Former New York Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo dispelled any notion of his former head coach, Tom Thibodeau overworking his players. On the Young Man and the Three podcast, he explained Thibodeau's philosophy of preparing for games during the season.
“Tibs gets his rap of practice, practice, practice, practice,” DiVincenzo said. “But we’re playing, then a day off, playing, come and watch film, and playing. There’s only so much you can do. I will say he tries to get the most out of you every single day but it’s not running up and down, and then go and play 40 (minutes). If we were doing that, I wouldn’t be able to, there’s no way you can.
“Josh (Hart) is nuts and he’ll still complain about something,” DiVincenzo said. “If he came out, he’d be like ‘Damn, why the hell did I come out for 30 seconds'? But it wasn’t that, you just go in like ‘Alright let’s win.'
DiVincenzo was a major factor in the Knicks' run last season where they finished second in the Eastern Conference only to lose to the Pacers in the playoffs. DiVincenzo averaged 29.1 minutes per game while shooting 40% from 3-point range. His teammates, Jalen Brunson and Hart logged 35.4 and 33.4 minutes per game in the regular season, respectively.
Donte DiVincenzo makes a point about Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks
When it came to the playoffs, they were pushing minutes. Hart played 42.2 minutes per game and Brunson played 39.8 minutes per game before getting injured. DiVincenzo saw his playoff minutes go up as well at 35.8 minutes per game. Regardless of the increase in minutes, DiVincenzo was thankful for playing an increase in minutes.
“With Tibs, you trust in whatever his decision is and we were winning,” DiVincenzo said. “You can’t knock it, we were winning. I think you get to the point where like after the season, I felt that my body felt really good. It wasn’t at the end of the year where I was like damn, I’ve got nothing left. I know a lot of guys got hurt and everything but me personally afterward, I was like damn we were one game away.”
The Knicks were only one game away, despite Brunson suffering a season-ending hand injury. Even with the uptake in minutes, no players have had significant injuries. While Brunson's was in Game 7 and not related to his conditioning, it goes to show Thibodeau's philosophy is working. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Follow Us
Subscribe
