3 Reasons why The Knicks are built for the playoffs
By Mark Wessol
The Knicks are elite on defense
Tom Thibodeau and defense go together like bread and butter. If he is coaching a team they will play defense for 48 minutes. Just check out my colleague Adam’s article here for even further proof.
Why is this so important especially for the Knicks?
First of all, everyone has heard the quote, “defense wins championships” and it’s true. While the Knicks may not be “there” yet, meaning competing for a ring, their defense will certainly pave a way for some playoff wins and perhaps a series win.
Which if you are a Knicks fan you know would be HUGE.
The team has an All-Star in Julius Randle on their team, but as we have all witnessed, scoring can be troubling with the Knicks. In fact, the Knicks are a bottom-three team in the entire NBA when it comes to scoring.
This is where defense comes into play. No matter how good of a basketball player you are, you will have games where your shots won’t fall and you can’t seem to control it. But what you can control is effort and your defense.
We have seen our fair share of Knicks wins come from this. It may be a little ugly here and there but the defense is winning us games.
It is so noticeable around the league that players from other teams are commenting on it, just take a listen to what Anthony Edwards had to say about it.
This team is scrappy, gritty, and have a do whatever it takes attitude, something opposing players find “annoying” when playing, especially those star-caliber players who can score with ease.
New York will inevitably be playing against those star players, so making sure they are as uncomfortable as possible for a 7 game series will only increase our chances of winning games.