2020-2021 NY Knicks

tiger0330 said:

There was mention of Kawhi being a FA this off-season but the guy said he didn?t think he would consider leaving Southern Ca. but I read a rumor that he was considering MIA to play with Bam and Butler. Maybe Rose can persuade him to come to NY, I?m really not interested in guys like Conley, Lowry, CP3 and DeRozan that we have to pay 40M per year for.

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The Knicks roster that head coach Thibs inherited needed for Thibs to get Leon Rose to sign FA Rondo in the offseason.
In the upcoming offseason the Knicks need a strong rebounder to cover for Randle & Obi's weak rebounding from the FA market.
Next season the Thibs Knicks will need PG-CP3 to call all the shots to become a 2nd round playoff team.
The CP3--Phoenix Suns 35-15 record been fighting the Utah Jazz for the 1-Seed spot in the West all season.

Knicks are 30-27... the 6th seed. 1/2 game behind BOS, ahead of MIA by 1.5...

15 game Playoff sprint begins now!!!!

We?re the 6th seed, and between ATL, BOS, MIA, & NYK... the battle begins. 4 teams for 3 spots... the loser forced to go to the last in tourney... the 2 winners, well, they avoid Nets, PHI, MIL in round 1....

We?re on a 5 game winning streak...

We go home for the rest of April... 6 consecutive home games... followed by a 6-game road trip... then return home for 3 games.

15 Games

NO
CHA
ATL
TOR
PHO
CHI

@HOU
@MEM
@DEN
@PHO
@LAC
@LAL

SAS
CHA
BOS

Boston lost tonight so now we?re tied with them for the 5th seed and we?re both a half game back of Atlanta for the 4th seed.

htr10 said:

Boston lost tonight so now we?re tied with them for the 5th seed and we?re both a half game back of Atlanta for the 4th seed.

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Crazy, right! With 14 games remaining, who would?ve thought huh? This close to a top 4 seed! Last game of season at MSG vs BOS.

But, starts with next 2 (CHA/ATL), a back to back set. But, if we win both... Knicks will be at min. tied for the 4th seed with 12 games left.

"We have a big responsibility to ourselves," Nerlens Noel said Tuesday morning. "We have a mentality there is no seventh, eighth seed for us. It?s strictly focused on the four, five, six and making sure we have a solid spot. We worked really hard this season.
"It would be tough to put in that much work in and have a play-in thing. We have to take advantage of the position we?re in now and finish strong through this last stretch of the season so we?re in position to have one of those locked-in spots."
"Obviously when you?re trying to make the playoffs you?d love to stay out of that seven to 10 range and stay out of the play-in," Julius Randle said. "But whatever happens happens. Like I?ve said all year long, we?re just going to make sure that we?re doing everything we can to give ourselves the best chance to win. If we do that I feel like we?ll be in a good spot by the end of the year when everything ends."

Difference between Fiz and Thibbs:

https://nypost.com/2021/04/23/julius-randle-was-saved-before-being-knicks-savior/

Reading this in the NY Post, made me think how much better we would be tho season with Chris Paul and Mikal Bridges, instead of Payton and Knox:

?The Suns have kept up that momentum. Another key is Mikal Bridges, whom the Knicks passed on for out-of-the-rotation Kevin Knox in the 2018 draft. Bridges has made another step as a preeminent 3-and-D wing (13.1 points, 52.6 percent shooting, 40.5 from 3).?

ATL just beat Heat & Bucks, without Trae Young. They play DET, then PHI twice...

Knicks and Hawks tied for 4th, both 34-27 records. MIA & BOS both 2 games back (32-29)....

There is a possible scenario, where Knicks host Hawks in first round! Battle of 4-5 seeds.

11 games remain....

Imagine finishing 4th, beating the Hawks (no easy task, even with Young?s injury and we are 3-0 vs them). Then getting Nets in second round, playing with house money...

Luca Vildoza added to roster as a backup guard.

We got Luka? Not Doncic tho? Lol

Hawks lose tonight. We now have a game and a half on them for the 4th seed.

Spurs blew a 29 point halftime lead against the Celtics and Celtics forced OT. Wow.

Congrats to Julius Randle. Easter Conference Player of the Month.

After a 1-3 start, Knicks finish the month 10-1. Surprisingly and manifesting out of nowhere, Randle had a franchise historic April, being clutch when it mattered most.... elevating his team from a bubble or lottery bust to a potential top 4 finish.

Remember when April games mattered?

Randle was a nightly supplier of 27.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists in April, leading New York to the best Eastern Conference record (11-4) throughout the course of the month and earning his first POTM award. He?s the first Knicks player to win the award since Carmelo Anthony in Jan. 2014.

Congrats to Julius Randle on a well deserved award, he carried this team on his back when nobody gave them a chance. These next four games are going to be crucial, Atlanta, Miami and Boston all have easier schedules and any wrong step might drop us to 5, 6 or even the play-in tournament (i'd be really surprised if that would actually happen)

The Knicks have agreed to sign guard Luca Vildoza to a four-year, $13.6 million deal, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Vildoza has made an impact in the Spanish League and is considered one of the best playmakers in Europe. Woj notes that there's "no clear timetable" for him to play due to logistics surrounding "immigration, physicals and protocols." Key for the Knicks is that the final three years of the deal are non-guaranteed, so New York can evaluate him throughout the offseason before committing.

mafra said:

The Knicks have agreed to sign guard Luca Vildoza to a four-year, $13.6 million deal, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Vildoza has made an impact in the Spanish League and is considered one of the best playmakers in Europe. Woj notes that there's "no clear timetable" for him to play due to logistics surrounding "immigration, physicals and protocols." Key for the Knicks is that the final three years of the deal are non-guaranteed, so New York can evaluate him throughout the offseason before committing.

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Lot of the same hype about Teodosic who the Clips signed a few years ago. Pat Bev called him a great playmaker, guy never amounted to much with the Clips, I think we got the same deal with this guy. Key was he is on essentially a 1 year deal and we get a look and send him home after a year if we don't think he can help.

With Beal injured, Knicks have to assume ATL wins out and Heat finish 3-1. This means NY needs to go 3-1 to win 4th seed. MIA has tiebreaker, so if NY finish 2-2, it possible that means 6th seed. Crazy!

I wanted BOS in the first round!

NYK
??-
@LAK
SA
CHA
BOS

ATL
??
WAS (Beal out)
WAS
ORL
HOU



MIA
??
@BOS
PHI
@MIL
@DET

BOS
??-
MIA
@CLE
@MIN
@NYK

For the sake of coach Thibs ........
I want the Hawks and coach Nate McMilan in the first-round.
I don't want to see Thibs going against coach Brad Stevens Celtics in a series.
And I definitely know Thibs don't want to bumb-heads with coach Erik Spoelstra's Miami Heats in a first-round series.

ATL up 19 in 4th nearly blows it. 125-124, and Westbrook took final shot but missed it.