gradyandrew wrote:In his rookie year Kevin Knox took 364 3 point shots. The Knicks had hired Fizdale with the understanding that in a post Melo world with an injured KP，their most likely path to contention was to tank hard for a top pick in the draft. By February it was clear that Zion Williamson was going to be a generational type player and that a much less discussed but from the Knicks stand point highly beneficial extra of the KP trade was that by trading Tim Hardaway Jr the Knicks also got rid of the best player on the roster. Fizdale could be confident that every ill advised Knox FGA brought him one step closer to a roster built around KD，Kyrie，and Zion. The best laid plans of the mice and men often go awry and Zion's first basket in the NBA is a clear enough summary: He ripped the ball out of Knox's hands and dunked on him.

Failure is the mother of invention and in Jim Dolan's case the implausibility of that plan allowed him to finally realize that the bright lights of MSG alone would never bring the success us fans crave. Loyal to a fault he shelled out big bucks for management，coaches，and players. How and why he was able to convince Leon Rose to come on board has never been revealed but I think the answer is simple. Like us，Rose is a Knicks fan. The fortuitous availability of Thibodeau sealed the deal.

Thibodeau was eager to rebuild his image after the disastrous end of the Jimmy Butler era in Minnesota. Despite being handed the keys to the franchise he ultimately failed with just a single playoff series to show for it. You can't fault Thibodeau for lack of trying. He's married to the game like a nun to Christ. He brings a single minded determination to the game in a way that even Michael could emulate. No golf games during the season for Thibodeau. I question even whether he worries about wins and losses in the cumulative sense. I'd be surprised if he knows his career record. For him，the process is the important part. You can see from his career that talent is never a substitute for process. Luol Deng never amounted for much outside of Chicago， but in his time there he led the NBA in minutes played.

From Thibodeau's first post game comments of the season you could hear his pride. He clearly has nothing but love for Randle. The pre Thibs knock against Randle was that he was a selfish player; Thibs gushed about Randle's willingness to pass out of the blitz and trust his teammates to make the right play. Randle's night work outs were called out. When the 100 million dollar man is working overtime it sets the tone for the entire roster. Obi and Quickley were singled out for their work ethic. "Team Green" the rookies were praised for being in New York all summer. The make-up of the team，where solid vets are passing their know how down to the rookies gives us some idea of the sustainability of last seasons turn around.

There was one zag. Thibodeau talked about how the offense will shoot more 3s this season but only the right kind of 3s. To me，there was only one egregious error all game. While Thibs in a comment on Sims miscues was happy to allow players to make mistakes，he did point out that when they do they can't continue making the same ones. Which brings me back to Kevin Knox.

After making two good plays off of cuts to the basket Knox decided to hoist a deep 3 in traffic early in the shot clock. Regardless of whether the shot goes in or doesn't (it didn't) it's tough to imagine building any sort of winning community off that play. In a word，it was selfish. Everyone out there is playing for a spot in the NBA and the easiest way to do it is to score points. That no one else on the court ever had the advantage of those aforementioned 364 shots or the millions guaranteed by being a high lottery pick only makes it worse. For a 22 year old whose baptism in the NBA was the greenest of lights it's a tough pill to swallow; the reason he had that license to shoot was because everyone was hoping he would miss. Now the coach wants him to win.

Thibodeau is no Doc Rivers willing to throw his own players under the bus to preserve his own reputation，but for anyone willing to read between the lines the message is clear enough: Vets，rookies，Randle，RJ，Obi， and IQ put in the work but despite knowing better Knox continues to make the same mistakes and the time is past for course correction. The optimist could be convinced that it's a motivational tool to teach， more likely is that we have seen the last shot for Knox as a Knick.

Knox payed 4 minutes and one shot does not label him. Good analysis. Knox is not yet in the rotation based on last night. I would expect Thibs to perhaps play with lineups to see what he got and Knox, like all others will get opportunities to step up. Does he? We’ll see! Odds are not in his favor.

Nalod wrote:

gradyandrew wrote:In his rookie year Kevin Knox took 364 3 point shots. The Knicks had hired Fizdale with the understanding that in a post Melo world with an injured KP，their most likely path to contention was to tank hard for a top pick in the draft. By February it was clear that Zion Williamson was going to be a generational type player and that a much less discussed but from the Knicks stand point highly beneficial extra of the KP trade was that by trading Tim Hardaway Jr the Knicks also got rid of the best player on the roster. Fizdale could be confident that every ill advised Knox FGA brought him one step closer to a roster built around KD，Kyrie，and Zion. The best laid plans of the mice and men often go awry and Zion's first basket in the NBA is a clear enough summary: He ripped the ball out of Knox's hands and dunked on him.

