“I think none of us were putting enough pressure on the ball, and I think they just felt too comfortable,” Bridges said.
“So I think it starts with being aggressive on the ball, applying pressure, getting out of ball blocks from there, and then flying around and staying on their toes, being right there when they’re about to shoot.”
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau noted that OG Anunoby also spent time guarding Tatum, but after analyzing game film, he described the defeat as “A collection of things from A to Z on defense: how we marked the ball, our body position, difficult shots, second shots allowed. So we need to clean this up.”
Bridges, who missed 17 of 19 3-pointers in the preseason, was encouraged by hitting 2 of 3 from long range in the second half against the Celtics and making seven of his last eight shot attempts in total.
The new arrivals
With two new starters and several new members in the rotation due to trades and injuries, the Knicks are looking to quickly build chemistry.
However, as All-Star guard Jalen Brunson pointed out after Boston’s loss, the lack of familiarity “It’s not an excuse” for the Knicks to come “kicked in the butt”.
“I think we’re just trying to find our identity, find it as a team and our culture as a team. So it’s just all being together, trying to find our culture and what team we want to be.”
Named team captain in the offseason, Brunson has always taken it upon himself to integrate Bridges, his former teammate at Villanova, and Towns more seamlessly.
“Just as a team, we didn’t show up. And this starts with me,” Brunson said Thursday.
“Train more, improve yourself. [Sono] reps and honestly, just getting better.
It’s simple like that. You can talk about X’s and O’s. But you just have to start the game [meglio]. We didn’t introduce ourselves.
“We have to [costruire la chimica]. We have no other choice if we want to be a good team.”
“…we need to improve”
Thibodeau defined unity “the challenge with any team”, but it wasn’t easy after the Knicks overhauled last year’s 50-win team with the departures of Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the trade of Towns to Minnesota and Isaiah Hartenstein via free agency.
Bigs Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa are also injured early in the season.
“That’s why you put everything you have into every single day and strive to get better,” Thibodeau said.
“Games reveal exactly where you are, they tell you the things you need to work on, and even if it’s going well, if you have a slip, you’ll have to fix it.
So it’s a constant thing throughout the course of a season, and that’s why you come onto the field wanting to understand why you won or why you lost, make the necessary corrections and move on.”
