Knicks · I think Coach Thibs has done a really good job this season (thus far). (page 1)

And I've gotta start off this topic of conversation by mentioning how Coach Thibs is one of only 5 NBA Head Coaches (of All-Time) to have ever earned multiple Coach of the Year award honors (and imo this year, he's showing us why).

Just look at the Eastern Conference Standings. We're still within the thick of things.

Hypothetically speaking, this is how the standings would look (with a win vs. Minnesota tonight) moving forward...

#1.) Chicago Bulls = 27-15 (5.5 back).
#2.) Miami Heat = 28-16 (5.5 back).
#3.) New Jersey Nets= 27-16 (5.0 back).
#4.) Cleveland Cavaliers = 27-18 (4.0 back).
#5.) Milwaukee Bucks = 27-19 (3.5 back).
#6.) Philadelphia 76ers = 25-18 (3.0 back).
#7.) Charlotte Hornets = 24-20 (1.5 back).
#8.) Washington Wizards = 23-21 (0.5 back).
#9.) Toronto Raptors = 21-20 (tied).
#10.) Boston Celtics = 23-22 (tied).
#11.) NEW YORK KNICKS = 23-22.

And this is despite...

Alec Burks = 1 game missed.
Julius Randle = 2 games missed.
Evan Fournier = 2 games missed.
Taj Gibson = 17 games missed.
Derrick Rose = 18 games missed.
Kemba Walker = 20 games missed.
Nerlens Noel = 26 games missed.

These are 7 key players who've already missed a combined 86 games but yet we're still @ .500 and still within the thick of things here in the Eastern Conference and still only 3.5 games back of the NBA's 10th best record?

Ever since Pat Riley and JVG (outside of only Mike Woodson) we've had coaches when even @ full strength who could...

A.) Never lead us to a .500 record.

and

B.) Led us to losing records such as...

17-65.
17-65.
21-45.
23-59.
23-59.
29-53.
29-53.
30-52.
31-51.
32-50.
32-50.
33-49.
33-49.
37-45.
37-45.
39-43.

Dating back to immediately after JVG those were 16 miserable losing years of well below .500% darkness (for us loyal and passionate NY Knicks fans). And I for one am someone who doesn't miss those days.

And how could any of us Knicks fans 1.) Want to see this current Knicks team "tank" and 2.) Not want to see this roster @ full strength come the Playoffs of Postseason play?

Because we're 22-22 @.500% after 44 games but yet we were only 25-27 and two games below .500% after 52 games last year.

We need to get coach Thibs all 4 of Kemba Walker (PG), Derrick Rose (PG), Cam Reddish (SF) and Nerlens Noel (C) back into our rotation and healthy (sooner rather than later) because if so? 2021-2022's Knicks season can still become a lot of fun for us New Yorkers (while giving us an opportunity to witness what coach Thibs is truly capable of).

I think coach Thibs has coached his ass off this year because how many other NBA coaches have been without so many of their key players this season but yet haven't fallen off an NBA cliff just yet?

how we looking on 60 wins?

I think he's a good coach. But he's human and not perfect. Thibs seems to work better with players that play defense and dont need a lot of guidance on offense. I believe if you play defense, he gives you the freedom on offense, which means we need high IQ offensive players. Thibs will handle the defensive side of development. But overall, he exceeded expectations as the knicks head coach.

What I don't understand is how come coaches that are either strong on offense like MDA or strong on defense like Thibs, don't higher a strong coach by their side that brings a strength to his weakness. Maybe his staff is built that way, but I would think Thibs could benefit from having a high Offensive IQ staff, where Thibs can just focus on defense and trust his staff to work on the offense. Similar to how they do it in the NFL.

Again, maybe they do this and fans are not part of the inner circle of the coaching staff and their expertise. But this is something I thought about back with MDA was the coach. How come he didn't try and bring on a top defense coaching staff to balance that out.

fishmike wrote:how we looking on 60 wins?

It's not over until it's over @ we're a 38 consecutive game winning streak away from 60 wins.

And to answer your question; not so good.

But in all actually reality; at the time of my prediction I thought that both Rose and Kemba would be able to split minutes together @ PG while keeping one another healthy; I thought wrong.

However I will say this. If both Kemba/Rose remained healthy we'd at least be 11 games above .500 and a top 1-3 seed (with a punchers chance @ 60 wins).

And at the end of the day I'm just thankful to watch meaningful Knicks games this late into the season (January 18th) because too many seasons throughout the previous 20 years have I not wanted to watch NY basketball while fielding losing teams such as 17-65.
17-65, 21-45, 23-59, 23-59, 29-53, 29-53, 30-52, 31-51, 32-50, 32-50, 33-49, 33-49, 37-45, 37-45 and 39-43 etc.

Wrong prediction or not, I'm still fired up for 2021-2022's NBA season and hopefully; you can understand.

