Tom Thibodeau is a death sentence for the New York Knicks.
Up until this point, it seemed like the Knicks were doing everything right front office-wise. This signing is the pivot that will send all of their recent progress right into the ground.
I will give Thibodeau credit where it is due. He is a great defensive coach, which will be good for Frank Ntilikina and Mitchell Robinson, but that’s about it. As seen in his last coaching job in Minnesota, it was evidently clear that he was out of touch with the modern NBA.
His disciplinarian style is not a match for the current NBA, nor is it a match for the young Knicks core of RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Frank Ntilikina, and other young players on the roster such as Dennis Smith Jr. and Kevin Knox. For Knox and Smith Jr. in particular, they are both too raw of prospects at this point in their career to be coached by Thibodeau. Coach Thibodeau has already been tested with a young core in Minnesota, and that went about as badly as it could of been. In his first year in Minnesota, Thibodeau led an extremely young team to a poor record of 31-51 and only improved with the acquisition of Jimmy Butler the following season.
Another thing about Tom Thibodeau is that he overplays all of his players. This is most seen in Chicago, where he extremely overplayed Derrick Rose, who came into the NBA injury-prone. Derrick Rose played 37+ minutes a game for his first three years in the NBA. This led to one of the most infamous injuries in NBA history and put a promising career to a halt. Thibodeau then proceeded to play Rose 35.3 minutes a game the season he returned, where he only played 39 games. This isn’t NBA 2K, where you can turn off injuries and fatigue.
This is real life and every injury has real life consequences.
As a Knicks fan myself, I am extremely worried that the brightest future pieces for the Knicks will go down with terrible injuries due to Thibodeau’s previous reputation as a coach who plays his players big minutes.
The New York Knicks need someone who can develop talent, not someone who can work with already developed talent. Kenny Atkinson would have been a much better hire than Thibodeau. Tom Thibodeau isn’t what the Knicks need. The Knicks need young talent developed, and they need floor spacing. Tom Thibodeau is not good at either of that, and will really hold the Knicks back. The future of the Knicks looks horrible, and this is due to the hiring of Tom Thibodeau.
Photo: CBS Sports
