Tom Thibodeau

Knicks: Thibodeau’s masterstroke produces Robinson’s masterclass

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New York coach Tom Thibodeau looked like a genius after another tweak in the lineup led to a rousing Knicks win on the road.

Mitchell Robinson played with an edge in his first game since being yanked out of the starting lineup. Robinson produced his fourth double-double of the season and his best game since the opening night. He had 11 points and 14 rebounds, eight coming off the offensive glass. His activity on defense — two steals and three blocks — helped the Knicks edge out the San Antonio Spurs, 11-7 in transition points. The Spurs came into the game averaging a sixth league-best 14.6 fastbreak points.

“I need to build that flame back before I broke my hand and my foot. You know, trying to get back to myself,” said Robinson, who embraced his new role as he works his way back into shape.

Robinson entered halfway through the first quarter and quickly made his presence felt. Fresh off the bench, he quickly grabbed two offensive rebounds.

“As soon as I came in, I was happy coming off the bench and getting out there. I had a smile on my face. I just want to goddamn hoop,” Robinson said.

A couple of minutes later, he stole the ball and blocked a Spurs’ shot. His first basket came at the 1:30 mark of the opening quarter in a classic Robinson shot — a putback. He crashed the floor on the way down but quickly picked himself up and sprinted back to defense.

“There’s no substitute for hustle,” Thibodeau said. “Hustle plays can change things for you.”

Those energy plays from a fresh Robinson sparked the Knicks to snap out of a three-game skid. The second unit with Robinson was +10.6 in 72 possessions entering the game, according to Cleaning The Glass. The Knicks’ bench outscored their Spurs’ counterpart by 10.

Thibodeau was impressed with Robinson’s play, especially his defense against Spurs’ pick and roll.

“His activity, high energy, and focus. [The Spurs] were very good at executing pick and roll. They put you in tough positions and it requires you to be disciplined and read the ball correctly. I thought he was terrific,” Thibodeau said of Robinson. “And the second, third effort protecting the rim, making his decisions at the appropriate time and the offensive rebounding was huge.”

Thibodeau’s decision to insert Noel in the starting unit isn’t a knock on Robinson. It was meant to help Robinson work on his conditioning without the pressure of matching up against starting centers around the league. Robinson viewed the demotion as hitting two birds in one stone.

“I’m still getting my conditioning in and also like helping the team,” Robinson said. “With them running, it really pushes me to run too. So that helps a lot [with my conditioning].”

Nerlens Noel only had two points as a starter, but it didn’t matter as RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Alec Burks combined for 65 points. Noel did the little things and dirty stuff. He grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists, and set screens.

Robinson couldn’t care less who starts between him and Noel.

“I just wanted to go out there and play hard regardless. We just needed to start to win. That’s what we were all talking about, so we came out with a different approach,” Robinson said.

Thibodeau view both Robinson and Noel in the same light.

“Both of those guys are invaluable to us,” Thibodeau said. “We learned that last year. Mitch was playing great prior to his injury and then Nerlens stepped in and he killed it the whole second half of the season. So we feel strongly about both guys. So we just wanted a different look and those guys are interchangeable.”

Robinson, Noel, Taj Gibson, and Jericho Sims have a strong bond. They work out together, and Thibodeau added: “They’re all willing to help each other.”

That support system had helped Robinson survive two serious injuries. Before his first injury last season, Robinson was ascending as one of the most promising young big men in the league. He averaged 8.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game in 26 starts before breaking his right hand. He led the league in field goal percentage with 74.2% in the previous season, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s single-season record.

“Before I broke my hand, I was in pretty good shape,” Robinson said.

Robinson wasn’t lying. He was on his way to one of his best games with 10 points and 14 rebounds in 20 minutes in the first half when he suffered a fractured right hand late in the second quarter against the Wizards.

“I kind of need to get back to playing like that, with that edge,” he said.

Robinson got it back with the Knick bench mob. Thibodeau optimized his minutes on the floor. Robinson played less but produced more.

When asked about how Robinson took his decision, Thibodeau responded in jest: “Cartwheels.”

Thibodeau should be the one doing cartwheels after another masterstroke that led to Robinson’s masterclass off the bench.

“The thing is we’ve got a great group of guys. And look, this is the challenge of every team for every season is to figure it out, to solve problems,” Thibodeau said. “So [you do] whatever is best for the team.”

Just when the world starts to cave in, Thibodeau keeps on finding an ace up his sleeve to keep the Knicks afloat. He’s starting to figure out his reconfigured team. It helps that his players are receptive to the tough decisions he made in the past couple of weeks.

Robinson gleaned on Kemba Walker’s professionalism in dealing with his demotion.

