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Game Thread | Knicks playoff series Game #1 | Knicks @ Cavs | April 15, 2023

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Chris Fedor commented that Mobley was "soft" on his shooting, taking off-balance shots. It did seem to me like he was putting up little jump hooks rather than powering up the shot and drawing a foul. He was playing a finesse game and missing everything. His jump hook from 3 feet out has been inaccurate all year - he seems to hurry it and the arc is too flat.

Next game I'd like to see him ditch the finesse game and power the ball to the rim. I know that's not easy against Robinson and Hartenstein, but these jump hooks off pump fakes are out of rhythm and ineffective.

All season those hooks and jumpers have been driving me nuts, imagining precisely what we saw last night. He should try to power to the hoop more, but also maybe he needs to learn a reliable shot that isn’t a dunk or a layup. He’s tall and long enough to stick short hook shots or turnarounds consistently if he had any finesse or touch around the basket but sometimes he looks like a giraffe out there. Just not that coordinated. I thought he was getting a handle on it late in the season but maybe not.

In the regular season he shot 82% inside of 3 feet, but then just 37% for all shots outside of 3 feet. Shooting like that limits him to being more of an opportunistic scorer than a reliable hub of the offense.
 
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To me the biggest issues is that when LeVert is off we have no bench scoring and our team is very one dimensional. I think we all knew this team had a great starting 5, but the bench has been the issue all year. The guys on the bench are not consistent and you can’t count on them. When they are on, it makes us very hard to beat because our starting 5 is so good. This game was one where we needed them to step up, the Knicks had a good game plan against the starters and threw them off. If we get anything from the Bench we probably win. I think we all have the remember that it is just one game, we have to adjust. I am sure the whole team had to leave disappointed and realize this is playoff basketball now, you have to give 100% all game on both sides of the court if you want to win. Let’s go get game 2, and get the momentum back.

In the Mitchell trade Ainge took all of our depth and all the draft capital we’d use to get more depth in exchange for one apex scorer in his prime. Mitchell has performed as advertised, but predictably we have no depth. The gamble was that our top four are so good that we didn’t need too much depth, or that some other guys would emerge. This series is going to tell us whether that’s true.
 
In the Mitchell trade Ainge took all of our depth and all the draft capital we’d use to get more depth in exchange for one apex scorer in his prime. Mitchell has performed as advertised, but predictably we have no depth. The gamble was that our top four are so good that we didn’t need too much depth, or that some other guys would emerge. This series is going to tell us whether that’s true.

They had to know it would take an offseason or two to rebuild the depth. Meanwhile do the best you can with what you have and let Mobley grow. We've known all season that this isn't a finished product. I still think Garland is the key for us to this series. Beyond him playing better and not being cautious about shooting the 3, I think Green needs a shot off the bench.
 
From SI:

The Big Takeaway​

The Knicks’ defense may have been the most impressive unit of the day on Saturday. New York held the Cavaliers to a 102.1 offensive rating in its Game 1 win. In the regular season, the Cavs were eighth in the NBA with a 115.5 offensive rating. Outside of Donovan Mitchell, who scored 38 points, nobody else for Cleveland could sustain offense. Evan Mobley missed a bunch of shots in the paint. And the bench was especially bricky, with Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio, Dean Wade and Cedi Osman combining to shoot 4-of-13.

All season long the biggest question for Cleveland was who would be the fifth player next to Mitchell, Darius Garland, Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Isaac Okoro started and missed all four of his three-point attempts. Osman closed and did hit a couple of shots, but he is not scaring the Knicks on either end of the floor.

New York was able to dominate the paint because of its disregard for Cleveland’s shooters. The Knicks put two on the ball in pick-and-rolls, and could rotate aggressively to Mobley and Allen when they caught the ball in the lane. New York was more than willing to cheat off the corners. Okoro often either missed or hesitated. Cleveland’s starting five had an offensive rating of 100 in Game 1—21.6 points per 100 possessions worse than their mark during the regular season. The Knicks, who were not stout defensively this year, deserve credit for coming in with an aggressive game plan and executing it at a high level. They trapped Cleveland’s guards and dared everyone else to make them pay. The Cavs couldn’t do it.

