Tom Thibodeau may have a full-on mutiny on his hands at this point.
The New York Knicks were eliminated from NBA In-Season Tournament contention on Tuesday with a blowout 146-122 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the quarterfinal round. After the contest, Knicks guard Quentin Grimes, who was scoreless on a mere one shot attempt in 18 minutes of play, vented his frustrations.
“It’s just hard when you go the whole quarter without touching the ball, the whole second quarter without touching the ball, and then you get one shot and you gotta make it,” said Grimes, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “So it’s tough going out there and just standing in the corner the whole game. Then you gotta make the shot when you shoot the ball one or two times per game. It is what it is.
“It feels like if I don’t hit the shot, I’m coming out,” Grimes added. “So every shot I shoot probably weighs like 100 pounds if I don’t make it, and our defense, it ain’t cutting it. So I know I ain’t going back in.”
That sounds like a pretty clear swipe at the Knicks head coach Thibodeau, who hasn’t hesitated to cut Grimes’ minutes lately. The talented 23-year-old Grimes is down to just 22.9 minutes a game this season after getting 29.9 a game last season. Grimes has struggled to find a rhythm as a result and is averaging a rough 5.8 points per contest on 35.9 percent shooting (both career lows). He hasn’t scored in double digits since Nov. 15 (with three scoreless duds now over that span too).
An impact two-way player whom the Knicks were once really high on, Grimes now joins the chorus of malcontents at Madison Square Garden behind offensive dominators Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett. Knicks swingman Josh Hart recently aired out his grievances, and one of the team’s big men has been disgruntled for multiple seasons now too.
