OUT OF THE GYM!
Hard-working Knicks told to take day off by Thibodeau
After winning eight straight games and taking sole ownership of the No. 4 seed in the East for the first time since 2013, the Knicks enjoyed a well-earned day off on Thursday.
What? A day off? Under Tom Thibodeau? Yeah right.
Apparently, the players feel the exact same way.
This Knicks team has overperformed and exceeded expectations because, well, they quite simply have put in the work. Thibodeau has instilled a blue-collar culture at Madison Square Garden where players have to work for everything they’re given.
“Everybody’s working. We’re a team,” said RJ Barrett. “We’re always in the gym and it’s showing out there on the court.”
That means later-than-normal nights at the gym. It means shooting on days dedicated to film. It means shooting before and after games. It even means sneaking into the practice facility when your coach declares a rest day.
That’s what rookie Immanuel Quickley suggested was on the table. The Knicks just won two games in two nights, and have a 1 p.m. tipoff against the Raptors on Saturday. NBA teams are prohibited from practicing the day after a back-to-back, and Quickley said Thibodeau declared Thursday a “blackout day.”
“He declared that really nobody’s supposed to come in, but the guys that wanted to work try to still come in anyway,” he said. “We have like a key card and we have 24-hour access. Coach Thibs might turn the key card off tomorrow since he declared a blackout day, so nobody’s allowed to go into the gym.
“I’ll probably still find a way in though.” There’s that extra work, and it’s mostly been shooting work. The Knicks ended last season the fourth-worst three-point shooting team in the league. Yet Wednesday night they made 19-of-35 threes to beat the Hawks in overtime.
They made 18-of-45 treys the night before against the Hornets.
The Knicks have been the league’s second-best three-point shooting team during their eight-game winning streak, converting on 40.5% of their attempts. On the season, they rank sixth, just two spots behind the hot-shot Brooklyn Nets.
“I’m not surprised because I see all the guys that put the work in,” Quickley added. “Whether it be late at night, early in the morning before shootaround before even on game days, people are putting in a lot of work so I’m not really surprised you know the numbers are gonna fall where they’re supposed to fall as long as you put in the work.”
Thibodeau said the three-point shot was a big concern entering training camp, but that players made a “very serious commitment” to shoring one of their biggest weaknesses.
“I think by working the way that they’ve worked, it’s given them confidence, and I’ve always said, I think, two biggest things with shooting are confidence and concentration,” he said. “So, if you make that commitment to put the work in and grow your shot and you have a checklist on your shot, it helps.”
The three-point shot is key, especially in an offense run by the wrecking ball that is Julius Randle. Randle could probably bulldoze through the double teams forced upon him, but instead, he whips the ball to the open man.
Swing, swing, corner three. It’s how the Knicks beat the Hornets and Hawks to move into the East’s Top 4 on Wednesday night. And it’s a byproduct of the hours on end of training from sun-up to sundown that earned the Knicks a much-needed day off — if they choose to take it.
“I don’t know necessarily how late (we shoot). It’s really just when a lot of times we’re on the road, and whatever time we get off the plane, guys head to the gym,” Randle said. “I don’t know specifically how late. It’s not like a 1 am thing. That’s impossible.”