The Knicks starting lineup put up another disastrous effort on Wednesday night, getting thoroughly blown out by the Heat in Miami while one of the team’s links to its last era of glory watched from courtside.
Jeff Van Gundy, head coach of the last Knicks team to make an NBA Finals, was on the TV broadcast for ESPN, speaking to a national audience that was witnessing one of the worst five-man units in the NBA. The Heat rolled to a 26-point lead against New York’s starting five, which is now -11.5 per 100 possessions this season, despite ranking in top three in minutes played.
“They just need major changes,” Van Gundy said. “They don’t bring it on a nightly basis. I’m talking the starting unit.”
The Knicks starters have been a glaring issue all season, as the youthful second unit has thoroughly outplayed them for much of the year. Last night was no exception, with Van Gundy saying early in the first quarter that he would take out all of the starters if he were head coach Tom Thibodeau, an old friend of Van Gundy’s.
But Thibodeau has continued to stress that the second unit has more experience playing together, and the starting lineup is playing from behind in terms of building chemistry due to the offseason additions. But now, more than midway through the season, that excuse is running out, and the starters are indeed playing from behind on a nightly basis, which is reflected on the scoreboard.
“There’s been plenty of times throughout the year to show that they work well together,” Van Gundy said. “I just don’t know how they continue on like this. That’s the definition of insanity, is seeing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
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