Agree, but who isn't injured? It's the NBA Playoffs. Giannis, Embiid, Porzingis, Mitchell, Doncic... Those last two are still playing at a high level
I didn’t watch the game yesterday and didn’t see the score until last night. Regardless, you are sorely mistaken if you think that I didn’t post anything yesterday on this thread because a few posters who don’t know shit from shinola about basketball disparaged Jalen Brunson on this thread. Brunson won 2 national championships at Villanova and was national player of the year in his junior year. He finished 5th for NBA player of the year this year and made 2nd-team All-NBA. He averaged somewhere around 29 ppg and 7 apg this past season. He is the primary reason that the Knicks won 50 games this season and are in the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs. He has played the last game and a half on a foot that he can’t plant on and can hardly walk on when he is off the court. He is a warrior and an incredible player with the game on the line. I don’t know whether the Knicks can win this series. They are missing 3 starters and a key reserve, and Brunson is hobbled; and, even if they win, they are looking at getting crushed by the Celtics in the next series. But, they have been fun to watch.
Yes and so what. You clearly said “one of the best playoffs in the history of the NBA” not even halfway through the playoffs. That is quite a ridiculous claim. Secondlly, I’ve played and watched at least as much basketball as you have. I’d be very, very surprised if you ever played at the level I did. So, a no to that too. You should have just stopped at yes, I have a thing for undersized PGs and leave it at that. Spare us with the how much you know and how amazing Brunson is. 2nd team NBA in his best year ever and a couple of college championships has nothing to do with his performance in the last two games. True greats don’t play this poorly, even with a bad foot. Lebron had a bad foot all last playoffs and never once dipped even close to as low as Brunson is playing now. Doncic now and Embiid before him can/could barely walk and they’re not stinking it up like Brunson is. We’re seeing him exposed. Somehow he gets all the praise when his team does well and none of the blame when they do poorly. Yea they have been a surprise and have at times been fun to watch. Let’s keep it at that. No need for hyperbole in attempt to prove some point.
Brunson is hurt. Knicks are a beat up team at this point. Lost a few players to injury for year. Were never going to win it all. Much improved since Brunson signing from Mavs however. Pacers have equally good guard on roster. Good playoff matchup. Celtics appear to be team from East. Nuggets/Wolves versus Celts. Don’t think Celts match up well with Nuggets.
I I agree wholeheartedly that there is no need for hyperbole in an attempt to prove some point. So, you might want to consider deleting your posts about the NYC refs handing a game to the Knicks, Brunson being the most overrated player in the NBA and me having a thing for undersized point guards. More to the point, refs miss calls. There are an enormous number of fouls that are not called in every game. NYC refs are not refereeing the playoffs. The ref's calls have gone both ways in the 2 Knicks series. As to Brunson being overrated, you are in disagreement with practically every NBA expert, including players, coaches and the media. Brunson has carried an injury-decimated team to the middle of the 2nd round of the playoffs and to a rare 50 win season for the Knicks. He is playing through an injury right now that has hobbled him and kept him from making his patented scoring moves. Again, practically everyone who knows anything about NBA basketball knows that Brunson is severely hobbled. As for my statement about how good he has been in the playoffs: in the first round against Philly, he had 3 games of 35+ points and 10+ assists, becoming only the 2nd player in the history of the NBA to do so. He also had a string of 4 40+ games in a row going until he injured his foot. These achievements were made while he was willing the Knicks to victory. As for my infatuation with undersized point guards, first of all, Brunson is about the same size as Walter Clayton. I am not sure that is undersized, but, yes, I was and am a big fan of Erving Walker, Taurean Green, Chris Chiozza and Ques Glover. I also was and am a big fan of Dan Cross, Zyon Pullin and a few other big guards who played for the Gators. As for the little guys, I started praising all of them before they set foot on the Gator campus, but I also made it clear that another little guy, Kasey Hill, although tremendously athletic, had a ways to go to become a really good point guard. By the way, I also was outspoken about trying to sign Shane Larkin when he was coming out of high school. I stand behind everything I said about these guys, not because I am a basketball guru, but because I did my homework on them while they were in high school. As for whether you have played and watched at least as much basketball as me, I feel sorry for your family if you have. I am guessing that I played in somewhere between 750-1,000 organized games and 1,000s of pickup games before I called it quits. I played college hoops through my junior year in college and also played on a bunch of other teams that were better than my college team. I played organized basketball against some really good college players and a few future NBA players. I was not as good as many of these guys, but I did not embarrass myself except for possibly one game against a guy named Frank "Shake N Bake" Streety (who kept stealing the ball from me). More power to you if you played at a higher level than me. It's not that hard to do, but it also doesn't necessarily make you a better observer of the game of basketball.
Here’s a great article that includes the guy who I said embarrassed me in a basketball game. Elite 24: Rucker Park legendsYou
Any time a MN sports team achieves and appears ready to hit the next gear, they falter/implode. The TWolves were dominant in their first two games at Denver, esp. at the defensive end. Now it's 2-2 and back to Denver. Sigh . . . ready for disappointment.
Ok admittedly he’s had a great bounce-back game. I still think #5 in MVP ranking is high, his team had the 6th best record in the league. Being in the largest market helps the hype train. Other Knicks players really stepped up too. I read a stat that they’re 31-5 when Anunoby plays. That is a lot of basketball. I don’t know the amount of organized games I played but it’s up there too, I still play daily after 4+ decades. The spring is no longer in my hops but I still love playing. I’m definitely a better observer than player these days.
They flashed a stat that he's top 5 +/- for the playoffs this year. Oldest player in the playoffs. He was so hungry last night. He wants a title bad. The only NBA players with more playoff games and no title are Stockton and Malone. I don't think Al wants to live on that list at all.
