New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has faced the same criticism since he took over the Chicago Bulls in 2010: he plays his star players big minutes throughout the season, and that led to wear-and-tear come playoff time.

The Knicks caught fire in mid-December, winning nine straight games between Dec. 15 and Jan. 1, before hitting a skid with three consecutive losses in four days to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bulls and Orlando Magic. The losses brought back some questions about how Thibodeau uses his rotation, but a few of the Knicks' top players aren't buying the criticism.

“Every year, it’s the same thing. We do the same thing as always," guard Josh Hart said after the team bounced back to beat the Toronto Raptors Wednesday, per SNY.

"We have a couple bad games, a couple losses in a row and all y'all cry about minutes, be the minute police and all that,” he said. “That’s all outside noise. We’re gonna play the game the way we’re supposed to play it. We’re gonna play as hard as we can when we’re out there."

“I want to be out there myself personally,” Hart, who played 38 minutes, continued. “So it’s just noise.”

Karl-Anthony Towns, who is in his second stint under Thibodeau after playing for him with the Minnesota Timberwolves, echoed his teammate's sentiments.

“I feel like y’all give him flack all the time. No matter where he’s at. The one thing about it, y’all keep talking about him so that means he keeps getting a job so that means he’s respected and you know what he can do for a team,” Towns said. “He’s done it in Chicago, he did it with Boston, he did it with us in Minny and he’s doing it here even before I got here. So say what you want about Thibs, he gets the job done.”

Mikal Bridges (39.1) and Hart (37.7) lead the NBA in minutes per game, while OG Anunoby (seventh, 36.5), Jalen Brunson (25th, 35.0) and Towns (32nd, 34.6) are all among the league leaders. No other team has more than four players among the top 50. Only one Knick has played more than 20 minutes per game off the bench: point guard Miles McBride.

"Their starting lineup featuring those five has played 610 minutes this season, nearly 200 more than any other lineup in the league," SNY's David Vertsberger wrote on Monday amid the losing skid. "On top of minutes played, Bridges leads the NBA in miles traveled, and three of the Knicks' starters join in the top-six of that measure."

Time will tell whether this is the year that New York breaks through for a title run or if a Thibs-led team limps to the finish again. In any case, it doesn't appear that he's going to change the way he manages a roster in the immediate future.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Knicks' Josh Hart Calls Out 'Minutes Police' Who Criticize Tom Thibodeau's Coaching Style.

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