PG: Cap Enjoys a Cuban as OG Screams in Pain

[FrozenEnvelope]

I'm pretty happy to see Thibs is down to play Deuce/Brunson in tandem as long as he has OG out there...that's about the only big takeaway I've got from beating on a cellar dweller team. Deuce and Brunson is a fun combination of skill sets.

The whole team's shooting has been a bit worrisome lately. But I'm not too worried yet. OG's elbow will hopefully improve, Donte won't need to take 10 threes a night to space the floor, and Randle will get back and produce easier looks for everyone...everything's off motion right now, but Randle produces a lot of set shots that are wide open. So, I think things will come together as long as Randle can play and OG stays healthy.

We all know Thibs is super loyal, almost too loyal, to his vets and he loves Alec so for Deuce to pass him on a the depth chart is HUGE! Big kudos to Deuce for earning it and kudos to Thibs for doing the right thing. You can tell Deuce is one of his guys now and has that trust.

[robillionaire]

OG is fine. Soreness was to be expected. Nothing to do with minutes like that loogaroo Clyde_Styles thinks. Plus if OG needed to be on a minutes restriction, he would be like they did with Hartenstein! Why are ppl so dumb with this?

People say anything to run with their anti Thibs agenda. Even if it’s false.

Notice how a lot of them were also part of the Frank hive. I'm starting to wonder if they are purposely trolling out of boredom or maybe they are all dimwitted.

I never noticed that before, interesting observation, big if true

[Knicksfan1992]

I'm pretty happy to see Thibs is down to play Deuce/Brunson in tandem as long as he has OG out there...that's about the only big takeaway I've got from beating on a cellar dweller team. Deuce and Brunson is a fun combination of skill sets.

The whole team's shooting has been a bit worrisome lately. But I'm not too worried yet. OG's elbow will hopefully improve, Donte won't need to take 10 threes a night to space the floor, and Randle will get back and produce easier looks for everyone...everything's off motion right now, but Randle produces a lot of set shots that are wide open. So, I think things will come together as long as Randle can play and OG stays healthy.

Yep after losing Grimes and IQ we lost a ton of our point of attack defense. Ideally, you want Hart and DDV off ball to play to their strengths on defense.

Deuce being playable with Brunson is going to be key in our ability to stop smaller guards in the East. Think Mitchell, Dame, Holliday, Maxey, Garland and the list goes on... Those aren't the best assignments for OG IMO and what my biggest concern was post trade. If Deuce can give you 5-15 playoff minutes of good shooting and good POA D next to Brunson that's major win for this FO.

[oldshoolballer]

Sorry guys OG Don't look right at all. Play him limited minutes or just save him for the playoffs.

[NYKnickerbocker]

People are worried about OG, but Im worried about Donte.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3934673/donte-divincenzo

Look at Donte’s game log since the All Star break. Hideous shooting numbers, and his percentages are cratering. Bricking open shots and layups. The dude is either tired as hell or the law of averages is kicking his ass.

He almost had me convinced he took a leap and that we found our SG for a moment there. Will still probably break our three point record barring injury, but he’s below 40% now.

I want to see Deuce get more run at the 2 if Donte doesn’t get out of this slump.

I'm not too worried about Donte's performance right now since he is obviously in a role that is much larger than it would be when the team is at full strength but I do have some concerns with him as a full-time starter next to Brunson. Even when he was shooting incredible percentages after being moved into the starting lineup in December and January he was still only playing between 18-26 minutes on most nights. And Brunson is not a defender so Donte has to take the tougher guard matchup every night.

Asking him to be the primary point of attack defender in the backcourt and the second option with only Brunson as the other creator on the team for almost 40 minutes a night is far too much for him. I'm not sure if he is a high minutes efficient starting two-way player. Hopefully the team gets fully healthy so Randle can carry more of the offensive load and Hart and possibly McBride can slide over to the 2 spot at times and take some of the defensive load off of Donte while reducing his minutes.

This is how I feel about Donte now.

He has absolutely outperformed his contract and had a nice season, but we still need a starting SG imo as he doesn’t seem to be a full time starter unfortunately.

Teams have figured him out, that you just need to play him tight. Helps with spacing in that regard, but he’s not hitting open shots now so teams may not even guard him as close if he keeps bricking.

If Donte is not raining threes he doesnt provide much on offense outside of decent playmaking. His defense is solid but not good enough to cover Jalen and take the primary guard matchup.

