Knicks: 3 reasons to believe in New York’s promising start

3) Defense, ball movement, and Thibs

The connection between coach and player that Tom Thibodeau has been able to create in such a short period of time is noticeable and rare. I’ve only come across this kind of chemistry in coaches like Erik Spoelstra and Ty Lue and now, Coach Thibs.

As mentioned earlier, this team is just playing inspired basketball. I was truly petrified of the idea that a hard-nosed, no-nonsense coach like Thibs was coming to New York to coach a bunch of puppies, but clearly, his presence has proven to be fruitful. On several occasions, the Knicks will be up by double digits, and someone either gives up an easy lay-up or makes a boneheaded turnover, and all a sudden, here comes Thibs calling for a timeout to bark at the guys. No matter how well the team is performing, he keeps everyone on their toes and watching their P’s and Q’s, which you’ve gotta love to see.

A lot of the defense the Knicks are playing isn’t the kind that necessarily shows up on the stat-sheets, but as a unit, they are most definitely improved from last season. Guys that are not exactly known to play well on the ball are making up for that with heads-up steals and extra effort elsewhere.

An extra pass here and there has been extending possessions, getting more open looks for their shooters, and keeping the positive momentum for the offense. The Knicks are averaging 24 assists per game, but as the season progresses, based on the eye-test, I think they have the potential to improve on that number even more.

The future looks very bright for the New York Knicks, and with all the draft capital at their disposal, along with hopefully some intrigue from free agents in the future, title aspirations within the next few years doesn’t sound so farfetched.