Thunder 129, Knicks 120: Tom Thibodeau hates puppies, sunsets & Immanuel Quickley
The Knicks have no choice but to struggle with Mitchell Robinson out for the year. Why do they choose to struggle by keeping Immanuel Quickley out, too?
After the New York Knicks lost 129-120 in Oklahoma City last night, many fans were left struggling to solve a riddle that Sherlock Holmes, Batman and Nancy Drew combined couldn’t crack. How is it that Immanuel Jaylen Quickley – who played the sixth-most minutes for New York last night despite being one of only two Knicks with a positive plus/minus – continues to play so little despite a Talmud of evidence suggesting he, in light of Mitchell Robinson being lost for the season, should be third on the team in minutes, behind only Jalen Brunson and Juliius Randle?
This isn’t just about last night, though that doesn’t make last night sting any less. Tom Thibodeau yanking Quickley in the fourth — after a good run of play that kept the Knicks hanging on, like Bishop at the end of Juice — left the same weird, sad feeling you get after too much time around your family. Dysfunction drains the life out of us, especially hard-wired, repeating dysfunction. Your uncle politely declining the first few drinks he’s offered, only to end the night sloshed and half-naked while swinging from a ceiling fan, railing about how “actually” the Civil War was about states’ rights? The spectacle itself may be shocking, but his behavior stopped being a surprise years ago. Thibs replacing Quickley with RJ Barrett on a night IQ made things happen while RJ didn’t? No surprise there. Yet Thibs persists in building a mystery.
This is a delicate moment for the franchise. Thibodeau is the best coach they’ve hired since 1996. Quickley is arguably their most productive 1st-round pick since Patrick Ewing — the only Knick draft picks since with more career win shares for New York than IQ are Mark Jackson (500 games over two stints in NY) and David Lee (368). Both averaged 30 minutes a game as Knickerbockers. IQ’s averaged 24 over 252 games.
Thibodeau continues to twist logic and Knick fans out of shape, cutting Quickley’s minutes from 29 a game last year to 24 this year DESPITE IQ shooting career-bests on 2-pointers and 3-pointers, to go along with his lowest-ever turnover rate and his highest points per game as a pro (DESPITE playing less), despite being part of New York’s three best two-man lineups, four best three-man combos and six of their top seven four- and five-man lineups – not to mention allllll that doubleplus good defense. Undoubtedly Thibs has reasons for this. We just haven’t heard any beyond “Sometimes, it’s matchups. Sometimes, someone’s got it going. Sometimes, you need size; you’re looking at the switching you’re doing.” I’m not smart enough to figure it out. I’m just smart enough to know when the answer is right there in front of you, you don’t have to complicate things. The answer is right there in front of you.
Thus, this recap defers to Mark Schindler.
Mark writes about basketball at every level in every league under the sun; if Atlantis were discovered tomorrow, Mark would have already watched hours of film of their pro league and written about how Atlantean gills improve transition defense. Today he offered a mature, three-dimensional look at the Knicks and Quickley, and what could/should be next for both. Click here. And enjoy.
