Knicks Bulletin: ‘Casual basketball fans don’t really see his value’

The New York Knicks had a day off between trouncing the New Orleans Pelicans and facing the Orlando Magic for the right to host an NBA Emirates Cup quarter-finals matchup on Dec. 11.

New York and MSG will host the third seed of the Eastern Conference on Tuesday to determine whether the Knickerbockers will face the Atlanta Hawks (most probably) as part of the in-season tournament matchups, or if the NBA will have to create a new mid-December schedule for them.

Here is what Coach Tom Thibodeau and a few Knickerbockers said ahead of tonight’s pivotal game.

Tom Thibodeau

On Karl-Anthony Towns’ rebounding chops:

“With Rudy, he played away from the basket a lot more. He’s a terrific rebounder. Always been a terrific rebounder.

“He’s longer than you think, long arms, strong, really strong. Great anticipation. His experiences have helped him a lot, too.”

On balancing time between the Knicks and G-League rosters regarding rookies like Pacome Dadiet:

“[It’s] situational. So there was an opportunity to get some playing time, take advantage of it that way. And he’ll be back with us for practice (on Monday).

“The beauty of it is the setup, where we’re both practicing in the same building. So take advantage of it.”

On Precious Achiuwa’s return from injury:

“He’s going to do more contact now. He’s getting closer. Probably in the next week.”

On experimenting with two-big lineups in practice involving Jericho Sims and KAT:

“We’ll see how it unfolds. We haven’t had a lot of practice time, so that’s a big thing.

“We started to work on it and then KAT got nicked up. So that didn’t allow us to do it as much as we would’ve liked.”

On Jericho Sims’ value to the Knicks:

“He’s really worked hard (on his defensive skills). Very athletic. Great feet. And making the right decision at the right time.

“His athleticism is through the roof. He can react very quickly. And you need that. The rim protection is huge.”

On Sims’ lack of offensive production, namely scoring:

“Jericho is a hard guy to measure statistically—because you’re talking about screening, offensive rebounding, pressure on the rim, decision-making in pick-and-rolls, when to switch, when not to switch, when are you making a decision going after the ball.

“That comes with time. And a lot of times, he’s not getting the block, but he’s making people miss.”

On the clash of styles as the All-Offense Knicks face the All-Defense Magic in the NBA Cup:

“They’re playing great defense.”

Jalen Brunson

On Karl-Anthony Towns’ rebounding dominance:

“I think when you are in a different situation, you have to adjust. For him, he’s been able to adjust.

“I think all great players know they are able to impact the game however they can. Whatever it takes to win. He knows that. And he adjusts. H

“He goes out there and gets every board, even if it means fighting with Josh.”

On the NBA Cup and its significance for some teammates:

“It would mean a lot (to win the NBA Cup). It would mean a lot for us to get there and do all that.

“You have guys on the team who may be on one-year contracts or two-ways, or whatever. And you get to go out there and try to win for them, and it means a lot.

“I’m not going in thinking, ‘How is this going to benefit me?’ I’m thinking, ‘How is this going to benefit the team?’ There are games on the schedule, they matter, and we have to go out there and win them.”

Josh Hart

On facing physical teams like Orlando:

“[Orlando’s] a team that’s very physical. They’re a team that collapses in the paint. So as long as we get into the paint and spray and find five guys, there’ll be open shots.

“That’s the benefit of having [Jalen Brunson] who is shooting a good percentage, [Mikal Bridges] is coming off the best game of his year, OG [Anunoby] is shooting at a high percentage, [Karl-Anthony Towns] obviously. So being able to get in the lane, see the bigs on their team, see how they protect the paint. We should be able to get in there and spray.

“It should be a big assist game for us. Big drive-and-kick game for us.”

On the challenge of facing the Magic’s defense:

“They’re a very good team, and they are firing on all cylinders right now. This will be a good test for us.”

On Jericho Sims’ contributions and development:

“I think it goes underappreciated with the casual basketball fan that just looks at stats and doesn’t see the game and the presence that [Sims] has.

“At the beginning of the year, he was trying to figure out what to do, how to play, his spots to be. But in the last 10 to 12 games, he’s been huge for us.

“He’s been someone who has come in and rebounded at a high level. Guarded the pick-and-roll pretty well. Protects the rim at a high level. He’s someone who has been huge for us.

“Casual basketball fans don’t really see his value, but we know exactly what he brings.”

On the flexibility of having multiple bigs available:

“When we have Mitch back—hopefully January or whenever that is—[Sims] gives us the ability to have different lineups. And have two bigs and stuff like that.”