Coach Tibbs Defense

Kiyaman

Legend
Over their past two showings, the New York Knicks have been on the wrong side of things in two critical matchups against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
In both meetings vs. the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks got humbled. They ended up losing both games by double-figures, falling to Boston by 13, with their face-off against Cleveland looking a bit uglier amid a 37-point blowout.


Now following New York's latest blunders, talking heads around the media have started questioning this team's status as one of the top contenders in the league –– especially so for Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith.

During his appearance on ESPN's First Take following New York's two losses, Smith sounded off on some of his thoughts surrounding the Knicks.
"Listen, the Knicks –– they're pretenders," Smith said. "And what I mean by that is that I think they're the third-best team in the Eastern Conference. They are a precipitous drop-off from the top two teams... I'd give the Lakers a better chance of coming out of the West than I'd give the Knicks of coming out of the East. The Celtics and the Cavaliers are so dominant compared to the Knicks that I don't see the Knicks having a chance against either one of them. I think either one of them would take the Knicks out in five or six games."


It's hard to argue with the logistics. The Knicks proved to be a few steps back from their competition in two critical games, and with those shortcomings now in the books, it'll be hard to hold significant confidence in this New York group once the postseason rolls around.
The Knicks have had some injury troubles to counter over recent weeks, and have been dealing with the absence of Mitchell Robinson for the entire season. Smith still sees a sliver of hope for New York once their defensive anchor returns to the lineup, but it could still be tough to mend this team's defensive woes after the fact.
"Obviously, I reserve the right to change my mind when Mitchell Robinson comes back and he elevates their defensive prowess, but right now, the New York Knicks are horrid defensively," Smith said. "I can't believe how bad a Tom Thibodeau team is defensively. I've never seen anything like this... They're obviously elite offensively... but in the end, they're just undermanned against Boston and Cleveland."

The Knicks have remained one of the top offensive forces in the entire association, ranking third in the NBA for offensive rating, being led by two top-tier scorers at their position Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Yet, it's their 21st-ranked league defense limiting their ceiling and ultimately being a major pitfall in their contests against Boston and Cleveland.

If the Knicks can fix up their stumbling defensive unit moving into the stretch run of the season, perhaps a turnaround can get sparked at the right time. However, in the eyes of Stephen A., this team may still land a bit behind the 8-ball.
 
Our Knicks biggest weakness throughout the season have been on the defensive-end of the court. We have been winning games having no team-defense.
 
I believe Robinson can help us but we need a dynamic switch defender who can relieve Towns and Brunson on bad match ups.
 
Wsup Metro .. Steven A Smith called the Knicks a "Pretender"!
And the Knicks 2024-25 season proves Steven A. right on point.
We are 60 games into the season, and the Knicks have no depth off their bench.
For 60 games we let Brunson take the 1 spot, and Josh Hart take the 2 spot as our backcourt offensive guards.
Foolish decision.
Josh Hart TRIED to run the offense for 46 minutes against the Clippers last night making the Knicks look like a Garbage Time team for 46 minutes without Brunson. Ugly! Very ugly.
And stubborn Tibbs have been the head coach of all this foolishness.
The Knicks guards on the bench were never given the playing time minutes to run the point for the Knicks in the rotation having Brunson & Hart on the court controlling the ball for 40 minute every game this season.
The Deuce & Payne duo guards backcourt was given 6 to 10 minute a game in the same lineup.
And Tibbs is clueless of coaching three or more big men in the rotation.
At the return of Mitch Robinson, a healthy Hukporti catches a knee injury to keep him out for 5 weeks, and Precious been DNP games.
And trading Jericho Sims, at a time when the team needed his big-man performance boxing-out, screens/picks, rebounds, and 3 or 4 fouls defending the paint.
Mitch Robinson can't help the Knicks, because Tibbs, Brunson, and Hart control the ball, the substitution, and the Game rotation of players .. which equal no bench depth after 60 games played.
Yep, as a Knicks fan Steven A. made a good point when u look back at the players we had that made us a championship contender team in 2022-23 season .. Randle 1st option, Brunson 2nd option, Barrett 3rd option, and Quickley 4th option, plus a tough team-defense having Mitch, IHart, Obi, Hart, Grimes, and Deuce. A winning 10 man rotation, that HC Tibbs chopped to a 6 or 7 man rotation in the post season games losing to the play-in Miami Heats 2-4 series. The players we have now today, are "Pretenders" they need two seasons together to get at the level the Knicks 2022-23 roster were.
 
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