Derrick Rose On Tom Thibodeau After Making Knicks Debut: ‘We’re An Odd Couple’

Derrick Rose scored 14 points in his New York Knicks debut on Tuesday, a 98-96 loss to the Miami Heat.

Rose went 5-of-9 from the field, with his 20 minutes all coming alongside Immanuel Quickley.

“I think you see it often when you have multiple point guards out on the floor, it gives you another ball handler, secondary ball handler, and you can probably include Alec [Burks] in there as well.

“So it gives us three guys that can go off the dribble, and all three are very efficient in pick and rolls. Their versatility allows them to actually blend with both groups. So I think we’ll see some of that as we go forward as well,” said Thibodeau after the game. 

The Knicks represent the third time that Rose has played under Thibodeau in his career.

Rose said that the duo see the game in a similar way. 

“The synergy we’ve got, I can’t explain it. We’re an odd couple, but for some reason, we understand the game. And the closest thing I probably can say is we’re students of the game. We watch the game. We try to understand the game more and try to get better if not every day, every week, every month, every couple of months, every year. There’s always room for improvement, and it’s for the betterment of the team.”