NYKMentality wrote:

fishmike wrote:how we looking on 60 wins?

It's not over until it's over @ we're a 38 consecutive game winning streak away from 60 wins.

And to answer your question; not so good.

But in all actually reality; at the time of my prediction I thought that both Rose and Kemba would be able to split minutes together @ PG while keeping one another healthy; I thought wrong.

However I will say this. If both Kemba/Rose remained healthy we'd at least be 11 games above .500 and a top 1-3 seed (with a punchers chance @ 60 wins).

And at the end of the day I'm just thankful to watch meaningful Knicks games this late into the season (January 18th) because too many seasons throughout the previous 20 years have I not wanted to watch NY basketball while fielding losing teams such as 17-65.
17-65, 21-45, 23-59, 23-59, 29-53, 29-53, 30-52, 31-51, 32-50, 32-50, 33-49, 33-49, 37-45, 37-45 and 39-43 etc.

Wrong prediction or not, I'm still fired up for 2021-2022's NBA season and hopefully; you can understand.

So you're saying it's possible...

EwingsGlass wrote:

NYKMentality wrote:

fishmike wrote:how we looking on 60 wins?

It's not over until it's over @ we're a 38 consecutive game winning streak away from 60 wins.

And to answer your question; not so good.

But in all actually reality; at the time of my prediction I thought that both Rose and Kemba would be able to split minutes together @ PG while keeping one another healthy; I thought wrong.

However I will say this. If both Kemba/Rose remained healthy we'd at least be 11 games above .500 and a top 1-3 seed (with a punchers chance @ 60 wins).

And at the end of the day I'm just thankful to watch meaningful Knicks games this late into the season (January 18th) because too many seasons throughout the previous 20 years have I not wanted to watch NY basketball while fielding losing teams such as 17-65.
17-65, 21-45, 23-59, 23-59, 29-53, 29-53, 30-52, 31-51, 32-50, 32-50, 33-49, 33-49, 37-45, 37-45 and 39-43 etc.

Wrong prediction or not, I'm still fired up for 2021-2022's NBA season and hopefully; you can understand.

So you're saying it's possible...

NYKMentality wrote:

fishmike wrote:how we looking on 60 wins?

It's not over until it's over @ we're a 38 consecutive game winning streak away from 60 wins.

And to answer your question; not so good.

But in all actually reality; at the time of my prediction I thought that both Rose and Kemba would be able to split minutes together @ PG while keeping one another healthy; I thought wrong.

However I will say this. If both Kemba/Rose remained healthy we'd at least be 11 games above .500 and a top 1-3 seed (with a punchers chance @ 60 wins).

And at the end of the day I'm just thankful to watch meaningful Knicks games this late into the season (January 18th) because too many seasons throughout the previous 20 years have I not wanted to watch NY basketball while fielding losing teams such as 17-65.
17-65, 21-45, 23-59, 23-59, 29-53, 29-53, 30-52, 31-51, 32-50, 32-50, 33-49, 33-49, 37-45, 37-45 and 39-43 etc.

Wrong prediction or not, I'm still fired up for 2021-2022's NBA season and hopefully; you can understand.

11 games over 500?! Top 3 seed?! We were 10-9 when Kemba got pulled from the lineup...This is Trevor Ariza level of delusion!

Someone please take Mentality’s crayons away. Am I the only one who can’t read more then one sentence of this dumbass childish bullshit shit posting cockamamy bluster nonsense

PS Thibs is the best coach we’ve had in this decade

He is doing about as good a JOB as MDA who took us to the Playoffs 3 of the 4 yrs he was here.

MDA had no defensive plan (switch on everything)

THIBS has no offensive plan (read and react as best as you could)

knicks1248 wrote:He is doing about as good a JOB as MDA who took us to the Playoffs 3 of the 4 yrs he was here.

Mike D'Antoni didn't take us to the playoffs 3/4 years.

Mike D'Antoni only took us to the playoffs 1/4 years.

Mike D'Antoni:
2008-2009 = 32-50 (failed to make playoffs).

2009-2010 = 29-53 (failed to make playoffs).

2010-2011 = 42-40 (made the playoffs and swept by Boston).

2011-2012 = 18-24 (fired and/or quit).

MIke Woodson (not MDA) took us to the playoffs in 2011-2012 because after MDAs 18-24 start @ only .428%? It was Mike Woodson who finished the season 18-6 (.750%) and led us into the playoffs.

Mike D'Antoni as an NY HC= 121-167 (.420%) and 46 games below .500%.

Tom Thibs as NY Head Coach = 63-53 (.543%) and 10 games above .500%.

To each our own man but I don't believe MDA deserves to be mentioned within the same sentence as coach Thibs (regarding Knicks Head Coaches).

knicks1248 wrote:He is doing about as good a JOB as MDA who took us to the Playoffs 3 of the 4 yrs he was here.

