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Last season, Tom Thibodeau won the NBA's Coach of the Year Award. He helped a woeful New York Knicks roster reach the playoffs, developed Julius Randle into an All-Star and brought back positive energy to Madison Square Garden. Just a season later, the Knicks are back to being out of the playoff picture with a disappointing roster. All the hope from last season has disappeared.
According to SNY's Ian Begley, Knicks executive vice president William Wesley is pointing to Thibodeau's coaching as a reason for the team's miserable performance this season. Wesley and the front office are not blameless — they're the ones who hired Thibodeau and doubled down on a team that overachieved, doling out several big contracts to underperforming players.
However, Thibodeau's shortcomings are too vast to ignore. New York has had a bad history with coaches in recent years and he has become the latest person who proved to be ill-equipped for the job. It's time for the Knicks to fire him.
3 reasons Knicks must fire Tom Thibodeau ASAP
His rotations and game plans are putrid
As a tactician, Thibodeau seems to be a step behind. From rotations to lineups to adjustments, he leaves far too much to be desired.
On offense, the Knicks frequently resort to a series of isolation attacks and dribble hand-offs back to the ball handler. There isn't enough advantage creation through screens or motions that the Knicks' ball handlers can take advantage of on a consistent basis. This year's team is posting a lesser offensive rating than last year's team.
Defensively, the Knicks are in the middle of the pack after being one of the top dogs last season. This is especially concerning considering that Mitchell Robinson, their best defender, missed most of last season and has been healthy for this one.
When deciding his lineups and rotations, he acts as though they are set in stone. Aside from the elevation of Alec Burks to the starting lineup in favor of Kemba Walker earlier in the season, he only shuffles his lineups when someone gets injured. The starters play a lot, leading to an offense that stagnates as the game goes on.
The worst-case scenario occurred due to Thibs' affinity for relying on his starters. RJ Barrett suffered an ankle injury in garbage time of a loss. New York is fortunate that the injury wasn't serious.
In a league with increasingly innovative coaches, the Knicks won't get anywhere with Thibodeau.
The Knicks look lifeless far too often
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The calling cards for Tom Thibodeau's teams are intensity and toughness. Last year's Knicks team boasted those characteristics. This year's team has no semblance of the toughness that defined Knicks basketball in the 1990s and seemingly defined this era of the team.
Just this month, the Knicks lost three games in which they were ahead by at least 20 points. A blown 28-point lead to the Brooklyn Nets heading into the All-Star break is their latest disasterpiece. Falling apart down the stretch and showing little urgency is a recipe guaranteed to yield losses and frustration.
Often, it's the Knicks' youngest players who play with the most energy. Quentin Grimes works his tail off on defense. Miles McBride is wired to do the same. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin and Robinson all play hard, too. Most of the veterans like Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier and Alec Burks don't exude the same amount of energy and liveliness. Guess who Thibodeau prefers to play.
If the Knicks can't even play like a Thibodeau-coached team is supposed to, Thibs has no purpose.
The players under him are no longer improving
The Knicks shocked the league last year because of several surprise contributors. Randle and Barrett were great last year while Quickley and Toppin both played key bench roles as rookies. This year, only Barrett has lived up to his expectations.
Randle has been playing better as of late but is nowhere near what he was last season. Quickley's confidence and shooting stroke are nearly gone. Toppin, despite taking the occasional triple that has no shot of going in, has been pretty solid and plays hard. Naturally, Thibodeau plays a 36-year-old Taj Gibson more than him. Knicks players are either declining or plateauing.
The playoff appearance Thibodeau helped them achieve looks like a thing of the distant past now. He proved to be a one-hit-wonder and it's time for the Knicks to rock with a different tune.
