Game Thread: New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers 12/23/2020 [Game #1]

[Kiyaman]

Noel and Robinson should be embarrassed.

5. Domantas Sabonis was the killer for the Pacers in this one. He had a game-high 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting and 13 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end. Victor Oladipo had 22 points and Malcolm Brogdon had 21 as well.

6. Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel weren’t really a factor in this one down low, with them combining for six points and nine rebounds.

7. With defense being a point of emphasis for head coach Tom Thibodeau, he won’t like seeing this: The Pacers shot 48.9 percent overall from the field, though they were just 8-for-34 from beyond the arc.

We dont have one decent NBA PF on our roster !!!
Randle was a BUM PF in the West Coast for 5 years.
Noel was not good enough to be a backup for 76ers center Joel Embiid, nor did Noel have the skill to play PF next to Embiid.

[KNICKS MOB]

Guys our team played solid today. We went up against a quality playoff team and held our own for most of the game. Our young guys were going up against 3 all star players in Sabonis, Oladipo and Brogdon, so of course we had disadvantages in those matchups.

Thibs needs to adjust moving forward now that he has seen what some of our players are capable/incapable of.

I do not see us winning against the better teams most nights, but as long as we show effort i'll be happy.

[KNICKS MOB]

PF-Sabonis 32 pts, 13 reb, 5 ast, has exposed and EMBARRASSED all the Knicks bigmen for 37 minute tonite .. Turner has been the Pacers double-double starter center, whom we should have picked in the draft instead of Kristaps Porzingis.

Turner wasn't rated that high coming into that draft. Willie Cauley-Stein was ahead of him lol

[mafra]

I didn’t expect to win or anything. In fact, after 20 years of this (2000-2021), I am sort of indifferent.

Just as was the case in 2012, when Linsanity hit and tonight with IQ.... you need a PG or else you get this...

It’s just painful having to watch EP and JR. if IQ and Rivers can’t step up, we’ll be a 22 win team.

I almost feel like the Walsh-Jax-Mills run was a waste of 12 years. We are basically starting over again.

We have RJ. IQ looks like a hit... maybe a rotation player in Mitch, if we are lucky, we get a depth piece in Obi or Knox. After that, I doubt anybody else is on the roster come 2023.

[Kiyaman]

Honestly wouldn't mind being lottery bound with how strong next years draft is

The performance we gave in the 2nd half of tonight's game spells LOTTERY-BOUND.
We got blown-out in the 2nd half of the game so bad that i forgot all the good things players were doing in the first half. Even though, I missed the first-half to watch a 2nd half where no-body showed up on the defensive-end of the court .. reminded me of Horn & Fiz poor defensive coaching in the 2nd half of each game.
Im not proud of Leon Rose, nor Thibs, nor this blow-out LOSS first game .. all I know is somebody haven't been doing their Homework.

[mafra]

“You either win,” Thibodeau said, “or you learn.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost....or-knicks/amp/


A good read on what’s important this season. Building on the successes.

[mafra]

"I think they played harder in the second half. I think we had a good first half overall and they came out even more aggressive in the second," Barrett said. "I think they did something different defensively with all of our actions. They made really good adjustments at halftime."

"Any time you have a big first half like he did, you're gonna get more attention," head coach Tom Thibodeau said regarding Barrett's hot start. "And when that happens, your responsibility is to make plays. And then we got a little out of rhythm. We'll take a look at that, and we'll figure out some other things. Hopefully we can ride the hot hand."

"I was just trying to play basketball," Barrett said. "Just trying to make the right plays. That's kind of what I'm stressing all season long, what our team is stressing all season long, is just to make the right plays every time down the court."

[Kiyaman]

Guys our team played solid today. We went up against a quality playoff team and held our own for most of the game. Our young guys were going up against 3 all star players in Sabonis, Oladipo and Brogdon, so of course we had disadvantages in those matchups.

Thibs needs to adjust moving forward now that he has seen what some of our players are capable/incapable of.

I do not see us winning against the better teams most nights, but as long as we show effort i'll be happy.

First things first, we are in our first season of rebuilding.
1) We need to build an Identity.
2) We need a offense & DEFENSIVE plan for each opponent.
3) We need Leadership on this Knicks team from somebody? Player? or Coaches?
4) We need a 2nd half defensive-plan for stops on our competition all-star players.
5) We need to start getting all of the above for the team through-out the next 71 games.

[Kiyaman]

Turner wasn't rated that high coming into that draft. Willie Cauley-Stein was ahead of him lol

Neither was Porzingis.

[Kiyaman]

My question goes out to coach Thibs ???
Dear coach Thibs, "where was the Knicks Defense tonight?"
The Pacers scored 60 pts in the first half on a NO-Defense Knicks team,
then the Pacers scored 61 pts in the 2nd half to a NO-Center & NO-Defense Knick team for a 121-107 win. I need to understand the reason why coach Thibs did not give MitchRob or Noel any playing-time in the 4th qtr. when the Pacers were really taking advantage of our poor interior defense?
The Knicks Ignorance on the defensive-end of the court tonight are the reason why the Knicks got Blown-out of the first game of the season.
Where's the DEFENSE coach Thibs ???

[KnicksFourLyfe]

Start Quickley and quit playing.