Jalen Brunson was not among the 12 players chosen to represent Team USA in the Paris Olympics. Managing director Grant Hill said it was difficult to leave the Knicks’ star guard off the team, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets.
“You wish you could’ve had three or four more (spots) because there are so many incredibly talented players and incredibly talented people. That was tough,” Hill said. “It was tough having to say no to certain people who I respect and admire. Certainly he was one of them. And there’s plenty of others who sadly and unfortunately we had to say no to. But with that said, we’re really excited about our group.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Philadelphia’s play-in victory over Miami set up a Sixers-Knicks matchup in the first round. While Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson will take turns guarding Joel Embiid, it will require a team effort and a variety of coverages to hold down one of the league’s premier scorers. Fred Katz of The Athletic examines what the Knicks might do defensively in the series to keep the reigning Most Valuable Player in check.
- Donte DiVincenzo was deemed ineligible for postseason honors even though he appeared in all but one contest. As we detailed earlier this week, he didn’t qualify because he played fewer than 20 minutes in too many games. DiVincenzo, who was considered a candidate for the Most Improved Player award, believes the league will tweak the qualifications, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post relays. “I think the league will probably look at the rule going forward, but it’s not something where if I got the nine seconds, I’m a shoo-in to win the award,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s not that situation. So, for me, I don’t really care about it. I think going forward, you look at the rule. You adjust it accordingly. And you just go from there. And that’s pretty much the only thinking.”
- The Knicks are 20-3 when OG Anunoby is in the lineup and he could play a key defensive role against Tyrese Maxey, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. “It makes life a lot easier for all of us the things he’s able to do on that [defensive] side of the ball,” Brunson said.
- Miles McBride played sparingly during the playoffs last season. He will have an expanded role this time around and he’s ready for it, Botte writes. “I take what I learned last year from the little bit I did play, and just watching the team go out there, and we were able to get one playoff-series win,” said McBride, who signed a three-year extension in late December. “This year, I’m just bringing a fresh mindset and will do what I’ve been doing the whole year.”
Looking Foward to the Series. Can Philly win game one in NY to set the tone.
Only tone is the sound of brooms ….
Stopping Embiid offensively is an improbable task, but you can wear him down and make him earn those defensive rebounds. Make him put the ball on the floor and let Hart, Donte or McBride sneak in for a swipe if he does in the post. Switch OG, McBride and Donte on Maxey. The key is frustrate Embiid. He’ll wear down and give up. He’s done that previously.
The NYK are well constructed to defend against a dominant big man like Embid, and I think they’ll do fine there. Embid will score a bunch, but I don’t see him dominating the series. Possessions yes, and maybe a game or two, but not the series. Stylistically, the NYK actually match up well.
The big issue the NYK have in this series is the star power deficit at the top of the rosters. Unfortunately, the NBA player hierarchy is the best predictor of a playoff series’ outcome, without getting into how that’s effected. At the All Star level, PHI has Embid and Maxey, and the NYK have Brunson. On the positive side, Embid is a C, and Maxey a kid, so their protected status is lower-middle for stars, about Brunson level. But they do have two of them to NYK’s one. They also have Lowry, a made man for this purpose. So, the NYK can’t win the battle of the whistles vs PHI.
NYK need to start strong and be the more aggressive team. They’re the higher seed but the betting underdog. They need to play like the latter, and let the chips fall where they may.
This series comes down to benches and coaches. I like the sixers better on both counts. A healthy Jojo makes everything irrelevant,sadly the African warrior is at 70 percent and probably shouldn’t be playing. 25 and 10 on one leg might be enough against the knicks.
Going to have to disagree on both counts. Knicks bench and especially coaching is better. Thibs is the best defensive coach in the league (imo, of course). Brunson, Hart, and Divo will all probably play 35+ minutes (maybe 40+) each night, negating the bench battle a bit. Mitch backing up Hartenstein with Precious, McBride, and Bojan is a solid enough group to take the series.
PHI fanboy? Anyway, very little in the NBA playoffs is about the bench (beyond the very short bench 1 or 2 guys), and almost nothing comes down to coaching (coaching is for the regular season, the playoffs are about players and talent). Neither is really debated much in basketball circles (other than 2k I imagine), but that doesn’t stop it from being believed in many others.
The African warrior? I imagine you’re not a history buff. African warriors were specifically known for their stoicism. Embid babbles on and on about nothing more than any two women I know.
@machine – keep in mind the Knicks starting lineup was their bench for some time this season. Randle, Brunson, OG, both Robinson and Hartenstein at center…
I’d say the Knicks may have the best bench in the league. Not often you can have a guy come off the bench and throw out and triple double…multiple times. They get the minutes because they are good, not to give someone a rest.
One legged Embiid ….. wereUat !!!!
Sixers getting swept then …..
Embiid looks hobbled. I wouldn’t have bet against NYK anyway, but especially not after he only topped 20 points yesterday because he had ten free throw attempts. He looked awful, and that was with Bam not guarding him as much as he should have been because Embiid got him in foul trouble early. If Robinson and Hartenstein are aggressive with him, he’ll struggle imo. Maxey’s good, but he’s not on Brunson’s level. Especially not under fire.
Hobbled giving double doubles and finishing off the heat with clutch shots is all that is required from the big man against the likes of a hartenstein or Williams. Geezzzzzzzzzzzzz.
He’s an MVP-caliber player at full strength, y’know. You think 35% from the field isn’t hobbled? He absolutely is. He’s just so good that he can still be productive even on one good leg. It’s just that the Knicks are ready to roll, and the Sixers are going to struggle without him at full strength to patch their mistakes. Especially if the refs swallow their whistles like they usually do in the playoffs. Hell, even not having Randle is arguably a strength to the Knicks, since he underperforms consistently in the playoffs.
Also, who is Williams? There’s not a single Williams on the Knicks.
He’s not in playoffs shape. Looks gassed at times. Thibs will exploit that.
The Olympic roster by merits not name should be…
AD, LBJ, KD, JT, Booker, Haliburton, Brunson, kawhi, Irving, Bam, Jarrett Allen & Scottie Barnes
Now, that’s what I call a team!!!
Embiid is not in gm shape, playoff shape. He’s not ready for this. You better manage his mins. Knicks will go ten deep ….
Believe this shhh …..
Reed appeared on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on Thursday and said that “of course” the Sixers wanted to face the second-seeded Knicks over the top-seeded Boston Celtics because New York was “the easier team.”
Knicks are 3-1 against Sixers this yr. Last gm we spanked them 106- 79. I want to see if they even put Reed into gm. At MSG Saturday……. this will be fun
Knicks are 3-1 against Sixers this yr. Do you watch the NBA. Oh oh oh oh
Last gm was so bad Knicks stoped playing with 8 mins to go. Still won by 27.
Oh I guess you don’t remember the game 2 days before when the Knicks scored a whopping 73 points in a home loss the the same Embiid(less) 76ers??? Take the knick colored glasses off and try to watch a great series instead of expecting too much based off the last game.
Juat shut Maxey down and make Embiid work for every shot. Don’t bail him out by biting for his goofy flops.