The New York Knicks have been struggling to find their footing in the NBA, and now head coach Tom Thibodeau has made a decision that many people don’t agree with. While they may not be playing well as a team, he’s benching stars such as Kristaps Porzingis for veteran players like Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott. If this is what it takes to make the Knicks better – will other teams follow suit? The answer will become clear over time.,
Tom Thibodeau, the head coach of the New York Knicks, has benched struggling starters. The players that have been benched are Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter and Joakim Noah.
11 November 2021
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ESPN’s Tim Bontemps
NEW YORK (WABC) — After benching his players for the entire fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 112-100 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau disputed the notion that they needed more time to create chemistry with one another.
“They say you need 20 games when it’s 10 games,” Thibodeau remarked. “They say you need 30 when you say 20, but you say 40 when you say 30.”
“The season will be gone before you realize it. So that’s a load of nonsense.”
What is undeniable is that New York’s starting lineup isn’t working right now. Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson have played more minutes in the NBA this season than any other five-man unit. However, it has been outscored 14.4 points per 100 possessions so far this season, and its defensive rating is 119.3, which is more than seven points poorer than the NBA’s worst team defense.
In Wednesday’s game, every starter had a plus-minus of at least minus-15, with only Robinson having a plus-minus of more than minus-20.
Thibodeau opted to ride the all-bench grouping of Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley, Toppin, and Taj Gibson from the 2:01 mark of the third quarter, when he subbed out Randle in favor of Obi Toppin, until the conclusion of the game.
Thibodeau explained his decision to bench the starters by saying, “They didn’t play well.” None of the players talked to the media after the game. “That is all there is to it. It’s up to us to sort it out. And, unusually, we’re doing well on the road but not so well at home right now. So we’ll have to sort it up.”
Based on the outcome of the game, Thibodeau’s decision was sound. From the last minute of the third quarter to the 5:06 mark of the fourth, the all-bench grouping went on a 29-7 run, erasing a 22-point Milwaukee advantage and tying the game.
That bunch eventually ran out of steam, as the Bucks hit three consecutive 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to reopen the game and secure the victory.
Thibodeau explained his choice to keep the reserves on the floor by saying, “We were simply looking.” “I think the bench performed well once we got the urgency into the game, made some saves, shared the ball, scored some easy scoring, and had a solid rhythm going.”
Nonetheless, the bench group’s performance, like the starting group’s, was representative of their performances throughout the season.
The all-bench lineup of Rose, Burks, Quickley, Toppin, and Gibson has played 61 minutes together this season, making them New York’s second-most utilized combination. It has outscored its opponents by 19.9 points per 100 possessions after Wednesday’s game.
However, it wasn’t enough to push the Knicks to victory on Wednesday, as they dropped to 2-4 at Madison Square Garden. At comparison, the team has gone 5-1 away from home this season, with victories in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.
When asked why the Knicks have struggled at home, Rose, who led the team with 22 points off the bench, responded, “S—-, I honestly don’t know.” “I’m not sure what it is. As I previously said, digesting it is now difficult. That’s the only thing on my mind right now, you know what I mean? Four points away. With three or four minutes remaining, four points is like, dude. You know, you’ve got to find a way. But I can’t pinpoint what it is.”
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