Tom Thibodeau wants refs to do better job of officiating on Knicks' Jalen Brunson
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson yells on the court during the second half of an NBA game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 28 at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/Pamela Smith
HOUSTON — The last time the Knicks played at the Toyota Center in February, the game was decided on a foul that the officials later admitted was not a foul. As Aaron Holiday threw up a prayer at the final buzzer, Jalen Brunson was whistled for what the officials later said was incidental contact. The free throws decided the game.
Afterward, Brunson would only repeat, “Great call. Next question.” And when the call was raised to him after Sunday’s practice, he joked, “I mean, I wasn’t thinking about it. But thank you.”
The officials admitted the mistake that night, but it’s not clear that Brunson has begun to get the star calls befitting a player who earned All-NBA honors and an All-Star berth for the first time in his career last season.
“I always think he can be officiated better,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Overall from our own games and from observing other games, I think there is a good balance right now to the physicality of the game. I think they’ve taken a lot of trickery out of it where guys are exaggerating contact and all that stuff. But if a guy gets fouled, legitimately gets fouled — the easy part for me is if a guy is going to the basket and he’s attacking the basket in an aggressive move and there’s contact, that’s a foul. Right?
“You can’t allow someone to gain an advantage, but if a guy is fading away from the basket and exaggerating contact, the way it was before, you were never given free throws for that. You have to attack the basket to get free throws.”
Brunson ranked 12th in the NBA in free-throw attempts per game last season with 6.5, but that still seemed low for a player who does so much of his work driving to the rim and drawing contact in the lane.
“I think it’s the beginning of the year and things are called pretty strictly or whatever,” Brunson said. “I guess throughout the season, depending on how the game starts, physicality — it’s how the game goes. I don’t think I’m being officiated any differently. Regardless of what happens, you’ve got to adjust.”
While the NBA has tried to make it a point of emphasis to eliminate or at least deter flopping, Thibodeau said Brunson isn’t exaggerating the contact.
“No, because I watch the plays,” he said. “To me, if you study the footwork and the body position, you would see exactly what happens . . . The thing that he has the ability to do, probably as well as anyone in the league, is put players at a disadvantage. Now it’s on them to recover from that. If you’re looking at body position and you’re looking at attacking the basket, you would know those are fouls.”
Thibodeau paused and added with a smile, “And that’s why I try to help out.”
Notes & quotes: Thibodeau said Precious Achiuwa, who accompanied the team on this trip, is getting closer to making his season debut after suffering a preseason hamstring injury. “He’s doing a little bit more each day but hasn’t been cleared for a regular practice yet,” he said . . . Cam Payne, who left the bench and headed to the locker room with a left hamstring injury early in Friday night's win over the Pistons, is listed as doubtful for Monday's game.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
