This season, the New York Knicks have introduced two good scorers, Fournier and Kemba Walker, but compared with Fournier, who has 73 million for 4 years, Kemba Walker, who has reduced his self-worth, has become a victim.
After being traded to the Thunder, Walker deliberately reached a buyout agreement with this rebuilding team to switch to the Knicks for a price of 2 years and 18 million, originally wanted to shine in this potential team, did not think of playing only 18 games, Walker was refrigerated by Thibodeau, and the reason why he sat on the cold bench, I am afraid that it is still related to the stability of this person's play.
Two-man Wicked Emanuel Quickley, who was selected by the Knicks with the 25th pick in the first round last season, won Thibodeau's trust with practical actions when he first arrived. It should be known that this old coach is not an enlightened coach who is good at using new people, but Quickley uses his efficient attack to make himself one of the main rotations of the team. Throughout the rookie season, he averaged 11.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2 assists in only 19.4 minutes of playing time, shooting 38.9% from three-point range, and as a bench bandit on the Knicks bench, his microwave oven function was also appreciated by Thibodeau.
It is also because of Quakely's excellent performance that it is difficult for Walker to shake the status of this second-year rookie after joining the Knicks this season. For a die-hard manager like Thibodeau, as long as he is a player, there will be two extremes, either to kill you or to live and die without you. At the beginning, Derick Ross and Jimmy Butler were typical cases of "using you to die", and now Kemba Walker is a negative teaching material that is not used in life and death. Because walker's weakness on the defensive end and the offensive stability is not as good as last season, Thibodeau has completely straightened out Quaker, even if he is less experienced, he is still deeply trusted by the coaching staff.
In the Knicks and Rockets game, Quakely also repaid the trust of the team with practical actions, and in the entire game, he scored 7 of 10 three-pointers in the 32 minutes of playing on the bench, setting a new season-high 24 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists (also the highest score in the team), helping the team beat the Rockets 116-103, ending the team's previous four consecutive defeats.
In fact, in the last 6 games, Quickley has scored double digits in 5 games, and only 5 points against the Raptors, which is also deeply plagued by fouls. With high hopes from Thibodeau, Quickley has not failed to live up to his mentor, and can still deliver 10.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists this season, although the accuracy of shooting has declined, but in terms of organization, it has improved compared to last season.
In fact, on the data, Walker handed over 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 24.5 minutes of playing time, with a 41.3% three-point shooting rate, compared to Quakely, but he met such an "old stubborn" as Thibodeau, he also had to admit that he was unlucky, and it is estimated that the former All-Star backcourt did not expect that one day it would end up so late, and his position in the team was even worse than a rookie who had only been a fledgling for 2 years.
(Luo Treasurer)