MILWAUKEE — It wasn’t a scolding from Tom Thibodeau.
Rather, an animated pep talk through the postgame presser.
And though the coach refrained from naming Julius Randle, the questions were about the All-Star, and the answers certainly applied.
“You can’t predetermine. You can’t say, ‘Well, I haven’t had a shot, so now I’m gonna take a shot.’ The game tells you what to do,” Thibodeau said. “If you’re open, you shoot. If there’s three guys around, you hit the open man. It’s really simple. It’s not hard.”
Randle’s fourth quarter Friday seemed to chronologically mirror Thibodeau’s postgame lesson.
He was disengaged from the offense for much of the second half, watching Jalen Brunson assault Milwaukee’s defense with nifty footwork and midrange proficiency.
Randle took just two field-goal attempts in the second half before the final three minutes.
Then the 28-year-old turned aggressive.
He drove and scored on Brook Lopez.
He hit a fadeaway over Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But in the final 30 seconds, Randle was predictable and clouded by tunnel vision.
He drove into the paint, the Bucks collapsed, and the attempt was blocked by Lopez.
Twelve seconds later, Randle tried the same thing — this time backing down Giannis Antetokounmpo — and was easily swatted away by Lopez.
Game over.
“When you look at their defense, what were they doing? They were collapsing, right?” Thibodeau said. “They got two 7-footers, so when they collapse, you have to trust the pass, trust the pass.”
Again, it’s hardly scathing criticism but nonetheless noteworthy.
Through all of Randle’s issues in the past two-plus seasons, Thibodeau has maintained a soft public approach.
If the power forward is struggling offensively, the coach always countered with some version of: “I have to look at the film,” or, “We know what he’s capable of,” or, “He did all the little things tonight.”
Questioning Randle’s defensive effort or emotional outbursts has been a nonstarter.
Once Randle was ejected for arguing with a referee, and Thibodeau pinned it on other Knicks players for not holding him back sooner.
But Friday night, there was at least an insinuation from Thibodeau that the decision-making was off course.
Randle seemed to agree, at least to the extent that he needs to limit isolation plays.
“For me personally, I think I can just play off the catch, play off the move a little bit more,” said Randle, who entered Saturday’s games with the NBA’s worst effective field-goal percentage (31.8) among players with at least 120 minutes. “For me less isolation, getting into pick-and-rolls, just playing on the move more, rather than just catching it and staring at defenders.”
We’ll see if there’s a change.
It’s still very early in the season.
But Thibodeau already detracted a tad from his postgame routine of excusing Randle rather than critiquing.
The Knicks finally get a travel breather.
After a brutal start to the schedule, Thibodeau’s squad will play three home games this week over seven days.
It starts with the Clippers on Monday after two days off, then the rebuilding Spurs and Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday, then the rebuilding Hornets on Sunday after three days off.
This relaxing slate follows an opening six games that included four on the road and two back-to-back sets.
But the Knicks shouldn’t get used to the home life.
Right after the Hornets game at MSG, they embark on a seven-day, five-game road trip with games at Boston, Atlanta, Washington, Charlotte and Minnesota.
By Dec. 20, 15 of their 25 opening games will have been on the road.
“I guess we made somebody mad,” Josh Hart said. “It is what it is. We got the schedule we got. We have to go out there and make the best out of it and compete.”
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