He’s a 6th/7th man, and that is fine, but we traded IQ and Grimes. Hopefully Donte gets his sh*t together for the playoffs, but if not we need to upgrade.

He’ll be fine once he’s knocked down another level in the offense by Randle. He did a solid job scaling up for a short time. Not surprised he’s cooled off. Still feel like he’s money on any of his set shots. Just not hitting the ridiculous shots at a ridiculous clip like he was. Teams aren’t going to sag off him cause he’s been off for a couple of weeks. Him being a threat to shoot with just a millisecond of space does more than enough to give guys space on offense

[Gravy]

With Brunson, OG and Randle we got three stars on the team. Two offensive and one defensive.

[Knick4Real]

I'm feeling really happy for Deuce. He rode the bench for what seemed like forever and only got garbage minutes. Now, he got the bag AND is getting quality minutes while putting the league on notice.

Were we really hiding him all this time? Anyway, he makes me totally forget Quentin.

[aggo]

Watch on YouTube

[KnicksGod]

Steroid injections can be dangerous but on an elbow I wonder how dangerous — would knock out the pain and doesn’t seem like arthritis is likely to develop there.

RGMD

[KnicksGod]

Hart has to be among the leaders in most rebounds per vertical inch ever, no? In these last few games as a sample.

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

[KOA]

If people are concerned about shooting going downward with law of averages, does it also mean Bogy and Burks will finally have some decent shooting performances?

[robillionaire]

If people are concerned about shooting going downward with law of averages, does it also mean Bogy and Burks will finally have some decent shooting performances?

Burks shot 50% from 3 yesterday. I’m thinking we are back.

[Wildcat]

Watch on YouTube

I was wondering who was screaming in their garage in my neigborhood.

[sol537]

I'm wondering what will happen with Precious' minutes and role when Mitch returns... will be interesting to see... Precious has been giving us great minutes, overall. He's really really good defensively next to OG when OG is at the PF.

Just give Burks the Fournier treatment and give all those minutes to Deuce. He's earned it.

[HopelessKnick]

I'm wondering what will happen with Precious' minutes and role when Mitch returns... will be interesting to see... Precious has been giving us great minutes, overall. He's really really good defensively next to OG when OG is at the PF.

Just give Burks the Fournier treatment and give all those minutes to Deuce. He's earned it.

I think until Randle returns Precious will get minutes. I don't think Thibs will have too much trouble playing Precious next to Mitch/Hart for some minutes. Keep in mind that Mitch is likely going to be play on a minutes restriction leading into the final weeks of the season. I picture Mitch playing around 18minutes or so. Also there would be some good reasoning behind giving Isaiah some games off here and there in order to rest him up for the playoffs as well. Really Precious is defensively strong and 100% healthy. Mitch and Hart need to be managed for a playoff run. Thus no worries IMO.

[sol537]

I'm wondering what will happen with Precious' minutes and role when Mitch returns... will be interesting to see... Precious has been giving us great minutes, overall. He's really really good defensively next to OG when OG is at the PF.

Just give Burks the Fournier treatment and give all those minutes to Deuce. He's earned it.

I think until Randle returns Precious will get minutes. I don't think Thibs will have too much trouble playing Precious next to Mitch/Hart for some minutes. Keep in mind that Mitch is likely going to be play on a minutes restriction leading into the final weeks of the season. I picture Mitch playing around 18minutes or so. Also there would be some good reasoning behind giving Isaiah some games off here and there in order to rest him up for the playoffs as well. Really Precious is defensively strong and 100% healthy. Mitch and Hart need to be managed for a playoff run. Thus no worries IMO.

good points

[JayTWill]

Not including Sims when completely healthy the team has 11 players that have received normal rotation time. Thibs will probably have to make a decision to remove at least one player from the rotation or possibly more. Burks looks to be the number candidate to be removed from the rotation at the moment.

I'm curious how Burks will play once Randle returns and who Thibs will give the back up 4 spot to. He has played Hart, OG, Precious and Bojan there before.

[MrDollarBills]

Watch on YouTube

I like this guy i hope he's monitoring his blood pressure tho

[2010]

I'm feeling really happy for Deuce. He rode the bench for what seemed like forever and only got garbage minutes. Now, he got the bag AND is getting quality minutes while putting the league on notice.

Were we really hiding him all this time? Anyway, he makes me totally forget Quentin.

He actually hits the momentum three that Grimes missed every time.