(2) New York Knicks vs (6) Indiana Pacers - 2024 EC Second Round
- Thread starter InstaFace
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If thinking that Thibs playing his guys extended minutes every game is dumb, so is the idea that having these guys play 45 minutes every night turns them into superhumans.
Credit to you, spotting it before the announcers and sideline reporter did.
SoSH is all-seeing, sometimes.
Whos betting against a Willis Hart G7 appearance?
I don't know if he can play, but ABC is already working on the pre game intro and the legend is being dusted off.
I don't know if he can play, but ABC is already working on the pre game intro and the legend is being dusted off.
If you want no part of them I fear how you will feel if/when they play in the finals. Boston would be as much a favorite, probably more, over Indy than NY
I was being sarcastic. Sorry. Breen was clearly affected and he couldn't hide it.
Guess I was misreading the timestamps. I thought you had it early, just based on seeing him move or something. Would've been an Eric Van / Jason Varitek sleep habits level insight.
What a shitty game. Knicks have no chance without Hart.
It's such a weird damn series because when you lose a close game where your team battled, it hurts. When you lose a game where a player gets hurt and it was barely competitive, you just lose interest and get annoyed. As much as outside fans may be enjoying this series, I think this is a pretty boring series with a lot of lopsided results. Knicks are 1-3 over their last four and it's all about OG. He won't be back on Sunday so thinking the Knicks will somehow replicate game 5, great, if not...they're done.
It's such a weird damn series because when you lose a close game where your team battled, it hurts. When you lose a game where a player gets hurt and it was barely competitive, you just lose interest and get annoyed. As much as outside fans may be enjoying this series, I think this is a pretty boring series with a lot of lopsided results. Knicks are 1-3 over their last four and it's all about OG. He won't be back on Sunday so thinking the Knicks will somehow replicate game 5, great, if not...they're done.
No, you're right. It sucks for the games to be like this and just be purely functions of who is hurt. Not good entertainment.
Not the only one. Plenty of people would say that Denver/Minnesota involves two of the top three teams in the league, and it's going to a 7th game so it must be great...except the average margin has been greater than 21 points. I'd appreciate at least one of Sunday's games being in doubt in the closing minutes.
SAS was seriously unhinged. I had to just reach for the remote and turn the tv off. Is that what the NBA is after.?
SAS plays his role well, and he generates views/clicks/engagement.
And while that makes some sense in a mass-market broadcast I am not sure the NBA playoffs really are that, at least not until the finals. He’s awful in a focused-on-basketball studio show.
And while that makes some sense in a mass-market broadcast I am not sure the NBA playoffs really are that, at least not until the finals. He’s awful in a focused-on-basketball studio show.
Often times after a national game on TNT, I'll watch Inside the NBA, not only for Ernie etal game/hoop takes but for the chemistry and fun they project. Its entertainment. I can not watch Team ESPN for more than a few minutes. Its painful.
If as rumored TNT is going to lose the NBA, I expect/hope NBC/Amazon/Netflix/Apple/TikTok/whoever to pick up Charles, Kenny Shaq and Ernie to keep on providing Bankshot with quality late night entertainment. Its beyond reasonable to hope that ESPN pick-up Team Ernie and swap them for SAS etal.
If as rumored TNT is going to lose the NBA, I expect/hope NBC/Amazon/Netflix/Apple/TikTok/whoever to pick up Charles, Kenny Shaq and Ernie to keep on providing Bankshot with quality late night entertainment. Its beyond reasonable to hope that ESPN pick-up Team Ernie and swap them for SAS etal.
If only the NYK had a big guy like this to come off the bench:
https://x.com/Pacers/status/1791640150683893953
https://x.com/Pacers/status/1791635738888454261
https://x.com/Pacers/status/1791662407212797978
https://x.com/Pacers/status/1791640150683893953
https://x.com/Pacers/status/1791635738888454261
https://x.com/Pacers/status/1791662407212797978
To be fair, in the Knicks case, you could say the same sentence about most functioning humanoid basketball sportsmen. There is a dire scarcity of those for them right now.
I would refer you to Game 7 of the 2022-23 ECF for a quintessential example of this. Imagine being in a two-way elimination game after the Knicks came back down 3-0 to MSG only for Brunson to literally get injured on the first possession.
All of which is to say: I hear you but it isn’t over yet for the Knickerbockers.
And all the worse to have that happen when you had serious expectations of not only completing an 0-3 comeback but realistically contending for the title... as opposed to where it's a fun run, but the realistic fans (including Crow) know that it's likely over next round regardless, and just want to see their guys ride again for a little bit.
