The Knicks will start the season with four players who have worn the same colors in the NCAA. This is what we call the “Villanova Connection” since New York went to get Mikal Bridges, former teammate of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo at Villanova. Four former teammates on the same NBA team, that's unheard of!
In the 90s, the Celtics had three former Kentucky teammates on their roster (Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Walter McCarthy) and it was Rick Pitino, their former college coach, who brought them together and coached them!
Bridges also played with Payne and Bates-Diop in the NBA.
This time, no Jay Wright on the bench, but Tom Thibodeau, obviously very satisfied to be able to count on this “connection”, even if he tries to temper the general enthusiasm.
“This Villanova thing goes back a long time, and what people don't realize is these guys have all played in different places since then.” explains the Knicks coach. “So they've gotten different experiences. And now they've come back. But then there's situations like Mikal, who not only played with those guys, but also Cam Payne and [Keita] Bates-Diop [à Phoenix ou à Brooklyn]. »
Easy integration
To be clear, the friendship of Brunson, Hart, DiVincenzo and Bridges is one thing, and their complicity will be precious, but Thibodeau reminds us that connections are also created in the NBA, and that they are just as important.
“It was the same when I was in Chicago: we had Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer, who had played together in the Jazz. That’s probably a little overstated, but the fact that they’ve played together helps them adapt quickly to a new system. That’s where the biggest advantage lies, their comfort level playing with each other, understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And then, not only have you played a lot of games together, you’ve practiced together.”
