Knicks Bulletin: ‘This imposter ain’t the Tom Thibodeau I know and love’

It’s Valentine’s Day! Go outside, let’s celebrate!

We are in for a tough week as there’s no Knicks basketball scheduled until next Thursday when New York will host Chicago for the return of the boys to the hardwood.

That’s because of the mighty All-Star Weekend taking place from today through Sunday night, so enjoy the event and the little break as much as you can.

Here’s the latest from Coach Thibs and a few other Knicks.

Tom Thibodeau

On how Precious Achiuwa has helped with OG Anunoby out:

“Just the versatility—I think, obviously, being short-handed and his ability to play the 4 and the 5. That’s a big plus.

“The offensive rebounding, the athleticism and the ability to switch [positions], particularly when you have Josh [Hart], OG and Mikal [Bridges] out there, as well.”

Josh Hart

On a hypothetical Jalen Brunson trade request:

“Alright, cool, if that’s what makes you happy… myself—I’m gonna be mad. I ain’t gonna cry, I’m not crying, but for me… I signed a contract extension, I didn’t really do free agency, I wanna be here, JB’s here, but (if) then you just hit me with ‘I’m out’… I’m like ‘Do what makes you happy bro’.

“I’m gonna be sick. I came here for you.”

On the parallels between that fantasy scenario and what happened in Sacramento with De’Aaron Fox’s trade:

“We don’t know what conversations they had behind the scenes or whatever, (but) if I was in that situation I’d be kind of hurt.

“I think Malik (Monk) took a pay cut (to play with Fox in Sacramento) too, he probably could have got more in free agency.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On the Knicks’ improving defense:

“I think offensively we’re doing great. Defensively we have things to work on—consistency, discipline. But I think those are all things y’all as the media can see from Game 1 to now, where we’re a much better version of ourselves.

“I’ve always talked about with y’all since Day 1, about what the one percent—finding ourselves getting one percent better every night. And I think this team has grown.

“I hope that [Wednesday’s win is] a great example of games that would have been much more difficult for us early in the season and games I feel would have been very tough to win.

“We find ourselves on the right side, and it talks about the growth of this team. It talks about the continuity that we have with each other, the belief that we have that regardless of how it’s going, that we’ll find ourselves with a win.”

On how the Knicks are entering the All-Star break:

“We can take some of that stuff, and the things that we need to improve upon, take a hard look. This is a good chance.

“I want our players to get away and reenergize and refocus and then come back ready to head down the stretch. But there’s been a lot of fight, a lot of determination.

“We had to overcome a lot. We still haven’t had Mitch. Precious [Achiuwa] missed a good chunk, and Landry [Shamet] missed a good chunk.”

Jalen Brunson

On the Knicks’ first half of the season:

“We’ve done good thus far, but we have a long way to go.

“I’m excited to get down the stretch, man. It’s going to be fun.”

On reaching the Knicks’ expectations:

“We haven’t really accomplished anything. We have a long way to go to get to where we want to go. It’s all about just taking one day at a time. Right now, it’s just to rest and recharge and come back ready to go.”

Precious Achiuwa

On the Knicks’ chemistry:

“It’s a group of guys that prioritize winning whatever happens, and we’ll continue to fight.

“I think we’re a well-put-together team. We’ve been able to accomplish a lot so far this season, and we just gotta continue to play at the same pace we are right now and continue to trust each other and play hard, and I think we’ll be just fine.”

On his current form making up for OG’s absence:

“I’m just playing my game and trusting my game. I’m in a good rhythm right now. It’s just being ready for whatever is asked of me and being able to perform at whatever levels are needed for us to win games.

“However much I can be out there, I just want to win basketball games. I think that’s the most important thing, is winning games, whatever it takes, and that goes for every guy in this locker room. Whoever is out there, they try to do whatever we can to help the team win.”

Carmelo Anthony (Former NBA Player)

On his complicated relationship with the Knicks:

“I went through it. I went through, kind of against New York in a sense. Like, me playing against my own fans at times.

“Most people are like ‘Why do you love it? Why are you connected to it?’ How the hell I can’t be!? I went through hell, I went through the fire, I done took every responsibility, accountability that you could possibly take as an athlete here in New York.”

On how he handled criticism:

“I think the fact that I went through what I went through in New York and it was only one-sided when I was going through it… I never spoke on it, I’ve never said anything, I stood tall on everything. I just backed out of it and I think once I left it was a different type of appreciation because it’s like, damn, we’re still going through this.”

On the misunderstanding of George Karl leading to his departure from Denver:

“He’d been around the block for a long time and was trying to send me a message in a way. If he would’ve delivered the message differently, I probably would’ve received it differently.

“But now looking back at it like, damn, he was saying some s—t to me but it wasn’t the way you should say it to a person in that situation.”

On his relationship with Denver and the Nuggets:

“I don’t honestly have any bull. Like, there’s no bullshit with me when it comes to Denver, to be honest. My only bullshit came with George. That was the only issue I had.

“I never had problems with the front office. We always had a really good relationship. Stan—we had a good relationship. Josh—we had a good relationship. Kiki VanDeWeghe, Mark—you know, Mark Warkentien—God bless his soul. Like, my only thing was with George.”

Stephen A. Smith (TV Personality)

On the Knicks’ lack of defensive identity after allowing 148 points to Atlanta:

“If you’re the New York Knicks listen, you’re pissing me off. I’m really getting disgusted with this organization right now. Where is their identity?

“Where is Tom Thibodeau at? Where is he? This imposter that’s on the sidelines—you understand what I’m saying?

“It ain’t the Tom Thibodeau I know and love.”

On the Knicks’ failed pursuit of Kevin Durant after selling the house for Mikal Bridgas:

“Do I think Phoenix is the right place for [Durant]? Not necessarily so. I’d love to see—I’d give anything for the Knicks to be able to get a Kevin Durant, especially if you got Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, but I don’t think the likelihood of that happening is plausible.

“I don’t know if they could have [made a move] because they gave up five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges. I love Bridges, I love him in a New York Knicks uniform, but was he worth that much?

“I look at it this way, if the New York Knicks had given him up for three picks and kept two of them, they might have been able to get Kevin Durant to New York. You got to look at it from that standpoint.”