“I’ve said before that we’ve got a number of guys who are coming off the bench that are probably starters in other places. And then we got some starters that are not getting really starters minutes, but they’re sacrificing their minutes,” Thibodeau said.

“So everyone is sacrificing something, and we have some guys right now who aren’t in the rotation that are good players. To be a good team, you need that type of sacrifice. Everyone has to put the team first.”

Thibodeau solved another Knicks puzzle with Robinson’s muscle and hustle. There’s no telling this would be the last. But Thibodeau seems up to the task.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks: Fit-again RJ Barrett returns to routine and gets rhythm back

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RJ Barrett returned to his old routine of extra shooting at night, and his shots started to fall again.

Barrett snapped out of his shooting funk and spurred the New York Knicks to get back on track with a 121-109 win over San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night on the road.

The win ended a three-game slide as the Knicks improved to 7-4 on the road. They returned to .500 with an even 12-12 record.

Barrett had a lot to do with it.

After a string of five cold-shooting games, Barrett fired a game-high 32 points built around a career-high seven three-pointers. He was aggressive from the opening tip with no signs of what he described as an annoying stomach bug that kept him out of the gym for several days.

“I was really down for a couple of weeks. I’m just feeling better now, being able to get back to the gym. It was great, and then to have a game like today, it felt really good,” Barrett said.

After the Knicks’ road win in Atlanta 12 days ago, Barrett revealed he started to get sick and had to throw up multiple days. He tried to give it a go in Brooklyn three nights later, but he did not last past nine minutes as he went back and forth to the locker room to throw up. Barrett missed the next game (against Chicago at home), his first DNP since his rookie year.

New York coach Tom Thibodeau, whose Saturday comments were taken out of context and became the talk of the town, described Barrett as terrific against the Spurs. The Knicks’ third-year wing scattered 19 points in the first half and made his first seven shots from downtown.

“He’s feeling better, so we start with that,” Thibodeau said. “He was knocked down pretty good and not feeling well. He’s back in the gym, putting in a lot of extra work. He’s grooving his shot. When he grooves his shot, we know he’s going to make it. It’s really that simple.”

It was Barrett’s third 30-point game in his career, and the Knicks are 3-0 in those games. His hot shooting rubbed off on the whole team. The Knicks shot 18 of 38 from the three-point zone.

The 21-year old Barrett said he did some extra shooting in the gym with a couple of his teammates on the eve of the match upon landing in San Antonio.

“I think you get into a rhythm by your routine. When your routine is a little off, you’re trying to figure it out. So just getting into that consistent routine every day. That’s how you get it done,” he said.

He was in rhythm all night. With the Spurs’ defense focused on Julius Randle, Barrett took over. The Knicks’ third-year wing went 7 for 12 from the floor in the first half and 4 for 8 in the second half.

“I think the defense was really focused on Julius a lot. They’re doubling him every time he had the ball, and we just moved it, and I was able to knock them down,” Barrett said.

It wasn’t only Barrett who had a redemption game. Mitchell Robinson played with an edge after his demotion to the bench.

The 23-year old Knicks center collected his fourth double-double of the season. He finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, and three blocks in just 22 minutes.

Another lineup shakeup bore fruit for the Knicks.

“Today, it worked,” Barrett said. “We’ll see how it is moving forward, but whoever starts and come off the bench, we’re rocking with it.”

Barrett is hopeful they could carry the momentum Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers in the second night of a back-to-back set on the road.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks: Thibodeau’s next lineup shakeup might be Noel for Robinson

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Myles Turner, Nikola Vucevic, and Nikola Jokic have shot a combined 19 of 35 from deep against the New York Knicks this season. The Knicks’ defense, especially Mitchell Robinson’s, has been vulnerable to pick and pop bigs to start the season.

As Tom Thibodeau hinted at another lineup shakeup three games after Kemba Walker was yanked out of the rotation, it’s increasingly likely it will involve Robinson. But Thibodeau isn’t pinning down the blame on Robinson for their defensive deficiencies against stretch bigs.

“The interesting thing is there were stretches that I thought he moved really well. I think the conditioning aspect is still something that he’s working on. There have been some really good moments and some moments that haven’t been as good as we would like, but that could be said for our whole team,” Thibodeau said.

Per Cleaning the Glass, the Knicks starting lineup since Alec Burks replaced Kemba Walker has an efficiency differential (the difference between points scored per possession and points allowed per possession) of -10.5, a marked improvement from -15.9 when Walker was still a starter. But when Noel replaced Robinson in that group, the Knicks had a +13.1 efficiency differential.

Projected to be eased into the rotation after his prolonged absence from a broken foot injury, Robinson admirably stepped into the starting lineup immediately to start the season as Noel battled an assortment of injuries.

