The New York Knicks fell to the Orlando Magic, 117-108, on Friday, and head coach Tom Thibodeau was heated. Not necessarily because of the loss (although surely that didn’t improve his mood), but because Thibs is “sick and tired” of the way Jalen Brunson is being officiated.
“What [Brunson] is going through is ridiculous,” Thibodeau said. “He’s getting hammered time after time, and I’m just getting sick and tired of it. I watch [the plays]. I sent [them into the league office]. I see it all. And they’re fouls. Plain and simple. They’re fouls. There’s no other way to say it. They’re fouls.
“No one drives the ball to the rim more than [Brunson] does,” Thibodeau continued. “And if you rake across his arm, you rake across his arm. If you hit him in the head, you hit him in the head. Those are fouls. … Sick and tired of it.”
And with that, a disgusted Thibs up and stormed out of the press conference.
Let’s do a little reconnaissance here. When Thibodeau says “nobody drives to the rim more than Brunson,” is that true? No, it’s not. Brunson averages 16.6 drives per game, which is a top-10 mark, but a decent bit lower than guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.
Going further, Brunson drives into the paint a lot, but he doesn’t often get all the way to the rim, where a majority of contact is created. Per Cleaning the Glass, only 16% of Brunson’s total shot attempts come within four feet of the basket, an exceedingly low number.
So if you’re of the belief that a certain amount of drives should directly correlate with a certain number of foul calls (which is flawed logic to start with, but you do you), then Brunson isn’t meeting the criteria that Thibs thinks he is.
Brunson looks to do most of his damage in the short mid-range areas, creating skillful, shifty advantages with footwork and fakes — which doesn’t necessarily demand a whistle the way a forceful, rim-attacking driver like, say, Ja Morant or Anthony Edwards or even De’Aaron Fox often does.
Stephen Curry is a crafty, largely grounded finisher…
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