 years.
Yeah, but they were in the 2nd round rather than the conference finals and they didn't beat Boston last year. They didn't regress. They beat the defending champs and made the ECF. They had all these same issues last year, but the difference was that they had better defense. And in reality, if that lucky ass bullshit shot by Haliburton doesn't bounce in, we're talking about game 7 tonight. Pacers got lucky.
They looked like a group of guys playing a pickup game... vs a cohesive team with a gameplan. To be honest it ended the way I expected, but man, when I was told there's a free game 7 ticket with Uncle B's name on it I got so excited, and was trying to wish it into existence (and arrange a flight to JFK)
My guess is it came from the GM. The GM probably wants to prove getting Towns and Bridges was the right move and not the wrong one. So he needed to change coaches.