With Noel healthy again, it appears Thibodeau will revert to his original plan.

“I’m getting tired real quick,” Robinson said after Tuesday’s shootaround in San Antonio. “I run for about six or seven minutes, and then boom — I’m gassed. So it’s something I need to work on really bad.”

Thibodeau said he’s still mulling about lineup change and still figuring out his recalibrated team. He’s hopeful it will work out like last year when they started slow and peaked in the second half of the season.

“[I’m] Just thinking about everything,” Thibodeau said. “Like I said, we just want to go step by step, practice well, and have a good shootaround. Be ready to play. We got to get going.”

Robinson, though, sounded like he’s resigned to the fact that he’s coming off the bench in the foreseeable future after multiple Knicks beat reporters on hand in San Antonio have noted that Noel was wearing starters’ practice kit during Tuesday’s shootaround.

“Well, for me, it’s not really different [coming off the bench]. Either way, you could play,” he said. “Let’s see how it goes. I just have to continue to work.”

While Noel played splendidly during the Knicks’ late push last season to snatch the fourth seed in the East, Thibodeau noted that Robinson was playing great before he got hurt.

“The fact of the matter is he was out so long,” Thibodeau said. “Basically, he got cleared right before we started training camp, and even then, he couldn’t do the entire practice. So, it’s been a work in progress.”

Robinson ramped up his conditioning activity during the summer by doing pool and bike exercises and spending more time in the gym. But without the benefit of physical contact scrimmage during the training camp, he ballooned to 280 lbs. with unwanted muscle. Robinson said he’s shed 15 lbs since the summer and now weighs 265 lbs.

“You can go to a pool, you could be on a bike, you can do all that stuff, but it’s not the same as body on body. There’s a physicality to it. It’s a lot different,” Thibodeau said. “He’s doing a lot of extra [physical conditioning activities] right now, which is good. He’ll get there.”

Robinson is frustrated with his lack of stamina. It will take time before he can get back to peak conditioning. A backup role should ease the pressure as he works his way back.

“I wish I could jump right into it and be who I was before the injury,” Robinson said. “Basically, I’m just gonna work and get back to my old self.”

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks: RJ Barrett not too worried about shooting funk

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new york knicks, rj barrett

New York Knicks’ third-year wing RJ Barrett returned on Saturday after a non-Covid illness caused him to miss his first game over the last two seasons. But he also returned to his shooting slump that hastened their ugly loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Barrett shot just 38.5 percent from the field, including a horrendous 1 of 7 from downtown. Over his last 15 games, Barrett had only two games when he shot above 40 percent of his 3s. Both games ended in Knicks’ victories — a 3-of-7 outing against the Indiana Pacers and the 3-of-5 performance against the Los Angeles Lakers.

In his last 16 games in which the Knicks went 6-10, Barrett’s three-point shooting hit rock-bottom at a 23.9 percent clip. His 38.2 percent three-point shooting mark to start the season that crescendoed in New Orleans, where he hit 6 of 8 triples, capping a fiery Knicks’ 5-1 start, became an afterthought.

“No idea,” Barrett said Saturday of his recent shooting slump. “I think [that usually happens], especially at the beginning of the year, when a team is trying to figure itself out and also figuring out the shots that I’m going to get during the game with this team with new players, and I think I’ve kind of figured that out now.

His three-point shot diet increased this season despite the addition of the now-banished Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier. In his first 23 games last season, Barrett only attempted an average of 3.8 3s compared to 4.9 per game this season.

Looking at his three-point shot chart, Barrett’s weak spots are the top of the key (3 of 15) and the right corner (2 of 14). He is within the league average (39%) from the left corner (9 of 23). His 13 of 41 3s from the left elbow is near the league average (34.7%). He is most lethal from the right elbow as he made 8 of 20 3s that is well above the league average (32.9%).

Knicks RJ Barrett 3-pt shooting
courtesy of Stat Muse

Barrett and his trainer Drew Hanlen worked on the Knicks wing’s off-the-bounce game this past summer. But so far, it hasn’t translated yet in his three-point accuracy.

According to the NBA’s tracking stats data, Barrett is hitting only 24 percent clip from 1.3 pullup 3s attempts per game this season. Last season, Barrett attempted only 0.3 of that type of shot per game, and he was 30 percent accurate.

His accuracy from catch-and-shoot 3s this season (1.3 of 3.8) is nearly identical to last season (1.6 of 4.0).

New York coach Tom Thibodeau, who was effusive in praising Barrett’s work ethic until Saturday’s loss, had a more revealing and interesting view about his ward’s shooting funk.

“A couple of things — it’s similar to last year,” Thibodeau said. “I have a lot of confidence in him being able to work his way out of it. When you throw in, he’s been sick, and to me, you get rhythm when you work.”

