Official Game Thread: Knicks at Hawks -- GAME 3

[Diesel]

Well, everybody is excited to have the Knicks back in the playoffs.   Everybody wants the Knicks to bring their media presence back to the NBA.    But Nate, Trae, and the Hawks are like... Hell No.    We will have to blow them out every game because the refs will probably lean towards making the games tighter to give the knicks a chance.   The First qtr last night told you everything you need to know. 

But the good news is that the clock has struck midnight and Julius Randall's Chariot is now a pumpkin.  CindeRandle has to make it home. 

[bird_dirt]

How amazing it must feel to be one of the thousands in the arena witnessing this team in person for the 1st time at this moment. 

Think about that. Such a unique time in Hawks history. I'm jealous of those of you in Atlanta right now.

[Thomas]

4 hours ago, timebomb said:

Refs were horrible tonight. Clearly early in the game they were dictating the game over the players.

You know the refs mantra is the fans are not suppose to notice the refs are  even on the court. No influence and such. Uh some folks are noticing you guys. We are witnessing bush league crap.  

[Diesel]

 Do you all realize that they shot 13 free throws in the first qtr?

Then there were questionable calls like... a clear 24 second clock violation.... Refs give the KnickerFloppers the ball back and said... they changed positions??

WHAT?

[marco102]

I can't wait for D. Hunt to get fully back in rhythm.  He looks so smooth out there and has gotten better with each game. His three is starting to fall and I love the way he's attacking mismatches.  RJ Barrett is too small for him and he can guard, Randle, Rose, and Barrett.

I wish we had Cam out there for defensive purposes. Those two on the wing are going to cause so much havoc in the future

Also, another shot out to Kevin.  Kid has really stepped up. 

EDIT: Hunter also played 35 minutes.  Looks like the minutes restriction is off.

Edited May 29, 2021 by marco102

[Thomas]

6 hours ago, aali34 said:

I like this intensity from JC. He still has areas to grow but this series will do him well longterm. Good reaction to guys thinking they can punk him.

So JC is now Solo's wing man. lol. But seriously, very needed toughness for us.

[NBASupes]

6 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Knicks fans are perplexed on their fan call in shows.   To their credit, their online post game commentary shows are great.  I've listened to bits and pieces of about 4 of them so far.

Imagine Hawksquawk on a Zoom or Microsoft Teams call.  Their fan post game shows are very well ran.

 

But they're scrambling for answers.  I think deep down, they know that we have the more talented team.  They're coming up with a plethora of ideas:

• Stagger rotations in which either Rose or Randle are on the floor at all times
• Give Rose the keys to the offense to take the pressure off of Randle ( I thought that's what they're doing )
• Start Quickley at PG and get him more shots
• Start Toppin at PF and let him shoot 3s, since he did it in college
• Start Randle at C to pull Capela away from the rim
• Post up Randle more to get him better looks and get Capela in foul trouble
• Send Rose back to the bench to help the role players
• Post up Trae with Reggie Bullock and attack Trae defensively, in general
• Start Frank Nitty against Trae, to slow him down
• Rough up Trae with hard picks
• Back off Trae and give him the logo shot
• Trap Trae at half court
• Force Trae left even more ( which they have started to do, but Trae is still killing them )
• Bring back Payton into the starting lineup 

Closing comments

• You can only sew seeds on barren land . . even plants need fertilizer
• Keep your heads up . . we gonna do work . . we here
• We're playing with house money, because we ain't supposed to be here. We will be dangerous next year
• We gotta dig down deep.
• Once the time bomb clicks . . they won't be able to stop it
• If we lose ( in Game 5 ) . . don't leave the arena . . give them a standing ovation, to boost them for next year
• This was one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history
• ESPN future power rankings had Knicks at #7
• A superstar / All-Star player will force their way to New York . . ( probably talking about Towns )
• We playing with House money . . we gonna win this series . . the Hawks won't get another win . . it's a wrap

 

They're trying their best to find positive things to say about the team, and give reasons as to why they can win the games going forward.  But they struggled big time . . lol.

ESPN and 2k should be slapped with how much they overrate the Knicks 

[Thomas]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

ESPN and 2k should be slapped with how much they overrate the Knicks 

Those guys are right there with the NBA front office with that stuff am afraid. 

[Dejay]

24 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Well, everybody is excited to have the Knicks back in the playoffs.   Everybody wants the Knicks to bring their media presence back to the NBA.    But Nate, Trae, and the Hawks are like... Hell No.    We will have to blow them out every game because the refs will probably lean towards making the games tighter to give the knicks a chance.   The First qtr last night told you everything you need to know. 

But the good news is that the clock has struck midnight and Julius Randall's Chariot is now a pumpkin.  CindeRandle has to make it home. 

I basically said this before the series started that the fix was in. The league execs and their TV partners (Disney and Tine Warner) want absolutely nothing to do with the Hawks seeing daylight in the second round and beyond.

You can only imagine what BS they have in store for Sunday, especially on ABC. The Hawks winning that game would be a nightmare scenario for them and the national media who are still salty that Atlanta got the Olympics back in '96. They'd better blow doors on them the rest of the way...

 

[Thomas]

9 minutes ago, Dejay said:

You can only imagine what BS they have in store for Sunday

Wait till the second round. Oh my goodness the calls. And I don't really think I am putting the cart before the horse with talking about that round...wait a minute, about the foul line stuff, ugh.

