Knicks Bulletin: ‘Say what you want about Thibs. He gets the job done’

Will New York split the series against OKC? We can only wait and see.

Day off for the Knicks on Thursday before they take the court against the fearful OKC Thunder on Friday in a rematch for the ages with the Bolts coming off a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

New York was so close to beating Shai’s Mob last week but ultimately fell short and entered a horrid three-game losing skid that the Knicks finally ended against the Raptors last midweek.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few Knickerbockers have said entering Friday’s NBA Finals preview.

Tom Thibodeau

On the Knicks finally ending their three-game losing skid last Wednesday.

“We’ve got a great group of guys and they work at it.

“Over the course of the season sometimes you’re going to stumble, you’ve got to get back up, you’ve got to refocus. We went through a rough stretch on the road [so] lock into the recovery. Do that and just find a way to win. I think that’s a big part of growing and learning.

“The first thing is just don’t get down. Just get more determined. I think a big part of mental toughness is having the belief you can do things better. If we lock into that good things will come from that.”

On Landry Shamet’s contributions.

“You can execute with him. He makes the extra pass. He reads the floor well. He hustles on defense. He blocks out and blocks cutters, applies ball pressure, challenges a shot, moves without the ball.

“There are a lot of things that he does that aren’t necessarily reflected in statistics but help a team function well.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On defending Tom Thibodeau against criticism.

“I feel like y’all give him flack all the time. No matter where he is. But y’all keep talking about him and that means he keeps getting a job and that means everyone keeps respecting him and knowing what he can do for a team.

“He’s done it in Chicago, he did it in Boston, he did it with us in Minny. And he’s doing it here—even before I got here.

“So say what you want about Thibs—he gets the job done.”

On the Knicks’ 0-4 record against top teams.

“Damn, we moving the posts like that? We’re in third!”

On the Knicks’ recent performances.

“I think we are playing good basketball. Unfortunately, there has to be a winner and loser in every game.

“I think that OKC and Chicago, those two games, it shows the level we can play at against anybody. Obviously, you have to sustain it for 48 minutes, but when you look at those games and you watch the film you really like what you see from this team. Not only from the physical aspect of our talent and putting the ball in the basket but just the vibes and the mentality.

“There are a lot of good things, but we have to find a way for 48 minutes and we are blessed, still early in the regular season where we still have a lot of time to figure it out.”

On Josh Hart’s unpredictability.

“Off the court, I don’t know what Hart is gonna say. And on the court, I don’t know what he’s gonna do.

“I think I’ve become the biggest fan of Josh Hart because I just don’t know what I’m gonna see from Josh Hart that night.”

On Josh Hart’s reliability.

“Hart is always there. He’s always there when you need him.”

Josh Hart

On the Knicks’ approach to the rematch against the Thunder.

“We’ve got to approach that like we just approached it, like we approach every game. We’re not playing a championship game on January 10th.

“That’s one of the best if not the best teams in the league with someone who might be the MVP. So we’ve got to go out there with energy.”

On the loss to OKC last week and making the proper adjustments on Friday.

“I learned that we should have executed better down the stretch.

“We’ve got to get Jalen off the ball a little more. You’ve got a physical guy like Lu Dort picking him up 94 feet. We’re having him exert a lot of energy just getting the ball across half-court.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re looking out for each other, make sure we’re executing at a high level.

“I think we built a 12– or 14-point lead at one point, so got to continue when we have things like that to bury teams and not keep the door open.”

On criticism about playing minutes.

“We had a couple bad games, a couple losses in a row and all y’all cry about minutes and being the minute police and all that. That’s all outside noise.

“We’re gonna play the game how we’re supposed to play it. We’re gonna play as hard as we can when we’re out there.”

On Tom Thibodeau’s reliance on starters and not caring about having to play heavy minutes.

“We’re gonna be out there.”

Landry Shamet

On his basketball journey.

“Playing for a lot of different teams, a lot of different teammates, seeing a lot of different situations, great players, different coaching styles, I think you just build up your memory bank and things you can draw from.

“I’m grateful for the journey I’ve had so far and thankful to be here and try to build and grow with this group.”

Mikal Bridges

On Landry Shamet’s career.

“Happy he’s here and getting another chance.

“He could always hoop, and I’ve always been a fan of Landry.”