“Last year, he got going when he started coming in every night to shoot. So there’s no notion that ‘okay, I do it sometimes.’ No, you got to do it all the time.”

Last season, Barrett ended up shooting 40.1 percent from deep after also enduring an early-season slump when he missed 21 straight three-pointers over a four-game stretch.

“So get back in the gym, get back to grooving your shot. Shoot a lot of 3s, and you’ll start making more,” Thibodeau implored.

But Barrett doesn’t need Thibodeau to tell him to get back to his nightly routine because that was always his plan after his recent bout with the non-Covid illness that made him throw up in their loss in Brooklyn last week. Barrett had to shut down for two days. After Saturday’s matinee, Barrett said that the illness was completely gone, and he was ready to return to his routine.

“Go back to the basics, which you know works,” said Barrett on how he plans to attack his shooting funk. “After that, everything will figure itself out.”

Barrett is confident, too, that he’ll work his way out of this another shooting slump.

“I’ve just been working on the shots that I know I’m going to get. I’ve been in shooting funks before. I’m not really too worried about it,” Barrett said.

Barrett is more concerned with the whole team figuring out their defense.

“We just gotta fight, bro. At the end of the day, all the X’s and O’s don’t matter,” he said.

“If we’re gonna play defense, we gotta fight and fight together the whole game and just do whatever it takes to win.”

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Michael Malone reminded Tom Thibodeau of what Knicks have been missing

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knicks, tom thibodeau

Denver coach Michael Malone retold his favorite anecdote about Tom Thibodeau before his Nuggets gave his good friend a jarring reminder of what the slumping New York Knicks have been missing.

“The thing that jumps to mind is when Thibs was just to be a Summer League coach. [The NBA] used to have a famous Summer League, before they moved to [Las] Vegas, it used to be in Boston and we used to practiced at the Westchester Civic Center. Then I remember looking at Don Chaney with iced pack on his knees, this used to be before our practices,” said Malone with a chuckle.

“So it was tough on the players but it was also tough on the coaches. So, Thibs is long been known for his hard work, his attention to detail, and obviously his ability, especially on the defensive end, to coach at a high level. I think Thibs is a hell of a coach.”

On a Saturday matinee at the Garden, the hard work, the attention to detail, the high-level defense were all missing in the Knicks’ disheartening 113-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets. It was the Knicks’ third straight loss. They are now below .500 for the first time this season that started with a feel-good 5-1 record and inflated expectation.

The final score didn’t tell the whole story as the Knicks fell by as many as 30 points in the second half and received boos from the sellout crowd of 18, 272 that had Nikola Jokic wonder if that was normal in New York.

Jokic only needed three quarters to register MVP numbers — 32 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists — as the Nuggets’ unicorn picked and popped the Knicks’ lackadaisical defense.

“I like something here. I don’t know what it is,” Jokic said postgame.

Perhaps the passionate New York crowd, the Garden spotlight that evokes Broadway feel, or maybe a Mitchell Robinson who is still working his way up to a tip-top shape brought out Jokic’s best. Despite the Nuggets missing several key players, the reigning NBA MVP had plenty of help.

Already without Jamal Murray ( ACL injury), Michael Porter Jr. (back injury) and PJ Dozier (ACL injury), Bones Hyland, Bol Bol, and former Knick Austin Rivers entered the health and safety protocols earlier this week.

Seldom-used Zeke Nnaji added his name to the long list of players who routinely turned the Garden floor into their highlight stage with 21 points on 5 of 9 threes in 34 minutes, all career-highs, after averaging just 6.8 points this season. The injury-ravaged Nuggets did not look like the team that lost seven of their last eight games before arriving in New York. 

“The biggest thing is probably our defensive communication isn’t great right now,” Julius Randle offered. “We have to talk more, obviously, game plan discipline and listen to each other when we’re out there. But we gotta go home and really took a long look in the mirror and just see how we’re gonna change it.”

“We know we can do it. We’ve done it. But we’re in a funk right now. And it’s hard, it’s tough, it’s not fun. We have the ability and power to change it and it’s really going up to us if we want to.”

Thibodeau gave the Knicks a day off Sunday to take a long hard look at the mirror and search for answers after they sleepwalked into the matinee game. With the Nuggets’ injury woes and losing slump, this game was supposed to be the easiest of their tough schedule in the past two weeks. They put forth their worst effort. 

Randle’s acknowledgment that they’re in a funk right now is an understatement.

The 35-year old Jeff Green’s chase-down block on 22-year old Immanuel Quickley’s fastbreak layup with the Nuggets up by 23 in the second half was the perfect encapsulation of the Knicks’ effort or lack of it on Saturday.

