Anyone who lives and dies with the Knicks will remember Amar’e Stoudemire laughing his new $ 100 million smile and shouting, “The Knicks are back.”
The Knicks weren’t there then, and eleven years later, they’re not back now.
But after so many quick breakups to heartbreak over the years, after Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson and the triangle attack, after David Fizdale, after Kristaps Porzingis eruption, Tom Thibodeau has called time out for woe, and on the eve of the All-Star break, Knicks fans aren’t relieved this time the season is half over.
They can start believing again.
Their Knicks, 114-104 winners from the Pistons, are on their way back. Their Knicks are 19-18, lately they have been over .500 in eight years. Their Knicks are a team again.
“It just feels like something good is happening,” Julius Randle wrote in the Players’ Tribune.
A good thing happens when a star coach like Thibodeau arrives and gets his star player to buy in and everyone else follows.
The versatile, tireless Randle (27 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists) is the first Knicks All-Star since the chief lieutenant in Porzingis and Thibodeau’s locker room. “MVP” chanted the mini Garden crowd during and after the game.
Randle has come to love New York and New York has come to love him.
“He’s a great worker and sets a great example for the team,” said Thibodeau, “and the impact on winning is huge. It’s not his individual stats, it’s what he does for the team, and that’s going to be contagious. “
Something good happens when Barrett (21 points), a rising star in his sophomore year, poses a threat from the center when he doesn’t cut downhill to the hoop and has regained the swagger he showed at Duke.
“His preparation gives him a lot of confidence,” said Thibodeau.
Something good happens when Elfrid Payton (20 points), back from a bad hamstring that took him four games, was the best points guard on the floor, even as Frank Ntilikina drilled three threes in the second quarter.
Thibodeau is the best thing that ever happened.
Best Knicks Coach Since Jeff Van Gundy.
Tom great.
“Culture is how you do everything,” said Thibodeau. “It’s not a certain thing, it’s how you do everything.”
Thibodeau can’t turn the Knicks into heavyweight contenders overnight, but the signs of a burgeoning professionalism and a commitment to D-FENSE are undeniable.
“It feels like we have a common goal,” Randle wrote.
And hungry. “We’re not satisfied at all,” said Barrett.
Thibodeau has convinced players screaming for a leader and a teacher that you have to earn the right to win. He loves coaching these players. They love to get better together day by day.
“I think we’re all engaged,” Barrett said. “We all have our mindset towards the same goal, and we are all working towards it.”
The Knicks are no longer laughed at.
“We’re running the script on the reputation of our entire franchise,” Randle wrote.
Legendary Marv Albert, son of Brooklyn and Basket No. 1 on Manhattan Beach, was the voice of the Knicks when they won their NBA championships in 1970 and ’73. Red Holzman’s Willis Reed-Clyde Frazier teams remain the gold standard. That’s the way Knicks fans find themselves trying to scratch an itch for 48 years.
“They appreciate a good defense, and they appreciate a good passing,” said Albert. “That era was so popular because of the way they hurled the ball, and that’s what Golden State did during their championship years. Steve Kerr believed in that, and he did [Spurs coach Gregg] Popovich. Those Knick teams were very smart. In fact, Red had five coaches on the floor. “
The Pat Riley-Van Gundy Knicks were smart too, but their identity was toughness and tenacity.
“Which is also appreciated by Knick fans,” said Albert. “It’s funny, when another team comes into the Garden and defeats the Knicks, fans complain. [Anthony] Mason and [Charles] Oakley and that group, they would just kill boys – the game was so different – and of course that was welcomed. “
Mike Woodson is the last Knicks coach to win a playoff game. Thibodeau will be next. It may not happen this season. The schedule of the second half is cruel.
“There are some good things we have done, of course some things we need to improve,” said Thibodeau.
Of course there are. Never forget that the man is not happy unless he is miserable.
“The challenge will be great,” said Thibodeau, “so it has to bring out the best in us, but don’t change our approach, focus on improving every day.”
Once Leon Rose and World Wide Wes and Scott Perry give him more horses, there’s every reason to believe Thibodeau will lead them to the water and make them drink. Our Marc Berman asked what he would do during the break and Thibodeau cracked, “Turks and Caicos Islands.” Even there, without a team to coach, he wouldn’t be happy unless he was miserable.