Failure is the mother of invention and in Jim Dolan's case the implausibility of that plan allowed him to finally realize that the bright lights of MSG alone would never bring the success us fans crave. Loyal to a fault he shelled out big bucks for management，coaches，and players. How and why he was able to convince Leon Rose to come on board has never been revealed but I think the answer is simple. Like us，Rose is a Knicks fan. The fortuitous availability of Thibodeau sealed the deal.

Thibodeau was eager to rebuild his image after the disastrous end of the Jimmy Butler era in Minnesota. Despite being handed the keys to the franchise he ultimately failed with just a single playoff series to show for it. You can't fault Thibodeau for lack of trying. He's married to the game like a nun to Christ. He brings a single minded determination to the game in a way that even Michael could emulate. No golf games during the season for Thibodeau. I question even whether he worries about wins and losses in the cumulative sense. I'd be surprised if he knows his career record. For him，the process is the important part. You can see from his career that talent is never a substitute for process. Luol Deng never amounted for much outside of Chicago， but in his time there he led the NBA in minutes played.

From Thibodeau's first post game comments of the season you could hear his pride. He clearly has nothing but love for Randle. The pre Thibs knock against Randle was that he was a selfish player; Thibs gushed about Randle's willingness to pass out of the blitz and trust his teammates to make the right play. Randle's night work outs were called out. When the 100 million dollar man is working overtime it sets the tone for the entire roster. Obi and Quickley were singled out for their work ethic. "Team Green" the rookies were praised for being in New York all summer. The make-up of the team，where solid vets are passing their know how down to the rookies gives us some idea of the sustainability of last seasons turn around.

There was one zag. Thibodeau talked about how the offense will shoot more 3s this season but only the right kind of 3s. To me，there was only one egregious error all game. While Thibs in a comment on Sims miscues was happy to allow players to make mistakes，he did point out that when they do they can't continue making the same ones. Which brings me back to Kevin Knox.

After making two good plays off of cuts to the basket Knox decided to hoist a deep 3 in traffic early in the shot clock. Regardless of whether the shot goes in or doesn't (it didn't) it's tough to imagine building any sort of winning community off that play. In a word，it was selfish. Everyone out there is playing for a spot in the NBA and the easiest way to do it is to score points. That no one else on the court ever had the advantage of those aforementioned 364 shots or the millions guaranteed by being a high lottery pick only makes it worse. For a 22 year old whose baptism in the NBA was the greenest of lights it's a tough pill to swallow; the reason he had that license to shoot was because everyone was hoping he would miss. Now the coach wants him to win.

Thibodeau is no Doc Rivers willing to throw his own players under the bus to preserve his own reputation，but for anyone willing to read between the lines the message is clear enough: Vets，rookies，Randle，RJ，Obi， and IQ put in the work but despite knowing better Knox continues to make the same mistakes and the time is past for course correction. The optimist could be convinced that it's a motivational tool to teach， more likely is that we have seen the last shot for Knox as a Knick.

Knox payed 4 minutes and one shot does not label him. Good analysis. Knox is not yet in the rotation based on last night. I would expect Thibs to perhaps play with lineups to see what he got and Knox, like all others will get opportunities to step up. Does he? We’ll see! Odds are not in his favor.

Nalod.. the dude played 4 minutes and somehow did all the things that lost him his spot in the rotation. He plays hard but like someone who forgets which button does what on the controller. Damn... I meant to pass, looks like Im shooting a 30 footer. Damn, I meant to shoot, looks like Im putting it on the floor.

He's 22. He's like 2 year younger than Duarte who's an old rookie. I think Knox still has a reasonable Al Harrington type ceiling but hard to see it happen here

Panos wrote:All Harrington was not a winning player.
We're building around team oriented players, not shot-jackers

And you can't call a lottery pick an underdog. Lottery picks are expected to contribute and Knox hasn't shown any signs he can do that in a rotation on a winning team. I don't think he'll be in the league next season. But maybe Dallas will sign him after waiving Frank.