“We didn’t do a lot of contact [practice] because of the early game [Saturday] so it was more film [sessions], walkthrough script, that sort of, very limited contact,” Thibodeau revealed after Friday’s practice.

Thibodeau’s revelation confirmed Evan Fournier’s earlier claim that the Knicks aren’t practicing that much and not playing five-on-five practice anymore.

Last season, Thibodeau often preached that confidence comes from preparation. This current Knicks team, especially the starters, lacked confidence on the court. Kemba Walker’s demotion felt like a band-aid solution.

Thibodeau offered his logical thoughts on his decision-making process before shaking things up again.

“How hard are we playing? That’s the first thing you have to do because if you’re gonna change your scheme or you’re going to change your rotation,” Thibodeau said. “You want to make sure you’re looking at not one game, you’re looking at it in totality of a big enough of a sample size.”

“So I always say the first thing is the intensity part right? And then the second thing would be is the execution part right? So if the intensity is right and the execution is right and it’s not working then you change.”

The Knicks’ problems are complex, but it starts with their lack of effort. Then it snowballed and torpedoed Thibodeau’s defensive principles, which are based on packing the paint and needing multiple efforts to close out the perimeter. Their drop coverage had been punished by big men who love to pick and pop. Jokic, Nnaji, Nikola Vucevic, Myles Turner, and the list could get longer.

Randle, RJ Barrett, and Thibodeau referred to this team as different from last year. But the Knicks hardly made changes to the lineup, basically bringing the same team from last season with Fournier, now the only new player in the rotation after Walker’s banishment. The front office hoped for the continuity to become an advantage this season. But so far, it has become the opposite.

Too much familiarity. Too much comfort.

“We’re going to win games with our defense,” Randle said. “That’s who we are. We’re not the superstars, three, four superstars on the team like Brooklyn or all these other teams. We’re a team. How we were last year, how we have to be this year as well, we have to win games with our defense.”

Every after loss, the Knicks players talked about what they needed to do. But every time they have one solid game, they slide back to their bad habits that die hard.

“Where does intensity come from? It comes from maximum effort and maximum concentration. So, we got to put those two things together,” Thibodeau mused after losing to Malone and the Nuggets.

“We have to get our edge back defensively. It starts there. Get the hard part fixed and then we got into it together, we got to get it out together. So we have to fix the effort part and then we got to go from there.”

Thibodeau plans to keep the status quo but indicated that he would not hesitate to make another change if the problem persists. He had been loyal to a fault.

“That’s the thing,” Thibodeau said, “I like our group. I like the way they approach it. We all put our stuff together and we gotta focus together and work our way out of it together. That’s the way it is.”

But no matter what tweaks they do with the rotation or schemes, it all comes back to what Barrett said on how he plans to get out of his shooting funk that, in turn, may help the Knicks right the ship: “Go back to basics.”

“Just the little details. It takes a certain level of focus and intensity like coach [Thibs] tells us and we have to commit to it,” Randle said.

Last season’s Knicks team played with high-level intensity, hunger, and mental focus, perhaps aided by the absence of the crowd and lack of social activities. They all came together and only did basketball.

They lived the Thibodeau way.

On Saturday, Malone’s visit to the Garden reminded Thibodeau of who he used to be as a coach and how the Knicks should play.

“Right now, we’re out of sorts and we gotta get back in,” Thibodeau said. “So just get into the gym. Let’s put our work in. Let’s fix it. That’s all I want our guys want to be thinking about.”

It’s time for Thibodeau to revisit his old ways. Make the Knicks comfortable being uncomfortable again. 

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau calls out team for lack of effort

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tom thibodeau, knicks

Coming off three consecutive losses, the New York Knicks are trying to find ways to get back in the win column. After a 2020–21 season that proved the Knicks belonged in the playoff conversation, they’ve lost some of their grit and intensity.

Allowing Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock to walk in free agency seemed like a good move this off-season, but the loss of defense has proved to be significant for the Knicks, who have struggled considerably in recent days to match the intensity of last season. They currently rank 19th in defensive rating.

In fact, some are calling Tom Thibodeau’s team “soft,” as a lack of effort and hustle has hurt the team’s identity. Thibodeau called out his squad for the lack of effort in recent days, especially on defense, where they fail to rebound effectively and guard the perimeter.

“We’ve got to fix the effort part,” Thibodeau said, “and then we’ve got to go from there.”

Interestingly, the players have also acknowledged that they need to fight instead of letting teams use them as a punching bag. They don’t seem to be as hungry and motivated as last season, and when the fans begin to turn against them, it can be hard to find the motivation to succeed.