[Diesel]

5 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Wait till the second round. Oh my goodness the calls. And I don't really think I am putting the cart before the horse with talking about that round...wait a minute, about the foul line stuff, ugh.

Let's make it through the BS of the first round. 

I don't for one moment think that the refs are through helping the Knicks.   I think they can wack Trae as much as they like because the refs aren't calling it.   Then there's that Thug Randall.   He's a Thug.   That's just how he plays.  When he gets really frustrated, he tries to go straight to the Basket.  Last night he looked like an offensive lineman going to the basket and ran over Gallo and was called for the Offensive charge.   One that play... even Shaq grabbed his pearls... But O Doris Burke couldn't see the foul in it. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

7 hours ago, aali34 said:

Sidenote- It's crazy how Trae is winning over fans. He had unfair narratives attached to him and people are now seeing him play for the first time. His electric play, mental toughness and showmanship are on full display.

 

And I think those in the media are the liking what they see the most.

[Thomas]

2 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

And I think those in the media are the liking what they see the most.

Thought you might say the media is licking their wounds instead. lol. Your comment is much nicer and hope it is more and more accurate moving forward. 

[Thomas]

9 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Let's make it through the BS of the first round. 

That was my point in reference to the foul line issue. Or lack thereof. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

7 hours ago, aali34 said:

I like this intensity from JC. He still has areas to grow but this series will do him well longterm. Good reaction to guys thinking they can punk him.

 

And Nate just stood by and let him go.

[JayBirdHawk]

8 hours ago, marco102 said:

Did solo really say this? Either way I love it!

 

Shot of the game, lol.

1 hour ago, Diesel said:

But the good news is that the clock has struck midnight and Julius Randall's Chariot is now a pumpkin.  CindeRandle has to make it home. 

That is priceless...CindeRandle.....that should be the in game chant, lololol.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

3 hours ago, timebomb said:

Seeing as I threw shade on JC. I’ll give props to JC, good game tonight. This is what we need and what I expect from him. That being said I can’t keep myself from looking ahead to the off-season and him wanting a max. It wasn’t a max worthy performance. It was a ~18 million dollar performance. He’s a good player with room for growth but we can’t and won’t give him a max. Sorry I should just live in the moment and say good game JC. 

 

Remember.  This is not what WE think JC is worth.  It's what the league thinks he's worth on the market.

I forgot who said it on the other thread, but if the alternative is matching an offer sheet of JC getting the 4year max, or letting him walk, I'm matching the offer sheet.  Regardless of what happens in the playoffs this year, I want to run it back next year with our core guys.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, AHF said:

In the regular season, the Hawks shot ~13% more free throws than their opponents. 
 

The Knicks shot ~7% fewer free throws than their opponents.

This series, the Knicks have shot over 60% more free throws than the Hawks

 

That's the Trae effect.  We shot 1745 FTs this season.  Trae alone shot 546 of them ( 31% ).

If you add the FT attempts of our top 4 guys ( Trae - 546 . . Capela - 227 . . Collins - 204 . . Gallo - 174 ), that's 1151 FT attempts ( 66% of the team total )

In the playoffs, we've only shot 42 FTs total ( 14 per game ).  Trae leads the team with 17 FTA, but remember, he shot 9 of those in the 4th quarter in Game 1.  So in the last 2 games, he's only went to the line 8 times.  And I think 2 of those were to shoot a technical foul.

Collins has yet to shoot a FT.   Gallo has yet to shoot a FT.  But then again, that's more about them playing on the outside, instead of taking it to the rim.  Hunter is actually 2nd on the team with 11 FTA, because he's taking the ball to the basket.

 

The thing about Trae's "foul baiting" that Hawks fans overlook, is that it puts the Hawks in the early bonus.  So that when we do have off ball fouls committed against us, we can get free points by getting to the line.

In general, we are a jumpshooting team with very few players that go hard to the basket to draw fouls.  When that happens, you're not going to get a lot of FT attempts if they're not fouling you going to the basket.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

The thing about Trae's "foul baiting" that Hawks fans overlook, is that it puts the Hawks in the early bonus.  So that when we do have off ball fouls committed against us, we can get free points by getting to the line.

This is so often overlooked, that is why I will never complain about 'foul baiting' - get them call Trae.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, Diesel said:

Well, everybody is excited to have the Knicks back in the playoffs.   Everybody wants the Knicks to bring their media presence back to the NBA.    But Nate, Trae, and the Hawks are like... Hell No.    We will have to blow them out every game because the refs will probably lean towards making the games tighter to give the knicks a chance.   The First qtr last night told you everything you need to know. 

But the good news is that the clock has struck midnight and Julius Randall's Chariot is now a pumpkin.  CindeRandle has to make it home. 

 

I think Randle will have one good to great game.  More than likely it will be in Game 5 in New York.  When that happens, we have to match him shot for shot, and we can't have Rose going off alongside him.  We can't have both of them going. 

So far though, I can't say enough about how great the defense has been vs Randle.  Hunter, Gallo, Collins, and Capela have really shut him down.  The length of our frontline has really bothered him. And the fact that Hunter can guard him on the perimeter has bothered him as well.