Young Knicks behind team’s defensive rebound

After hitting rock bottom at home against Dallas on December 3, the Knicks had a record of 10 wins for 13 losses, and were in 11th place in the East. Since then, Tom Thibodeau’s troop has chained four extremely convincing victories, against the Cavaliers, the Hawks, the Hornets and the Kings.

New York returned to the Top 6 of its conference (14 wins – 13 losses) thanks to an impressive defensive rebound. Over the last four meetings, New York has posted a “Defensive Rating” of 94.4 points per possession, which makes it very, very largely the best defense in the league over the period. Above all, in these four games, the Knicks’ opponents only shoot at 39.1% success, including 22.1% at 3-pointers!

The contribution of Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride

For Tom Thibodeau, that stat is key, and he credits the contributions of Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride.

“Quentin and Deuce (Miles McBride) bring a lot, but I don’t want to forget what the others are also doing” explains the coach. “When you start looking at the stats, you see it’s pretty good. »

As Gibson Pyper details in the video, the two backs are changing the entire New York defense with their ability to hinder and contain opposing ball carriers, which the Knicks have had great difficulty doing until now. But as RJ Barrett explains, the whole group has upped its game defensively.

“The defense has really improved, thanks to the extra effort, especially with guys like Deuce and Quentin, but also Quick (Immanuel Quickley), who do a lot of work on the ball”, explains the Canadian to the New York Post. “And Mitch [Robinson], which protects the paintwork from the rear. It was all huge for us. We have to try to keep all those things in place defensively as much as possible. »

The youth have fun

Because if Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride are essential on the ball, it is the whole team that has found the Thibodeau paw these last four games, by making the necessary effort on the defensive withdrawal or by contesting as many shots as possible. Like a much more solid and involved Julius Randle in the field.

“It’s about playing hard, going the extra mile. We’re not going to be perfect every game, we’re going to make mistakes. As long as we give 110%, that we make the effort to compensate for our mistakes, everything will be fine”explains Quentin Grimes. “I feel like that’s what we’ve done the last four games… There’s a lot of youngsters with me, Deuce, Quick, RJ, but it’s fun. We are almost the same age, 22 or younger. I feel like it’s easier to go out there and play, have fun and go for the win. It’s fun to go out there with all these young guys.”

And above all, it allows the Knicks to revive, even if the extremely short rotation of Tom Thibodeau, while his defensive system requires a lot of effort, can still be a long-term problem.