Knicks Bulletin: “When you have games like that, things look bad”

The New York Knicks face the Denver Nuggets on Monday looking to start another winning streak after their unexpected loss to the Utah Jazz last Saturday.

New York is in the middle of a challenging road trip and the difficulty won’t let up – at least for another night – as reigning MVP and top-five NBA player of all time Nikola Jokic awaits them in the Mile High City. the country that is known to be associated with South Park.

Here’s the latest from Coach Thibs and several Knickerbockers following the disappointing loss to the Jazz and ahead of tonight’s match.

Tom Thibodeau

If you don’t trust the trends until later in the season:

“It depends on which teams you are talking about. I think it’s really an individual thing.

“I think you don’t really know who your team is, probably after 15 to 20 games, and that’s probably a bigger clue.

“But then there are a lot of variables, whether it’s new people you have, whether it’s important injuries you have.

“So you probably don’t have a clear picture of who everyone is yet, and you’ll get that over time.”

On OG Anunoby’s performance against Utah:

“All-around (game).

“I want him to be decisive. When he plays like that, it’s much more effective for all of us. When he hits with determination, when he catches and is ready and poised and making shots – then he gets into a good rhythm.

“And when he runs across the floor, when he runs across the floor and gets into space, or when he runs to the rim and catches a little catch, those are easy buckets.

“I want him to continue to build on that.”

What the Knicks have to do if the shots aren’t falling:

“On the nights you don’t shoot well, you want your defense, your rebounding and your low turnovers to carry you. And if you do those three things, you will be able to win regardless of how you shoot the ball.”

Josh Hart

On the team’s defensive problems:

“Yes, we had problems defensively all season.

“If you don’t make shots and don’t play well defensively, it’s a recipe for disaster. We have to figure it out defensively.

“We have enough talent on offense to play well and win games, even if some guys won’t be there that day. But we have to figure it out defensively.

What turns the Knicks on their head:

“We just don’t play well enough. We are not physical enough. We don’t put enough pressure on the ball, including me.

“We have to find out. We can’t just be an attacking team, and that’s what we were in the first 15 games. And when you have games like this (at Utah) where you don’t shoot well and you can’t get it done offensively, it looks bad.”

Jalen Brunson

On the need for better defense communication to deal with failures:

“We need to be more consistent, but most importantly we need to make sure we have each other’s backs.

“There will be times when something goes wrong, an assignment is missed or something happens on the defensive side of the ball, but we can’t point fingers. We have to represent each other. We don’t really point fingers, but we have to stand up for each other.”

Mikal Bridges

For defensive communication and maintaining effort after missed shots:

“I think we just need to stop and communicate with each other a little bit more.

“I think it’s tough, we’re not the only team, but it’s just human nature that sometimes you miss a shot and you’re a little disappointed and then your voice kind of falls silent.

“So we just have to get over it and still communicate with each other. We can’t miss and then allow it to mess up our defense. If we miss, it must make us even more upset at the other end. We just have to get better at that.”