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MILWAUKEE — Finding a rhythm isn’t just limited to the offensive end. It affects all parts of the game.
Mitchell Robinson is starting to get his back on the glass.
“You oftentimes hear it, offensively a guy gets into a rhythm, makes three or four shots,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Well I think the same thing holds true for rebounding. You get into a rhythm reacting to the ball. He goes, he goes, he may have two or three [rebounds] and you’re saying, ‘Well,’ and then all of a sudden he’ll get like four or five in a row because you get a rhythm for it.”
Robinson has played just 12 games after missing most of the season following offseason ankle surgery. And he’s still not yet playing back-to-backs.
He played 18 minutes in the 116-107 win over the Bucks Friday night at Fiserv Forum. More notably, that included 14 straight minutes in the first half, a positive sign for his conditioning.
He recorded 10 rebounds in those 14 minutes — four of which came on the offensive glass.
“Yeah, I feel like [I’m getting my rhythm back],” Robinson said. “I definitely think that is true on my end. Once you get going and you get the first one, you see how shots are going, long, short, whatever, once you kind of get a pattern of it there you go.”
Thibodeau had high praise for Bucks coach Doc Rivers, one of his closest friends in the NBA.
Thibodeau served as an assistant under Rivers for three seasons with the Celtics, including their championship-winning season in 2007-08.
Thibodeau got the better of him in Friday’s clash, costing Rivers a chance to tie Phil Jackson on the all-time regular-season wins list for head coaches.
Rivers has 1,154 wins, eighth most in NBA history. It’s only a matter of time until he ties and passes the legendary Jackson.
“I think it’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” Thibodeau said. “He’s been around a long time. Sometimes, I think people overlook all that he’s accomplished. So to win at the level that he’s won at in all the different places he’s been and to continue to do it, it says a lot about him.
“And when you start catching up to guys like Phil Jackson, that’s a mark of greatness, and he’s still going. He always says, ‘I don’t know how much longer.’ They’ll be wheeling him out there. He loves the game. He’s always loved the game. The best thing: Doc as a player, I think everyone always saw the competitiveness in him, and you see the same thing as a coach.”
