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The Knicks are a .500 team. Leon Rose may bow as his birthday approaches as the team president approaches. But Scott Perry could also take credit for it – if he was there.
One of the perks of attending games at the Garden in person and not watching TV is getting a view of the Knicks executives in attendance.
With fans now in the building and making another heckle on Saturday, President Rose and members of his cabinet have moved from the celebrity row to behind the bottom line.
On Saturday they watched their club move up to 17-17 with a 110-107 victory over the Pacers – a 16-point comeback to cap a delicious 3-1 at home.
“It was great, but we just erased it,” said coach Tom Thibodeau.
Perry, the Knicks general manager, was not seen for all four home games. The seating chart: Rose, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor William Wesley, Chief Strategy Officer Brock Aller and Vice President of Leadership and Player Development Allan Houston.
Perry, in the final year of his contract, was reportedly on a G-League scouting mission. But in the pre-Rose era, Perry never missed a game – at home or away.
Even though Perry is not present, he is starting to be recognized for the relevance of the Knicks.
Indeed, Rose had a better hand than one might have expected when he took over a year ago on Monday. Usually when a president is fired – like Steve Mills was 12 months ago – it’s because the present is bleak and the future bleak.
But Mills and Perry, who stayed, gave Rose plenty of ammo to move the project forward.
In her tenure so far, Rose has not attracted a top free agent star thanks to her extensive connections. He also did not execute a successful trade for a stud farm. Free agency was calm.
Rose explored Julius Randle’s move during the long offseason to level up with a star level player. Instead, Randle became that star. He played 34 great first games and on Saturday he beat Domantas Sabonis.
Rose was right not to trade Randle. Named All-Star last week for the first time, Randle is a future piece to build. Saturday night, he accumulated 28 more points, 10 rebounds, six assists and several chants of “MVP” which become routine.
RJ Barrett, for whom Perry stuck to his guns to draft at No.3 in 2019, helped Randle with 24 points, even hearing his first “MVP” chants. “For 2,000 people, they’re really loud,” Barrett said.
Rose believed he was drafting a player who would soon replace Randle as a starter when he used his 2020 lottery pick on power forward Obi Toppin, instead of a much-needed playmaker.
Toppin’s rookie year can be summed up like this: he’s a good dunker, good enough to earn an appearance in the Slam Dunk competition. But that’s where it ends. Toppin, who hasn’t been as productive as expected, won’t be named to the Rising Stars Challenge roster.
Toppin was even benched on Saturday for Kevin Knox as the small ball forward in the first period after Taj Gibson sprained his ankle. Toppin only played six minutes.
Rookie point guard Tyrese Haliburton, 12th and brilliant with the Kings, was not at the top of Rose’s table when he picked Toppin.
Thankfully, Rose had another shot in the 2020 draft, as Perry traded Marcus Morris 12 months ago to the Clippers for a late first-round pick. To his credit, Rose had vast information on Kentucky to put him at ease to catch Immanuel Quickley, when most teams had placed him lower.
Hiring Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne has proven to be helpful. Rose and Wesley, widely known for being well connected to John Calipari and his program, deserve kudos for choosing Quickley.
But the best move Rose made, due to past relationships, was to attract Thibodeau as a coach at the end of July. Yes, Rose was lucky on that front because of how Commissioner Adam Silver built the season’s restart in the bubble, picking 22 teams out of 30. The Knicks were among those left out. side.
A number of coaching vacancies emerged after the teams were eliminated in late August. However, when the Knicks conducted their long search, they had no competition.
The sources indicated in the Thibodeau era preferred to have choices. If he would have accepted the Knicks’ offer over another team’s, we’ll never know. Thibodeau decided not to wait for another job because of his confidence in Rose.
Thibodeau’s defense is the highest ranked and the Knicks are doing it all with mostly players from Mills and Perry. Coaching and culture make a difference.
One of Rose’s few additions was a trade for point guard Derrick Rose, but rather it was the president who accepted his head coach’s wishes. In an excellent statistic, Thibodeau’s winning percentage with Rose on the roster is 63%. Without Rose, it’s 46%. Rose notched four interceptions on Saturday.
An NBA source said of the new administration’s decision-making: “At the end of the day, that’s what Thibs wants.”
Knicks fans are thrilled with the progress made with the bar so low. The 6,000 fans who rolled through the Garden turnstiles in the first three crowd-cleared games were noisy.
The fans love this team. They love this coach. And they like an oriental lecture without depth. The Knicks are now tied for fourth place with the Raptors.
Leon Rose has been the strong, silent type so far. He has not spoken to the media for seven months. As his first birthday approaches, Lucky Leon has pulled it off because his Knicks are talking on the pitch.
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