Game Thread | Knicks playoff series Game #4 | Cavs @ Knicks | April 23, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. ABC

Melancholy Jaques said:

Stern looks with his arms crossed. Can't think of anyone who does it better than JBB.

Click to expand...

I would also add his excellent ability to yell at the refs with incredible volume and consistency. How many other coaches can keep this up for 48 mins?

KilgoreTrout said:

If JBB isn’t good at Xs and Os, and he can’t motivate guys to go hard in a playoff game, then what exactly is he GOOD at?

Click to expand...

If the coach needs to get the players to play hard, the players are the problem. How is that the coach?

There is something wrong if the coach needs to motivate you to play hard in the playoffs. I picked the Cavs in 7, I knew JB, would do JB things, and has. You can't get out worked, and expect to win. Bottom line, we have got out worked, badly.

Just look at the stats, they don't lie, the Knicks out hustled the hell out of us, and that's why its over. In a pivotal game. We win this game (like we should), we're in the drivers seat to win the series.

Could JB still have actually fucked it up. Yeah, but it doesn't matter now. Cavs are going to lose this series, because they didn't put on their big boy pants. They are still boys playing in man's league.

Let's just hope this makes them grow a pair going forward. I wish they'd still scapegoat JB's ass for this, and get rid of him. Because he's not good. I just can't honestly put this on him.

If you picked the Cavs to win (like I did), and knew JB would be a fuck up (like I did), you can't be surprised he's not turned into Greg Popovich.

Question for everyone who wants to get rid of JBB - and I am not saying you're wrong - who would you hire?

No fantasies, just actual. plausible head coaches.

Call me crazy but I think they can win one game on the road this series. It all starts with next game though. Maybe the team plays looser for the rest of the series.

Allen and Mitchell needs to play better. NY isn't some world beater. They are very beatable. I don't think coming back from 3-1 is insurmountable against them.

Randle is cooked this series, or maybe Thibs is being generous and not giving Mobley/Cavs full credit for shutting his water off.

One way to beating NY is limiting Mitchell Robinson on the boards. Time for Allen to step up or we going home.

Melancholy Jaques said:

Stern looks with his arms crossed. Can't think of anyone who does it better than JBB.

Click to expand...

I actually think JB's team likes him, and he does a great job at sticking up for his players. I love how he rides the refs. I actually like him personally, too. Love his emotion, too. He cares. He's trying his best, he's just so limited.

I want to root for the guy personally. I really like the man, and believe cares passionately about winning. He brings some great intangibles as a coach.

That said, just because he's a good guy, badly wants to win, and has a burning passion, doesn't mean he should be the coach. I have a burning passion to win, you'd all rightfully be calling for me to be fired if I was coaching the team.

I don't get pleasure firing him, because I do like him a lot. We've had a lot of bad coaches in Cleveland, and they were assholes, so it was a pleasure to see them sink. JB is someone you want to do well, very likable.

Melancholy Jaques said:

Question for everyone who wants to get rid of JBB - and I am not saying you're wrong - who would you hire?

No fantasies, just actual. plausible head coaches.

Click to expand...

Udoka.

Why should we make the decision who they hire? Hell, we don't make the decision to fire him. Koby is supposed to be good at recognizing talent, so can he for the next coach? There's a lot of assistant coaches right now in the playoffs, that need a serious look, and maybe the Cavs go that route.

If Koby is that guy, so many think, he'll find our next coach, right?... Names like Nurse, Udoka, and Vogel are options. None of these guys excite me that much, but I think they're all better than JB.

I want Koby to make the decision, not a bunch of us on a message board. I do think he's sticking with JB. I don't think its the end of the world decision, because we aren't ready to contend anyways. But when we're ready to contend, he's not the guy to do it.

Melancholy Jaques said:

Question for everyone who wants to get rid of JBB - and I am not saying you're wrong - who would you hire?

No fantasies, just actual. plausible head coaches.

Click to expand...

The 2020 Coach of the Year just became available. I would hire him before Game 5.

letgocavs said:

Udoka.

Click to expand...

Some of our casual fairweather fan base more concerned with virtue signaling and optics would have a aneurysm if we hired Udoka.
Koby is going all out on the "good guy" image. Unfortunately, a team of good guys sometimes doesn't have the backbone or mentality to win.
I'm not saying we need to get a Draymond/Brooks type of player, but getting a head coach who's got an edge would be a start.

Lil Z said:

Some of our casual fairweather fan base more concerned with virtue signaling and optics would have a aneurysm if we hired Udoka.
Koby is going all out on the "good guy" image. Unfortunately, a team of good guys sometimes doesn't have the backbone or mentality to win.
I'm not saying we need to get a Draymond/Brooks type of player, but getting a head coach who's got an edge would be a start.

Click to expand...

We need someone like That. Bobby Portis. Somebody who isn’t afraid to fight. Search the league for a tough guy.

Rather than hiring a retread coach, I like the idea of grabbing an upcoming young guy like we did with Ty Lue. Not sure who that is as I do not closely follow the assistant coaching circles like some of our posters do. Maybe Jordi Fernandez?

The problem is not lack of motivation. To beat the Knicks you need outside shooting because they allowed the fewest points in the paint in the NBA this year. Like LeVert said, they overplay the paint. Their plan for Mitchell was to stop him from getting to the rim. From the NYPost column linked on the last page:

“The biggest thing with us is we want to make it tough for him, we want to make him see bodies, close driving lanes and force him into taking tough 2s and step-back 3s." - Josh Hart

Donovan is trying to force himself through heavy traffic to get to the rim and it's causing turnovers and missed shots. He's trying too hard.

"I’d say I had probably the second- or third-worst game of my career. I didn’t show up for my guys, ultimately. Everybody did their job, we had our faults as a group, but ultimately, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do and I’ll take that and I got to just be better.”

Mitchell had 13 assists in the Cavs' win in Game 2, taking only 11 shots in a 27-point blowout. He needs to continue to draw the defense to him and then hit his teammates for open shots. When he tries to power his way to the rim through three players and then score on Robinson is when bad things happen.

I'd like to see Donovan take more of those 15-foot pull-up jumpers. He's very accurate on those. Brunson is making a killing on that shot. It looks like Mitchell wants either the layup or the 3-pointer but the Knicks are putting bodies in front of him and when the 3-pointer isn't falling he needs to go the mid-range shot or pass to someone with a better look.

This is a bad matchup. The Knicks have great rim protection, Allen and Mobley have no shooting touch in the paint, and it's tough to make 3's under playoff pressure. Oh, and we have no bench. With our best five-man unit on the floor the bench is Okoro, Cedi, and Rubio. Make that Cedi and Okoro. Neither of them would be in the nine-man rotation if they were on the Knicks.

Two days to try and get back to what was working in Game 2 - Mitchell being a distributor. And they need to find somebody who can neutralize Barrett. He's 17-for-30 the last two games, averaging 22.5 points. He's taken up the slack with Randle being less than 100%. He's done a great job of powering his way to the bucket for layups and fouls.

Lil Z said:

Some of our casual fairweather fan base more concerned with virtue signaling and optics would have a aneurysm if we hired Udoka.
Koby is going all out on the "good guy" image. Unfortunately, a team of good guys sometimes doesn't have the backbone or mentality to win.
I'm not saying we need to get a Draymond/Brooks type of player, but getting a head coach who's got an edge would be a start.

Click to expand...

The Browns wouldn't give a shit. We do know that.