How do you slow the pace, Tom?

[NewlyKnicked]

The pacers are all about pace . They just want to run. On the other hand, we have one of the most efficient defenses and offenses when we are set in half court. We like it slow.
In addition, when the pacers haven’t played more than 37 mpg, our players are not going to be able to run like madmen for north of 40 mpg (OG, Brunson and Hart).

So what do we do? How do you take control of the pace? How do you slow things down so that Brunson can iso his heart out and we dominate the rebound?

[Minkaveli]

Guard the three point line. Make sure Myles Turner doesn't go off from three. Our guys like to get out and run as well. Hart and OG. Force the Pacers to turn it over and guard the three point line.

[spree#8]

I have no idea. Yet. I don't like the match-up. They have their two stars healthy and available and good depth while playing a polar opposite style. We need to be able to run and gun with them and that's usually not our forte.

But I'll enjoy the first round win now and start worrying about the next tough match-up more from Monday on.

[bobhait]

the Knicks need to slow themselves down first. the worst stretches for the team have been when they push the tempo of the game. even last night, suddenly it’s bad shots, bad turnovers, bad fouls, and you look up, the Sixers go from down 22 to up 3 at the half. when Jalen slows it down and looks for the right angles, the opponents have to work that much harder on D almost the entire clock, especially with the other Knicks on the court in constant motion.

also, if it’s going to be largely the 7-man rotation for the big chunk of this series, with the main guys each playing over 40 minutes per, Thibs just can’t afford to get into a track meet with Indiana. and if you want to take Obi out of this series, definitely can’t let him get out in the open court. he’s not a back-you-down forward - Toppin needs to get out on the fastbreak, or he’ll be relegated to spot-up shooter

[bobhait]

it just feels like Jalen and Josh will need to go against the natural instinct of responding to a quick basket with a fast break. May need to slow each possession down to a crawl and make it ugly. it may look unwatchable, but it may also be Indy’s kryptonite

[Rusty La Rue]

I don't want to jinx anything... but to me the Pacers are a worse team than the 76ers... sure they like to run... but if we rebound and take care of the ball (2 things we are good at)... that can be controlled... OG can handle Siakam... They don't have scorers like Embiid and Maxey... Haliburton is great... but he is not a elite scorer... Their tallest players are 6'11 Turner and 6'9 Toppin none of them great rebounders... I think Mitch and IHart will feast on the glass in this series... maybe a little like against the Cavs last year... we win in 5 or 6... the Pacers will probably have a game or 2 where they hit everything... but that is also what they have to do to win a´game... they defeated the Bucks without Giannis (and Lillard also missed a couple of games)... Even without Jules we are the better team... GO KNICKS

[spree#8]

Offensively, I think we will be able to slow it down as usual most of the times, but there likely will be back and forth segments where we will miss firepower when Indy starts to run. I hope that Burks will initially fill in for Bogdanovic and we will see Brunson/McBride/DiVo together at times. Indy's frontcourt is also a better match-up for using Achiuwa more than it was Philly's. so I expect more minutes for Precious - depending on how it goes. So we will likely see again nine used guys in total in the series (maybe even ten with a Sims sighting), with the rotation being shrunk in the later stages of the series.

If I should guess now, I expect a split at home, a split in the next two on the road and then us being able to win games 5 and 6 to win 4-2 again. Missing Randle and Bogdanovic will hurt though, so I also wouldn't be surprised if Indy can pull off the upset. But I'm optimistic, because I think we are so locked in and well prepared that we can win this series and advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2000. Three point shooting will be massive for the outcome of the series, so I hope that we can unlock DiVo as our second option against them.

General keys: turnovers and offensive rebounds (as usual for us - we basically only won against Philly because we had/created more possessions). One thing I didn't like against Philly was that we played from behind so frequently. Main reason was probably the problem to defend Embiid, but still would like to start better and play with a lead against Indy. For one I think it's tougher to come back against a fast paced team and two) I think our starting line-up fits way better with theirs than with Philly's, so let's get leads early. If we are up I like our chances.

