Official Game Thread: Knicks at Hawks -- GAME 4

[lethalweapon3]

“Psst! Mayor Bill! Here. Come sit by me.”

 

We’re back in The Traedium for Game 4 (1 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, ABC)! “Tidbits in the Morning!”

We want the New York Knicks and their unctuous supporters to mutter, “Well, we’ll just see you back here in Game 6!” and “Knicks in 7!” once today’s affair concludes. Doing so will require our Atlanta Hawks to continue take care of The Seven R’s. Randle. Rose. (hold on, the time clock just messed up again. Okay, where were we? At two?) Rebounding. RJ. Reggie. Recovery. And the Refs.

One sobering Knickfan on SB Nation put it plainly after Friday’s raucous Game 3 win. Paraphrasing: in this series, one team’s star is building its entire team around him and the infectious synergy he creates. The other team’s star is trying to get up off the mat and do all he can think to do, for a club that effectively drafted his eventual replacement back in November.

Julius Randle (14.7 PPG, 11.7 RPG, but 20.6 2FG% and 30.0 3FG%) is struggling to be the best R on his team, much less the best R on the floor (Hey, New York, maybe try “RAYFORD!” as a Game 5 taunt? It used to work so well for Mets fans with “LARRY!”).

I see Derrick Rose (24.3 PPG, 51.7 FG%, 4.7 APG) as more of a release valve than a player steaming up the nets in this series. His scoring efficiency would be problematic for the Hawks if he were the Knicks’ supplementary, not the primary and ultimate, threat. Somebody has to score, and he’s scoring mostly in his own conventional ways, although Atlanta doing better at honoring his three-point shot (3-for-5 3FGs in Game 3, rest of NYK 6-for-25) will help bring that efficiency down.

If he can give the Knicks quality production over the course of 25-30 minutes, not 35-39, that would be better for them in the long haul. If only to get somebody aside from Rose to stir things up inside, look for Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau to put his rookie Immanuel Quickley (89.1 regular-season FT%, 11^th in NBA) on the ball more going forward. Momma Payton, I am so sorry.

Similarly, it would aid New York if they could get rebounding and stops from a guy over three years Rose’s senior in 15-20 minutes, not 25-30. Taj Gibson could not duplicate his Game 2 impact on Friday (six rebounds and 0 steals, down from 7 and 3, respectively; 2-for-6 FGs in 26 minutes), allowing Atlanta, less hemmed-in by foul trouble, to narrow the Knicks’ rebounding advantage from 54-41 last Wednesday to 45-42.

The Knicks still nabbed 13 O-Rebs for the third consecutive game, with all five starters plus Nerlens Noel and Obi Toppin digging in during Game 3. Atlanta properly boxing out and relying on help rebounders like De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter and Tony Snell, to cut down on extra-chance scoring opportunities will make New York’s uphill climbs steeper.

We never got to find out how the player Atlanta traded for, out of 2018’s #3 spot, might have fared in his postseason debut, had it come about in his second pro season. We can only hope it would not be as much of a challenge as it has been, so far, for the fellow the Knicks came away with at #3 in 2019. With one more Hawks win tonight, Canada Men’s National Team GM Rowan Barrett will hope to begin re-orienting his son, RJ (34.2 FG%, incl. 2-for-9 in Game 3), toward another team entirely next month.

A three-game comeback and another week or two of second-round action won’t give Rowan much time to convene his talented kid with Nick Nurse, Andrew Wiggins and the Canadians for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which begins in British Columbia less than a month from today. Looking at the current ongoings in Japan, though, this “problem” may take care of itself.

Some bad news from Game 3 was, the Hawks only scored a pair of fastbreak points. The good news is Atlanta still won that category on Friday, by two (2-0 Game 3, 15-6 Game 2, 9-9 Game 1). Getting shut out in that department won’t sit well with Thibs, who expects a modicum of quick-strike transition after defensive stops to throw teams off.

The Hawks will look to push the pace more frequently on a team so reliant on Rose and Gibson to run the court. The Knicks will turn to Quickley, on occasion, to hurry the ball upcourt and kick out the ball to their killer B’s (Reggie Bullock, Barrett, Alec Burks), in hopes of getting them unstuck with kickouts to the corners.

Can Elf give Bullock some hair advice? That’s all I’ve got for Reggie.

If Atlanta is so fortunate as to begin pulling away in the second half, Bullock and the Knicks have an R of their own up their sleeve – Resorting, to thuggery, either to tilt Game 4 back toward their favor and/or “send a message” that a potential closeout Game 5 in Manhattan won’t be so kind. As young and inexperienced as the Hawks are, they pulled off a masterclass in rash-alk on Friday… trash-talk, without any T’s. Whatever they’re doing to keep the Referees’ attention on the Knicks’ big mouths, keep it up!

Closing tidbit: I’m happy Mayor Keisha hasn’t been goaded into a pointless wager with Bill de Blah-Blah-Blah. Who wants to win some wet teddy bears on a bun, anyway? We’ll keep our bushels of peaches, thank you.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[LucastheThird]

6 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

I know the name Scott Foster and that isn't ok for a ref in my opinion. 

[Wretch]

Man....we better not come with that bullshit today.  Up 2-1, at home, with a chance to end it in their house.......with the MLK jerseys on?

[kg01]

NbaRadio host this morning, and I quote, "I still believe the Knicks are gonna win this series ... the Hawks are the better team."

Huh?

