Part of the reason Taj Gibson wanted to come back to the Knicks this season was the belief he could help push his hometown team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The Brooklyn product — who also played for first-year Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau for seven seasons with Chicago and Minnesota — enters Sunday’s playoff opener against the Hawks with the most postseason experience on a young Knicks roster.
Gibson also was a member of the Knicks during last year’s 21-45 campaign, but he was not re-signed until January, to fill an open roster spot and provide interior depth. Starting center Mitchell Robinson was sidelined for two lengthy stints following hand and foot surgeries and Gibson ended up being an integral component of Thibodeau’s rotation as the center on the second unit.
“It’s been great, understanding what we wanted to do last year and we really didn’t get it done. How the year went, to bounce back with kind of the same group of guys and going through it all, and with a coach that I’ve been with my whole career, it’s been amazing,” said Gibson, who will play his 67th career playoff game when the Knicks open the postseason Sunday against the Hawks. “Just being a New Yorker is great, and being with Thibs, it’s what you grew up watching, it’s what you grew up with, AAU, high school, every summer watching Knicks basketball.
“I’m just enjoying it every day, coming to practice, watching film. I’m a kid in a candy store.”
Gibson and starter Nerlens Noel will have to deal with NBA rebounding leader Clint Capela — who pulled down 14.3 boards per game for the Hawks, including 4.7 on the offensive glass.
Still, there clearly is a mutual trust factor between Thibodeau and Gibson, just as there is between Thibodeau and veteran guard Derrick Rose, who also played for the coach with the Bulls and the Timberwolves.
The 35-year-old Gibson fully knows what to expect entering his seventh playoff appearance alongside Thibodeau.
“It’s kind of [the same] all year round, because that’s how he prepares everything, as an individual game,” Gibson said. “So when you finally do make it to postseason play, you’ve been studying and preparing the whole year.
“So nothing’s really changed. It’s kind of like going to any other school, but now he’s just drilling more information. He’s questioning you throughout the day, even while we’re practicing, always asking what we can do better. … But every year, all year long, he’s challenging you, so it’s really all about paying attention.”
Gibson, who grew up in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, also knows what it means to the city to have the Knicks back in the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
“It’s extremely awesome. Because I live in the city. I go to the bodegas, I go to the grocery store,” Gibson said. “It’s just good to see people really feeling good. It’s good to go back home. You’re used to hearing, ‘What happened last night?’ But you’re not hearing that as much because they understand that we’re playing hard, they understand that we’re trying to build something. It’s been great.
“And it’s good to see people wearing that Knicks gear a lot more now. It’s a lot of orange and blue, especially when I go to different places throughout the city.”