The New York Knicks have been having a rough go on the injury front as of late, but head coach Tom Thibodeau is not making any excuses for the manner in which the Knicks lost on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks, 116-100.
The Knicks head coach, in his postgame presser, acknowledged that his team will go through poor shooting nights (they shot 38.4 percent from the field against the Hawks), and that he can accept. But what Thibodeau doesn't like is that the Knicks didn't show much of a fight on the glass, as the Hawks outrebounded them by 11.
“We got in a hole, we fought, tied the score. Down five going into the fourth. And then, you're in position to win, the rebounding was a problem. That was a bigger concern for me. Missed shots are a part of the game but your rebounding is important. It's one of the few times we got outrebounded,” Thibodeau said, per Knicks Videos on SNY.
Tom Thibodeau on tonight's loss to the Hawks:
"You're in position to win, the rebounding was a problem. That was a bigger concern for me. Missed shots are a part of the game but your rebounding is important. It's one of the few times we got outrebounded" pic.twitter.com/BfG7qI2CiN
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 6, 2024
The Hawks, indeed, outrebounded the Knicks, 51-40, so that in and of itself will be a source of frustration for Tom Thibodeau. Some would point out the fact that the Knicks' poor shooting contributed to this rebounding deficit. After all, the Knicks had more offensive boards than the Hawks, which means that the bulk of Atlanta's advantage on the glass came on the defensive end.
And since the Knicks missed 61 shots on the night compared to the Hawks' 43, Atlanta had more opportunities to rack up defensive boards. But what will irk Thibodeau from this is that the Knicks rebounded just 53 percent of the Hawks' misses; for a team that was shooting the ball well, it was infuriating to see New York give up the offensive board on the rare occasion that they forced a Hawks miss.
When a team's shots aren't falling, coaches implore them to compensate for it in other areas. The Knicks pride themselves in being a physical team that's adept on the glass, but they just did not bring the energy Thibodeau wanted his team to have.
Nevertheless, the Knicks' biggest problem at the moment is staying healthy, as they're patiently awaiting the returns of Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and OG Anunoby.
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