New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau on why Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes are cut from rotation: "It gave us better rhythm, that's why we did it”
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has had his performance as a coach put under the microscope as of late. The Knicks have had an underwhelming start to the season to say the least. With that said, however, the team recently picked up one of its biggest wins of the season on Tuesday when they defeated the Utah Jazz 118-111.
Although the team got the win, the team looked significantly different than they had previously. Throughout the course of the game, Thibodeau only used a nine-man rotation. While rotating in fewer players is something that winds up being common come playoff time, Thibodeau benching Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes was unexpected.
With the team posting just a 7-7 record so far this season, it's no surprise that every move Thibodeau makes is subject to scrutiny. The same was the case when he benched Kemba Walker last season. He was repeatedly questioned about the decision, which he felt ultimately came down to Walker's lack of aggression on offense.
Following the team's win over the Utah Jazz, he was asked about benching Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes, to which he replied:
“We wanted to see what it would look like. And it gave us, I thought, better rhythm. That's why we did it.”
He continued, talking about the impact of his tighter rotation down the stretch in the fourth quarter, where the Knicks outscored the Jazz 35-26.
“I thought that that group played really well and so there was good activity with it. I think there's stretches where you have Derrick, Quick, Cam and then it's Derrick, Quick, RJ. And then I thought Obi really played well. I mean really well and so I love the production that we got. … And I thought it brought the best out of everyone.”
Thibodeau's comments came during the postgame media scrum, which can be seen below.
The state of the New York Knicks
Both Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier have had below-average seasons with the Knicks. In Fournier's case, over the course of 13 games, he's averaging just 6.9 points, the lowest since his rookie season. In addition, Fournier currently has a career-low 34.4% field-goal percentage to go along with a career-low 33.3% 3-point percentage.
On the flip side, Grimes has struggled to build on the success of his rookie season. After averaging 6 points last season on 40.4% from the field, Grimes is averaging just 2.0 points this season. In his case, Thibodeau previously explained that the New York Knicks sophomore guard needed to ramp up his conditioning.
So far, no word is out on whether or not Thibodeau will look to slowly reintroduce Fournier and Grimes into the lineup. Considering the fact that the team seemed unwilling to part ways with Grimes in trade talks, many are expecting him to return to the lineup eventually.
The New York Knicks will play the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday evening in Denver, where they'll look to go on a two-game win streak. Check out some of their highlights from the team's win over the Jazz below.