Bucks 110, Knicks 105: Left foot, right foot . . .
The Knicks fell behind early, fought throughout but fell late to the Bucks
This is year four of the Tom Thibodeau Knicks. Year one they stumbled out of the gate 5-8 and were a losing team past the halfway mark before ending up 10 over .500. Year two they started 5-1 and were a winning team past the halfway mark before falling apart. Year three they were 10-13 (remember the Thibs-is-getting-fired rumors?), then endured a four- and five-game losing streak en route to a 37-22 finish. Year four is off to a rough start after last night’s 110-105 loss in Milwaukee.
“That which is above is from that which is below, and that which is below is from that which is above.” That’s from the Emerald Tablet, an ancient text; time has eroded it to today’s “As above, so below.” Are the Knicks eroding in year four under Thibs? He has the rep of one whose medium outweighs his message, whatever pearls of wisdom he may possess ground to dust beneath the 24/7 dwarf-star weight of the barking, the practices, the stubbornness.
Thibodeau is one of eight coaches with at least three full seasons spent coaching his current team. The other seven fit into three categories: coaches who’ve won titles (Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, Steve Kerr, Mike Malone, Ty Lue), whose teams were contenders before injuries and immaturity (Taylor Jenkins) and whose teams are just too sad for words (Billy Donovan). Thibs doesn’t fit any of those categories. So what is this team? What’s going on with them? Can it be fixed?
To answer in reverse order, we begin with yes, this team can turn things around. Exhibit A is the night Jalen Brunson had. After a rough couple of shooting performances to open the season, some were saying Brunson’s summer balling for FIBA might have worn him down, eroded his early-season form. Talk is cheap. 45 points, including 29 in the second half, is not. Brunson carved the Bucks up, especially inside the arc to the tune of 24 of 33 one- and two-point shots. Floaters, Euros, stutter dribbles, crossovers, fadeaways, pull-ups: a deluge of delectable delights. Everything that didn’t drop the first five games did last night. Hopefully that continues.
There were other positives. Quentin Grimes had his best game of the year, nailing five 3-pointers as part of his season-high 17. Immanuel Quickley was looking good, at least when he was allowed to play. Josh Hart will probably never shoot as well as he did in last year’s regular season, but he grabbed 10 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals. And even against a team with the size that Milwaukee brings, New York crushed it on the glass, hauling in an incredible one-third of their available offensive rebounds.
As to the question of what’s going on with this team, this first month of the season they’re running the gauntlet, one monster team after another. That’s hard enough to do when you’re playing 5-on-5. Knicks opponents have been on the power play much of this season thanks to the disappearing act of Julius Randle, who had another rough shooting night. According to Richard Jefferson during the broadcast, who also dealt with ankle surgery, Randle is still getting his legs back after being unable to do his usual conditioning this offseason. According to a vocal section of Knicks fans, Randle is selfish and hopeless and sucks.
It’s reasonable to think the Knicks may never reach the highest heights with Julius as a cornerstone. It’s reasonable to look over his career and conclude “He always follows good years with bad. Miss me with that volatility.” It’s reasonable to think a steadier player with a lower ceiling would ultimately be better for the team. It’s reasonable to be turned off by the body language, like he showed on both ends in a one-point game in the final minute after Brunson, hotter than hell, missed a tough look instead of passing to someone who was 1 of 9 from three on the night.
Randle’s body language is not inspiring. It’s also no different than it was when the Knicks went 47-35, 37-45 or 41-31. If the same front office and coaching staff who’ve shown wisdom approaching the draft, the salary cap and the ascenscion of the Knicks as an admirable NBA franchise – a model of intelligent management, David Stern would have said – have him on their team for the fifth year in a row, is it possible we’re seeing to the tip of an iceberg the parties involved see all of? Might they be aware of more going on beneath the water’s surface? I’m no fan of the appeal to authority fallacy. I’m also mindful that not only is the simplest solution often correct, it often spares us the kinds of blushes that go with long, wistful sighs.
If Randle — not just the person you see in competition a few hours a week, the person his teammates travel with, break bread with, spend most of their year with — really is selfish, lazy, and disrespectful, don’t you trust the team would look to move on? Is there a reason Thibs, Leon Rose and everyone else wouldn’t? If you want Randle out because you already did, I get it. I’m personally uncomfortable writing off the team’s best player the past four years after two weeks of games that followed offseason ankle surgery, a summer’s worth of lost conditioning and an unusually short preseason.
The reason this game went the Bucks’ way and not the Knicks’ is the same reason the Knicks are 2-4 in their Group of Death schedule instead of 4-2: they went 10 of 39 from deep, Milwaukee was 20 of 39. The decisive quarter was the second, when the Knicks and every Buck not named Jae, Brook or MarJon combined to shoot 9 of 32. Thing is, Crowder, Lopez and Beauchamp hit 7 of 10 from deep in a frame the home team won by 14. That ended up being the difference, like losing your queen early in chess.
Is there a Knicks fix? Pro’ly. There’s weird stuff happening, like only blocking one shot while Milwaukee blocked 10, eight by Lopez. There’s obvious stuff happening, too, like the Knicks’ hard-ass schedule being hardened further by their All-NBA forward currently looking like he belongs in Westchester. But before the butterfly of growth sprouts wings, it’s a caterpillar struggling to put it all together. Hopefully New York takes off before they get squished.
These Knicks lost to the Celtics by four, the Bucks by five, the Cavs by six and the Pelicans by nine. Nothing to be ashamed about; hardly the infamous MLK Jr. Day Massacre, a drubbing that rubbed then-Knick coach Don Cheney so wrong he told reporters the team “threw in the towel” and “gave up,” a team with Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Marcus Camby and Charlie Ward. Thibodeau’s Knicks usually start out the opposite of where they end up. In a couple weeks, the schedule lightens. Maybe that’s all it takes to balance the ship. It’s probably too soon to decide Randle, Thibodeau or anyone else are “the problem.” Is that too simple? Am I too optimstic? Could be.
If December arrives and Brunson is still balling, Randle is up to speed, RJ Barrett is back and the Knicks aren’t facing the cream of the crop night after night, the terrors of October and November can be forgotten. Next game is Monday against the Clippers, when James Harden is expected to begin his L.A. story. The Knicks aren’t out of the woods yet. Only way out is one step at a time. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot . . .
