Believe it or not, Tom Thibodeau's Knicks are for real

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, center, huddles with the team before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (Troy Taormina/Pool Photo via AP) Credit: AP/Troy Taormina

On the very first day of training camp, Tom Thibodeau was asked what might have seemed like a far-fetched question. Taking over a Knicks team that had stumbled to a 21-45 record in 2020, had added only around the margins and had no experience with him, he was asked if, despite all of the naysayers, he thought this could be a playoff team.

"I never really pay attention to that stuff," he said. "If you go back over the years it's really meaningless. What I look at is, 'OK,…