Sam Mitchell, in response, "And where do you live?  New Jersey, right?  See all you people are drunk off the Knicks.  In all-a you, there's a little Knicks fan just waiting to come out."

Tell 'em, Sam

For context, the host is a guy that literally worships Thibodaux so he refuses to acknowledge the guy's getting outcoached so far in this series.

[kg01]

4 minutes ago, LucastheThird said:

I know the name Scott Foster and that isn't ok for a ref in my opinion. 

Shhhhh, we're not on his (s)hit-list yet.  Let him do work, mayne.

He was on our game vs PHX.  The one where we whipped dey a**.  We're in good hands (I hope). 

Eta: Atleast we know he's not afraid to call t's and flagrants when he sees them.  Unlike these young offbrand refs we've been getting.

Edited May 30, 2021 by kg01

[Guest]

We want the New York Knicks and their unctuous supporters to mutter, "Well, we’ll just see you back here in Game 6!” and “Knicks in 7!” once today’s affair concludes.

FIVE STARS for using the word "unctuous."  Excellent word choice and masterful writing, as always.  Thanks. 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

So what's The Knife's gameplan for this 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

I have a serious question - How the heck is Gallo able to stay in front Randle?

[JayBirdHawk]

On 5/27/2021 at 12:49 PM, JayBirdHawk said:

We need more from our front court: Capela, Collins, Gallo and Snell, now Solo

We can't settle for 3s.

No more ALL BENCH (unless they are on fire). No more 'Normal' rotation

More Hunter driving, they have no answer for him.

More Trae minutes. It's the playoffs.

Clean up our defensive backboard.

Same as Game 3 with some additions.

[kg01]

10 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I have a serious question - How the heck is Gallo able to stay in front Randle?

Better, smarter defender than given credit for.

Also, I suspect film study has aided the team's plan.

In rewatching game 3, it seemed obvious Randle attacks closeouts the exact same way every time.  Each time, his first step/dribble was into the defender.  Never tried to vary his path at all.

I'm no coach so I'm not sure I'm describing it properly but it seemed clear to me.  It also jibes with what Scalabrine said about Randle.  That he lacks complexity to his game offensively.

As he struggles, he's doing the same things over and over.  Seems to confirm that diagnosis.

[aali34]

This might be the breakout game for Randle or Barrett. I'm surprised Randle hasn't been looking to facilitate more off of the doubles. Have they tried running 4/5 pnrs?

[kg01]

2 minutes ago, aali34 said:

This might be the breakout game for Randle or Barrett. I'm surprised Randle hasn't been looking to facilitate more off of the doubles. Have they tried running 4/5 pnrs?

The doubles are soft and, I think, coming from different places at times.  His indecisiveness is due to him not being an actual playmaker.  He can make the obvious pass but, if that's not available, he doesn't know what to do.  It's why he's been jumping to pass a lot, iiuc.

[benhillboy]

I’m guessing Randle’s length isn’t an issue, whereas many 4s give John trouble with this.  He and Clint notably (but really everyone) are just forming sound, timely doubles on him.  He hasn’t been a facilitator or focal point long enough to mix up his triple-threat attack and make it confusing.  Not with Nate coaching and Clint anchoring.

[benhillboy]

6 minutes ago, kg01 said:

The doubles are soft and, I think, coming from different places at times.  His indecisiveness is due to him not being an actual playmaker.  He can make the obvious pass but, if that's not available, he doesn't know what to do.  It's why he's been jumping to pass a lot, iiuc.

Bruh we just basically posted the same thing.  Eerie.

[kg01]

Just now, benhillboy said:

Bruh we just basically posted the same thing.  Eerie.

Brough, we're all just one dude posting under different screen names.

[RedDawg#8]

1 hour ago, Wretch said:

Man....we better not come with that bullshit today.  Up 2-1, at home, with a chance to end it in their house.......with the MLK jerseys on?

The only thing better than us showcasing each of our 4 beautiful uniforms to open the playoffs, is the fact that Nike gives playoff teams a 5th "earned edition" jersey the next season.

I wanted us to do a strictly black and yellow colorway in the same template as the current jersey's, which would be very unique to the NBA, but the Heat beat us to it with theirs. 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, Wretch said:

Man....we better not come with that bullshit today.  Up 2-1, at home, with a chance to end it in their house.......with the MLK jerseys on?

 

Come here Mr. Wretch . . .

 

http://i.imgur.com/LfyMh0G.gif

 

Gotta get that negativity demon outta ya.

[benhillboy]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I have a serious question - How the heck is Gallo able to stay in front Randle?

Kevin said he worked on his footwork a great deal but I’m not sure if it was more private or administered by the staff, his father is a well-respected coach.  
 

With Gallo I think they just got fed up and went back to the basics.  Every one of Gallos steps has to be perfect lol.  When they aren’t he plays much smaller than he is and compromises his good center of gravity.  If he’s in good position Randle gets frustrated with length.  Like @kg01 stated Nate is designing the hell outta them soft doubles.  He doesn’t know who’s coming from where.  They showed a clip where he implored his teammates to talk on defense (something I’m sure they do but need to even more with Trae) but they struggle with it on offense apparently.

Edited May 30, 2021 by benhillboy

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, LucastheThird said:

I know the name Scott Foster and that isn't ok for a ref in my opinion. 

 

John Collins has a habit of going over to referees and touching them, to explain his case.  Most refs let him get away with it.  

I hope he doesn't go over to Scott and touch him.  He may get a technical.