Tom Thibodeau could steer the New York Knicks in the right direction. That said, the only way them hiring him is going to yield positive results is if they fully embrace him.
Wednesday afternoon The Athletic's Shams Charania and Mike Vorkunov reported that Tom Thibodeau is “atop” the Knicks' coaching wish list. This should come as no surprise. Thibodeau has worked with Leon Rose, the Knicks' new president, as a CAA client and been linked to the job for months. It's all about those connections.
What does “embrace” mean in this instance?
When people think of the one they call Tom Thibodeau the image of a bull with red eyes charging someone comes to mind—or at least an angry human. He's known for being a defensive-minded coach who plays his starters big minutes.
Are those thoughts a blemish or an asset on his resume? Well, the first is a positive. In a league that is undoubtedly an upbeat, offensive-driven game, defensive-minded teams are few and far between. A team that establishes a defensive mentality can be a unique team to gameplan against, as they'll try to get offenses playing in the halfcourt.
The Knicks have one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, and their future rests on the shoulders of players on rookie deals, specifically RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson.
Here's the thing: many young teams struggle defensively and tend to not respond well to aggressive, uptight head coaches.
Now, Barrett, Robinson, and third-year guards Frank Ntilikina and Damyean Dotson are all capable defenders in their own right; Barrett has held his own in his rookie season; Robinson is a premier shot-blocker; Ntilikina is a defensive disrupter; Dotson is a respectable force on that end of the floor. Taj Gibson, who played under Thibodeau with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, is a proven veteran defender.
Are five players, three of which are under 25, enough? Throw in the Knicks possessing three picks in this year's NBA Draft, and the question of defensive consistency becomes even more skeptical.
A couple days after parting ways with the Brooklyn Nets, Kenny Atkinson was proposed for New York's next head coach. This stems from his success in Brooklyn re-establishing veterans and developing young players. Such player development is desperately needed in MSG.
Now, is Atkinson the only viable option for the Knicks? No, Thibodeau could be an extraordinary hire. Again, the emphasis is on “could.” At his best, Thibodeau is a blue-chip head coach. He has been held in such regard because he was allowed time to develop his roster and team management put in place players who fit his scheme.
He also found success in Chicago with his star, Derrick Rose, missing extensive time due to injuries. Between the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons, Rose appeared in a combined 61 games, and the Bulls went 143-103. For contrast, the Knicks have won 98 games over the last four seasons.
Before, Thibodeau helped grow a young Bulls team into a top-of-the-conference force and was an assistant coach under Doc Rivers when the Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA Finals. He was also an assistant coach for 20 seasons, seven with the Knicks, which were mostly under Jeff Van Gundy, before earning the Bulls job.
Thibodeau knows a thing or two about winning basketball and productive coaching.
He's precisely what the Knicks need from a logistics and player development standpoint, but with what are they surrounding him?
If they put together a bunch of young scorers who struggle defensively, how will they fare with Thibodeau? Jim Boylen, for instance, supposedly drove the Bulls into the ground in practice in the opening weeks of his time as the team's head coach last season. It was followed up by players not wanting to practice and/or play for him, a complaint to the National Basketball Players Association, and players supposedly blasting him in meetings with the team's new front office a year and a half later.
Now, such a drastic situation taking place with Thibodeau and the Knicks would seem unlikely. That said, what if it reaches a point where players can't take his ways anymore, they go to management asking for a trade, and then the organization fires Thibodeau after a year or two? It'll be the latest chapter in “Classic Knicks.”
Everyone has to be on the same page.
Thibodeau could be the best thing to happen to the Knicks since they drafted Kristaps Porzingis, which ended up becoming an unmitigated disaster. He's the type of big-name coach who could get people buzzing about the Knicks and invigorate optimism into the fan base.
He has won Coach of the Year and given young players direction, which the Knicks roster, as a whole, needs. He holds players accountable and will play those who go balls to the wall defensively. Isn't such play exactly what tenured Knicks fans yearn for a return to, that being the gritty, competitive teams of the '90s?
Will the kids trust Thibodeau's coaching tendencies and believe in the endgame? Can the Knicks get Thibodeau sturdy defenders? Do they think he'll be patient with a group of players in their early 20's? Will they give him more than 104 games to prove himself? If the answer is no to the aforementioned questions they shouldn't hire him.
The Knicks have to do something they occasionally forgo: being honest with themselves. This applies to everyone in the building, most notably Leon Rose and owner James Dolan.
Tom Thibodeau has the pedigree and toolset to get the Knicks on the right track. Can and will they put him in the best position to succeed? If they do, they'll embark on a positive chapter in franchise history. If not, it'll be their latest blunder.
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