“We’ve just got to fight,” RJ Barrett said. “At the end of the day all the X’s and O’s, that doesn’t matter. We’ve got to play defense and we’ve got to fight.”

The Knicks added primary scorers in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier this past off-season, but neither contribute on defense effectively. Walker has since been benched in favor of Alec Burks as the starting point guard, and Fournier simply doesn’t offer the defensive efficiency needed to supplement his inconsistent scoring. At this point, the front office may be regretting the massive four-year contract they offered to Fournier to replace Bullock as a shot-creating sharpshooter.

All-star power forward Julius Randle indicated that the team needs to play harder, showing aggression and maximum effort. He admitted they get a bit too lax at times, and taking on great teams like Brooklyn and Chicago, is an unacceptable excuse.

“In order to win games,” Randle said, “we’ve got to play really hard, extremely hard. … Who we are as a team, how we built this team and this culture, is just fighting defensively, the togetherness, just the effort and the hustle plays.

“I feel like that’s what the city of New York loves, that’s what the fans love, when they know we’re out there giving it our all. I think sometimes we’re just a little bit too lax, or we might think the little details don’t matter sometimes.”

Randle is spot on, New York expects toughness and grit — showcasing a lack of effort is an abysmal justification for losing, especially for professional players earning big money. Dropping three consecutive games, two of which came down to the final moments, the Knicks need to find ways to come out on top. It will always be through their defensive efficiency.

However, it starts with effort, and lacking hustle is never a good excuse for failure.

Knicks: NBA admits officiating crew missed two big calls in loss to Brooklyn

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knicks, julius randle

The New York Knicks fell to the Brooklyn Nets due to a few bad calls in the waning moments on Tuesday evening by a score of 110–112. The Knicks gave Brooklyn a run for their money, despite crawling back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter.

The Knicks have had far more success with Alec Burks at starting point guard after taking Kemba Walker out of the rotation. The analytics indicated that the Knicks have the worst defense in the NBA per 100 possessions when Walker is on the floor, and when he’s off, they have the best defense per 100 possessions. Ultimately, head coach Tom Thibodeau tried his best to retain him and utilize him appropriately, but his homecoming has been nothing but disappointing thus far.

Nonetheless, forward Julius Randle was extremely vocal after the loss to Brooklyn, specifically regarding poor officiating. In fact, he indicated that the referees told him he wasn’t getting calls in the paint because he was “too strong.”

Well, Randle was proved right, as the league admitted he was fouled with 1:49 remaining in the game on a jump shot.

According to the New York Post, the league admitted the officiating crew made two mistakes in the final moments of the game, dictating the result:

The league ruled the foul was called correctly, but there were two mistakes — both that went against the Knicks. The NBA said there should’ve been a foul called on James Harden when he made contact with Julius Randle’s arm with 1:49 remaining on a jump shot. A frustrated Randle was later given a technical foul after arguing with the officials. Additionally, on the play that Johnson was fouled by Robinson, LaMarcus Aldridge should’ve been called for a three-second violation.

In addition, Kevin Durant executed a clear as day double dribble, and James Harden traveled with a big jump stop, landing on the same foot he jumped off of, which by definition is a foul.

The officiating crew clearly gave Brooklyn more calls, despite Knick fans overwhelming the Barclays Center.

Thibodeau is already thinking about the future, trying his best to leave the past in the past without getting too frustrated.

“You just got to move on. That’s the league,” Thibodeau said. “You can’t think about what happened yesterday. You have to think about what’s coming. So that’s where we are.”

Julius Randle, Knicks left fuming as Nets escape in rivalry game

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In a rivalry game that had a lot of twists and turns, James Johnson emerged as the unlikely hero.

The defensive-minded forward Johnson canned a pair of pressure-packed free throws with 2.2 seconds left that allowed the Brooklyn Nets to escape with a 112-110 win over the New York Knicks Tuesday night at Barclays Center.

Kevin Durant wisely milked the clock and found a wide-open Johnson who drove to the basket and fished a foul from Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. Evan Fournier missed a prayer at the buzzer as the Knicks’ first game without Kemba Walker in the rotation had a promising start but ended in heartbreak.

Randle charged at the official fuming after the loss.

“I’m not going to talk about [the officiating], I’m going to talk about the game, what the players are out there doing,” Randle said. “I’m not going to talk about [the referees] because they clearly don’t understand the game.”

The rest of the Knicks points guards — Alec Burks, Derrick Rose, and Immanuel Quickley — took turns in guiding the Knicks’ offense. After a hiccup in the middle quarters, the Knicks looked poised for a win when they stormed back from a 16-point third-quarter deficit.

An Obi Toppin dunk gave the Knicks a three-point lead, 98-95, midway in the fourth quarter. Then Kevin Durant carried the Nets on his back, firing 11 points down the stretch.

