The New York Knicks have been navigating a brutal stretch of their 2023-24 NBA regular season schedule without starting center Mitchell Robinson. There is a chance Robinson doesn’t come back to the lineup this season as the team applied for an injured player exception, which will only be granted if the player won’t return to the court before the league year is over.
Without Robinson in the lineup, the defensive scheme of head coach Tom Thibodeau is greatly impacted. There isn’t a player on the roster or readily available for the Knicks to acquire that can replace what Robinson brought to the court.
Isaiah Hartenstein has done an admirable job of soaking up more minutes in his absence; he isn’t the problem. But, the minutes in which he isn’t on the court have consistently been negatives for New York whether it was Jericho Sims or Taj Gibson playing.
To make up for what the team has lost in Robinson, Thibodeau needs to get creative with his lineup combinations. That hasn’t been a strength of his as a head coach, as he shows virtually zero flexibility in his rotations.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Immanuel Quickley, Tom Thibodeau, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Julius Randle, New York Knicks Updates
But, if the Knicks want to continue winning, something needs to be done. There have been pleas to see Immanuel Quickley play more minutes, which is task No. 1 for Thibodeau. The Knicks are flat-out a better team when he is on the court more.
When Quickley attempts 10+ shots per game, New York is 10-3 on the season. When he fails to reach that mark, they are 7-9, per Tommy Beer on X, formerly Twitter.
Thibodeau’s affinity for having size on the court is likely the biggest deterrent to seeing Quickley in the starting lineup alongside Jalen Brunson. That is too bad, as that duo is one of the most elite backcourt pairings in the NBA this season.
Wholesale changes to the starting lineup likely aren’t on the horizon. One change was already made with Donte DiVincenzo taking over the starting shooting guard spot from Quentin Grimes. But, slight changes to the substitution patterns would yield incredible results for the Knicks.
Finding the most productive five-man groupings is the job of the head coach. For whatever reason, New York doesn’t use their best one often enough. The best way for Thibodeau to compensate for the loss of Robinson is to use his best four-man grouping as much as possible.
That grouping is Brunson, Quickley, Josh Hart and Julius Randle. According to BenRitholtzNBA on X, that foursome has been off-the-charts good since Hart was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers ahead of last season’s trade deadline.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Immanuel Quickley, Tom Thibodeau, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Julius Randle, New York Knicks Updates
In 226 possessions last season, those four players recorded a +19.1 rating per 100 possessions with an offensive rating of 127.4 and a defensive rating of 108.3. They are even better in 316 possessions this season, through December 26th, with a +29.4 rating per 100 possessions, recording an offensive rating of 135.9 and a defensive rating of 106.4.
Seeing that foursome in the starting lineup alongside Hartenstein is unlikely to happen. Such a change would leave the second unit without a lead ball-handler unless Thibodeau was willing and able to stagger the minutes of Brunson and Quickley once the bench unit starts filtering into the game.
But, there is no reason that combination cannot receive more minutes together throughout the game or be settled on as the closing lineup for the Knicks. The proof is in the pudding and numbers don’t lie; that four-man grouping is the core of what could be the most productive lineup in the NBA.
If Thibodeau is willing to break some of the molds he has created during his head coaching career and unleash that lineup, victories will start piling up at a rapid rate for the Knicks.
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