Marshall Grimes never made it to the NBA after playing two seasons and 39 total games with Santa Clara of the West Coast Athletic Conference, but he took away some valuable lessons that have helped his son turn into a promising Knicks rookie.
Marshall, who played alongside former Knicks head coach Kurt Rambis with the Broncos in the late 1970s, learned that even with his sparing playing time, his practices always had to be full bore, so when his number finally was called, he would be ready.
That's the approach his son Quentin has taken in New York, which has earned him a regular rotation spot after another big night on Monday.
"He always told me no matter if you're not playing, playing a lot, playing 40 minutes, you have to treat practice like it's a game," Quentin said of his father's lessons. "You're ultimately preparing yourself for the game. If I'm B.S.ing in practice, that's not gonna help me in the game, especially as a rookie."
So, Quentin practices exactly like he plays, and his effort was on full display on Monday night in The Garden, when the first-round pick scored 14 points in 23 minutes of work in a blowout win over the Kings, helping snap a three-game losing streak. Grimes shot 5-for-9 from the floor while knocking down multiple 3-pointers for the sixth game in a row, as the 21-year-old grows more and more comfortable with the pace of the NBA.
"Every game I feel like shows what I can do offensively, just getting more freedom from Thibs," Grimes said. "If I make a mistake, he has the trust to leave me in there and figure it out…that's also a confidence booster when he leaves you in the game when you make a mistake. I feel like every time I step on the court, I get more and more comfortable with my game."
Grimes' comfort likely stems from the fact that he has been playing this type of game all year, even when he was riding the bench. Thanks to his father, he has been playing with an NBA-like intensity in practice regularly since the season began.
"Every time I go in the gym late nights and practicing, you have to assert yourself every time in practice," Grimes said. "We don't practice a lot, so every time we have the opportunity to go full court in pickup, I want to make sure I'm guarding whoever the best player on the Blue Team might be, maybe it's R.J. [Barrett] or Evan [Fournier], just trying to assert myself every time I step in that facility."
Grimes was known for his 3-point shooting and defensive effort from his college days with the University of Houston, but as he has earned more minutes, he has grown more comfortable with expanding his game. Grimes attacked the rim, grabbed four rebounds, and logged a team-high three steals on Monday night, and continues to mold himself into a more complete player and a mainstay in Tom Thibodeau's rotation.
"My shooting and defense, I feel like I hang my hat on that," Grimes said. "Just getting more comfortable with the ball in my hands. I feel like I showed that in the fourth, just getting more comfortable making reads…making pick-and-roll reads, fining the open man, I think that's the next step for me this season."
You can bet Grimes will take all of those desired improvements onto the practice court, where he continues to make his father proud and make his continued case to be a regular contributor for the Knicks.
"I love playing. I want to play as long as I can, so I'm gonna take it seriously every time I step out there on the court," Grimes said.
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