Empty or not, it’s still the Garden to Obi
Obi Toppin grew up a Knicks fan. His mother has a photo of him in a Latrell Sprewell jersey as proof.
Tonight, the Brooklyn-bred power forward will get a chance to play at the Garden as a member of the Knicks, albeit under pandemic circumstances without fans or media. He’s not allowing it to sap his debut.
“It’s going to be amazing. I’m from here,” Toppin said about the preseason game against the Cavaliers. “I’ve been watching the Knicks all my life. My family has been Knick fans since before I wasn’t even born.
“Me having an opportunity to step on the court with these guys and compete against another team is going to be amazing. I can’t wait for that time to come.”
The Knicks haven’t played at the Garden since March 8, three days before the NBA season was shut down because of COVID. They’ve since hired a new coach (Tom Thibodeau), a new top executive (William Wesley AKA World Wide Wes) and drafted Toppin eighth overall.
Without major upgrades in free agency, success will be again be hard to quantify but Toppin and RJ Barrett have the potential to paint a rosy picture. Toppin showed positive flashes in preseason Game 1 in Detroit, justifying some of those comparisons to Amar’e Stoudemire. But the 22-year-old followed with an inefficient effort in a Pistons rematch two days later.
“I don’t really think it was anything different (in the way the Pistons defended me),” Toppin said. “I just feel like in the second game I was rushing things a little bit more than I was in the first. I felt settled down calm in the first game. In the second game I was just trying to basically do too much. I have to understand the pace to the game and just flow with that, do anything I can to help the team.”
Thibodeau said Toppin took his struggles to heart.
“Probably the biggest thing about being a pro is that there’s going to be ups and downs. It was probably a little easier the first game. The second game he got more attention on him,” Thibodeau said. “He can play well without shooting well…. But he’s a terrific kid, a great worker. Study film. Each game, you may not win and if you don’t win, obviously that’s what you’re trying to do, I want you to learn. He took a hard look at himself, what he can do better. He came in, he studied, he worked hard and he had a great practice (Tuesday). The games keep coming. You have to keep getting better.”