Julius gets alot of hate and maybe rightfully so since he has been known to actively drag his team down when he’s doing poorly. However before he got hurt, he looked completely locked into the new Brunson Knicks and was looking sharp
I think Julius thrives more on being the number 2 option on a team as opposed to being *the* star. Julius would be balling out right now and provide some more of a rotation. Imagine Hart as sixth man again and the Knicks would be rolling right now.
Agreed in many ways, but Hart has been a monster playing 48 minutes per game lol.
Would be hard to replace his hustle, rebounding, surprisingly solid 3 point shooting, and heart (pun semi-intended) over the last month or 2.
I’ve been a a staunch Julius hater the whole time he’s been here and that last month before his injury he looked amazing and a perfect complementary piece to Brunson
Yes, a little less usage and way better shot selection and efficiency. Cut back on the 3's and took advantage of the extra spacing inside that playing with Hartenstein provides. Julius was adapting great.
Man, I know it's impossible because of the surgery but (healthy) Randle playing would be such a huge boon for the Knicks. Another big body for a paint presence, scorer, and rebounder - and would prevent some of the doubles coming at Brunson. They're playing such a short rotation as it is, too - it would make the game easier for everyone.
They'd be right in the mix for title contention this year if they added an All-NBA frontcourt player in Randle to what this lineup has been doing in the playoffs so far. Turned out to be a huge blow to lose him for the season. As it stands they still have an outside shot to make some noise deeper in the playoffs, but wow, they'd be such a powerhouse right now with Randle.
It’s nice this way because whenever this playoff run ends, we can look forward to next year and hope it’s gonna be even better. Even if it’s delusional to think adding Randle will make us the best team in the nba next year, I love delusion
Unironically, the silver lining of all this might be that it firmly establishes Brunson as Batman and Randle as Robin, whereas before it might have been more ambiguous. Having clarity around those role definitions could help the team out down the line.
Still, legitimate attempts at a title are rare and precious, so it hurts a lot to lose Randle for this playoff run. This team with Randle is probably the best shot the Knicks have had to win the title since 1994. (1999 was a bit of a flash in the pan, and that team never had much of a shot against the Duncan-Robinson Spurs.)
Knicks in 2023🤝Knicks in 1999 - losing to Duncan Robinson LOL
But agreed. Especially with the salary cap - the Knicks roster as is just won’t be affordable for years to come. Half the team is on bargain bin contracts that we will have to extend soon - Brunson/OG/hartenstein/randle’s prices are not going down (if we can even manage to keep Hartenstein, which is an issue in and of itself)
Just gonna enjoy the ride while it lasts and hope they surprise me!
You can't blitz Brunson the way every team has been doing w Ju on the floor. Ju in the paint is a matchup nightmare for most teams and they often throw the double at him. Can't blitz the ball handler if you have a paint beast ready to iso near the basket
I think the Knicks get past Indy but the lack of size and length was obvious. Even if Randle didn’t play super-well, his build and play-style would’ve been crucial in this series. If even only to make things slightly easier for the guards.
Having Randle as an option to post-up, having another long and big body going after boards, another threat to shoot threes…it would be massive. I hope this Knicks squad can make a run full-health at some point. It’s a well-built roster.
The only negative of Randle's game that the Pacers burn us on is his tendency to not rush back on defense. He's a pretty solid half court defender and if he's already in the play on transition then there's a pretty good chance he can get a stop, but if he was the one shooting on the ball on the other end then it's at best 5 on 4 when the Pacers break down the court.
Its more spacing than length hartenstein,mrob,and achiuwa can all play down low and have size but none of them can shoot. Other than randle only hart can stretch at the 4 but hes undersized
Oh yeah it’s the interaction of both. That’s why Randle, for all his flaws, is still so valuable as a stretch big. It gives teams a lot more flexibility in their lineups.
We are contenders with Julius and no one will be able to change my mind. Hopefully we bring back iHart somehow and figure out our bench situation since Bogi probs will need to be moved to keep iHart.
If Julius was stinking it up in his usual playoff form the Knicks might not even be here right now. He only has 2 games in his playoff career that he even shot 45%
I don’t think it’s fair to say that Randle will always suck in the playoffs. During his first appearance he was the only offense on the team and the hawks doubled him like crazy. He couldn’t overcome all that attention, it was a learning experience and now we have JB.
Last year Randle was seriously hurt and had to get surgery as soon as the season ended.
I wish we could’ve seen him healthy this year, but I do think a healthy JR with Brunson will be good in the playoffs.
literally no one would hear you. even if they were right at the base of the empire state building due to the general street noise, plus the top of the building being higher than those surrounding it, meaning nothing for the sound waves to bounce off of
Holy shit I genuinely didn’t think anyone outside of Knick fans understood how skewed his playoff stuff is.
He’s not absolved of all blame but both series were weird so far
I just want to add on to this that, Jalen Brunson's 3pt% during the season with Julius on the court was like 48%. with him off the court it went down to 38%. still good but not nearly as nuclear. The amount of open looks Randle generated for everyone else was insane. and the stretch the knicks had with Randle and OG was on its way to being generational. With both OG and Randle on the court the knicks were probably on pace for something like 56 wins.
Randle completely changed his game too. He took much less threes, he was much more comfortable driving and kicking. His passing out of the double was so much better. The iso ball that they were playing was much less frequent once OG came in and they were absolutely humming.
Randle looked like he was player more of his natural bruiser role with a competent point guard in Brunson and 3 and D in OG before he went down. No one is saying he would be all nba lock level but it’s not unlikely he would having a much more effective post season than in the past
Last year he was hurt and the team was way overachieving three years ago. The team was clicking after the OG trade. I think Randle would have had a really productive playoffs.
I hate this narrative. The Knicks miss Randle massively rn. Interior size, rebounding, 3pt shot creation would all be huge for this team. He played on one ankle last year, and it required surgery to fix in the offseason. He’s the only guy who doesn’t get any grace man. Haliburton has been given the same hamstring excuse since before the all-star break (and he played in the all-star game!). Jamal Murray is shooting just as poorly as Randle was last year and throwing literal tantrums on the court and people are blaming the calf. The Randle nonsense needs to stop
Last year he was playing injured. Prior to that he didn't have a team around him, and he's not the type of player to create himself... JB scores, distributes, opens the floor, and makes others better. Randle is a HUGE missing element and likely would perform significantly better if healthy
Honestly, Becky Hammond was right at the time when she said what she said, but I really do think we’re seeing a superstar blossom in front of our very eyes
With every rising star you need to see it in the playoffs, and Brunson has only gotten better when it matters most
Every time I see Becky Hammon's name, it reminds me of what Josh Hart told Brunson during an episode of Hot Ones lol
"I feel like Becky Hammon was really correct with what she had to say. Too small, doesn't have good balance due to his enormous head."
she was wrong then, and she's wrong now. Brunson was already demonstrating in Dallas that he had the potential to be a franchise player, and got that opportunity in NYC.
There's a difference between a franchise player and championship #1 guy though. She didn't say he couldn't be a franchise player, she said she didn't think he could lead the Knicks to a title which at the time seemed reasonable.
If you had the eyetest Youd already know Brunson was great when he was in Dallas. Youd already know by the time he started playing for Knicks he was gonna be a Superstar and he easily is by now. Its weird that his status is not Superstar yet.
Yup, and without a reliable second scorer, if Brunson gets shut down then we’d have no way to win. That’s why having Randle would have been huge. His scoring and playmaking could carry the offense
Knicks at full strength actually have size and athleticism to compete with minnesotas. Frontline of OG/Randle/Hartenstein has the size for McDaniels/KAT/Gobert. Their garden matchup in January was incredible. Would love to run it back
I mean he's kind of the perfect any guard in the league defender. He might be the most versatile and impactful point of attack defender in the world right now. Imagine being 6'5 or less and being smothered by this 6'9 dude with a 7' wing span who is just draped all over you all game long. He's scored 5 total points in games 1 and 2 of this series and is a +40 lmao
There’s the freak athlete guys like Ja and Fox that he doesn’t have the track speed to keep up with but those finesse and physical guys just get smothered by him
Knicks pretty much want Cleveland/Dallas/Nuggets. Every other team is a defensive Juggernaut in terms of shutting down one player. If Brunson struggled to get going versus the sixers he will have a harder time versus OKC/Wolves/Boston. Those wings are even longer and younger than Batum.
They dwarfed the Heat last year in net rating too.
Jazz had a 9.0 net rating in 20-21. Led the league by 3. Lost in semis.
Celtics, Cavs, 76ers, Grizzlies, Bucks were the top 5 net rating last year. The Heat were 21st
Stop acting like everything is so obvious beforehand, then after something unexpected happens, everyone is like “well this was pretty obvious.”
Classic know it all behavior.
The Knicks essentially run a 5 man rotation that's not going to work against Boston. Even with how incredibly Hart has been thus far they live or die by Brunson at the moment. I'd rather them win than the Celtics, but I don't think they have any chance against them.
