Tom Thibodeau dismissed the murmurs of probable pressure heading to another season with the New York Knicks.
Thibodeau claimed that the fact he is inserting his full efforts in handling the team, pressure can be felt on his side.
“I’ve never felt pressure, ever,” Thibodeau said. “See, when you put everything you have into your job, that’s all you can do. So I’ve never felt pressure. Others can say this, that. That ain’t happening here. Just get ready. I’ve been at this a long time. I approach it the same way. I put everything I have into each and every day. I’m willing to live with that result. There’s no one — no one — who studies this team harder than I do.”
Prior to last season, the Knicks enjoyed a blooming 2020-21 run in which they nailed their first postseason appearance in eight years. As a result of the club’s rise to relevance again, Thibodeau was awarded as the Coach of the Year – the second honor he received throughout his coaching stint.
But the following year, New York found themselves stumbling downward after a hot start. With the drama surrounding Julius Randle headlining, the Knicks found themselves at the bottom of the standings and went on to miss the playoffs.
“Things can change in this league very quickly,” he said. “They can go from good to bad very quickly, they can go from bad to good very quickly. Boston at the halfway mark was below .500 last year and they ended up in the finals. We started off 5-1, we hit that lull where we had a number of guys out, and that hurt us.
“We have to find a way to win no matter who we have. Sometimes you can lose a key player and you may not be able to replace his talent level, but you can win with your defense, your rebounding, taking care of the ball, because those are team things.”
With the key addition of Jalen Brunson, and RJ Barrett locked with them for years to come, the Knicks will look to have a bounce back year and fill another postseason spot this approaching basketball year.
