The “Good Enough” Coach
Tom Thibodeau is without a doubt a good NBA coach. His career record and regular season success backs this up. Specifically with the Knicks, Thibs has a .551 winning percentage over four seasons, and currently has the Knicks fighting for the two seed in the Eastern Conference. Yet, I think the Knicks would be better off moving on if the right candidate becomes available, or if the front office believes current associate head coach Johnnie Bryant is ready for the role (this is my preferred option).
The most glaring weakness of Thibs is his stubbornness. From his painfully small rotation, to his passion for playing our stars in blowouts, Thibs refuses to change his ways. And I get it to some degree, he’s been a very successful coach for a long time now coaching his way. But times change and Thibs has shown he will not. He should know as well as anybody the pitfalls of playing your stars in meaningless minutes, with Derrick Rose blowing out his knee in the final minutes of a game the Bulls had already won. Just yesterday, Jalen Brunson, the heart of the Knicks team, nearly suffered a severe ankle injury in a game in which he didn't need to be playing. The Knicks were lucky once, and I don’t want to have to be lucky again the next time.
His small rotations have also often stifled the development of young players, with guys like Obi Toppin coming to mind easily. Miles McBride was not getting any minutes until Immanuel Quickley was traded, and McBride has quickly proven he can handle himself on the court. Toppin would often perform well in limited minutes, only to be sent back to the bench since Thibs “trusted” Julius Randle more even if he was having an off game. Thibs simply does not have a great feel for adjusting his game plan on the fly, with a great example being how he failed to adjust to the Lakers double teaming Brunson nearly every possession of the fourth quarter last week and watched our lead slip away as he failed to find a solution. Not once did he think about putting more shooters/creators on the court to aid Brunson. While one could argue the shorthanded Knicks didn't have many better options, there is no real excuse as to why McBride wasn't out there as he has shown the ability to shoot the three well this year. This lack of learning is what makes me worried about what will happen if the Knicks face a better coached team, like the Heat, in the playoffs this year. And the Knicks undoubtedly are one of the best teams in the league, but it seems that Thibs is one of the more likely factors to hinder any playoff success this team can achieve.
I don’t want to make it seem as if I’m demanding Thibs gets fired immediately, but if the most talented roster the Knicks have had in decades gets bounced in the first round of the playoffs, he should be fired as his coaching is the only reasonable way that should happen. Going with an up and coming coach like Bryant should do wonders for the Knicks, with a modern thought process and understanding of basketball to push the team forward. I’d even be fine with other veteran coaching options, as long as they have shown the ability to learn from their mistakes, and not employ the same coaching style regardless of the outcome year after year. It’s just that Thibs is a “good enough” coach, not a great one. And if the Knicks are ever going to win a championship again, they will need a great roster and a great coach, not one or the other.