After the game, Durant said he wanted to take Randle one-on-one for the last shot, but Rose who came to double him, scuttled his plan. Luckily for Brooklyn, Johnson was up to the task.

Durant started the game with an ugly 2 for 9 shooting from the floor. He came back with a vengeance in the second half. Durant had 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting, mainly against Randle, who was hit with a crucial technical foul with 1:36 left.

Durant sank the bonus free throw to extend the Nets’ lead to three. After a Randle-Durant back-and-forth, Evan Fournier fired a game-tying triple with 17.7 seconds left off the Knicks’ final timeout. It turned out to be the Knicks’ last stand.

Burks led the Knicks with a new season-high 25 points, eclipsing his 23-point game in his first start in Atlanta two nights ago. Rose dropped a 16-point, 9-assist gem off the bench in his return from sickbay while Quickley added 12 points.

The trio’s production negated James Harden’s 34-point performance that came with 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Harden went 9 for 10 from the line. Durant was a perfect 10 for 10. The Nets took 25 free throws, 13 more than the Knicks, which had New York coach Tom Thibodeau also upset during his postgame interview.

“My thoughts overall, we did a lot of good things. We didn’t close it out. I want to take a look at the film,” Thibodeau said. “There’s a big discrepancy in free throws. I can tell you that. Julius is driving the ball and he gets 2 free throws?”

Even with Randle taking only one-fifth of Harden and Durant’s free throw rate, he still came up with 24 points on 11 of 22 shots.

If there was another silver lining from this loss, it was Randle’s return to his All-NBA form.

Randle flirted with a triple-double as he added nine rebounds, eight assists, and two steals.

With 3:30 left in the second quarter, Randle held the ball at the right elbow. He sized up Durant.

A day earlier, Randle proclaimed Durant is the best player in the league.

“Have you even seen a 7-footer with that skill? He can do anything on the court,” said Randle after Monday’s practice. “No weakness.”

Hyped up in their matchup, Randle poked a hole in Durant’s armor.

Randle took a jab step. And in one quick motion with little hesitation, he lost Durant. Randle attacked the basket with Durant trailing. LaMarcus Aldridge came to help. It was too late.

Randle completed a three-point play off Durant’s foul. He added two more baskets off Durant.

The Knicks held a 61-60 lead at the half after blowing an eight-point lead in the opening quarter.

Randle dominated Durant in the first half. But Durant had the last laugh. And Randle went home fuming.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks: Tom Thibodeau explains why he pulled the plug on Kemba Walker experiment

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kemba walker, knicks

Former four-time All-Star guard Kemba Walker has been dropped from the New York Knicks‘ rotation.

In a stunning development, New York coach Tom Thibodeau pulled the plug on the Walker experiment two nights after the Knicks put together one of their best defensive efforts this season in Atlanta without their erstwhile starting point guard. Walker rested on the second night of a back-to-back schedule, the second time it happened this season.

“We’re gonna make a change. Alec (Burks) will gonna be the starter. I like the way we played like that,” Thibodeau told reporters on Monday. “I’d just don’t like the way we’ve been trending, the inconsistency of our team. We’re gonna make a change. I want to get bigger, our defense to be more intact. So, basically, that was it. We got to do something different.”

Burks was an instant hit in his first start this season. He gave a jolt to the starting lineup that has been floundering more than often in a roller-coaster start.

The bigger Burks, a 6-5 versatile guard with a 6-10 wingspan, dropped a season-high 23 points and collected seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals against only three turnovers in 39 minutes.

More importantly, Burks’ comfort level playing either on or off the ball has created synergy with the rest of the starters.

RJ Barrett broke out of his 10-game slump with 15 points on 6 of 11 shots. Evan Fournier waxed hot with 20 points on an efficient 7 of 13 shooting and 4 for 6 from downtown. Though he missed some good looks in the early goings, Julius Randle looked more comfortable on the floor after adjusting in the second half.

Thibodeau was effusive in his praise after the Knicks’ impressive win over Hawks and hinted at a permanent starting role for Burks.

“What Alec gives us is size and his ability to contain the ball and also his playmaking ability and shooting. When you add all that up, it adds a lot,” Thibodeau said after the Knicks held the Hawks to a season-low 90 points on 35.5 percent shooting.

On Monday, Thibodeau once again drilled that concept as the primary consideration to his decision.

“The size is the big thing. He makes us bigger,” Thibodeau said.

With the 6-foot-1 Walker as the starter, the Knicks have been outscored by a staggering 122 points, the worst plus-minus by any player on a winning team. He’s averaging 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 24.5 minutes, all career-lows.

