More details continue to emerge about the fallout from Tom Thibodeau’s tenure as head coach of the New York Knicks. The longtime head coach was let go earlier this week after coaching the Knicks for five seasons, which to many came as a shock, given that they were coming off their most successful season of the 21st century.
Knicks players grew unhappy with Tom Thibodeau
As many wonder why the franchise fired the guy who started their turnaround in the first place, it appears that not everyone was on board with him. According to Yahoo Sports’ Vince Goodwill, there was a major disconnect between the coach and some of the players.
“A couple of players felt like Thibodeau played the starters too many minutes and felt he had an inability to adjust, sources said, and another player said he didn’t feel like he could play for Thibodeau if the coach returned next season,” Goodwill wrote.
Frustration was certainly boiling as the season drew closer to an end. Players were seen not communicating on defense, and the offense was very stagnant at times. Comments made by Miles McBride after they were eliminated only added fuel to the fire.
Thibodeau’s inability to adjust quickly cost the Knicks a chance at a title
Thibodeau was known to have a very rigid strategy when it came to managing his rotation. He usually played his starters heavy minutes even during the regular season, and was not the one to experiment with different lineups throughout a long season.
That strategy eventually would come back to bite them. He finally made the change of starting Mitchell Robinson over Josh Hart in the Eastern Conference Finals, but only when they were already down 0-2. It was then that he also expanded the rotation and gave guys like Delon Wright and Landry Shamet some burn, and they would end up making a big impact.
Had he made those adjustments sooner, perhaps the Knicks would have made their first NBA Finals in 26 years. Instead, New York will be spending the summer wondering what went wrong and how they can get back here next season, which will be with a different head coach.
Thibodeau’s coaching style has its pros and cons, but ultimately, his stubbornness when it came to his game plan is what cost him his job.
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