Knicks Guard Prioritizes Winning Over Style

The New York Knicks have winning on their mind, and that means doing a little bit of the dirty work.

Someone who is unafraid of doing the things that don’t get credit on the stat sheet is Josh Hart, who recently spoke about the importance of fundamentals and how that plays into his role on the team.

“I think, I don’t know, cutting and making the open layup is, in today’s league, boring. Everyone wants to do the isolations, stepback jumpers, and get their bounce-rhythm dribbles and iso,” Hart said h/t Posting and Toasting. “I think some of the fundamentals and beauty of the game—passing, cutting and moving—are lost.”

Hart dove deeper into why cutting is important and how it’s a key component of any team’s success on offense.

“You still have teams like Golden State (with) Steph Curry who do a great job cutting, but you have other teams where it’s just really focusing on the ball screen and everyone staying spaced. They don’t even want them to cut because then they’re cutting into some of the players,” Hart said. “For me, it’s a feel. If you see the back of your defender’s head, try to make a cut behind them or a face cut. People aren’t doing it that much because it’s not the ‘sexy’ play.”

Backing up Hart’s words is head coach Tom Thibodeau, who loves the fact that he has a player unbothered by being selfless.

“It’s huge. Being decisive and cutting hard is an act of unselfishness. It’s prioritizing winning,” Thibodeau said. “If you cut and you’re open, you should get the ball. But even if you cut with force and make the defense react to that, it’s going to open up other things and you’re going to create good offense for your teammates. And that’s what winning is about.”

Hart may not get much credit for his cutting during the season, but when the Knicks win, that could be a big reason why.

The Knicks are set to begin the regular season on Oct. 22 when they visit the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

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