joakim noah

New York Knicks: Sky’s the limit for ‘incredible’ Mitchell Robinson under Tom Thibodeau

by
New York Knicks, Mitchell Robinson

Tom Thibodeau describes New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson as an incredible athlete. 

When Joakim Noah accepted his Defensive Player of the Year award in 2014, he deflected the credit to Tom Thibodeau.

“Thibs,” Noah said, in the middle of his acceptance speech, “we’ve definitely had our hard times, our ups and downs, but without your system, this wouldn’t be possible.”

Thibodeau was proud of Noah because he was recognized for his contributions to winning. Thibodeau pushed Noah so hard that once they had an exchange wherein, Noah told his former coach that he would hate him if they were not winning games.

That’s Thibodeau for you.  He will never baby you.

Thibodeau is a defensive savant.

One of the absolute truths that he will never compromise is that defense contributes to winning.

“Winning is the most important thing. That’s why you’re here,” Thibodeau said during Friday’s Zoom call with New York reporters.

So when Thibodeau was asked about his new rim-running center, Mitchell Robinson, his eyes lit up with a spark and began to speak glowingly about him.

“What he did last year was put a lot of pressure on the rim. He’s an incredible athlete,” Thibodeau said. “But we don’t want to put a ceiling on him. We want to continue to work on all aspects of his game and develop.”

In his first two seasons in the league, Robinson showed the defensive chops that Thibodeau saw in Noah in Chicago.

The season before Thibodeau arrived in Chicago, Noah averaged 10.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 0.5 steals in 30.1 minutes.  He enjoyed the best stretch of his NBA career under Thibodeau, winning the Defensive Player of the Year and became a two-time All-Star and two-time member of the All-Defensive First Team.

Meanwhile, Robinson will enter his first year under Thibodeau with better defensive numbers than Noah had in the same stage of their careers in lesser playing time. Robinson posted 9.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, and 0.9 steals in just 23.1 minutes this season.

With Robinson set to become the anchor of Thibodeau’s defensive schemes, the sky’s the limit for the Knicks’ third-year center. And Thibodeau couldn’t wait to whip him into a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. 

Robinson excused himself from attending the team workouts due to personal reasons, but he was present during the individual workouts.

“He spent some time here (in New York) earlier in the summer and we’re hopeful that, you know, we can get him back in and get to work with him so he can build on those skills,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, he’s a very important part of this team.”

Robinson enjoys the trust of his new coach.  And not only that.  He will have the big man’s whisperer Kenny Payne on his ears all season long.

Taj Gibson will be what the New York Knicks wanted in Joakim Noah

by

The New York Knicks brought in veteran big man Taj Gibson this off-season.  When he was signed, some fans had to be scratching their heads.  What can this 34-year old center bring to this young Knicks roster?

Gibson is bruiser.  He is not afraid to get his hands dirty and bang down-low for rebounds.  Gibson is going to bring aspects of what they wanted to see out of Joakim Noah.  Except, Gibson has a jumper and can knock down threes, like he did in the preseason opener Monday.

The Knicks were hoping that Noah was going to bring the hard-nosed, fiery attitude and play that he had during his time in Chicago.  But, due to injury and suspension, Noah was not able to even give the Knicks a tiny morsel of what he used to be.  The New York Knicks gave Noah $72 million to wear street clothes.  Thanks Phil.

However, Gibson could bring some of that grittiness him and Noah had in Chicago to the Knicks.  Gibson also comes at a much cheaper cost, as compared to Noah, so any positives that come from this is a win for the franchise.  He will be making 10 million for two years.

Hypothetically, if Noah was not injured or suspended, he might have been able to contribute.  He would have been the mentor to Mitchell Robinson when they drafted him.  That is not the case.  Now, one of Gibson’s goal is to do just that.  Be a mentor to Mitchell Robinson.

Last season, we saw DeAndre Jordan take Robinson under his wing for the short time he was with the Knicks.  Now, it is Gibson’s time.

Gibson has been a very good defender throughout his career.  He has averaged 6.4 rebounds per, while adding 9.8 points, shooting 51.2% from the field.  But, stats aren’t everything.  He knows how to defend off the ball, set good hard screens and box out.