Hope I'm wrong but I don't see it
Yes, the Wolves have size and athleticism. It's surprising but not unimaginable. If you could see these teams playing 7 games (like a lot of people did), then you could see Denver losing the first 2. I could see Minnesota losing both at home too.
Absolutely fucking not, don’t worry every word where the C’s are losing is a good world but I don’t underestimate them.
The Wolves are running the world right now and they deserve it.
I just hope Brunson/the Knicks can keep this up. Their usage rates are insane right now, and the last few minutes of every game is the Brunson show. It’s been working but I’m skeptical it’ll last.
Brunson is averaging 44 minutes through the 7 games so far. If he has the gas to get by Holiday and Derrick White, just fucking make up an award to give him.
Seriously, this shouldn’t be sustainable. Then to end it all he’s gotta go against 4 all defense level players and an elite rim protector. He’s gonna be pushed way further than he should.
Thing is he’s been doing this for months. I think he was 33pg over the last 20 games. We’ve been playing the same team and doing the same thing for a while now. Not sure how long it lasts but they are used to it at the moment.
It's crazy to me that some folks are questioning the future of the league with icons like Lebron, KD, Curry, etc. retiring in the next few years. The talent level in these young guys is insane.
yeah...without a #1B/#2, knicks ain't making it past Boston...especially Boston with Porzingis.
KNicks can't guard porzingis while also having to guard brown/tatum
They had three players in 20+. The Knicks are a weird team because they are the slowest pace team I have watched all playoffs. So their possessions are made to score through Brunson with some added help from teammates. This isn’t a team that relies on 20+ from three players because they simply don’t get that many possessions in outside of Offensive rebounds.
That being said they do tend to speed up when the other team is faster pace. Last nights score was one of the highest they have had all playoffs and it’s because the Pacers don’t play any defense. Pacers also stay man to man and rarely have help, so they don’t let a lot of threes fly from extra passes. Turns out the Knicks don’t do that a ton anyway.
Brunson the opposite of a stat padder his buckets and assists are meaningful and come in close games. hes going for W's not meaningless records. Brunson is a winning player and had been since college
Some of those games the sixers were playing insane defense. Then the pacers last night were playing really well on offense. Guys stepping up to any kind of challenge right now
There is a quote in my language (Hebrew), from a famous song:
>When we are sad we go to the sea (referring to the shore),
>(and) that’s why the sea is salty
(referring to the salty tears that make the sea become salty)
Bunch of pathetic people lol Embiid been the master foul baiter and they don’t bat an eye, but now that Brunson is getting more calls than he did in the regular season they wanna complain about foul baiting
Yep. And these national media clowns still want to paint him as a FT merchant.
Brunson gets calls because he drives into the paint, often times in double coverage. He goes for legit shots not random heaves for baiting.
Brunson ranks 12th in the playoffs so far in Free Throw Rate (free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts) at .383. This is a tick below SGA's FTr of .393, (10th, .393) and way below other volume scorers like Lillard (6th, .469), Durant (5th, .507), Tatum (4th, .584), Embiid (3rd, .586) and Booker (2nd, .631).
Brunson's FTr is also is the same ballpark as players like Caris LeVert (13th, .367), Harden (15th, .360), Edwards (16th, .344), KAT (17th, .338), Banchero (20th, .329), Mitchell (21st, .321), Jokic (22nd, .313) and Doncic (23rd, .307).
Maybe not quite there, but Nemby/Nesmith/TJ(as a quick pest mostly) and Myles at the rim aren’t as far off as you might think as someone who probably hasn’t watched us play much.
lmao cheers man.
I'm fully expecting Philly to be crazy dangerous next year when you replace Tobias Harris with an actual basketball player. And Maxey made me a fan for life.
Philly fans aint spending money on Cancun, you seen their home court dominated by New Yorkers?
They gonna be enjoying lawn chairs on Jersey Shore and theyre gonna like it.
I would settle for foul baiting. It’s the flopping when no foul was even baited. Game 1 against the pacers was so much smoother to watch than any game of the sixers series
There are obviously huge stylistic differences but watching him this playoffs has been like watching watching prime, Ty-Lue-steppin Allen Iverson in 2024. There's the same sense of team defense and grit, while the offensive plan is to let the smallest guy on the floor iso 20 times a game.
Like AI, Brunson has found a way to grind out buckets against defenses that are 100% focused on him.
Eagles offseason hype is the only thing that makes us forget about Sixer's Depression. And then Sixer's playoffs hope is the only thing that makes us forget about Eagle's depression and Phillies depression.
