James GordonAfter a disappointing 2012-13 season, many Knicks fans are hoping the team’s new head coach, Derek Fisher, can inspire the team to play harder. In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Fisher was asked directly if his teams played hard enough. He responded, “What’s the definition of hard?”
Last week, during a talk with the media after practice, Knicks rookie Frank Ntilikina said he’s preparing himself for a tougher season ahead. “It’s going to be tougher for me,” Ntilikina said. He was asked about Rose’s return. “I’m not surprised at all. It’s going to be tough, but I’m ready.”
New Knicks head coach Derek Fisher and his players got their first taste of the much-anticipated Knicks-Lakers rivalry on Wednesday, when the teams met for the first time. At the tip, Fisher told his players not to even think about how much they’d like to beat the Lakers. “I told them not to think about it,” said Fisher. “I said, ‘Look at the man across from you.’ I don’t want them to think too much about that.”. Read more about derrick rose knicks and let us know what you think.
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Derick Rose drives to the basket for Bogdan Bogdanovic during Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.
As if a loss against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs wasn’t bad enough, Atlanta Hawks quarterback Tra Young shook things up with his post-game comments.
After scoring the winning goal with less than a second left, he commented on the silence at Madison Square Garden after the game.
Next.
-@TheTraeYoung pic.twitter.com/e41Knsyl53
– Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) May 24, 2021
After the game, Young again criticized the fans in an interview with reporters (via the New York Post):
I always saw it as a good deed. If I offend them so much with my game that they hate me, I’m obviously doing something right. I just have to let my game speak for me. After all, fans can only talk. You can’t protect me. They’re not playing there.
Atlanta’s starting guard and now New York’s No. 1 player scored 32 points, handed out 10 assists and grabbed seven rebounds in 35 minutes of play Sunday, single-handedly dismantling the Knicks.
The atmosphere of the NBA playoffs encourages competition and creates rivalries that didn’t exist before.
Tra Young appears to have fallen apart with the New York Knicks, as Sixth Man of the Year finalist Derrick Rose gave his rebuttal to the opponent’s point guard Wednesday night before Game 2.
Derrick Rose replies to
Asked about Tre Young’s theatrical antics after Wednesday’s practice, former star Derrick Rose was candid with reporters (via Newsday):
The league has become so soft….. The crowd has to do it. His answer should be as follows. I mean, I’m used to it. … If you want to say something, say something. It’s good, but the next game will be harder.
A sixth player from the New York Knicks then added (via the New York Post) that the team would be better prepared in Game 2:
Today we will just play our usual way. Aggressive and intelligent play. He’s a smart player. He knows how to use the corners. We just have to make sure we don’t lose the ball and make it difficult for them. We didn’t do that in the last game.
Rose didn’t have a bad game on Sunday, but he didn’t have a great game either.
He finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, while committing five turnovers. It’s the most points he’s scored in a game against the Knicks, and only the second time this season (Dec. 26).
But his play is less of a concern for New York, which gets nothing from Rose’s predecessor, starter Elfrid Payton.
Fans are hoping head coach Tom Thibodeau will make a long-awaited change to the team on Wednesday.
A new look at the starting five?
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has not changed his stance on the point guard, despite calls from fans and analysts to remove Elfrid Payton from the starting lineup.
So far.
At least, that’s how fans and journalists like to interpret his recent comments.
The New York Knicks coach was approached again about Payton after playing just eight minutes with the point guard in Game 1, two short periods early in the first and second half.
For the first time, fans heard a different, less self-righteous rebuttal from Thibodeau (via the New York Post):
As for Elfrid, we always use the best players to help us win the match. So some guys are a little better than others in certain situations, some guys can do well. We have faith in everyone doing well.
He did, but in a way, the Knicks’ head coach planted the seed that could indicate a change in the roster.
And while Thibodeau is scouring the entire New York team for a replacement for Payton, probably no one has a better case than Burks.
Not only has he been the de facto point guard and ball handler this season, but he has also been a three game starter and two more games this year.
The Knicks won 3-2 in those games and Burks averaged 15.2 points per game.
Removing Burks from the second-ranked rotation is the least harmful given the chemistry that has developed between Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quikley, Obi Topping and Taj Gibson in recent months.
Elfrid Payton’s departure from the New York Knicks is the right decision, and there’s no doubt that Alec Burks is ready to respond.
But is Tom Thibodeau ready for this?
READ MORE: Julius Randle wins best player award and continues historic season
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