The Knicks are a team of 0.500. Leon Rose can bow when her birthday approaches when the team president approaches. But Scott Perry could also take some credit – if he were here.
One of the advantages of going to the Garden games in person and not watching on television is to have a view of the Knicks executives present.
With fans now in the building, and making another riot on Saturday, President Rose and his cabinet members moved from the celebrity line to the bottom of the baseline.
On Saturday, they watched the club jump to 17-17 with a courageous 110-107 victory over the Pacers – a 16-point comeback to close a delightful 3-1 score at home.
“It was funky, but we just scratched it, ” said coach Tom Thibodeau.
Perry, the general manager of the Knicks, was not seen during the four games. The seating chart: Rose, executive vice president and senior consultant William Wesley, director of strategy Brock Aller and vice president of leadership and player development, Allan Houston.
Perry, in the last year of his contract, would be on a G-League reconnaissance mission. But in the pre-Rose days, Perry never missed a game – at home or away.
Even though Perry is not present, he is starting to gain credit for the Knicks’ relevance.
In fact, Rose received a better hand than one might expect when she took office a year ago on Monday. Usually, when a president is fired – as Steve Mills was 12 months ago – it is because the present is bleak and the future is bleaker.
But Mills and Perry, who stayed, gave Rose enough ammunition to keep the project going.
In his tenure so far, Rose has not attracted a big star from the free agent from his vast connections. He also did not successfully trade for a stallion. The free agency was quiet.
Rose explored Julius Randle’s move during the long off-season to upgrade with a star-level player. Instead, Randle became that star. He had a great first 34 games, and on Saturday he defeated Domantas Sabonis.
Rose did the right thing by not negotiating with Randle. Named All-Star last week for the first time, Randle is a piece of the future to be built. On Saturday night, he added 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and several loud screams of “MVP” that are becoming routine.
RJ Barrett, for whom Perry stood firm to enlist in third place in 2019, helped Randle with 24 points, even hearing his first screams of “MVP”. “For 2,000 people, they are very loud, ” said Barrett.
Rose thought he was a player who would soon supplant Randle as a starter when he used his 2020 lottery choice for striker Obi Toppin, rather than a much-needed point guard.
Toppin’s debut year can be summed up as follows: He is a good dunker, good enough to earn an appearance in a Slam Dunk competition. But that’s where it ends. Toppin, who has not been as productive as expected, will not be nominated for the Rising Star Challenge list.
Toppin was even dismissed on Saturday for Kevin Knox as the small ball striker in the first half after Taj Gibson sprained his ankle. Toppin played only six minutes.
The novice guard Tyrese Haliburton, in 12th and shining with the Kings, was not at the top of Rose’s table when he chose Toppin.
Fortunately, Rose had another chance in the 2020 draft, because Perry had switched Marcus Morris 12 months ago to the Clippers for a final first round pick. To his credit, Rose had vast Kentucky intelligence to make him comfortable grabbing Immanuel Quickley, when most teams had put him lower.
Hiring Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne was valuable. Rose and Wesley, widely known for being well connected to John Calipari and his program, deserve praise for Quickley’s choice.
But Rose’s best move, due to previous contacts, was to attract Thibodeau as a coach in late July. Yes, Rose was lucky on that front because of the way Commissioner Adam Silver built the season restart in the bubble, choosing 22 out of 30 teams. The Knicks were one of those left out.
A series of coach vacancies emerged after the teams were eliminated in late August. When the Knicks made their long search, however, they had no competition.
Sources indicated at the time Thibodeau preferred to have options. We will never know if he would accept the Knicks’ offer instead of another team. Thibodeau decided not to wait for another job because of his confidence in Rose.
Thibodeau’s defense is the best and the Knicks are doing it mostly with players from Mills and Perry. Coaching and culture make the difference.
One of Rose’s few additions was a switch to point guard Derrick Rose, but it was more of the president agreeing with the wishes of his head coach. In a great statistic, Thibodeau’s winning percentage with Rose in the squad is 63 percent. Without Rose, it is 46 percent. Rose scored four robberies on Saturday.
An NBA source said of the new administration’s decision-making: “Ultimately, it’s what Thibs wants. ”
Knicks fans are excited about progress with the bar so low. The 6,000 fans who passed through the Garden turnstiles in the first three games allowed by the public were turbulent.
The fans like this team. They like this coach. And they like an Eastern Conference without depth. The Knicks are now tied for fourth with the Raptors.
Leon Rose has been the strong, quiet type until now. He hasn’t addressed the media in seven months. Approaching his one-year birthday, Lucky Leon got away with it because his Knicks are talking on the court.