[spree#8]

I have no idea. Yet. I don't like the match-up. They have their two stars healthy and available and good depth while playing a polar opposite style. We need to be able to run and gun with them and that's usually not our forte.

But I'll enjoy the first round win now and start worrying about the next tough match-up more from Monday on.

Here, I found the answer: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touch ... ME_OF_POSS



Brunon's time of possession per game. 11.1 minutes per game. Let that sink in.

[NYGM]

I'm with Bob on this one, we need to control the pace.

We have gotten better but we are not at our best playing too fast, tends to get out of control for us.

I don't worry about Turner making 3’s, sure he can make some and maybe get hot on a game but it's not like he's a sniper.

I'm not too familiar with the Pacers but they are mostly healthy and I believe Mathurin is the only one out, Siakam gives them an experienced All-Star-level player to go with Haliburton and their players have excelled offensively this season.

Interesting matchup.

[DreOfficial]

The Knicks must control the game's tempo through transition defense and efficient half-court offense. We need smart timeouts and substitutions to manage fatigue and maintain intensity throughout the game. We need an 8-10-man rotation. We must spread the scoring load among multiple players to prevent them from keying in on one scorer. I want the ball to move. Also, attacking players prone to being in foul trouble offensively could assist with limiting the tempo. Lastly, don't let Obi Toppin beat you. Rick Carlisle is a championship head coach; this is a good test for Thibs.

I have the Knicks winning this series as well.

[NYGM]

JB
DDV
OG
Jhart
IHart
Mitch
Deuce
Precious

Sims??
AB??
Milton?

The reality is, after 8 there is no much to see right now. Bogey and Ju being hurt and Burks being trash is hard to overcome.

I don't trust Milton who barely played this year or Jeffries and Diakite is to play in a conference semis at this point.

[NewlyKnicked]

Putting Turner in foul trouble early on would be a huge plus. They have a very shallow front court

[DreOfficial]

The reality is he is ONLY currently using 7.

He needs to be between 8 and 10.

8 = Precious
9 = Burks
10 = Sims

Burks could be the 8th man as well.

[bobhait]

The reality is he is ONLY currently using 7.

He needs to be between 8 and 10.

8 = Precious
9 = Burks
10 = Sims

Burks could be the 8th man as well.

we may see Precious and Burks early in the series, but not in close out game(s)

[rebound]

The reality is he is ONLY currently using 7.

He needs to be between 8 and 10.

8 = Precious
9 = Burks
10 = Sims

Burks could be the 8th man as well.

if he doesn't use burks and precious this series, then it is just further evidence of how dysfunctional this front office is.
how do you turn 3 rotation players and 3 2nd rounds picks into 1 rotation player?

[bobhait]

dysfunctional? the man put together a team that just made it past the first round in consecutive seasons for the first time in a quarter century. three playoff appearances in four years. if anyone told you in March 2020 that within four years the Knicks would have a legitimate shot to get to the conference finals, and maybe further, you’d have thought you were talking to an insane person.

and it’s not an all things being equal situation that Leon traded three rotation players for one. putting aside player comparisons between OG and the players that got traded, eventually these things come down to money. the Knicks couldn’t keep RJ’s contract on the books, AND extend IQ and Grimes, AND give Jalen and Julius max extensions, AND hope to re-sign Hartenstein. had IQ still been here, Deuce wouldn’t have been getting any playing time. notice how the first thing that happened after the OG trade was Leon locked Deuce into a three-year deal that looks like one of the best value contracts in the league. besides, two of the players whose departures you lament were picked late in the first round by the same Leon Rose whom you don’t find to be a competent enough GM to find more comparable talent in the draft moving forward.

and far as using second round picks in trades, the Knicks have plenty of picks lined up for a number of years coming up. we’ve seen pretty much every regime prior to Leon cough up innumerable first round picks in trades often involving rather underwhelming players coming to New York. that Leon only gave up second round picks should be a sigh of relief, not a source of concern. besides, logistically, the Knicks simply cannot select all the players - between contracts counting against the cap, not enough roster spots, not to mention virtually no chance to even crack garbage time, let alone actual meaningful rotation minutes, you’ll have guys at the end of the bench whose names you’ll know about as well as those occupying the last three or four spots right now.

