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We expect so much from what the Knicks presented on Sunday: 48 minutes of effort, 48 minutes of belief. The Heat may have a lousy record right now, but they’re still the defending Eastern Conference champions, and Sunday afternoon at the Garden they showed why, a herd of alphas giving me -the ball with a match in play.
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 who could make plays throughout that 109-103 Heat win, and too few Knicks who did. Again: this is not a new behavior with these Knicks, as watchable as they have become.
“We haven’t finished our defense,” said Tom Thibodeau. “Give them credit. It’s not just Jimmy. They move the ball well and shoot well around them.
What was more revealing were the things Thibodeau didn’t say, couldn’t say, didn’t want to say. The Heat, in many ways, have precisely the DNA that Thibodeau wants: ready to play defense every night, able to stand tough in times of trouble, able to shut the door when it begs to be closed.
The Knicks have Julius Randle, who right now meets all of those conditions. And they’ve got a roster full of vets who can do it some nights, and a roster of kids who could learn how to do that most nights.
So you can see why Thibodeau might have longed for that seemingly inevitable reunion with Derrick Rose. This year marks exactly 10 years since Rose’s MVP season, when he was 22 and looked sure he was going to throw basketball fans at LeBron James for years to come. But that was before the knee got kerblooie.
That was before he came back as a highly skilled playmaker who was never going to be what he was, other than a few stolen nights here and there. The Knicks saw this four years ago, when he was just 28, when he played 64 games for them and sometimes played his greatest hits for them.
He is now four years older, but he remains in Thibodeau’s eternal circle of trust. The Knicks don’t surrender much for him, one of their second-round pick and career leftovers from Dennis Smith Jr. But that’s really not the issue. Here is the problem:
Once he’s here, once he’s cleared to play, he’s going to play. The Knicks already have a 10-player rotation. Who will be expelled? There are only three options:
It could be Elfrid Payton, who has been playing better lately but is still frustrating in almost every aspect of the point guard game.
It could be Austin Rivers, who has had fun times as a Knick but has also been fighting lately, and if that’s him, that means Payton is becoming a replacement and Immanuel Quickley will be a second bench guard. – a position he could surely play. .
Or it could be Quickley, and it’s not a development that a Knicks fan would approve of, even though many hadn’t heard from him in the hours, weeks, and months before he was written. He quickly became a topic of conversation with Knicks fans and the point is, he’s not just a cute wind-up toy – he’s a good player and, more importantly, a fearless player. He earned his place in the Knicks rotation.
What if Rose’s arrival alters that even a little?
Then it would be a little more of the same nonsense, in a season where the men who lead the Knicks have seemed determined to resolutely avoid more of the same. The Knicks have already sent Kevin Knox into witness protection. Frank Ntilikina, every time he returns, will be brought back into the abyss.
This season must be devoted to keeping our eyes on the prize, although it certainly seems likely that barring a gravity-defying collapse the Knicks will be in the game for one of the 10 slots in the playoff tournament. the east temporarily expanded. It is in fact a valid goal. And for Thibodeau, who mostly played the good company from day one, it would allow a tangible carrot to move the team forward.
“[Rose] has been around the system, ”said Knicks backup center Taj Gibson, who has played more games under Thibodeau’s watch than anyone else. “We know what Thibs basically wants, and we can be invaluable to young players who are still learning.
It’s music to everyone’s ears. If Rose can come in and play at an even above average level and if he can be a mentor for Quickley and the other Knicks kids, good for Leon Rose for pursuing the case and good for Thibodeau for having him. desire. There are two more parallel tracks for this team: continuous improvement and a set aside plan for future prosperity.
Now is not the time to forget that, as frustrating as Sunday’s results may be.
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