He's well within his rights to feel "annoyed", though. I'd describe my feelings after last years ECF Game 7 as "despondent bordering on existential depression". Like, what's even the use of all this, I could've put all the time I spent following and believing in this team into, like, learning German or something.
Which leads me to think the story arc of last year's Celtics team into this year's team is a faint echo of the Red Sox' 2003-2004 story arc. Because I felt the same way after Boone's HR landed as I did after Miami got done fucking the corpse of the Celtics that night, only 10x worse. And yet, here we are now, juggernauting, revenge already served on our tormentors and eyes on the final prize. There are probably some similarities for those who really invested in this team.
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As a Celtics fan, I enjoy the winning. However, I think the general NBA fans who think it's boring are starting to have a point. It has not been (and probably won't be in the ECF) good entertainment, which is why they watch basketball.
Not to jinx anything, but I wouldn't be shocked if whoever comes out of the West is missing a key player by the time that's done, too.
The problem with the ESPN show is that 1) no way they'll match Ernie, Charles, and Kenny (though Shaq brings them down) -- that's too high of a bar as the TNT crew is kind of perfect for its genre. And 2) that SAS is horrible in that format.
All respect to SAS who in the genre of Hot Takes does his job on First Take etc. I don't like it, but I get that it works. But the schtick doesn't work at all for these types of shows. I actually like the rest of the crew on ESPN well enough. Replace Shaq with Wilbon or Myers and I think that'd be great on the TNT show; both of them are solid and I think Malika Andrews is totally fine, too. As a whole I'd take the ESPN show over all the football pre-game/halftime crews, even if they don't match up to TNT.
Not so sure... ESPN did swoop in for Buck and Aikman for Monday Night Football. They're smart enough to understand their NBA talent is second-tier.
The issue is supposedly that Ernie is incredibly loyal to Turner. His father worked there as well, he is under contract and does other sports, albeit not nearly as well.
Oh, you're absolutely right about Ernie... I'm thinking about Shaq/Kenny/Charles.
I'd guess NBC would be the frontrunner to scoop at least one or two of them up, but Amazon and ESPN will 100% schedule meetings.
They also got JJ on to their top-tier national NBA broadcasts. They're many things, but dumb isn't one of them. They like money.
Maybe you know but they didn’t have the cap room to sign DiVincenzo without giving away Obi.
I hope both game 7s go to triple overtime and that everyone involved is spent so the Cs will have an added advantage. The Cs earned it by dominating over a long regular season and taking care of business during the first two rounds.
As a Celtics fan I honestly couldn't care less about how entertained the rest of the country is or whether sour-grapes fans and media will claim that a title won this year would be somehow diminished because they didn't run the most challenging gauntlet. Winning against any professional competition is hard, and a championship is a championship*.
*unless it's in a bubble or in a ridiculously shortened season
As a Celtics fan I honestly couldn't care less about how entertained the rest of the country is or whether sour-grapes fans and media will claim that a title won this year would be somehow diminished because they didn't run the most challenging gauntlet. Winning against any professional competition is hard, and a championship is a championship*.
*unless it's in a bubble or in a ridiculously shortened season
I could see Wilbon taking Ernie's place as the moderator/straight man/referee on a Charles/Kenny/Shaq panel. He may have enough gravitas and cred to crack the crew and be accepted.
I think Shaq's role as the oft-times pissed at Charles character adds to the chemistry and fun, though he doesn't bring it like his two other panelists. Its too good a show to break up.
I think Andrews, Chuck, Kenny, and one more would be a good 4. Shaq sucks. I think the 4th needs to be someone who clearly breaks down tape and watches all of the games (which Kenny and Chuck 100% do not do)
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Amen.
You beat whoever the schedule says you play. You beat all of them and you’re the Champion. It would be hard for me to care less about sour grapes or alleged style points. Being dominant makes for big style point in my book.
Such a huge difference for Knicks having even a somewhat limited OG and Hart vs neither.
And pretty different for Indy to plan for.
To be clear, I expect both are legit uncertainties, though my guess is OG is more an aspirational active (and maybe a bit of gamesmanship there?)
And pretty different for Indy to plan for.
To be clear, I expect both are legit uncertainties, though my guess is OG is more an aspirational active (and maybe a bit of gamesmanship there?)
Oh God, it's the Zombie Knicks! This is how the apocalypse starts!
At least they'll eat the people at MSG first. On balance, I guess I'm good with it.
Edit: but instead of brains, Hart is hungry for aaaabbbbbssss....