How low will coach Tom Thibodeau go? In this instance, we’re talking about his rotation.
Thibodeau sliced his rotation to eight players in last year’s playoffs, then cut it to seven when injuries struck. The New York Post’s Stefan Bondy anticipates that Thibodeau will rely heavily on his starting unit once again in the opening-round series against Detroit.
Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson appear to be the only locks to get steady playing time off the bench. Landry Shamet, Cameron Payne and Precious Achiuwa are the other reserves who could be called upon but it’s likely only one will get rotation minutes, according to Bondy, who recommends that the hot-shooting Shamet should be the choice.
Here’s more Knicks news:
- It’ll be the first postseason with the Knicks for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, the front office’s two major acquisitions to become a championship-level team. The pressure will be on that duo to produce, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post opines. “I think for me and Mikal, we just wanted to show our value to the team,” Towns said. “And I think that throughout the year, we’ve had the opportunity to do that, to our fans and our teammates and our coaching staff.”
- Jalen Brunson, who returned from an ankle injury this month to play four games, says that past playoff experiences will help the club navigate this postseason, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. “I think for us, it’s, like any other season, it’s a roller coaster every year, there’s gonna be ups and downs, and it’s all about how you manage it,” Brunson said. “But now that the regular season’s over, it’s all about how we can move on and be better the next day. I know it’s a term that people don’t like to hear, but we learn from what we did in the past, good and bad, and move on and get better. That’s the name of the game at this stage of the season. … So we’re just focused. We still got a long way to go with preparation, still got a long way to go making sure we’re ready to go for Saturday. We’ll be ready.”
- The talent is there but are the Knicks tough enough to make it past the physical Pistons and other potential opponents? Newsday’s Steve Popper explores that topic in a subscriber-only story.
Upset alert.
I can’t see the Pistons beating the Knicks
If betting, I’d go knicks. Pistons are definitely the wrong type of team for NY though. Pistons are definitely going to leave it out there and take a big piece of New York, hurting them going forward.
But yet, they could.
What if Thibs only played 4 guys lol. That’d be bad butt (censored for HR)
The Pistons are playing well. And they’re not intimidated by MSG. Cade is for real. OG and Bridges defense will be key this series. Thibs has used McBride (25), Payne (15.1), Achiuwa (20.5), Shamet (15.2), Mitch (17). No reason to think he won’t. See their mins. Landry has been scoring more lately. And Precious more physical gm is needed against Detroit. I respect Pistons. Don’t want to see this go 7. TJ where are you ??
link to x.com
Cade is definitely the real deal. Think Thibs should try OG on him, at least part time, because he’s too strong for Mikal, too fast for Hart, too tall for Deuce.
I love Thibs but he can’t change who he is. Zero chance 4-5 bench guys get significant minutes. I really hope Shamet gets a chance bc of how hot he’s been lately. I think Mitch is gonna be very important in this series, I’m encouraged by his late season showings.
It’s gonna be a tough series, hopefully our overall talent and playoff experience give us the edge over the seemingly tougher Pistons. Could imagine it going 7 but also don’t want that at all.
KAT needs to be assertive and up his defensive effort. Brunson should maybe get the offense going a little faster, when the ball moves early and often, we have thrived. Getting some consistent offense from OG and Mikal becomes critical now too when teams will load up on JB.
Is TJ Warren your cousin or something? No disrespect but your obsession with him is just strange and confusing. The man has done nothing of significance since his magic bubble time, 5 years ago. Or are you just trolling everyone at this point?
I can See the Knicks beating the Pistons. But they are nowhere near a championship Team.
At least New York has a good Team now. But they won’t win anything with that roster and dont have the picks to Upgrade next year. They will soon reach their ceiling, best case the east Finals.
And when your front court is named harris and hardaway – your team is going nowhere.
Well said commander. My response was flagged lol. It’s just not their time. Knicks drafted their center. By series end, Knicks fans will despise Stewart. He makes precious look small. Gonna be fun. Still like Knicks. Enjoy boys!
We need to diversify the rotation… It’s almost impossible to win a championship with 7-8 guys, and all starters playing almost 40 minutes a night from day one of regular season to all the playoffs… This has made a great job lifting the team and franchise, but this needs to be emphasized in this stage of the team…
No reason to think Towns could play 29 minutes a gane and Precious 20+ all season… Then, you have Towns much fresher for the playoffs.
The team needs another steady ballhandler and distributor for the second unit, to put Deuce at SG on offense and guarding the best perimeter player on the other team. His development has been a success, credit to Thibs in this one.
Unfortunate the Hukporti injury, he was primed to be helpful in the playoffs. Think of a Hukporti – Mitch frontcourt for stretches. A true terror for opponents to score in the paint.
Actually we are one player away from title contending, a dynamic backcourt distributor off the bench.