In November the Knicks exchanged for the young former Villanova power forward Omari Spellman and brought him to the training camp. They decided against the re-signing of Tom Thibodeau’s trusted soldier Taj Gibson because Spellman was present.
Spellman made the 15-man roster, but a sore knee put it on the shelf. On January 7th, two weeks into the season, the Knicks signed Gibson and released Spellman.
Now Gibson has turned into an important Knicks playoff engine. Gibson may be their starting center if their series goes to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday’s first round.
With resident starter Nerlens Noel apparently limping off a sprained ankle, the Knicks won’t beat the Hawks on Wednesday without Gibson’s grit, chasing loose balls, reaching for seven rebounds, collecting three steals and registering a team high plus-23.
Gibson started the second half in the middle and was part of the comeback of 13 points down. Thibodeau called him « a monster in there ».
With all of the contributions on the pitch, the greatest thing Gibson Thibodeau brings to his team is his leadership. At halftime, teammates said, Gibson was the loudest, telling his teammates that the team had been in this situation many times and rebounded.
Thibodeau stood up for Gibson’s signature, just as an ally in the locker room without knowing that the Mitchell Robinson center would suffer two serious injuries, a broken hand and then a broken foot.
Brooklyn native Gibson said after Game 2 that this Knicks club is perhaps the closest of all the Thibodeau teams.
« The only thing you have to do when you play for a Thibs team is that you will put in a lot of work, come together, and work as hard as possible every day. » Said Gibson. “But during these trials and tribulations you become a family, you become really close, you believe in each other. The way Thibs trains, he brings the whole group together and believes it’s just us. So that’s the kind of mindset that we adopt. I’m just myself, be the normal Taj that I’ve been. It worked for us. But it’s fun. We have young people, we have a mix of veterinarians. Just parts together, everyone works together, it’s a great atmosphere and it shows when we play. «
RJ Barrett was officially added to Team Canada’s Olympic list. His father Rowan is the GM. … The last time the Knicks won a playoff game before Wednesday was May 16, 2013 – an 85th -75-game-5 second round win over Indiana, with Carmelo Anthony scoring 27 points.
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