Thibodeau sounded like he had been contemplating this decision, with the Knicks’ win against the Hawks serving as the last straw.

“I want to tighten up the rotation. I like the way the team functions so it will be similar to what we did in the Atlanta game,” he explained. “It’s a tough decision to make but you always have to do what you think is best for the team.”

Perhaps this stunning decision to drop Kemba Walker out of rotation is another proof that Thibodeau is evolving and has learned from his past mistakes. Last year, he was stubborn about keeping Elfrid Payton as a starter until the playoffs rear its ugly head. Now, he’s dropping the dead weight that has been keeping the team from taking off.

Thibodeau said he’d told Walker of the tough decision he made.

“I view Kemba as a starter. It will be tough to play three small guards together. I give it consideration. And I’ve got great respect for who Kemba is as a person, No. 1, and all that he’s accomplished in this league. But I have to do what is best for the team.”

Burks was previously part of a three-guard lineup in the second unit alongside Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley. With Walker dropped from the rotation, rookie Quentin Grimes, who played a season-high 14 minutes in Atlanta, has an opportunity to carve a meaningful role with the second group.

As for Walker’s future, it is unclear if he will seek a buyout or if the Knicks plan to deal him to another team.

Burks will start on his new role against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

 

Knicks’ win over Hawks show Julius Randle can thrive in different role

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Knicks Randle

The Atlanta Hawks loaded up on New York Knicks star Julius Randle again in their first meeting since their stirring win in last season’s playoffs. But this time, Randle knew better.

His line for the night — eight points on 3 of 14 shots, 11 rebounds, eight coming off the defensive glass, and four assists — didn’t tell the whole story.

Randle had his second straight single-digit scoring. But unlike last year’s first-round exit and last Saturday’s ugly loss to the Phoenix Suns, Randle did a lot of other stuff to impact winning.

Randle crashed the boards, set up good screens, played solid defense on switches, and made good decisions, especially in the second half when the Hawks threw double teams on him.

“When you’re that type of player, you’re going to command a lot of attention and I thought he made a lot of good plays for us. If a team overloads on you, you have to understand that there’s an advantage on the weak side. So we got to trust the pass. I thought he made a number of really good plays,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Randle could have ended up with more assists, but his teammates missed a chunk of the shots he generated. According to NBA.com’s tracking stats, Randle made 39 passes, 18 leading to a shot attempt. Alec Burks and Evan Fournier combined to shoot only 3 of 12 off Randle’s passes while Immanuel Quickley missed both.

RJ Barrett made 2 of 3, but only this shot was credited to Randle as an assist.

Randle was at his best in the third quarter. He complemented Burks’ 15-point explosion with six points on 3 of 6 shooting, grabbed four boards, and issued two assists, including a nifty pass to Jericho Sims. The Knicks avoided the dreaded third quarter of doom and outscored the Hawks, 34-24.

“I think when you play like that, everyone gets into a rhythm. It’s the right way to play,” Thibodeau said.

With Kemba Walker resting and Derrick Rose still nursing an ankle sprain, Randle returned to his last season’s role as a point forward alongside Burks in the starting lineup.

Burks, who is comfortable either on or off the ball, thrived, and it created more synergy in the starting lineup as both RJ Barrett and Fournier also got going offensively.

Burks had a season-high 23 points on 17 shots, seven rebounds, and three assists in his first start this season. Fournier added 20 points on 7 of 13 shooting while Barrett broke out of a 10-game slump with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting.

“With Julius, even if he’s not scoring a lot, he’s doing so much out there,” Barrett said. “Just having him out there draws the attention of the whole defense. They got to focus on it and make it easier for all of us to play. So when we’re playing like that, hopefully, we can get him some easy buckets as well.”

Burks made 12 passes to Randle, which led to three attempts at the basket. But Randle missed all of them while he only made 1 of 5 off Barrett’s passes.

Despite the Hawks loading up on him, Randle still got some good looks at the basket that didn’t go in.

Four of his nine misses were wide open, with the closest defender from 4 to 6 feet away, according to NBA.com tracking stats. He was 2 for 7 on tight shots or with a defender 2 to 4 feet away and made 1 of 3 very tight shots (the defender is 0-2 feet away).

All three of his made field goals came within 10 feet from the basket. He was 0 for 3 from catch and shoot and missed all four pullups.

But even when his shots were not falling, Randle made his presence felt in a big way. The win in Atlanta showed how deep the Knicks are. But more than that, it also showed that Randle could thrive in a different role.

Forget about being LeBron James lite. A Draymond Green-type of role in a team loaded with gunners is better-suited for Randle. He can set the tone defensively with his versatility, especially on switches, and still be the offensive engine that keeps the Knicks chugging forward with his vision.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo