As the Knicks were being torched for 145 points by the Thunder Sunday afternoon, two players they heavily invested in this summer were kept on the bench for most of the second half, writes Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post.
RJ Barrett, who signed a four-year extension in September, picked up his fourth foul about two minutes into the half and never returned. Jalen Brunson, the team’s top target in free agency, checked out with 4:46 left in the third quarter and spent the rest of the game on the bench. Both players said they accepted the decision by coach Tom Thibodeau.
“I think it’s time (to sit) when you’re fouling enough,” Barrett said. “It falls on me for sure because I was guarding Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), and he got me into some foul trouble. And that’s not good. I got to do a better job of not fouling.”
“I wouldn’t have played myself either, the way I was playing defensively,” Brunson added.
Immanuel Quickley and Cam Reddish sparked a late rally that ultimately fell short, and they played most of the fourth quarter alongside Julius Randle, Evan Fournier and Jericho Sims.
“We just got behind by so much,” Thibodeau explained when asked about Barrett’s benching. “We were looking for life, and that group that was in there gave us a little bit of a spark, and so that’s what we went with.”
There’s more from New York:
- Quentin Grimes logged just eight minutes Sunday in his third game since returning from soreness in his left foot, Sanchez notes in the same story. Thibodeau has called Grimes a “situational” player for now because the injury forced him to miss so much time since the start of training camp.
- Mitchell Robinson has begun on-court workouts as he recovers from a sprained knee, but hasn’t resumed contact drills, Sanchez adds.
- Being removed from the starting lineup hasn’t helped Fournier with his shooting slump, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Fournier misfired on all five of his shots from the field Sunday and has made just 6-of-31 over his last seven games. “I’m not gonna lie; I’m getting stiff on the bench now because I’m a little bit older. My knees can’t take it anymore,” Fournier joked. “But yeah, it’s not an excuse at all. I just have to figure it out myself so I can help the team. That’s all I can say, really.”
Obv RJ is an easy scapegoat for yesterday’s game & Randle was the scapegoat all last season & apparently they’re turning on Mitch Robinson now smh. But clearly Thibs needs to be gone & that should’ve been done right after last season. Cam should be the main defender on guys like SGA anytime hes on the floor… Also whoever made the decision to let Elfrid Payton go deserves as much blame as anyone for their downfall after the nice season they had a few yrs ago. They went from being great defensively with him at the head of their d to giving up 145 @ home to 1 of the worst teams in the league.
Thibs is not solely responsible for roster construction. I highly doubt he is also their head draft scout. They are a rebuilding team who is trying not to finish at the bottom during the rebuild. They haven’t tanked yet, and they could have several times already. There is integrity in that. Maybe they should have tanked, but that is a Front Office philosophy, not all on Thibs.
Where did I say anything about Thibs being their head scout or being solely responsible for roster construction? As i laid out already, he should be fired bc he’s done a bad job as coach. Having RJ guard Shai when Cam Reddish is also on the court is a prime example. Benching Elfrid vs Atl in the playoffs, another example. Lol @ rebuilding. You’re not a rebuilding team with this many big $ guys on the team. Who goes a decade with no playoffs, gets a 4seed then decides to rebuild? What other rebuilding team you know that signs big $ guards in consecutive years? Lol none. The Knicks aren’t rebuilding they just suck. They probably should consider tearing it down, tanking & rebuilding tho. There’s no real future in NY now. RJ, Brunson & Randle ain’t gonna lead them anywhere. Whether they decide to rebuild or not Thibs should be gone asap tho.
I agree that Thibs should be gone, IMO they should’ve fire him before the season started…
But RJ should get accountable, he is looking the same player than the two seasons before, he isn’t showing flashes of growing his game. I like the kid but at the moment he can’t be your 2nd best player if you are trying to win.
Knicks are absolutely stucked
Seems like Thibs has lost the team. The defensive effort is really bad.
They have Thibbs fatigue more than anything. They have gone deaf on him. They are not inspired to play better defense as a result.
It wasn’t the effort. They just dont have many good defensive players. It begins even more obv with no Robinson protecting the rim. With him they’re still only average at best defensively. And Thibs is using his guys wrong. Specifically his best perimeter defender, Cam Reddish.
Cam ???? The guy who’s never played on this team. He’s our best perimeter defender. Dude go cry about something you don’t know. Somewhere else. It’s like your woke ideology. All a mess ……
2021-22 Cam was trade to Knicks. Played 15 gms and avg 14 mins.
2022-23 this yr Cam has played 13 gms and avg 21 mins.
He wasn’t even here when we did play D. And he got traded because he didn’t play D.
Obviously you got nothing Again.
Ordinarily people live and learn. You just live.
I don’t know what’s going on in NY. Maybe the players don’t like Thib’s coaching style.
He’s a defensive-minded coach, and they give up 145 points?! Something’s wrong.
The front office also made some bad deals, like the Randle, Fournier and Brunson contracts. Too much money for dudes who aren’t two-way players.
Thibs made the subs you are criticising. Maybe later than you would recommend, but he still did it, and identified the problem. How is that bad coaching? Doing nothing is a bad coach. They signed 1 guard, and have Randle, and some young guys. Not following the overreaction about Thibs coaching, or how Elfrid Payton being gone is directly Thibs fault. I just don’t see it that way. Gotta let the young guys fail a bit in order to learn. I think that is his point. Sometimes as a coach you can’t use words to make guys get it, and you gotta coach them through adversity.
How can you not recognize what a terrible coach Thibs is? The desperate need some of you have to make endless excuses for people who prove on a regular basis that they can’t do their job is mind boggling.
Shai had like 35pts & OKC was up 15 with 2mins to go before he finally let Cam guard him. Knicks had already given up 140pts lol… Knicks signed Brunson to a huge deal this summer & Fournier to a huge deal last summer. They’re def not rebuilding… Again I never said anything about Elfrid Payton’s exit from the Knicks being directly Thibs fault lol you just made that up… but aye u guess if letting the young guys fail (the vets are also failing) is your definition of good coaching then this guy’s coach of the year.
Knicks aren’t playing D this yr. Not like they should even with Mitch in there. It’s a chemistry thing imo. Seems to me some are not buying in on Jalen running the team. Fournier seems lost. I think NY is starting to get to him. NY is not a friendly place. If you are playing with effort. 3 bad loses doesn’t make a season ……. Go hug your dog
All the geniuses got answers after 13 gms. When will you learn ……..
Not playing with effort …….. excuse me.
How many years does it take for people to blame thibs for his defensive scheme encouraging the other team to take 3 pointers?