Knicks, Thibodeau reviews Ewing’s era in Randle

After signing with the Knicks two years ago, Randle talked about bringing back to the franchise that old-school sturdiness and physicality that shaped the Ewing era. On Saturday, after Randle helped beat Toronto with his B-plus game, manager Tom Thibodeau effectively made his star a prophet by conjuring up some memories of him time as Jeff Van Gundy’s main assistant.

“Always start with your best players,” Thibodeau said. “If they work that way, it sets the tone for the team, and so [Randle] is relentless. It is no coincidence that he is experiencing the kind of season he is experiencing. I saw his commitment to him from the first day I met him, the kind of conditioning he had and how committed he was to overturning this.

“I remember in the 90s when I first came here as an assistant, the thing that left me breathless was Patrick Ewing, every morning in the off season, he was the first guy in the building and he worked like crazy, and the rest of the team did the same. I think it’s leadership. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do”.