Gibson can also help Robinson with foul trouble.  If he can teach him to not be as aggressive and contain his body when contesting shots and moving his feet.  Early dumb fouls have been Robinson’s kryptonite, so learning to limit the fouls is key for his development.

That was everything the Knicks wanted in Noah.  Bring back some of the toughness from the 90s Knicks on the defensive side.  Be the leader defense.  Not many are expecting Gibson to play 30+ minutes, but his knowledge will be key to the Knicks defensive scheme this season.  Gibson will try to fill that void, for Robinson, while providing valuable veteran leadership.

New York Knicks: Never forget Noah’s contract

by

The New York Knicks have had a lot of bad contracts in their day.  When people talk about them, Allan Houston, A’mare Stoudemire and Stephon Marbury come to mind.  Oh, we can’t forget Eddy Curry and Jerome James as well.

However, despite all of the bad contracts the Knicks have threw at players back in the day, there is one that takes the cake.

Joakim Noah’s contract with the Knicks is by far the worst contract in team history.

Phil Jackson gave Noah, 4 years, 72 million in the summer of 2016.  The season before he only played 29 games and was not good.  Noah was not the player he was when he signed this outrageous deal.

Noah was a defensive juggernaut.  He was the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-Defensive First Team and one second team.  However, in injuries started to plagued his career and his could not return to form.

So, what do the Knicks do?  The Knicks toss disgusting money at a injury-prone, aging center.  All Knicks fans were scratching their heads at this one.  His first season, he played 46 games, not contributing much to the team.  5 points, 5.2 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per.  He was more of a liability when present on the floor.

The following season, Noah was suspended for the first 20 games due to violating the league’s substance abuse policy.  Then, only appeared in 7 games due to injuries.  In total, he only played 53 games for the New York Knicks.

All fans would love to pick Phil Jackson’s brain on this one.  Just when Knicks fans thought the days of bad contracts were over, the Noah contract happens.  Bad contracts will consistently haunt the Knicks.  The Knicks organization will not live down this contract for a long, long time.

This coming season, Noah, currently a free agent, is the 8th highest paid ‘unofficial’ Knick.  Noah will be taking up cap space on the Knicks until the 2021-22 season.  He will be paid 6.4 million this season and for the following two, all which is dead money.

When the Knicks could be in a market to sign a player, just remember that Noah is taking up 6 million plus, to have nothing to do with the team for the next 3 seasons.  Thanks Phil.

New York Knicks Likely Planning To Release Veteran Joakim Noah

by

The New York Knicks are in a peculiar position – they have several mediocre veterans taking up a majority of their cap-space. To specify, center Joakim Noah is taking up much more than he’s worth, and the Knicks understand that letting him walk is likely the best option – but how?

According to  ESPN, head coach David Fizdale will part ways with Noah after training camp. The Knicks will use the NBA’s waive and stretch provision to release him after September 1.

Now, of course it would be more beneficial to utilize a Noah in a trade, but it’s unlikely that any team is willing to pick up the remaining two years and $37.8 million left on his contract. By waiting until after Sept., the Knicks can lessen the blow of his contract by spreading it out over the course of the next three years. While they will still be allocating a nice chunk of cash to a player not on the team anymore, it’s in the best interest of an organization trying to rid themselves of next-to- useless veteran’s like Noah.

It’s possible he rejoins the team and plays in the 2018-19 season, as he would be a nice tool to have in regard to the development of rookie big-man Mitchell Robinson. General manager Scott Perry has been unwilling to trade Noah attached to any high-round assets or young, talented players.

This leaves him with three options:

  1. Keep him on the roster
  2. Release him and spread his contract out of the next three years
  3. Find a trade partner willing to take on his contract without giving away strong assets

All of these options don’t seem too enticing, but they are the only possibilities the Knicks have in regard to Noah.

How much would the New York Knicks have to give Joakim Noah if they utilize the waive-and-stretch provisional?

Given the Knicks use the provisional, Noah’s cap-hit would $6.4 million, saving $12.9 million toward the salary cap. Additionally, they would have to pay $6.4 in 2020 and 2021. It’s a big-break in terms of the money he’d be making if they kept him – over $10 million per season.

So, you make the call – do you cut the veteran and save a good amount of cap, or let him stay and mentor Robinson?