Knicks center Mitchell Robinson won’t make his season debut on Wednesday vs. Philadelphia, but he’s inching closer to returning from the ankle surgery that has sidelined him for all of 2024/25, writes Dan Martin of The New York Post. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Tuesday that the center has looked good and has been “very active” in workouts and practices.
While Robinson figures to be eased back into a rotation role, Thibodeau referred to the big man as an “elite” pick-and-roll defender, rim protector, and offensive rebounder and suggested that he would have been a significant part of the lineup if he had been healthy this season.
“I think you have to look at it and say, ‘OK, Mitch was projected to be the starting center on the team,'” Thibodeau said (Twitter video link). “So we’ve gone fifty-something games without our starting center. I think guys have done a really good job stepping in. Could we do better? I always believe we could do better.”
It’s unclear based on Thibodeau’s comments if he means Robinson was projected to be the Knicks’ starting center before the acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns or if he envisioned starting the two big men alongside one another. Either way, that two-big look figures to be one the club experiments with once Robinson is available to return, and there’s hope that he’ll be able to help improve a unit that ranks 20th in the NBA this season in defensive rating (114.3).
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- After missing two games due to a sore right knee, Josh Hart returned to action on Sunday and logged 40 minutes in a loss to Boston. After the game, he told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, that he felt as if the extended All-Star break would be good for his knee issue, which he explained in more detail. “It’s something that comes and goes, something that I’ve managed for a long (time) — one time (in 2020) I was in the bubble with New Orleans, I would play and the next day really I couldn’t even get to half-court,” Hart said. “It was a pain, it was a struggle for me to even jog to half-court, and now I’m playing 48 minutes for Tom Thibodeau. So there’s peaks and valleys with it. Not really worried about it. All the time I pray for it before every game. By his grace I’m healed so I go out there and play my game.”
- Towns, who missed a pair of games in December and January with patellar tendinopathy in his right knee, had his knee issues flare up near the end of Sunday’s game vs. Boston and is listed as questionable to play on Wednesday due to left knee patellar tendinopathy, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. When Towns was unavailable earlier this season, Jericho Sims typically moved into the starting lineup, but with Sims now in Milwaukee, Precious Achiuwa or Ariel Hukporti could fill that role if Towns is inactive.
- The Knicks were blown out by Cleveland on Friday and Boston on Sunday and are now 0-5 on the season against the two teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “We’re a work in progress,” Towns said on Sunday when asked how the Knicks stack up against those teams. “We’re going to be a work in progress all year until the day we step into the postseason.”
- In a subscriber-only article for The New York Post, Mike Vaccaro argues that it’s time to sound the alarm on the Knicks’ ineffectiveness against the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Thunder. New York is 0-7 against those teams and has lost those games by an average of 20+ points per contest.
It’s criminal how much Tibs pays his regulars. They have 3 guys in the top 6 in total minutes played and 5 guys in the top 23 in minutes played per game. In comparison, the Cavs have 1 guy (Mitchell) @ #50 in most total minutes and #72 in most minutes played per game. Now pay off the train is that the Cavs are blowing a lot of teams but the water by the 4th quarter and they can remove their starters but I’ve seen Tibbs play guys drop into the final minutes with a double digit lead. I remember games against the Wolves, Wizards, Pacers and others where they won by 20+ points and 3 of their guys played 34 + minutes for no good reason. Either he’s some maniacal coach or the GM has failed to provide him with a bench he feels comfortable subbing in. I’m more inclined to think the problem is Tibbs.
40 minutes for Hart right off an injury in a blowout. It’s insanity.
Thibs has always done this. The players are professional athletes, and are in great shape, and that’s what they train for, but they are still human, and there is so much data that shows that heavy minutes and the packed NBA schedule contributes to injuries. Once Robinson is back, he’ll have no more excuses for not rotating more. Robinson, Achuiwa, Payne, McBride…that’s a decent bottom 4 of a rotation. He should also play Shamet or Dadier more to spell Anunoby and Bridges.
Thibs is a great coach in terms of tactics and on court strategy. But he thinks way too short term. The regular season isn’t just about stacking up wins. For good teams it’s about getting set up for the playoffs. That should include developing the backend of the rotation.
@Will
It’s not even any stacking up wins. If you’re up by 20+ with 6 minutes to go there’s no need to have your starters in the game.
Intriguing situation with the Knicks: now that the FO recognizes that betting on OG and Bridges was a mistake, do they, nonetheless, double down and give Bridges a huge long-term deal (5 yr, $200M+) like OG’s?
It looks like they will give because it would be worse to publicly recognize they were wrong. It’s like watching a train-wreck.
“now that the FO recognizes that betting on OG and Bridges was a mistake”
Talk about a faulty premise, lmao.
“Faulty premise”?
How about 3rd place and 7 straight blowout losses to contending teams?
The goal was to win ‘Chips. OG + Bridges won’t.
lmao it’s 100% a faulty premise. For starters, it would have to be a mistake. They haven’t even had their starting center play a game in this lineup. But second, the FO would have to “recognize” this. They don’t.
Your take is reactionary, First Take-level nonsense. They’re like 50 games into this, have played zero games at full strength, and they’re the #3 seed. Take this knee-jerk stuff over to ESPN mornings.
We got a true homer! I have no idea about First Take, but I do know what the oddsmakers and analytics models say: Knicks aren’t contending with this roster.
Bookmakers currently have the odds of Knicks winning a ‘Chip at 1/9 the odds of OKC and BOS, 1/5 the odds of Cleveland. That’s forward looking, so it considers the return of the fabulous Mitchell Robinson.
