Would you believe the Knicks beat the Bulls at MSG?<\/p>\n
Easy peasy victory, as New York reached FIFTY wins for the third consecutive season.<\/p>\n
S\/o Thomas Joseph Thibodeau.<\/p>\n
On a fast start against Chicago:<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight we started the right way, and when we do, we might jump on somebody. It\u2019s about making our opponents feel us executing our defense the right way every possession, not giving up any easy baskets in transition and finishing it with the defense rebound.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On the first-quarter defense on Friday:<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of it has been our defense. In the first quarter, we\u2019re 19th [in the league] right now, and fourth quarter, we\u2019re first by a mile. So for us to bring that same sense of urgency to start the games defensively, it\u2019s going to be big for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
On using Jeremy Sochan at backup center with KAT out:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allowed us to do a lot of things like switch pick and rolls. It brought a different element to our game. Not just offensively with the speed, but defensively with switching a lot of things and just keeping the ball in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Jose Alvarado\u2019s future role with Deuce and Shamet back:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think Jose has done a fantastic job for us. \u2026 Deuce is getting healthier and Landry\u2019s getting healthy and trying to find minutes for those guys \u2013 both of those guys are capable of playing that (backup guard) spot \u2013 is going to be a priority because they\u2019ve proven themselves this year for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On OG Anunoby\u2019s lone All-Defensive nod:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bulls\u2013t, and I can say that with a straight face \u2018cause he\u2019s a great defender and he does a lot of different things that people don\u2019t see on that end of the floor for us and for other teams he played for. But more importantly, his versatility is just off the charts and you can do a lot of things with your defense because of him. In my opinion, he deserves First Team All-Defense this year \u2013 and hopefully the powers that be will see it that way, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the Knicks\u2019 form heading into the playoffs:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always want your team to be playing at the highest of high cylinders. Do I think we\u2019re there right now? No. Do I have belief in this team? Yes, I do. I\u2019ve seen us play really good basketball throughout the course of the year. Even in games where there\u2019s quote-unquote manufactured pressure (such as the NBA Cup). We\u2019ve played really good basketball. I like what we have in that locker room and I like the things that we\u2019ve done this year, but I expect more from myself first and everybody else second.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On performing in big environments:<\/p>\n
\u201cAll games you want to win, but when you go into Boston, it\u2019s different than maybe going into another arena. Or if you go into OKC, it\u2019s different than going into another arena. Those types of games, there\u2019s a lot of manufactured pressure just because they\u2019re good teams and it\u2019s on national TV and all that good stuff. So to get that (environment) and to be able to perform at a pretty good level \u2013 you embrace that opportunity. You want to win all games, but to win those games \u2013 our guys have done (well) in those situations over the course of the year. So my belief is, (with) this group going into the playoffs when it\u2019s real, that our guys will rise to the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the need for winning games without regard for the opponent:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who we\u2019re playing, at the end of the day it\u2019s about us. I thought the guys were really good with that. \u2026 I thought we played the right way, playing with a sense of urgency and then on top of that, sharing the basketball offensively and spacing the floor the right way. It was a lot of fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the need to start games strong:<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to lock in and be ready to go from the jump is key. It starts with our preparation. I think there\u2019s still things we can do better defensively. Obviously, getting out to a lead helped us play comfortably for the rest of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On not having a clue about the Knicks\u2019 slow-start issues:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been getting off to slow starts for two years now. If I had the answers, we would be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
On deserving more All-Defensive recognition:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I should\u2019ve gotten it more, for sure. I think I should\u2019ve gotten it last year. I think I should get it this year. That\u2019s definitely a goal of mine, coming into the season, especially defensively, being on the first team or second team \u2013 hopefully first.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the true value of defense:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s half the game. Fifty percent offense. Fifty percent defense. I just take pride in it. It\u2019s very important, especially for winning games and winning championships \u2013 it\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the increased energy against Chicago:<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, we just came out with a different energy. The first five really set a tone, and the bench follows.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On his groin tweak against the OKC Thunder:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just kind of like a tweak; it\u2019s a painful tweak. (It\u2019s) like someone stabbing your groin, hip and ab at the same time. It\u2019s not fun. I\u2019ll get back right. All glory to God.\u201d<\/p>\n
On OG Anunoby\u2019s defensive value:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that speaks to his motor, his work ethic. He super important for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Would you believe the Knicks beat the Bulls at MSG? Easy peasy victory, as New York reached FIFTY…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,45,329,288,2724,327,304,3357,2715,6,1136,191,3810,3806,741,878],"class_list":{"0":"post-698968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-chicago-bulls","11":"tag-jalen-brunson","12":"tag-jeremy-sochan","13":"tag-josh-hart","14":"tag-knicks","15":"tag-mike-brown","16":"tag-miles-mcbride","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-new-york","19":"tag-new-york-knicks","20":"tag-newyork","21":"tag-newyorkknicks","22":"tag-og-anunoby","23":"tag-okc-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116349936883277703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}