Tom Thibodeau / Tom Horak – USA TODAY Sports
This is last Sunday, mid-afternoon, about a half-hour after the Knicks were embarrassed at home in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Julius Randle is answering questions from reporters who want to know what happened, how the Knicks could let Oklahoma City hit 17 threes and 62 percent of their shots.
Randle shares his thoughts on the defensive issues. He talks about the importance of consistent effort, accepting the challenge of guarding your man.
But Randle also talks about something else after that ugly loss. He talks about the team’s opportunity to grow together during the upcoming road trip.
“I think we’ve got a great group of guys who want to (find consistency on both ends of the floor),” Randle said. “…. There’s nothing like a long road trip of us being around and bonding with each other, really getting to spend time with each other. So it I will be a great time for us to find that consistency.”
At the time, even the most optimistic Knicks fan would probably question Randle. The club was coming off of a bad loss and heading into a tough five-game road trip.
The kind of road trip that sinks seasons if teams are splintering.
But Randle was right. After a team dinner prior to the Utah game, the Knicks swept a tough back-to-back in Utah and Denver.
The Nuggets didn’t have Nikola Jokic or Aaron Gordon, but New York still deserves proper credit for sweeping the tough back-to-back.
Evan Fournier noted that playing in Denver on the second night of a back-to-back is among the toughest scheduling scenarios in the NBA because of the city’s altitude and difficult travel itinerary for opposing teams.
Randle’s fingerprints were all over the win in Denver. He played one of his best – and most complete – games as a Knick.
In the process, he probably turned down the scrutiny on his head coach.
As we noted Monday, Tom Thibodeau’s seat was warming after the OKC loss because it was the third game over the past two weeks in which New York’s defense looked subpar.
Story continues
If Thibodeau had totally lost connection with his players, you probably would have…
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