8 people fell, and the starters were almost out of lineup! The most pitiful team in the NBA, you still want to compete for a championship?

Lao Liang commented

2024-05-18 22:48Posted in Shandong Sports Creators

In the last decade or so of the NBA playoffs, we've been accustomed to stars like James, Durant, Curry, and even Carl Jr. and Antetokounmpo who have been with us until the end, but they left early after the first round of the playoffs this season. And the rise of several dark horse teams, the Timberwolves in the West and the defending champion Nuggets played inextricably, and the Thunder won the first place in the West in the regular season, but the internal confrontation is a huge shortcoming, and the Mavericks have a great chance to advance to the Western Conference finals again. On the Eastern side, the Celtics have advanced early again, basically since late March, they have been in full physical condition, and Boshen is also expected to return to the team in the Eastern Conference finals, basically the Celtics have already got the Finals ticket in advance. If you want to win the championship, in addition to having excellent strength, the competitiveness of the core critical moment is indispensable, but there is another important factor.

In the past few years, the Grizzlies, one of the biggest dark horses in the West, have slipped rapidly this season, ranking only 13th in the West in the regular season, and the biggest problem that plagues them is the injury problem! Morant's arrogance, as if he had encountered the current world, this season the team has a variety of injuries, the injury list was once as high as 13 people, except for the interior core Jaren Jackson can basically maintain attendance, everyone else basically all fell, Jackson is playing with a group of development league level players. And in the playoffs, there is an even more pitiful team that has worked hard for a season to play second in the East, but there are fewer and fewer players who can play! Even the core boss of the team has been struggling with injuries since the first round! 8 people fell, and the starters were almost out of lineup! The most pitiful team in the NBA, you still want to compete for a championship?

Before Brunson came to the Knicks, the Knicks maintained a winning rate of about 40% all year round, and were basically a fringe team in the playoffs. In the summer of '22, the Mavericks refused to give Brunson a four-year, $55 million contract, and the Knicks re-signed Brunson for four years and $104 million. The Knicks were 47-35 last season and 50-32 in the regular season this season, finishing second in the East! And in the playoffs, Brunson is even more like a god, averaging 33.7 points (first in the league) and 7.6 assists (sixth in the league) per game, Brunson, who is only 1.87 meters, averages 14.7 points per game in the playoffs, and is fifth in the league, playing very tough! But the Knicks' biggest problem comes from coach Thibodeau! When he was coaching the Bulls, he overwhelmed Rose's body, causing Rose to quickly slide off the altar and suffer from injuries, and he went even more so to the Knicks.

Starting from the Knicks' injury list, Randle, the core of the team's forward, suffered a right shoulder dislocation at the end of January, and the Knicks' response was to re-evaluate in 2-3 weeks. To put it simply, it's not a big problem, but because I have been procrastinating, I didn't decide to undergo surgery on my right shoulder until April, and I really can't play, and the season is reimbursed! The team's substitute sharpshooter Bogdan, who suffered a sprained ankle in the 76ers series, subsequently underwent foot + wrist surgery, and is expected to return in 25 years. In addition, the team's all-round forward Anunoby, from the first round of the series G2 to the second round against the Pacers, was injured and collapsed, playing an average of 41 minutes per game, with a hamstring strain, just like Harden at the beginning, he was tired! Including Iron Man Hart, in the first 9 games of the playoffs, he averaged 46.5 minutes per game, including 3 games without a second of attendance! Until the Pacers G6 battle, Hart was injured in the abdomen!

According to the analysis of the American media, players who suffer abdominal injuries often have to be out of action for 2-3 weeks, which is the bottom line of the recovery cycle. But under Thibodeau, it's still just a doubtful game, what does that mean? The team really can't get together the starters, then you have to be on top! Also included is the team's starting center Miro with an ankle injury for the season, Washington with a knee injury, Brown concussion protection, and 8 people down! This is not counting Brunson, who suffered a foot injury when he played the 76ers, and the Knicks have indeed reached the point where no one can use it! It's basically Brunson + DiVincenzo, with a group of bench plays, to put it mildly, if the Knicks are all healthy, people like Harden, Achiuwa, Burks, and McBride won't get playing time from Thibodeau!

Throughout his coaching career, Thibodeau never believed in substitutions. After ruining Rose during his time as coach of the Bulls and falling apart with the team during his time with the Timberwolves, Butler left angrily. Even after the Heat was eliminated in the first round this season, Butler criticized Thibodeau by name, saying that if he stayed healthy, he would kick the Knicks' ass hard and educate Thibodeau! To make a simple comparison, Harden is an indispensable organizational brain and the engine of the team under Tyronn Lue this season, and only averages 34.3 minutes per game in the regular season and only 40.2 minutes in the playoffs. Even if they break into the Eastern Conference finals, how much gas is left in Brunson's tank?

The last time the Knicks won the championship, it was the distant 69-70 season, and the last time they won the division championship was back in the 72-73 season, more than 50 years have passed, and the Knicks finally waited for the super double combination of Randle + Brunson, and there are also DiVincenzo, Hart, Anunoby These top forwards around them, in a healthy state, they definitely have the strength to play to the East finals or even break out of the East to compete for the championship! But they were ruined by Thibodeau's excessive overdraft and use of the starters, and you still want to compete for the championship? Let's talk about the facts: the Knicks are also planning to re-sign Thibodeau, giving him a multi-million-dollar contract (Thibodeau's annual salary is more than $7 million this season), which is a bit ridiculous.

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