'The league has gotten so soft, the crowd is supposed to do that' - Derrick Rose backs New York Knicks fans after fiery Game 1 against Trae Young
After a seven-season hiatus, the New York Knicks are playing playoff basketball at Madison Square Garden again. However, their return didn't exactly go to plan as the Atlanta Hawks won a thrilling matchup on Sunday, 107-105.
Nevertheless, MSG felt like a cauldron and it is quite often the fanbase who can help propel their team during the postseason. Especially when a team has little playoff experience. One player on the New York Knicks' roster who does have experience, though, is former MVP Derrick Rose.
The 32-year-old point guard showed all of his know-how at the weekend, putting up 17 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. However, it was his opposite number Trae Young who stole the show at The Garden and received the full force of the baying crowd because of it.
Rose has been dealt that kind of treatment throughout his career. The former MVP told reporters on Wednesday that the league had gotten soft and that it should be as intimidating to play in New York as it was during Game 1.
"The league has gotten so soft ... the crowd is supposed to do that. His reaction is supposed to be that way. I mean, that's what I'm used to. ... You want to talk shit, talk shit. It's alright, but next game it's going to be tougher," said Rose.
Trae Young is relishing being treated like a villain by the New York Knicks fanbase
You could barely hear a pin drop in MSG when Trae Young's floater rolled around the rim and in, leaving the New York Knicks with 0.9 seconds on the clock to score in Game 1. That put him above 30 points for the second time this season on a tough Knicks defense, while he also handed out a game-leading 10 assists.
All the boos, the tormenting and shouting from the New York Knicks' crowd stopped and the Atlanta Hawks escaped with the win. This was nothing new for Young, however, who has been a basketball villain his whole life, determined to prove people wrong.
He even did enough to rile up New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who stated that Young had been hunting for fouls in the game and should be playing the right way. There's nothing wrong with Trae Young's game though, something he knows all too well. His confidence and swagger is what makes him a villain and is something he picked up from one of his inspirations, Chris Paul.
Young is representative of Paul's game, that you can be an undersized guard and still thrive in the NBA. He is an extremely determined player who has been written off by high school scouts and was even regarded as the fourth-best point guard in the country ahead of college by 247 and ESPN.
When entering the league in the draft, there were still NBA scouts who doubted his ability to mix it athletically with the pros. Young has swiftly proven them wrong and now enjoys the hate he receives from rival fans - which used to receive in college - as witnessed against the New York Knicks with his smirk to the crowd.
Those New York Knicks fans will be at it again on Wednesday, which Derrick Rose only believes is right. He even went so far as to recall a series where he had seen beer spilled over his mom in the crowd. It's about whether Trae Young is up to the challenge.
The Atlanta Hawks star's dad certainly thinks so, as he stated to Jason Dumas of Bleacher Report:
"It's that little-man syndrome. He's in the Big Apple. He don't care one bit. He's just a kid from Oklahoma."
That kid from Oklahoma could well be the deciding factor on whether the New York Knicks progress in their first season back in the playoffs since 2013.