MDA had no defensive plan (switch on everything)

THIBS has no offensive plan (read and react as best as you could)

that is a bit off. he was the coach for nyk in 1 post season and they won 0 games. he quit before the next playoff chance. tt is ahead in playoff wins, which was a bit easy to do and really doesnt amount to much.

Oh man, don’t stop 1248 when he on a rol1. Making up all kinds of shit.

knicks1248 wrote:He is doing about as good a JOB as MDA who took us to the Playoffs 3 of the 4 yrs he was here.

MDA had no defensive plan (switch on everything)

THIBS has no offensive plan (read and react as best as you could)

When your team is down their main 2 PGs and your 2 high usage players are awful passers, what genius offensive system do you expect the coach to run?

Knicks run a lot of predetermined sets, Horns, Pistol Action, PnR. They are god awful when they do iso Randle.

What are you suggesting they should run?

With a mediocre head coach we’re 10 games under .500. With Fizdale we probably still haven’t won 5 games yet all season

So I agree

knicks1248 wrote:He is doing about as good a JOB as MDA who took us to the Playoffs 3 of the 4 yrs he was here.

MDA had no defensive plan (switch on everything)

THIBS has no offensive plan (read and react as best as you could)

Yeah, for all the good that Thibs brings, namely on the defensive side of the ball, he has zero offensive game plan (like MDA).
They are both system coaches and trusting the lead guys to create. Problem here is though Julius is our best player, he really needs to be coached as his BBIQ is not the best. And our only true PG available (Deuce) the last 2 or 3 weeks saw next to no time. Why not? We are not going anywhere. This season is like the Ghost of Elfrid Payton regarding Thibs inflexibility.

My biggest problems with Thibs are:
1. He plays the vets too much when it doesn't matter (and in general.)
2. He is mostly ignoring the rookies. Playing Julius 39 minutes so often and Obi 10 or so is criminal. Or as in yesterday, playing Taj over Obi.

I don't want to fire Thibs, but I think Leon needs to force his hand with roster changes as Thibs won't change.
And would it be an insult to bring in an offensive coach?

Thibs is great. He is the best coach we have had in like 20 years. Thibs is not a championship coach however. Unless we get an offensive coordinator we might as well accept that we will be stuck in the middle of the pack. Our picks will be crap because our D will keep us from being bottom dwellers. Our lack of offensive creativity will prevent us from getting anywhere in the playoffs. 1st or 2nd round is our ceiling.

Thibs plays the vets all those minutes because his focus is on winning. And when he gives the rooks starter minutes and they don’t perform, he reduces their mins or send them back to the bench. All I’m asking is to give the vets the same treatment. If RJ has committed 13 TOs in 2 games similar to IQ or Grimes, if they played like that, Thibs gives them the short leash. Either let the rooks play through it or yank the vets and reduce their mins until they show improvement.

But Thibs like all the knick coaches in the past is stuck in this weird position of trying to win by any means necessary. And historically Thibs trust his vets over rookies, unless his rookies show all star level talent like Rose. Then he rides them. I’m assuming he’s giving Randle and RJ that same treatment. And just rotating the other 3 guys.

EF actually gave some good effort on defense and balanced that out with offense. But it seems that when Kemba plays,along with EF, it negatively affects RJ which is what we saw in the beginning of the season. RJ is more affective when he’s the focal point. The problem with that is we have 4 players in the starting lineup that needs the same treatment to be affective. They are all volume shooters and needs those attempts to get hot and impact the game.

Thibs needs high IQ players that do not need a high volume of attempts to be affective. Which I’m sure is the case for most coaches. Tough spot to be in.

Big question iS, what does he do with JR...this guy is killing us with his turnovers. low BB IQ, and choking in clutch time.

Remember when in 2001 Thibs was an assistant here, Van Gundy quit 20 games into the season and instead of promoting Thibs Scott Layden promoted Don Cheney and extended him?

Fun dimes

ccch wrote:Big question iS, what does he do with JR...this guy is killing us with his turnovers. low BB IQ, and choking in clutch time.

What can he do? This is what Randle is. There’s a reason he has one playoff appearance in 8 years as a NBA player.

I think we make the play-in this year. If Obi didn’t look putrid in his two starts I’d be all for trading Randle at the deadline

Philc1 wrote:

ccch wrote:Big question iS, what does he do with JR...this guy is killing us with his turnovers. low BB IQ, and choking in clutch time.

What can he do? This is what Randle is. There’s a reason he has one playoff appearance in 8 years as a NBA player.

I think we make the play-in this year. If Obi didn’t look putrid in his two starts I’d be all for trading Randle at the deadline

2 years ago Randle was just a PF with some mediocre NBA play. Last year he elevated his game tremendously entering all NBA team discussion.

You think players don't evolve or only do so in a straight line?

I don't care for Randle as a player but I'm not oblivious to the fact that he can't change.

And playoffs, no playoffs ain't on just one player, that's just not a smart statement at all