New York Knicks Hurt With Summary Spread By Tom Thibodeau

NBA league leaders in minutes played this season include New York Knicks starters RJ Barrett and Julius Randle 1st and 2nd in the division. That same pair is 1st and 4th in minutes played per game, at 37.9 and 37.1 per tournament.

This is a disappointing but predictable pattern for the best and most reliable players on teams coached by Tom Thibodeau, Knicks ’new mountain boss, whose Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves teams have consistently had players leading the league in minutes played over the years.

The fact that the Knicks are currently 5-6 with the 4th toughest record in the league, according to Basketball-Reference, is a testament to the good work Thibodeau has done with this team so far. No one is arguing that. New York is currently 12th in defensive efficiency this season, All-Basketball, and 29th on offense, with the 2nd slowest pace in the league.

To keep the Knicks successful, it is clear that the offense must make the most of their possessions if they are to grind down games and play with fewer times down in court. Before losing 109-88 to Charlotte Monday, the third in New York, Hornets coach James Borrego stressed that they need to dictate the pace of the game instead of letting the Knicks slow down their time.

But Borrego’s goal was not achieved. The 90.8 pace of the game was well below the season average of both teams, but it was Charlotte who made the offense picking up and going behind 34 points at Gordon Hayward, 19 from Devonte Graham and 13 effective points off the bench from Miles Bridges.

The Knicks led just 38 points in the second half, but played Austin Rivers nearly 38 minutes apart, Barrett nearly 35, Mitchell Robinson 33 and Randle, who has been one of the best players in the league this season. this, nearly 31.

This is partly due to New York’s injury list, which is as long as the team’s pace is slow. Circulating players Reggie Bullock, Alec Burks, Frank Ntilikina and Obi Toppin are all out with injuries. But the Knicks go only eight deep right now among the closest records we’ve seen in nearly a decade.

Randle had an offensive night against the Hornets, with doubles and triples with him as defenders against the Knicks offense with a zone.

“Julius is getting a double and triple team together right now with his career, trying to get the ball out of his hands and we can work from that,” Thibodeau said after the game. “We need to have a good space, and right now we’re waiting a bit and I don’t want them to do that. “

A good way to counter a zone is to shoot over it, but the Knicks are dead last in three and 3-point attempts per game and 23rd in percentage shooting from distance.

“I think as a team we’re not shooting well,” said Thibodeau, “so sometimes you have to work your way through those things and we’ll keep working on it and we’ll get better.”

Despite being down 21 at half-time to Denver on Sunday and not close or competitive in a 114-89 home loss to the Nuggets, Randle still played more than 38 minutes, Robinson over 34 and Barrett more. the 33. This is not only unstable this season but also will not allow some younger players like Toppin or Ntilikina to grow and develop once they get healthy again.

“We’re going through a little bit right now,” Rivers said after the game. “I will keep telling the boys that we need to keep going. This is the NBA. Nobody is going to feel bad for us. ”

With half the team out with injuries, as Rivers put it, increasing the Knicks ’available players is something Thibodeau should prioritize as the team struggles.

“Our defense has been terrible which has led us to commit a serious crime,” he said. “We need to do a better job in the half court with a zone but that is not on the coaches. At all. They put the game plan out there but we have to do a better job. ”

Rivers said the Knicks are young and will send him out. He told the fans to stay with them and be patient, with much of the season left to come, starting Wednesday’s game against the struggling Brooklyn Nets.

“As a team we have to prove this,” Barrett said. “We have played at a high level before, we know we can do it. We need to get back to being like us. “

The Knicks have shown they can defend at a high level this season against some of the best teams in the league. But their ability to keep up with that move will be hampered if Thibodeau doesn’t take his foot off the gas and rotate his minutes more evenly as the games come to a close. tidy and days off getting longer and longer between this season.