And yet with all that said, Cleveland’s core actually played well enough to win. The Cavs were a plus-15 in the roughly 32 minutes Mobley, Allen, Garland and Mitchell played together. The bench was a disaster, and J.B. Bickerstaff already played an incredibly tight rotation. He may not be able to trust anyone outside of LeVert, who wasn’t very good himself.

Lastly, New York’s offensive rebounding also played a massive role down the stretch. Cleveland’s inability to rebound late in the fourth with Mobley and Allen both on the floor was inexcusable. Those two did not match the physicality of Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. If they grabbed some defensive boards down the stretch, the Cavs still could have pulled out Game 1. Overall, the Knicks’ physicality was impressive. It’s not sexy, but if there’s one city that can appreciate winning with defense and rebounding, it’s New York.

 
In the Mitchell trade Ainge took all of our depth and all the draft capital we’d use to get more depth in exchange for one apex scorer in his prime. Mitchell has performed as advertised, but predictably we have no depth. The gamble was that our top four are so good that we didn’t need too much depth, or that some other guys would emerge. This series is going to tell us whether that’s true.
Now the Cavs draft capital is gone. Any big changes will come from trades - so if this group is flawed, they’ll have to break up the big four to do something drastic - or take on bad contracts, which is just kicking the can down the road. But let’s see how this series plays out. It seems terribly unfair to break up the better players due to the lack of depth behind them… hopefully Koby can be creative and add quality depth without messing with the top, it’s just hard.
 
In the Mitchell trade Ainge took all of our depth and all the draft capital we’d use to get more depth in exchange for one apex scorer in his prime. Mitchell has performed as advertised, but predictably we have no depth. The gamble was that our top four are so good that we didn’t need too much depth, or that some other guys would emerge. This series is going to tell us whether that’s true.
The bet was always that Garland and Mobley were going to emerge as stars in their own right. If they don’t, we are stuck in mediocrity. At this point, I have more faith in Mobley than Garland
 
Now is the time for pessimism!

This team is soft and the coach can’t match wits w the big boys!

Win Tue or break out the brooms!
 
The bet was always that Garland and Mobley were going to emerge as stars in their own right. If they don’t, we are stuck in mediocrity. At this point, I have more faith in Mobley than Garland
Same, and it’s not necessarily a knock on Garland. Mobley is still way ahead of schedule for a second year star big. Garland is finishing his 5th year, even if the first 2.5 years served as extended college - no real NBA contribution.
 
Watching Grizzlies game and Hachimura is what your starting SF should look like,hes putting over 25 pts off the bench and basically is a win factor for Lakers.We,on the other hand,have bum like Okoro on our starting 5.Thats coming back on how you improver your roster before playoff.35 y.o Green was the only guy we have got.
 
Love has proved his worth so far in Heat / Bucks game - 18 points in 17 minutes - 10 rebounds - Great Playoff Baller - Gilbert needs to do 2 things - Get a new GM who won't give away the house when he doesn't have to , and a coach who knows what attention to fine details means
 
Love has proved his worth so far in Heat / Bucks game - 18 points in 17 minutes - 10 rebounds - Great Playoff Baller - Gilbert needs to do 2 things - Get a new GM who won't give away the house when he doesn't have to , and a coach who knows what attention to fine details means

Did our GM do this or something and I wasn't aware of it?
 
Did our GM do this or something and I wasn't aware of it?
Well if he would of thought about what players are going to be valuable come playoff time he should of told our dumbass coach to start playing Kevin - work him in keep him in shape etc - but no we have a total Dunce as a coach and it's proven time after time in his rotations and adjustments - But Kobes should of put his foot down on the trade and Miami just proved why
 

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