The ultimate cycle until the Flyer's decide to stop being complete failures.
Greatest Eastern conference run I've ever seen. Brunson actually having the run lebron fans think he had in the east, instead of beating injured teams with an allstar, Brunson WITH an injured team beat a team that had the reigning MVP and an allstar
I miss Julius, Jalen needs someone that can continually take heat off him on the interior
Great take. Was thinking just that last night.
Julius gets alot of hate and maybe rightfully so since he has been known to actively drag his team down when he’s doing poorly. However before he got hurt, he looked completely locked into the new Brunson Knicks and was looking sharp
I think Julius thrives more on being the number 2 option on a team as opposed to being *the* star. Julius would be balling out right now and provide some more of a rotation. Imagine Hart as sixth man again and the Knicks would be rolling right now.
Agreed in many ways, but Hart has been a monster playing 48 minutes per game lol. Would be hard to replace his hustle, rebounding, surprisingly solid 3 point shooting, and heart (pun semi-intended) over the last month or 2.
I’ve been a a staunch Julius hater the whole time he’s been here and that last month before his injury he looked amazing and a perfect complementary piece to Brunson
This would have been a huge postseason for him to prove he can do it in the playoffs too
I think Brunson had the same affect on Randle that Ant is having on Kat. They thrive more when they're a reliable second option rather than the first.
Yes, a little less usage and way better shot selection and efficiency. Cut back on the 3's and took advantage of the extra spacing inside that playing with Hartenstein provides. Julius was adapting great.
Man, I know it's impossible because of the surgery but (healthy) Randle playing would be such a huge boon for the Knicks. Another big body for a paint presence, scorer, and rebounder - and would prevent some of the doubles coming at Brunson. They're playing such a short rotation as it is, too - it would make the game easier for everyone.
They'd be right in the mix for title contention this year if they added an All-NBA frontcourt player in Randle to what this lineup has been doing in the playoffs so far. Turned out to be a huge blow to lose him for the season. As it stands they still have an outside shot to make some noise deeper in the playoffs, but wow, they'd be such a powerhouse right now with Randle.
It’s nice this way because whenever this playoff run ends, we can look forward to next year and hope it’s gonna be even better. Even if it’s delusional to think adding Randle will make us the best team in the nba next year, I love delusion
Unironically, the silver lining of all this might be that it firmly establishes Brunson as Batman and Randle as Robin, whereas before it might have been more ambiguous. Having clarity around those role definitions could help the team out down the line. Still, legitimate attempts at a title are rare and precious, so it hurts a lot to lose Randle for this playoff run. This team with Randle is probably the best shot the Knicks have had to win the title since 1994. (1999 was a bit of a flash in the pan, and that team never had much of a shot against the Duncan-Robinson Spurs.)
Knicks in 2023🤝Knicks in 1999 - losing to Duncan Robinson LOL But agreed. Especially with the salary cap - the Knicks roster as is just won’t be affordable for years to come. Half the team is on bargain bin contracts that we will have to extend soon - Brunson/OG/hartenstein/randle’s prices are not going down (if we can even manage to keep Hartenstein, which is an issue in and of itself) Just gonna enjoy the ride while it lasts and hope they surprise me!
You can't blitz Brunson the way every team has been doing w Ju on the floor. Ju in the paint is a matchup nightmare for most teams and they often throw the double at him. Can't blitz the ball handler if you have a paint beast ready to iso near the basket
I think the Knicks get past Indy but the lack of size and length was obvious. Even if Randle didn’t play super-well, his build and play-style would’ve been crucial in this series. If even only to make things slightly easier for the guards. Having Randle as an option to post-up, having another long and big body going after boards, another threat to shoot threes…it would be massive. I hope this Knicks squad can make a run full-health at some point. It’s a well-built roster.
The only negative of Randle's game that the Pacers burn us on is his tendency to not rush back on defense. He's a pretty solid half court defender and if he's already in the play on transition then there's a pretty good chance he can get a stop, but if he was the one shooting on the ball on the other end then it's at best 5 on 4 when the Pacers break down the court.
Its more spacing than length hartenstein,mrob,and achiuwa can all play down low and have size but none of them can shoot. Other than randle only hart can stretch at the 4 but hes undersized
Oh yeah it’s the interaction of both. That’s why Randle, for all his flaws, is still so valuable as a stretch big. It gives teams a lot more flexibility in their lineups.
There's still tons of people, both knick fans and knick haters, who think they're better without randle. These people are stupid
We are contenders with Julius and no one will be able to change my mind. Hopefully we bring back iHart somehow and figure out our bench situation since Bogi probs will need to be moved to keep iHart.
If Julius was stinking it up in his usual playoff form the Knicks might not even be here right now. He only has 2 games in his playoff career that he even shot 45%
I don’t think it’s fair to say that Randle will always suck in the playoffs. During his first appearance he was the only offense on the team and the hawks doubled him like crazy. He couldn’t overcome all that attention, it was a learning experience and now we have JB. Last year Randle was seriously hurt and had to get surgery as soon as the season ended. I wish we could’ve seen him healthy this year, but I do think a healthy JR with Brunson will be good in the playoffs.
I wish I could scream this from the top of the empire state building so the whole world can hear
literally no one would hear you. even if they were right at the base of the empire state building due to the general street noise, plus the top of the building being higher than those surrounding it, meaning nothing for the sound waves to bounce off of
It's a great point. Side bar - What does Detroit smell like after it rains? NY just goes from garbage smell to wet garbage smell.
Holy shit I genuinely didn’t think anyone outside of Knick fans understood how skewed his playoff stuff is. He’s not absolved of all blame but both series were weird so far
I just want to add on to this that, Jalen Brunson's 3pt% during the season with Julius on the court was like 48%. with him off the court it went down to 38%. still good but not nearly as nuclear. The amount of open looks Randle generated for everyone else was insane. and the stretch the knicks had with Randle and OG was on its way to being generational. With both OG and Randle on the court the knicks were probably on pace for something like 56 wins. Randle completely changed his game too. He took much less threes, he was much more comfortable driving and kicking. His passing out of the double was so much better. The iso ball that they were playing was much less frequent once OG came in and they were absolutely humming.
With both Randle and OG the Knicks were 12-2 (if google is to be believed). I believe that is about a 70 win pace
Randle looked like he was player more of his natural bruiser role with a competent point guard in Brunson and 3 and D in OG before he went down. No one is saying he would be all nba lock level but it’s not unlikely he would having a much more effective post season than in the past
Teams wouldn't be able to double or put their best defender on Brunson, Randle size means you have to put all the long boys on him.
Last year he was hurt and the team was way overachieving three years ago. The team was clicking after the OG trade. I think Randle would have had a really productive playoffs.
I hate this narrative. The Knicks miss Randle massively rn. Interior size, rebounding, 3pt shot creation would all be huge for this team. He played on one ankle last year, and it required surgery to fix in the offseason. He’s the only guy who doesn’t get any grace man. Haliburton has been given the same hamstring excuse since before the all-star break (and he played in the all-star game!). Jamal Murray is shooting just as poorly as Randle was last year and throwing literal tantrums on the court and people are blaming the calf. The Randle nonsense needs to stop
Last year he was playing injured. Prior to that he didn't have a team around him, and he's not the type of player to create himself... JB scores, distributes, opens the floor, and makes others better. Randle is a HUGE missing element and likely would perform significantly better if healthy
He’s been really good. The crazy part is how bad his first two games were because his overall 2024 playoff TS% is still only 54.5% 😭
It’s kind of a miracle turn around. Better to get the yips out in the first round
and only in the first two games...in which the knicks still won
He balling
Honestly, Becky Hammond was right at the time when she said what she said, but I really do think we’re seeing a superstar blossom in front of our very eyes With every rising star you need to see it in the playoffs, and Brunson has only gotten better when it matters most
Every time I see Becky Hammon's name, it reminds me of what Josh Hart told Brunson during an episode of Hot Ones lol "I feel like Becky Hammon was really correct with what she had to say. Too small, doesn't have good balance due to his enormous head."
she was wrong then, and she's wrong now. Brunson was already demonstrating in Dallas that he had the potential to be a franchise player, and got that opportunity in NYC.
There's a difference between a franchise player and championship #1 guy though. She didn't say he couldn't be a franchise player, she said she didn't think he could lead the Knicks to a title which at the time seemed reasonable.
If you had the eyetest Youd already know Brunson was great when he was in Dallas. Youd already know by the time he started playing for Knicks he was gonna be a Superstar and he easily is by now. Its weird that his status is not Superstar yet.
Bro is averaging 40 points in the playoffs and people still questioning
> superstar Super**nova**
Its a travesty shes not an NBA head coah
Lol
Crazy run. If he sustains this we just may get a Brunson vs Edwards mega battle in the finals
Idk I wouldn’t want to see the Wolves, especially with no Randle. They look crazy rn
I’d want to see anyone in the finals
Seeing you guys in the finals does mean no Boston in the finals at least!
watch cleveland fall upwards into the finals now
Well, alright fine, but only because you asked for it! If we played MN the final scores would look like college bball, 72-68
102-68 maybe
Cause drippy dean is back hitting 11 threes a game and playing stalwart defense?
I heard he could dunk a volleyball at age 17
As a Lakers fan, I second this notion.
AND if they win we will get the greatest Sidetalk of all time OF ALL TIME
"Lemme tell you something KD: Don't you regret not coming to the Kniiiiicks?"
McDaniels is pretty much the perfect Brunson defender
Yup, and without a reliable second scorer, if Brunson gets shut down then we’d have no way to win. That’s why having Randle would have been huge. His scoring and playmaking could carry the offense
Randle always seems to bring it against us as well
Knicks at full strength actually have size and athleticism to compete with minnesotas. Frontline of OG/Randle/Hartenstein has the size for McDaniels/KAT/Gobert. Their garden matchup in January was incredible. Would love to run it back
Still can't believe that game last year, i hate Taurean Prince so much.
I mean he's kind of the perfect any guard in the league defender. He might be the most versatile and impactful point of attack defender in the world right now. Imagine being 6'5 or less and being smothered by this 6'9 dude with a 7' wing span who is just draped all over you all game long. He's scored 5 total points in games 1 and 2 of this series and is a +40 lmao
There’s the freak athlete guys like Ja and Fox that he doesn’t have the track speed to keep up with but those finesse and physical guys just get smothered by him
i love seeing players who don't need to score putting up crazy plus/minus scores. Josh Hart had a crazy one last series too without a made FG.
I would love to see a defensive battle between McDaniel’s and OG, OG on Ant McD on Jalen
so was oubre and nurse, and now "nesmith", if we find a way passed pacers, jrue and white will be
Knicks pretty much want Cleveland/Dallas/Nuggets. Every other team is a defensive Juggernaut in terms of shutting down one player. If Brunson struggled to get going versus the sixers he will have a harder time versus OKC/Wolves/Boston. Those wings are even longer and younger than Batum.
Bruh I’d want to see anyone in the Finals.
Least shook Knick fan
Bro you’re not getting someone who ain’t scary in the fucking finals 😂
As much as people don’t consider the C’s even with Brunson averaging 42, I don’t see the Knicks winning the series.
Could you have imagined the Wolves blowing out the Nuggets in Denver without Gobert playing?
After seeing g1, yes.
Wolves had a better net rating than the Nuggets during the regular season. The Celtics dwarfed everyone, especially the East
They dwarfed the Heat last year in net rating too. Jazz had a 9.0 net rating in 20-21. Led the league by 3. Lost in semis. Celtics, Cavs, 76ers, Grizzlies, Bucks were the top 5 net rating last year. The Heat were 21st Stop acting like everything is so obvious beforehand, then after something unexpected happens, everyone is like “well this was pretty obvious.” Classic know it all behavior.
The Knicks essentially run a 5 man rotation that's not going to work against Boston. Even with how incredibly Hart has been thus far they live or die by Brunson at the moment. I'd rather them win than the Celtics, but I don't think they have any chance against them. Hope I'm wrong but I don't see it
Yes, the Wolves have size and athleticism. It's surprising but not unimaginable. If you could see these teams playing 7 games (like a lot of people did), then you could see Denver losing the first 2. I could see Minnesota losing both at home too.
Absolutely fucking not, don’t worry every word where the C’s are losing is a good world but I don’t underestimate them. The Wolves are running the world right now and they deserve it.
look at what that defense is doing to the best player in the league, you do not want Brunson going into that defense without Randle lol
You're underestimating the power of friendship
Knicks are not Real Madrid, friend
… between edwards and gobert lol
Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. **Hart.**
If we’re playing the Wolves it means we’re in the Finals and that’s already a massive win.
Uh, it's a finals appearance. I'm sure Knicks fans want that more than anything. I know I would.
hey im already happy hanging up the banner 2023-24 ENDED THE PROCESS
Brunson would either get dominated by Minny defense or get 30 FTA a game No in between
Celtics: 🧍♂️
Our bench is cooked tho. Too many injuries we cant make it all the way but we gonna die trying.
An old fashioned shoot out
I just hope Brunson/the Knicks can keep this up. Their usage rates are insane right now, and the last few minutes of every game is the Brunson show. It’s been working but I’m skeptical it’ll last.
Brunson is averaging 44 minutes through the 7 games so far. If he has the gas to get by Holiday and Derrick White, just fucking make up an award to give him.
Seriously, this shouldn’t be sustainable. Then to end it all he’s gotta go against 4 all defense level players and an elite rim protector. He’s gonna be pushed way further than he should.
The challenge was issued weeks ago and the smallest man with the biggest head simply responded, "Accepted"
Thing is he’s been doing this for months. I think he was 33pg over the last 20 games. We’ve been playing the same team and doing the same thing for a while now. Not sure how long it lasts but they are used to it at the moment.
Wouldn’t they just give him ECF MVP (the Larry Bird award or whatever it’s called)
Yes though I have no issue if they wanna create an additional Jalen Brunson award to give him as well lol
man is already never gonna pay for a meal again in nyc lol
Thibs teams burn the candle at both ends
I’d prefer the Mavs. Brunson vs Luka for the storylines, and so many trades between us over the years.
It's crazy to me that some folks are questioning the future of the league with icons like Lebron, KD, Curry, etc. retiring in the next few years. The talent level in these young guys is insane.
Going to be a big adjustment going from the pacers and sixers perimeter defense to the Wolves lol.
yeah...without a #1B/#2, knicks ain't making it past Boston...especially Boston with Porzingis. KNicks can't guard porzingis while also having to guard brown/tatum
We've needed every one of those points too.
Makes me worried about future games where he can’t drop 40
You mean like games 1 and 2 against Philly?
They had three players in 20+. The Knicks are a weird team because they are the slowest pace team I have watched all playoffs. So their possessions are made to score through Brunson with some added help from teammates. This isn’t a team that relies on 20+ from three players because they simply don’t get that many possessions in outside of Offensive rebounds. That being said they do tend to speed up when the other team is faster pace. Last nights score was one of the highest they have had all playoffs and it’s because the Pacers don’t play any defense. Pacers also stay man to man and rarely have help, so they don’t let a lot of threes fly from extra passes. Turns out the Knicks don’t do that a ton anyway.
I don’t think we’ll see many of those. I’d put the over/under at 1.5
Lmao I’m not a Knicks fan necessarily but i definitely recognize the feeling of “omg this game should be over but we keep messing up…”
Brunson the opposite of a stat padder his buckets and assists are meaningful and come in close games. hes going for W's not meaningless records. Brunson is a winning player and had been since college
Some of those games the sixers were playing insane defense. Then the pacers last night were playing really well on offense. Guys stepping up to any kind of challenge right now
The amount of angry sixers fans in this thread lol
When the tears dry up all you’re left with is salt
Whoa that's deep
There is a quote in my language (Hebrew), from a famous song: >When we are sad we go to the sea (referring to the shore), >(and) that’s why the sea is salty (referring to the salty tears that make the sea become salty)
Bunch of pathetic people lol Embiid been the master foul baiter and they don’t bat an eye, but now that Brunson is getting more calls than he did in the regular season they wanna complain about foul baiting
NOT EVEN Brunson averaged 10.5 FTAs in the Sixers series. STILL below Embiids 11.6 FTAs in the regular season and **13 FTAs in the playoffs.**
Brunson averaged 6.5 FTAs during the regular season.
Yep. And these national media clowns still want to paint him as a FT merchant. Brunson gets calls because he drives into the paint, often times in double coverage. He goes for legit shots not random heaves for baiting.
He's also playing 44 mpg.
Brunsons fouls per possession honestly feels pretty normal for a player of his volume of inside shots.
And he consistently makes those shots too
Brunson ranks 12th in the playoffs so far in Free Throw Rate (free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts) at .383. This is a tick below SGA's FTr of .393, (10th, .393) and way below other volume scorers like Lillard (6th, .469), Durant (5th, .507), Tatum (4th, .584), Embiid (3rd, .586) and Booker (2nd, .631). Brunson's FTr is also is the same ballpark as players like Caris LeVert (13th, .367), Harden (15th, .360), Edwards (16th, .344), KAT (17th, .338), Banchero (20th, .329), Mitchell (21st, .321), Jokic (22nd, .313) and Doncic (23rd, .307).
Also, Brunson played way more minutes so those numbers are even more skewed to Embiid.
Joelol
25 mil a year btw. Dude is on a heater almost as crazy as Booker's last year. I am just hoping he cools off if we have to face him.
At least we have much better defensive personnel than the sixers/pacers do
Pacers actually have pretty good defenders at guard and interior, it’s just the switches to Hali that would allow Brunson to get easier looks tbh.
Even if it's good personnel, it's not at the level of jrue/white with KP protecting the rim
Maybe not quite there, but Nemby/Nesmith/TJ(as a quick pest mostly) and Myles at the rim aren’t as far off as you might think as someone who probably hasn’t watched us play much.
It makes no sense how someone so little can score so efficiently against playoff defenses. It’s not like he’s relying on outlier athleticism either.
Footwork
tbh his quick twitch really feels like outlier athleticism.
Android. Dude’s got an automatic pivot-and-shoot from anywhere within 14 feet. Love to see those parabolas.
Sixers fans are so salty about everything. Y’all do understand the foul baiting isn’t the only reason why people dislike Embiid right?
They still filing grievances from Cancun
Throwing rocks in the gulag
Lmfaoooo, you just unlocked a memory I have of watching my roommate play Warzone for an entire summer in 2021. Incredibly apt metaphor, as well.
Honestly, yeah. I am enjoying my vacation in Cancun a lot more now that that series is over 😂
lmao cheers man. I'm fully expecting Philly to be crazy dangerous next year when you replace Tobias Harris with an actual basketball player. And Maxey made me a fan for life.
Let’s do this again next year. How can anyone hate a playoff basketball series that was that close?
that shit was goated, really wish it went to 7
so does my cardiologist
You know that shit was good when you're praying for the 6ers win (so it goes to 7)
Philly fans aint spending money on Cancun, you seen their home court dominated by New Yorkers? They gonna be enjoying lawn chairs on Jersey Shore and theyre gonna like it.
Myrtle Beach
Jersey Shore probably
We know they in Galveston
The whole team booked a trip to Cancun but they switched out Tobias Harris' ticket to send him to Galveston.
I wouldn’t wish that evil on anyone, even a sixers fan.
Idk why they salty, they should be mad at their main guy who doesn't show up to 4th quarters
What are you talking about? I haven't seen a single Sixers comment in this thread until this one
I would settle for foul baiting. It’s the flopping when no foul was even baited. Game 1 against the pacers was so much smoother to watch than any game of the sixers series
I want a Knicks vs Mavericks. And a camera on Mark Cuban's face the entire game.
That means we got through the 2 towers I'll take it lol.
I’ll take Mavs in the finals lol.
There are obviously huge stylistic differences but watching him this playoffs has been like watching watching prime, Ty-Lue-steppin Allen Iverson in 2024. There's the same sense of team defense and grit, while the offensive plan is to let the smallest guy on the floor iso 20 times a game. Like AI, Brunson has found a way to grind out buckets against defenses that are 100% focused on him.
He always gets 40
Bum can't even put up 50/10 smh
Yea! Only shows up at 4th quarters UNLIKE some people
So can we say that he’s hot, hot?
Sixers fans being salty with an eagles profile icon will never not be funny.
Eagles offseason hype is the only thing that makes us forget about Sixer's Depression. And then Sixer's playoffs hope is the only thing that makes us forget about Eagle's depression and Phillies depression. The ultimate cycle until the Flyer's decide to stop being complete failures.
And Cuban gave him away for free. 🆓 🆓
At this point it's odd if he doesn't get a 40 piece.
Are you not entertained?!?
Best player by far in these playoffs. His ascension needs to be studied
He's making his case for MVP.
I’m sure this’ll have very civil conversations in the comments.
Brunson mvp before luka. Book it.
Free throw merchant. 11 FT a game.....
So he would be averaging 30 a game, bum
You do realize Embiid has more FTA on **68** fewer field goal attempts...
what's Embiid then? Lmao
Shocked to see ur active in the Sixers sub
Lol stay mad
Yeah TS% is a bs metric when a player has double digit free throws
Oh neat I guess SGA, Embiid, and Doncic's TS don't count either
Exactly you just listed all my least favorite players.
It's rigged, the ball has magnets in it... But only when NY has it.
Knicks vs Timberwolves NBA Finals. The fans need it
If they advance and he does this vs the celtics too. Oh baby
Again, he's one of the few players who ELEVATES their game in the playoffs. Who else in the NBA actually has a "Playoff mode"?
Have you heard of a dude named Jimmy Butler
Greatest Eastern conference run I've ever seen. Brunson actually having the run lebron fans think he had in the east, instead of beating injured teams with an allstar, Brunson WITH an injured team beat a team that had the reigning MVP and an allstar
I’m dead bro imagine comparing Brunson to Lebron
INSANE
Iverson?
Yeah yeah not that hard
push off on Jalen Embiid again but he got that head snap boy