We’ve been expecting so much from what the Knicks presented on Sunday: 48 minutes of effort, 48 minutes of belief. The Heat might have an ugly record right now, but they are still the current Eastern Conference champions, and on Sunday afternoon at the Garden they proved why, an alpha joke that gave me the ball with a game in it. the line.
There’s Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, there’s Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. In the end, there were too many Miami players able to play in the stretch of that 109-103 Heat win, and few Knicks who did. Again: This behavior is not new to these Knicks, as seen as they have become.
“We didn’t finish our defense,” was the way Tom Thibodeau said. “Give them credit. They’re not just Jimmy. They move the ball well and shoot very well around it ”.
What was more revealing were the things Thibodeau didn’t say, couldn’t say, or wanted to say. The Heat, in many ways, possesses precisely the DNA Thibodeau wants: willing to play defense every night, able to hang on in difficult times, able to close the door when he asks it to close.
The Knicks have Julius Randle, who currently meets all of these requirements. And they have a list full of vets who can do it some nights, and a list full of kids who could learn how to do it most nights.
So you can understand why Thibodeau might have longed for this seemingly inevitable meeting with Derrick Rose. This year marks exactly ten years since the Rose MVP season, when she was 22 and sure looked like she would be throwing basketball at LeBron James for years to come. But that was before the knee became kerblooie.
It was before he returned as a highly skilled guard that he would never be what he was, except for a few stolen nights here and there. The Knicks saw him four years ago, when he was just 28, when he played 64 games for them and occasionally played his big hits.
He is now four years older, but remains in Thibodeau’s eternal circle of trust. The Knicks don’t give up much for him, one of his second-round pick teams plus the remnants of Dennis Smith Jr.’s career. But that is not the problem. This is the problem:
Once he is here, once he is allowed to play, he will play. The Knicks already have a ten-man rotation. Who will be elbowed? There are only three options:
It could be Elfrid Payton, who has played better lately, but is still frustrating in almost every aspect of the guard game.
It could be Austin Rivers, who has had fun moments as Knick, but has also been fighting lately and if it is him, that means Payton is becoming a backup and Immanuel Quickley will be a guard on the bench, a position he could surely play.
Or it could be Quickley, and that’s not a development any Knicks fan would endorse, even if many hadn’t heard of him in the hours, weeks, and months prior to his incorporation. It has quickly become a starting point for conversation among Knicks fans and the fact is that it’s not just a pretty perfect toy – it’s a good player and most of all, a fearless player. He has earned his place in the Knicks rotation.
If Rose’s arrival alters this even a little?
Then, that would be one more nonsense, during a season in which the men running the Knicks seem determined to firmly avoid the same. The Knicks have already sent Kevin Knox to witness protection. Frank Ntilikina, whenever he returns, will be transported back to the abyss.
This season he should try to keep an eye on the award, though it certainly seems likely that except for a collapse that could defy gravity, the Knicks will be in play for one of the 10 slots in the Eastern Playoff tournament, which is temporarily expands. Actually, this is a worthwhile goal. And for Thibodeau, who has mostly played the man of good company from day one, it would allow a tangible carrot to keep the team working.
“[Rose] it’s been around the system, ”said Taj Gibson, Knicks’ backup center, who has played more games under Thibodeau’s watch than anyone. “We know what Thibs basically wants and we can be valuable to young players who they are still learning “.
This is music for everyone. If Rose can get into playing at a level still above average and if she can mentor Quickley and the other Knicks kids, fine for Leon Rose to pursue the deal and good for Thibodeau to wish him well. There are still two parallel tracks for this team: continuous improvement and a plan for future prosperity.
Now is not the time to forget it, no matter how frustrating results may be like Sunday.