Tom Thibodeau surprised by Jeff Van Gundy’s Knicks play-in stance

Tom Thibodeau sounded surprised his buddy and former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy thought it would be a bad idea if the Knicks made the play-in tournament. They were three games out of the 10th spot with 23 games to go entering Friday’s contest against Miami. 

On ESPN Radio, Van Gundy, now a top broadcaster, said at the start of the All-Star break that the Knicks getting the 10th slot in the Eastern Conference would be fool’s gold. 

“I love Thibodeau and want the Knicks to have success, but long-term I’m not sure making the play-in would be a good thing for them because it would give them a false sense of illusion that they’re closer to being a good team than they really are,’’ Van Gundy said. “I think the best thing that can happen to them is to realize how far they have to go.’’ 

Van Gundy has never believed in tanking — and it’s unclear he was suggesting that — but Thibodeau still seemed bewildered by his former boss’ take. 

When asked if he’s surprised Van Gundy would go there, Thibodeau said, “That’s something that I would expect from you [the media].’’ 

“For me and for our team, we’ve got to focus on today, getting ready for the game and keep moving forward,’’ Thibodeau added. “Obviously, you want to do the best that you can. And then for you guys that’s what your job is, you do all the speculating, what should happen, what we should do? That’s the beauty of the game. For us, we’ve got to lock in, we’ve got to do the best that we can and I believe we have more than enough to get it done.’’ 

In further remarks, Van Gundy didn’t necessary tout playing the young guys in the name of tanking, but repeated his theme about the roster being “mediocre.’’ 

“If you’re within the team, you have to hold on to hope [RJ] Barrett comes back, [Derrick] Rose comes back,’’ Van Gundy said. “And even though you have a tough schedule, you find your way with a rotation. Since I’m not part of the team and I observe — and I watch every game but 3 or 4 — since I’m a huge fan of the Knicks and Thibodeau I don’t see it. I haven’t seen it from the start of the year. When you have mediocre roster you have to play with a hunger and desperation that we saw last year. This year it’s still a mediocre roster, particularly in the top-end talent, They’re had a few more health issues.’’ 

Van Gundy made his remarks during the All-Star break and before Rose was ruled out indefinitely after surgery Friday. 

“If you’re Thibodeau, how you play can change a bit, who you play can change,’’ Van Gundy added. “You can try to play a guy like [rookie] Miles McBride off the bench. You can give a more prominent role to Cam Reddish. But with everyone of those decisions to play somebody more, you’re going to take away from somebody else.’’ 

Barrett returned from his ankle sprain Friday after missing four straight games. “He had a good break,’’ Thibodeau said. … Center Nerlens Noel, bothered by a knee injury, also was a go.