Tom Thibodeau won NBA Coach of the Year last season and led the New York Knicks to the playoffs for the first-time since 2013 because defense was the only word that existed within this organization. The Knicks were so good defensively last year, but their offense held them back from doing anything special in the playoffs. 

The main mission of the offseason for this franchise was to put key offensive weapons and talent around the league’s Most Improved Player in Julius Randle and the Knicks’ front-office led by Scott Perry and Leon Rose did just that.

The job Perry and Rose have done over the last few seasons for this Knicks organization is quite remarkable and their two key offseason additions were former All-Star Kemba Walker and sharpshooter Evan Fournier. 

It seemed like both Walker and Fournier had been playing with the Knicks for years, as they both got off to hot starts to begin the new season. Along with Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, Derrick Rose and others clicking, the Knicks began the year winning five of their first six games.

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This seems like so long ago though, as since their hot start, New York has lost four of their first six games to begin the month of November and they are now 7-5 on the season.

Early on, teams tend to jockey back-and-forth in the standings and given how much balance there is across the Eastern Conference this season, this is definitely not a bad start for the Knicks, but they can be so much better than they have shown recently.