NEW YORK — As Quentin Grimes continues to establish himself with the Philadelphia 76ers, he’s calling on his experience with the New York Knicks. Bringing intense defense to every game and playing lots of minutes were pillars of his first experience in the NBA. While coaches and game plans may change, Grimes still follows through on what he learned early on from Tom Thibodeau.
Grimes named Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier as veterans who helped bring him along with the Knicks, with whom he played his first three NBA seasons. He remembers Thibodeau’s perfectionist approach to game preparation, going through every one of the opponent’s offensive sets and his team’s answers to them on defense. And he remembers what it’s like playing so many minutes when he emerged as a starter.
“It is definitely true,” Grimes said of Thibodeau’s reputation for his insane distribution of playing time. This season has been one of his most extreme cases of pumping his starters’ minute count sky-high. All five Knicks starters play at least 35 minutes per game, which only 18 other players in the whole league do. Grimes’ current teammate, Tyrese Maxey, is sandwiched between New York’s Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart atop the MPG leaderboard.
The common narrative around Thibs-coached teams is that players suffer under the weight of so much playing time. But from Grimes’ perspective, getting so many minutes is more akin to a blessing than a curse.
“Like, trust me, nobody’s complaining when you playing 38, 40 minutes of a game, especially when I was,” Grimes said. “It definitely takes a toll on you but you’re not complaining ’cause you know that he trusts you to go out there and play those minutes. So it’s definitely kind of a thing, a respect factor that he trusts you to go out there and try to get the job done no matter how long you’re out there playing.”
Grimes’ time playing for Kelvin Sampson at the University of Houston prepared him for life under Thibs. He called the program “a no-fly zone” and that everyone needed to “play defense at 110 percent or Coach Sampson [was] gonna expose you.” With such a high level of intensity set as the baseline, it became second nature to give everything there is to give whenever he takes the court.
The knowledge and experience he obtained from those defense-obsessed coaches has helped him develop into a top-notch defender, one that the Sixers hope will be one of their key players now and in the future.
“Having that made it easy to go into the NBA, trying to just stop whoever I’m guarding, making it as tough as possible and just trying to establish myself as one of the better defenders in the NBA,” Grimes said.
Quentin Grimes explains key defensive technique
One of Grimes’ best skills is screen navigation. The foundation of just about every modern offense, screens can instantly send a defense into scramble mode if even one defender gets caught up. Grimes is an expert at dodging screeners and staying with the ball-handler.
“You gotta just get skinny up on the screen. Don’t get hit on it. Try to make your body as slim as possible,” he said. “Try to get over the screen and the defender as well. Watching a lot of film, watching guys’ tendencies and just trying to learn as much as you can about certain players’ games and what they like to do.”
Asked Quentin Grimes about screen navigation.
“You gotta just get skinny up on the screen. Don’t get hit on it. Try to make your body as slim as possible.”
He remembers practicing it as a rookie w/ the Knicks, guarding 20 straight possessions w/ player development coaches pic.twitter.com/sZWFcMN5oE
— Sam DiGiovanni (@BySamDiGiovanni) February 26, 2025
While getting reps in an area of the game like shooting is easy, fine-tuning defensive techniques requires some help. Grimes remembered working with player development coaches, guarding as many as 20 straight possessions to get a feel for avoiding screens. His hard work has paid off.
Although Grimes being traded by three teams in the span of a year suggests he isn’t wanted that badly wherever he goes, it actually illustrates his talent. The Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks and now the 76ers have all been interested in acquiring him for his 3-and-D skillset. After Detroit decided to focus on other young wings and Dallas decided to swap him for a more experienced role player on a longer contract, Philadelphia has already made Grimes a starter and will likely try to re-sign him to a long-term deal this offseason.
As the injury-riddled 76ers take an eight-game losing streak with them into their matchup against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Quentin Grimes will be eager to show what he’s learned over the years.
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