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

[KilgoreTrout]

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.

I just don’t get how a guy who has been around coaching his whole life is not an Xs and Os guy. I mean, what were you DOING the whole time? Xs and Os are the thing you should have picked UP. You don’t have to be a coach’s son to be a motivator. And sometimes, it doesn’t even look like he’s a motivator…

 

[cavsfever]

The Knicks have the personnel and the head coach to exploit the Achilles Heel of the Cavs. That is, our defense is heavily based on our bigs roaming and helping whenever anyone gets past the perimeter into the paint. With Mitchell and Hartenstein the only way our bigs have even the slightest chance to keep them off the boards would be if they bodied up, stay bodied up, and just focus completely on boxing out instead of stepping over to stop a drive.

Thibs recognized this and he has just the guys to exploit the hell out of it. Add to that the fact that the Knicks team rebound and crash the paint unlike the Cavs, who leave it mostly up to the bigs. Go back and count the white jerseys versus the black jerseys on every rebound and you'll see it.

Then add the fact that they were getting to the 50/50 balls better than us. Put it all together and it's pretty hard to win playing that way. Extra possessions and turnovers create an advantage that is almost impossible to overcome.

How can we simultaneously have the bigs roam away from the basket on defense AND not have the other players rebound and crash the paint? That’s not a strategy that’s just a weakness…

 

[dice1717]

I think my favorite sequence, which sums up the identity of this team, was early on when Hart had a breakaway. Osman ran by him and literally tapped him on the shoulder, lol. I guess that’s the old “why give up 2 when you can give up 3” routine

 

[Melancholy Jaques]

I think my favorite sequence, which sums up the identity of this team, was early on when Hart had a breakaway. Osman ran by him and literally tapped him on the shoulder, lol. I guess that’s the old “why give up 2 when you can give up 3” routine

For me, the play that sums up the game, was during the sequence when Mitchell was personally eliminating the small lead that the Cavs had acquired. He went full on ISO, fell down, and turned the ball over.

Look, I love the guy & despite everything, love The Trade. But he has ranged from ordinary to really bad in this series.

 

[Jscc]

How can we simultaneously have the bigs roam away from the basket on defense AND not have the other players rebound and crash the paint? That’s not a strategy that’s just a weakness…

The role of the team's ideal SF is getting more and more complicated: can guard the best wing player/switch, shoot 3s and free throws, true SF size, strong rebounder.

At this point, it's looking like we need a border all-star caliber wing instead of a glue 3&D guy.

 

[cavsfever]

The role of the team's ideal SF is getting more and more complicated: can guard the best wing player/switch, shoot 3s and free throws, true SF size, strong rebounder.

At this point, it's looking like we need a border all-star caliber wing instead of a glue 3&D guy.

We don't have the resources to get that, not close. Unless we trade Garland or something which IMO would be a mistake.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

I knew he had a stroke. But I've felt this way ever since we won and Kyrie left. He didn't go all out to get LeBron someone else outside of Love. We could have made more of an effort to get the right team around LeBron. And regardless of a stroke or not, the word around the street is he doesn't want to go into the tax again (even though he seemingly okayed Love getting the max when he was a 22m/year player at best at the time). We didn't take on any additional salary for bringing in Mitchell, just mortgaged our future and then did nothing from that point to improve the squad. And I'm guessing the purse strings are going to tighten even more when Mobley's contract comes into play. I want an owner who is involved and willing to put money into it.

This isn't to downplay the stroke by the way. I feel awful for him and hope he's recovering well. I just don't think he or his family really care about the team anymore.

The Half-man and the Nets pick were supposed to replace Kyrie. It’s just didn’t work out, bc The Half-man was permanently damaged, and The Cavs let the Nets have a better record and worse pick. So we drafted a short SG, whom we traded for another short SG.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

The role of the team's ideal SF is getting more and more complicated: can guard the best wing player/switch, shoot 3s and free throws, true SF size, strong rebounder.

At this point, it's looking like we need a border all-star caliber wing instead of a glue 3&D guy.

What could Allen and Garland bring in a trade? Who’s dumb enough to trade for those guys? The Cavs are low on assets. The assets we have are soft players.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I think my favorite sequence, which sums up the identity of this team, was early on when Hart had a breakaway. Osman ran by him and literally tapped him on the shoulder, lol. I guess that’s the old “why give up 2 when you can give up 3” routine

He looked like a guy who had been told, literally, to make sure you at least touch their guys "so they know you're there."

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

He looked like a guy who had been told, literally, to make sure you at least touch their guys "so they know you're there."

Was afraid of getting booed to death by the obnoxious Knicks fans.

 

[kookoo]

What could Allen and Garland bring in a trade? Who’s dumb enough to trade for those guys? The Cavs are low on assets. The assets we have are soft players.

Allen and Okoro or Osman plus a pick we buy for Powell and Zubac would be phenomenal for this team IMO.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Allen and Okoro or Osman plus a pick we buy for Powell and Zubac would be phenomenal for this team IMO.

But what could we GET?

 

[kookoo]

But what could we GET?

Not sure but out of all the pieces we have to trade (and are willing to), Allen has the highest value. Think about what the Clippers actually traded for Powell AND Covington (I would have loved both on this squad). Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and future second-round pick. Bledsoe who is now playing in China. I really think Love could have been traded with a second round pick or three for a useful piece. Oh well, no use crying over spilled soup. Or whatever.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

Yea, and that's why they need to be split up.

But anyone upset at the defense is getting caught up in specific moments.

The Knicks have NBA players, too. They're going to hit some shots occasionally.

It's easy to get mad in the moment when Josh Hart lays it up over Allen's head, but look at the whole context. The Knicks aren't scoring for shit and that's largely due to Allen and Mobley.


Unfortunately the Cavs are scoring even less and that's also largely due to Allen and Mobley.

Actually neither of these teams are shooting well in this series and that’s why we haven’t seen a team score more than 107 points.

 

[inliner311]

What could Allen and Garland bring in a trade? Who’s dumb enough to trade for those guys? The Cavs are low on assets. The assets we have are soft players.

I would look talk to the Nets about Mikal Bridges. They also have a ton of other wings. Bridges played really well after being traded to the Nets. It might need to be a multi team trade but I think the Nets could be interested in Garland and Allen could go to a 3rd team. Then we get other pieces back with Bridges.