Official '24 NYK playoffs thread, RD1 vs PHI

[you go boy]

look at all these missed free throws smh

 

[ballinsam23]

Julius wtf

 

[don ramon]

jhart to ihart ok

 

[Coupé It]

Ok Ok

 

[ballinsam23]

Missing FTs and wide open 3s. Not a recipe for a W

 

[ballinsam23]

Thibs gotta put Mitch back in man

 

[biggie62]

**** Hartenstein. Need some defense out there.

 

[biggie62]

Randle

 

[Coupé It]

Julius is just a turnover machine.

Such a blockhead.

 

[nick.]

fire Thibs & trade Randle back on the menu

but for real, the team just seems pretty gassed. had the Heat game then the emotional Celtics game, then the letdown game vs Charlotte, right into a west coast trip. Brunson's health is priority #1 right now.

 

[don ramon]

rj ended up with 25 pts last night like many other nights yet his scoring doesn't feel like it makes much of a difference a lot of the time. i wouldn't call it stat padding, but a lot of feels opportunistic

anyone else feel similar?

 

[polar610]

I agree. I feel like RJ has been like that his whole career. His stats are always misleading.

 

[keko jones]

Nvm .

 

[don ramon]

Nvm .

let it out man

i know you like rj and tend to give him the benefit of the doubt often, so i'm wondering what your take is

 

[njavier03]

That doesn’t make sense. If it’s not stat padding, then what is it? The whole point of the game is to score. Are you saying he shouldn’t? Isn’t basketball about maximizing your opportunity to score?

 

[ballinsam23]

With Brunson out, RJ def was more aggressive.

This year he’s a bit more selfish though. Idk if it’s because he put the work in and isn’t seeing the results so the frustration of that has him forcing things. By year 4 the game should be slower, he needs to work on being a better playmaker. Would open so more opportunities for him and the team.

I do think he should get heavy minutes against second units. Super 6th man type role.

 

[don ramon]

my gripe with rj is that he tends to resort to trying even harder to score on his own after missing easy shots with the team. he gets tunnel vision, becomes selfish and often makes it more difficult for the team to come together because he's so intent on making up for his usual early game bumblin and stumblin.

jhart, ihart, and grimes in particular were playing cleanup all during the 4th last night.
with brunson out, neither randle or quickley had it either, but rjs 25 pts feel more like a 15 pt contribution tbh

 

[jayocampo]

With Brunson out, RJ def was more aggressive.

This year he’s a bit more selfish though. Idk if it’s because he put the work in and isn’t seeing the results so the frustration of that has him forcing things. By year 4 the game should be slower, he needs to work on being a better playmaker. Would open so more opportunities for him and the team.

I do think he should get heavy minutes against second units. Super 6th man type role.

He needs to learn how to create a shot from mid range. He's a decent spot up shooter from the perimeter and can bully his way to the rim, but if those two options aren't available, he's stuck unable to do much. I wish he would pay Olajuwon to work on his post up footwork lol. But also with Brunson being the primary ball handler with Randle, the coaching staff has to make RJ more plays...

 

[8pm at msg]

Playmaking was ironically supposed to be one of RJ's strengths. We saw a little bit of that last year during the second half of the season but it hasn't really been there this year.

Everyone was looking worn out. Shots were short, no contesting shots.

 

[njavier03]

my gripe with rj is that he tends to resort to trying even harder to score on his own after missing easy shots with the team. he gets tunnel vision, becomes selfish and often makes it more difficult for the team to come together because he's so intent on making up for his usual early game bumblin and stumblin.

jhart, ihart, and grimes in particular were playing cleanup all during the 4th last night.
with brunson out, neither randle or quickley had it either, but rjs 25 pts feel more like a 15 pt contribution tbh

I mean the same can be said with Randle. He continues to jack up 3s when they’re not falling and resorts back to spin move jump passing. Everyone is like that, you have the green light. If they’re not in rythym and their shot isn’t falling, they try to get in rhythm and start to force it. No one is just going to stop shooting. I get that you’re not a RJ fan, but the 25 feeling like 15 doesn’t make sense.

 

[don ramon]

 

[Mister Meaner]

I urge some of the RJ critics take a look at his recent box scores. Again, what games are we watching? Last few, RJ has stopped trying to force his numbers and be more of a cog in the offense.

The 3 is off but the efficiency outside of it has been there. Last night, they lost Brunson. And Randle was back to being ***.

RJ tried at least but RJ is RJ. Absolutely nobody could hit a outside shot neither. It was quite ugly. Grimes did a good job along with him overall.

They lost their starting all NBA pg, Julius went back to Dubious, and the team gave them all they could handle. Whatever.

 

[Mister Meaner]

Speaking of Grimes, he’s out there guarding the best guards and wings every night. We know he’s got a wet jumper with a gorgeous form. He too is going to need time to put it all together.

He be feeling the fanbase wrath for no damn reason. He’s only always going full throttle on the defensive end.

 

[don ramon]

I urge some of the RJ critics take a look at his recent box scores. Again, what games are we watching? Last few, RJ has stopped trying to force his numbers and be more of a cog in the offense.

brunson is the glue no doubt, but last night's numbers imply rj was indeed forcing his game

 

[Coupé It]

Bro RJ was terrible last night.

I don’t care how many points he scored.