CHICAGO — Say that again to the students in the back of the classroom.
Surprisingly, the Knicks, led by Tom Thibodeau, haven't employed the NBA player who earned the most minutes on the court this season, which is a very discouraging opinion considering his reputation. So, Thibodeau asked the reporter to repeat that sentiment again out loud so the scrum could hear it.
That's true. Thibodeau's Knicks do not have a single player who ranks in the top 10 in total minutes played this season, despite his declining physical strength.
That honor belongs to one of his successors, Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, the league's new leader in driving players into the ground.
DeMar DeRozan heads into Friday's game against the Knicks leading the NBA with nearly 2,800 minutes played this season. And his teammate Coby White is not far behind, ranking fourth in total minutes played on the season.
Bulls center Nikola Vucevic is also in the top 25 in minutes played this season.
No other team in all of basketball has two players ranked in the top 10, let alone the top 5, in minutes played this season. No other team has three players ranked in the top 25.
Including Thibodeau's Knicks, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson rank 16th and 17th, respectively, in total minutes played this season, followed by Donte DiVincenzo at 62nd.
Hart, DiVincenzo, and Miles McBride have each ranked in the top 15 in minutes over the past 15 games, but both Hart and McBride have been given higher usage after a combination of events. was assigned the role of Namely, the trade of Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors caused a conflict with McBride. With the guard position moved up and injuries to OG Anunoby and Julius Randle, both Hart and McBride were inserted into the starting lineup.
“Every team is different,” Thibodeau said before Friday's tipoff against the Bulls. “You have to do what you think is best for the team. Everybody gets put in a box. That's how it works. I would never do it — people who haven't done this, people don't have an opinion. But you don't listen to them. But if the people who have done it say something, you might take a look at it. But other than that, it's praise. It doesn’t matter if it’s a joke or a criticism.”
Whatever it takes to win.
That's the message Thibodeau conveyed after returning to his old team, where he coached the Bulls from the 2010-11 season to the end of the 2014-15 season.
In This's first season with the Bulls, both Derrick Rose and Luol Deng finished in the top 10 in total minutes played. Coincidentally, the Bulls finished as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, losing to LeBron James' Miami Heat in the conference finals.
“I think you have to think about what's best for your team and what gives you the best chance to win. And if you have a player who can handle it, you should get him,” Thibodeau said. “But if you check the box score every night, you'll see that there are a lot of guys playing in games like that. And a lot of times someone will look at a particular game and see if you're in foul trouble or , maybe someone played in extra innings because he was injured or went to extra innings, but if you look at it over 10 or 20 games, , his average minutes were It’s the same average time as everyone else.”
Thibodeau said minutes are largely a byproduct of matchups, which is why LeBron played 226 minutes in the conference finals. Luol Deng recorded 212 minutes.
“That's always been the case. I think people tend to not pay attention to when the star players play, usually not to the matchup — whoever their primary opponent is, in this game he beats LeBron. They're going to guard, so when LeBron is on the floor, that's when they're on the floor,” Thibodeau said. “So if LeBron is going to play at 39, he's going to play at 39. If it's DeMar.” [DeRozan]”If he's playing at 40, whoever's guarding him has to play at 40, otherwise he's less likely to win. The bottom line is to win the game. If you look at all the teams, I think every team is different.”
“So if you have an older man, look. [San Antonio] Spurs: when [Tim] Duncan was young and was playing 40 minutes. When he got older, he wasn't like that. It's part of managing the team, so wherever you are, you do what you think is best. And you know the players better than anyone. I think players know themselves better than anyone else. Sometimes the story comes out there. You know how media works. ”
It will take time for the Knicks. With eight regular season games remaining on the schedule, it is inevitable that Randle will opt to undergo shoulder surgery and miss the season.
OG Anunoby's return from right elbow surgery will help, but the Knicks need to win games, and to do that they'll be playing against the best players.
Even if it means gaining miles for the playoffs.