No FO is as clueless as you suggest.
Try watching a season for once…. Of NBA
Whike you are at it watch ONE Knicks game.
Bridges does deserve criticism, Im upset
His first year lol …
OG started less than 20 gms last yr…. lol
Towns his first yr here ……. YO
Hart first yr starting ……. Ok
4 new starters need mins to build chemistry. Yes all Knick fans wish it was 34 mins or less. Mitch here brings it down. Look at last yrs team. Then look at this yrs team ….. you might learn something.
Al,. I’ve definitely been watching all the nationally televised Knicks games. They get blown out every time. Just like the above article says.
It’s accountability time, Al. This is not the team you told us it was (loudly and frequently). They’re a distant third. And now you say they’re rebuilding!
This was over before it started. OG, Bridges, and Towns are what they are, and that’ll never come close to Boston and Cleveland.
Your core of 4 is aged 28-29. They’re not getting better. Tatum and Brown are younger. The Cavs starting 5 averages 24.5 yrs old. These teams are the future.
Starting to wonder if Thibs is needed based on his minutes distribution. He could submit the starters and just go hang with celebrities. Wondering what happened to the D he used to emphasize. He’s got the players…
LOL. 2k nation is out on multiple fronts I see. Unfortunately, not even its brighter elements. Although, it’s possible any existence of the latter is fictional.
On the bright side, Mitch seems about ready to give it a go. Not relevant for 2k, and 2k’ers, I know. But potentially impactful in the game of basketball played on the court, which I believe is still going to proceed.
Yeah, it’s hilarious, man. Knicks are on pace for 53 wins despite Mitch playing zero games and nephew fans are saying there’s no way they’ll ever win a championship. I swear it’s like Skip Bayless is posting here.
Certainly there are targets for NYK trolls to aim their bow at. But even the most mindless trolls should always take some stock to assure they’re pulling the right arrow from their quiver. What we see in this thread is troll laziness.
Going 0-7, with 5 blowouts, against the 3 top teams in the league could make a nice troll target. But it’s not the right target for the “Thibs plays his starters too many minutes” arrow. These losses were either early season games, or first quarter blowouts. The first thing that can certainly be eliminated as a cause across all 7 games was the players being tired. IDK, maybe something in the direction of 3pt FG-% defense? Of course, even that’s a more coherent set of thoughts than the mindless drivel about OG and Bridges. Frothy contract, frothy trade cost, OK, for the moment, but how anyone could construct that post on those facts, and a lost weekend, is mindboggling.
Thibs does play his starters too much. But its not as bad as the media makes it out to be. Media wants attention and followers. Trash the Knicks. You get their fans and the haters coming at you. Its a sham. And the uninformed always byte ……
This is a rebuild. Why is that so hard to understand. There are levels to this. Thibs adapts to the game and players. Just like he expects his players to adapt to the game. One of his biggest sayings is. “The game will tell you what to do”. You adapt and adjust. No REAL Knick fan. Is expecting a chip this year. We are expecting to be better, get better.
Knicks have 4 new starters this year. Hart didn’t start last year. OG only played 20 gms last yr. Bridges and Towns are in their first year. Can you spell R-E-B-U-I-L-D ….. boys n girls.
The world knew our bench had to be redone. Only McBride is back and is just finding his groove. Mitch hasn’t played a gm yet. Shamet was also hurt and is new. Precious was hurt tor first 20 gms. Playing mins means building chemistry. Thibs is finding his way there. Yes in a perfect world you keep starters under 34 mins. Yes the bench is what it is. So you find a way. Thibs deserves some criticism. But its not the end of the world here. Stop swallowing everything they feed you ………. Get some pride and your own thoughts please.
I’ve been taking about those teams since the Thunder game on Jan 10. So all you are late to this convo. Building a team takes time. Knicks are basically a new team. Only Mitch, Jalen, Hart, McBride have been here more than a Freakin YEAR YO ……… get a grip. The plan has always been to be better by playoffs. And we are. We will be.
Mitch makes the team better. He also bites into team mins. Say another guy getting 20-25 a gm. He makes our D elite. At least much better. What Knicks also need is bench scoring. Hopefully TJ Warren fills that. He’s avg 25 a gm. And he is a 2 way guy. Mitch and TJ fill big needs. Means they are going to be better. Nobody is expecting a chip. We are expecting to be better. Enough to compete better with anybody. Knicks can still catch Celtics for 2nd seed. They BETTER not let that happen.
I know we can win that first series with a full squad. Probably the Celtics. Then Cavs and well ????
Real Knick fans just want the Celtics with a full healthy team. Enjoy that series and go from there. We are not delusional fanatics. Until we win. We like to enjoy the ride, the journey. So sit back and watch Knicks get better. This is year five of In Thibs we Trust. And it could be a nice run. Enjoy knick fans. Don’t believe the hate ………. NYK
> This is a rebuild. Why is that so hard to understand.
A “rebuild”? Seriously?!
No, this is an “all in” commitment to 4 players that are already in their prime: Towns is 29 years old, and Brunson, Bridges, and OG are 1 year younger — as a core, on the old side. No, they’re not improving like “rebuilding” teams are.
Once Bridges is signed the summer, likely for 5 years at >$40M/yr, Knicks are committed to 4 guys at ~$170M/yr indefinitely. That means no depth. No star free agents. Probably no MLE.
Young difference makers waiting in the wings? Not on this roster. Future lottery picks? Nope, the Knicks will be permanently good, but not great.