RJ Barrett remains hopeful that Knicks will get back above .500
RJ Barrett #9 of the Knicks in the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez
DENVER — The Knicks had just lost their ninth game in the last 11, a disappointing late-game collapse in Utah, and RJ Barrett was tasked with explaining away not only the loss but the reality facing the team as Thursday’s NBA trade deadline crept closer.
Six games below .500, with three more stops on the five-game road trip and a schedule that ranked fourth-toughest in the NBA over the final 28 games. Bright spots are hard to find, but Barrett tried.
"There’s a lot of teams under .500," Barrett said. "We’re six under .500 but we’re still fighting for something. We’ve had stretches where we win three and lose three. It’s not the end of the world. There’s been teams completely out of it and got back in it. You never know what’s going to happen. Last year, did you think we’d have a nine-game win streak? No you didn’t."
That may be true, but comparing last year’s team to this one seems to be growing more difficult by the day. This group has not fit together nearly as well as that team did and, unless there is a major deal made in the coming days, the best hope is that Derrick Rose makes it back from his ankle surgery rehabilitation and can carry the team the way he did last season.
But some of the biggest names on the trade market have already switched places. On Tuesday Portland dealt C.J. McCollum to New Orleans and Indiana sent Domantas Sabonis in a package to Sacramento that brought back Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield. The trading of Haliburton likely means that the Kings — after leaking that they intended to build around Haliburton and point guard De’Aaron Fox — likely will hold on to Fox.
Could the Knicks be boosted by the return of Rose and make things work with the group that has not quite found its footing? As Barrett said, these things happen. But the Knicks have given no hint that it will.
"I think the Lakers game was the third quarter for us," Barrett said. "[Monday] obviously start of the fourth . . . First of all these are good teams we’re playing against. Utah’s been very good for a couple years now, so it’s like they know how to play winning basketball. They really executed down the stretch to where I would say we didn’t. Things happen."
Or they don’t.
What the Knicks have shown this season is an inability to adhere to Tom Thibodeau’s most basic rule — play hard for 48 minutes. Julius Randle talked about the team needing to be aware when these lapses are happening and not let the game crater.
"It’s tough," Randle said. "0-2 to start the trip. We could easily be 2-0, but we’re competing against teams who are trying to make the playoffs and compete for championships. It’s tough. It’s just stretches we got to be better at, tighten up and I think we just have got to be more aware."
Perhaps the most alarming part of this is that Barrett and Randle played well in Utah and Mitchell Robinson had perhaps the best game of his career and still, against a Jazz squad without Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles, it wasn’t enough. Kemba Walker sat out that game, the first of a back-to-back set, and Evan Fournier struggled. Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley, key contributors last season, continued to struggle.
"There’s a small difference between winning and losing," Thibodeau said. "I don’t know. Every team is different and you just got to learn and each game you got to concentrate on getting better. And so, right now we’re falling short. We’ve got to improve."
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
