New York Knicks
Role Player
Knicks Bulletin: ‘You saw me with my shirt off. Them abs was poppin’
Source: https://www.postingandtoasting.com/...-saw-me-with-my-shirt-off-them-abs-was-poppin
Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/NBAE via Getty Images
New York keeps working on completing the quest on not beating a damn favorite.
It was another day in the office for the Knicks, who inched closer to reaching the playoffs without ever beating a legitimate contender through the regular season.
On Wednesday, it was the Cavs they went against, and all New York did was give up a 15-point lead to end up losing 124-105 to Cleveland inside MSG. Sheesh...
Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few other Knickerbockers had to say about this thing...
Tom Thibodeau
On struggling against elite teams:
“Obviously the good teams, they’re going to have records like that against other teams. You have to play really well to beat them. And we understand that. But you also have to look at all the factors that go into it. Is it a back-to-back? Do they have two days of rest? What’s their situation? We’re capable of beating anyone. We’re capable of losing to anyone, too.”
On learning from losses to top teams:
“Every game is revealing to you, telling you things that you need to work on. It also tells you things that you’re doing well. There’s always a lot of challenges.
“Sometimes when you look at the regular season, the variables that you sometimes don’t look at: Who’s out for them? Who’s out for you? Where are you in terms of rest advantage, disadvantage? Where are they? So those things do figure into it.
“But you strive to get better each and every day. You’re seeing it now. And we’ve dealt with it all year. Mitch missed the first 60 games of the season. That’s a lot. It was an opportunity for other guys to get in there and grow. We’re seeing it now with Jalen being out.
“We have more than enough. Next guy get in there and get the job done. Understand what the job is, get in there and execute.”
On injury updates:
“Those guys, they’re close. They’re not quite there. Cam’s in the same boat and Jalen’s getting pretty close as well. Deuce and Cam should be any day.”
On Mitchell Robinson’s rebounding and energy:
“You can see it — and as time goes on, it gets better and better. He usually has a couple guys on him and he still has the ability to get the ball, which is a credit to him. And he’s a big multiple-effort guy, so we need that pressure. Those extra possessions are huge for us.”
Josh Hart
On the Cavaliers’ third-quarter run:
“It changed the whole outlook of the game. When you’re already down three rotation guys. Two more basically are out of the game because of fouls, it changed the whole outlook. We were still up at that point. Got to just give them credit. That’s a good team. They’re No. 1 in the East for a reason. Got to tip your cap to them at times.”
On the difficulty regaining rhythm during the Cavs run earsing the 15-point difference:
“When they started going on that run, it was tough to stabilize or kind of slow things down and get us back into a rhythm.”
On the lowered expectations facing Cleveland with so many injured players:
“I don’t know. We just have to go out there and compete. We’re down…no one knows what [Karl-Anthony Towns] is doing, but I’m not sure if Mitch is going to play. Obviously JB and Cam and Deuce, I don’t think are going to be ready.
“You know, it’s the second game of a back-to-back, so we just got to go out there and compete. I think that’s the biggest thing. You know, some games it’s tough to put a lot of stock in. But this one, obviously they’re a heck of a team. They’re the number one team in the East for a reason and they’re going to come out — I think they haven’t played in a couple days so they’re going to have energy and attention to detail.
“So, we’re just going to have to come out and try to match that energy and compete.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the Knicks’ postseason outlook despite their regular-season struggles vs. elite teams:
“It’s 0-0 when you get to [the playoffs]. That would be the tell.
“I don’t think anything right now should ruin our confidence or make this team feel any other way but extremely confident with the work we put in.”
Mitchell Robinson
On his birthday performance vs. Philadelphia:
“Honestly I think this [was my best birthday game]. I believe it was this one.
“Coming out there with high energy. We had guys out so next man up. That was the mentality.”
On his conditioning after a long absence:
“[My] legs heavy. [The] conditioning not there. You know, missing 10 months is a loooong time, but I feel like with all the practices we done had, the shootarounds, it’s starting to catch up. That helps a lot.”
On his physical transformation and dropping weight during his rehab:
“I ain’t like how I looked. You saw me with my shirt off. Them abs was poppin’.
“It was the diet. It was a lot of stuff, but I’m not finna speak on it.”
Source: https://www.postingandtoasting.com/...-saw-me-with-my-shirt-off-them-abs-was-poppin
Precious Achiuwa 