Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau finally leaves notes that he is about to remove from the rotation the obi Toppin of the rookie lottery, probably for Kevin Knox.
Tuesday’s win over Washington could have been the final straw for the Dayton dunker retreating rather than progressing.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Thibodeau said after blowing up the wizards, 131-113. “It’s not uncommon for newcomers to go through things like this. We just want him to keep working. It has been very good in practice. In fact, he has played very well in practice. You just have to keep working. He will learn, he will grow. It will get better. ”
The losing-looking vanguard no longer has goals in five straight games – against Brooklyn, Philly, Orlando, Philly and Washington. Choice number 8 on the November draft is a minus-34 amount in those 35 minutes. On Tuesday, it was 0 for 2 in eight minutes, including a 3-ball pointer.
Toppin’s air ball triples are becoming more common than he does. But he doesn’t look so much at the basket either: he’s taken just eight shots in all five games and missed them all.
Toppin, 23, lost March Madness last season due to the pandemic and is now experiencing a March madness.
Star Julius Randle thought enough to comfort Toppin on the bench in the Wizards game after Knox was out of rotation with the final 1:40 of the trash.
“I try to instill confidence in him,” Randle said. “As a novice, it is difficult to learn the game, to see the game, the advantages of what you have to do to impact the game. As a young player, the most important thing is to know who you are as a player and how you can help the team. Come on, work very hard. He has to keep his confidence, keep going and he will be a very good player in this league ”.
Tuesday in the garden was Toppin’s background. The fourth quarter was set up as a perfect setting to get minutes.
But Toppin lasted 4:28 before being thrown. He failed miserably on a 7-foot turn and committed two fouls, and Thibodeau put Randle back on the rebound. Knox rubbed at the end while Toppin was sitting.
Some NBA scouts believe that Thibodeau has stayed with Toppin for a long time for political reasons: loyalty to President Leon Rose, who hired him. It would be bad not to play in Rose’s award-winning lottery selection, which averages 4.1 points.
In Toppin’s defense, he had no summer leagues or voluntary mixes a few weeks before the training camp due to the pandemic. On the other hand, there’s nothing to say if Toppin’s draft would have fallen if NBA scouts saw their holes in the Atlantic 10 Tournament or the NCAA Tournament, both canceled last March.
After the game, Thibodeau, when discussing Randle’s three-point appearance this season, said, “Having a stretch of four is a must in today’s game.”
Toppin doesn’t look like that, not even in college. Its 3-point percentage is 29.8%. Worse, he has thrown seven of his 20 corner 3 attempts.
Knox, the 2018 Knicks lottery selection, has been out of rotation since late January. He was recruited by former guard Steve Mills, GM Scott Perry, former coach David Fizdale and the top Perry scouts they released, assistant GM Gerald Madkins and personnel director Harold Ellis.
But now may be Knox’s time, even if, according to sources, Thibodeau doesn’t like his engine on defense.