[bobhait]

also, not only was Precious a rotation player for us for a meaningful stretch of the regular season, I’m fairly certain that we’ll see him and Burks early in the next round. the way Bojan went down wasn’t something Thibs could have prepared for. it was just too late in the series to experiment with giving Burks or Shake Milton a look. do you want to work on the rotation, or do you want to close out the Sixers? the six games against Philly came down to the slimmest margins. had we gotten the same negative impact from Burks he was giving us since the return, this series could have easily gone to the Sixers, and maybe even within fewer games. remember, they had double digit leads at various points in all six contests - a couple Burks bricks or turnovers, and we are cooked

[n8 the gr8]

I think you force them to adjust to us. Make crashing the glass such an issue that they can't afford to have guys leaking out. When Brunson is bringing the ball up have a secondary ball-handler parallel in case there's pressure until you get into the offensive sets. Perimeter players can crash the offensive glass from the wings but the guys up top have to get back. Don't be tempted to run after made baskets unless there's a really clear advantage, and don't take mediocre shots (especially contested 3s) in secondary breaks. You can't be shy of taking 3s but play inside-out, try to get to the line.

I agree I'd like to see Thibs try a longer rotation, maybe Burks in the first game or two but he has to calm down. I like Precious at 4, sliding OG to 3 for a little bit. Hartenstein and Robinson should still split all the 5 minutes imo because that's playing to our strengths. Turner isn't a guy you have to be afraid of, our guys are mobile enough on the perimeter to contest him and I feel like they've killed him on the glass before.

Hope Haliburton shoots as bad as he did the first round.

An underrated part of why I think fast paced teams often wilt in the playoffs is the TV timeouts give guys so many more chances to catch the breath.

[NYGM]

if he doesn't use burks and precious this series, then it is just further evidence of how dysfunctional this front office is.
how do you turn 3 rotation players and 3 2nd rounds of picks into 1 rotation player?

Come on man, dysfunctional?

Really?

We have been talking about consolidation for years here, it's nothing new.

We just advanced to the second round for a second season in a row even with all injuries and being undermanned.

Bogey got hurt, it happens.

Burks wasn't playing well enough to justify him over Deuce for example, who is getting more minutes due to the moves this front office did.

[nazrmohamed]

if he doesn't use burks and precious this series, then it is just further evidence of how dysfunctional this front office is.
how do you turn 3 rotation players and 3 2nd rounds picks into 1 rotation player?

You're forgetting that Bojan had eventually found his groove with us but then got hurt. You take away that injury and this trade that you keep harping on makes sense. I'll admit I didn't see it either but bro. We gave up 2nd rounders and a player who neither before or after this trade has had a better season than at least one of the guys we brought back. Burks hasn't really been given a second chance since he stunk up his first week here.

I'm just saying, you spend allot of time overanalizing that trade. I'll grade it as more of a nonevent in hindsight. We gave up nothing. It isn't some microcosm of this FO. We wanted to win, took a calculated risk that I'd do 100xs over. Bojan was averaging 20pts in Detroit. In its entirety nothing went to plan but I will give up 2 2nd rounders and a non performing rookie scale player every yr of my life if you told me I were getting back a 20pt player


Who's next yrs 20pt gamble. Sign me up. For perspective Burks, the worst of the two players was doing better in Detroit than Grimes was doing here. We tried something which was low risk, and it turned out low reward too. I ain't that mad at it. Idk why you are. I'd hope my team was always on the lookout for stuff like this.


I do think Bojan was about to make this all worth it too. He hit 2 big shots in game 2, made some nice passes leading to a transition Miles dunk. Again, it took a while to find his groove but I think things clicked about 5 games before the playoffs. It's just hard to see cuz he's a backup in situational minutes. But teammates were starting to understand him too and where he gets hot. Too bad he's hurt now.

I'm not saying he's my guy longterm rebound but I'm just saying as a matter of principle. Finding out whether a guy who's scoring 20pts will fit in to help bolster a deep playoff team. It's worth 2 measley 2nd rounders. Sometimes it'll work, sometimes it won't.