Knicks Top Brass Maintains Vote Of Confidence On Coach, Key Players

The New York Knicks have a lot of soul-searching to do in the offseason, and one of the best people to ask is perhaps team president Leon Rose.

The Knicks' top brass has hardly been heard off although he gave his first rare comments since September of last year.

Despite the Knicks’ fortunes, Rose gave his vote of confidence to key personnel led by head coach Tom Thibodeau as well as All-Star player Julius Randle.

The 61-year-old executive gave his take after the Knicks' regular-season finale against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, April 10.

“As far as Thibs’ performance goes, I mean he’s one of the best coaches in the NBA,’’ Rose stated “So obviously, none of us are happy with the results this year. But he’s a guy who prepares our team better than anybody. I feel that he’s done a good job under the circumstances.’’

Although there have been rumors speculating that Randle could be moving to another team, Rose has shown no indication of moving the 27-year old player, aware that development is key.

“This year, things didn’t go right. Things happened on the court, we saw some emotion coming out, saw some things happening. I think it affected his play at times,” Rose toldMSG Network via Marc Berman of The New York Post.

“[He] was just not comfortable at times. It was just not being comfortable. He gave it his best effort. The 3-point shot just didn’t go like last year, and you had teams keying on him more this year. At the end, he made some adjustments. I was proud of the fact he did fight through it."

Aside from Thibodeau and Randle, there is also the status of young big man Mitchell Robinson.

Although Rose is aware of the injury history, he acknowledged the value of the 24-year-old player, someone who has proven to be reliable both on offense and defense.

“He (Robinson) was our anchor on defense and really took a nice step this year,’’ Rose said. “And even showed us a little bit on offense, especially that one through the legs, then down the lane for the dunk.’’