I thought about this too. This is Brunson's team and he more or less grew up around Thibs. Knicks have been great all season except against 3 historically great teams. I'm not sure if that's thibs fault or if it's just the reality of the situation. I imagine both cavs and Celtics get up for those games against the Knicks.
The bigger problem with Thibs seems to be his lack of trusting the bench. This seems kind of like a newbie criticism. We've all seen Thibs development of players over the years. Let's not forget that even vets like Hart and OG have shown considerable improvement this year.
In fact, I think most of our dissatisfaction this season comes from the Bridges trade. He hasn't been worth the 5 1st round picks we gave up and losing those picks has seemingly lowered our ceiling over the next 4 years. I'm not sure how much of that can be traced to Thibs.
Ultimately this comes down to the playoffs. We just have to wait and see.
Malone/Booth had a beef.
Booth wanted his coach to play his yoot more.
Malone wants to win games. He went with Westbrook and he made some mistakes of late coasting a game or two.
Ownership did not want them in Tax hell. Not Malones fault Murray is often hurt. Porter Jr. really has not improved to what was hoped.
I like Malone but what does he bring to Knicks that Thibs does not? A chip. That ring says "Denver Nuggets".
He brings experience. Yes. So does Thibs. Thibs has not won a ring as head coach. I get that.
Bud, Doc, Lue, and Nurse all have this and not doing shit with current teams. It does not always translate.
Remember Larry Brown and Wilkins? Two HOF dudes that came here and did not elevate the team.
Honestly the variables of a team hitting its ceiling and needs a new voice are legit in some scenarios. That I can agree.
Warriors elevated with Kerr but basically Jax was burning the house down from within, not because of his schematics on court. But his paranoia and insecurity. Being an charismatic pastor with extramarital affairs while openly homophobic are not exactly a character traits that exemplify leadership when your the head coach.
Cavs? That core had been together a few years now and needed a new voice. That I can agree. That Allen is healthy matters. That Cav's got its depth matters. That Mobley matured and was really came on last year mattered.
Leon and the Brunson are family. Thibs is part of the family. The Nova thing is part of the family. Thibs is not the issue. Nor is the 5 picks we spend for Bridges. Its chemistry and that takes time.
Lets see how the playoffs unfold. Knicks are not one of the "it teams" yet. Lets see how round one unfolds.
Lets see if we lose to Celtics how that goes. WE healthy or not? We go toe to toe with them 6-7 games or did we fold and get swept or out in easy 5?
Malone is a really good coach, and if we needed to replace Thibs he would be high on my list. However he is not so great that his availability is the reason I would fire THibs because I could replace him with Malone. I have no reason to think Malone has any more chance of winning a title than Thibs. In a lot of respects they are similar.
I think Thibs is one of the best coaches in the sport and has proven that for a long time, and really as time goes on he has a place in history as one of the most effective coaches ever. He may or may not be able to win a title here. I don't know. I think based on the work he's done, and the results he's delivered, he deserve the opportunity to make it happen with this roster. There's a limit to everything, but I think the impatience that most sports team show with their coaches is 100% counteproductive. These quick hooks on coaches are one of the worst trends in sports in general.
We’re seeing good,young, coaches have an impact in the league. I’d include Malone on an interview list. I also wouldn’t mind seeing if the FO (with their connections) could find a young coach with new ideas, if that’s the direction the FO decided to go.
Pitino, JVG, were young coaches who had success with the Knicks. I wouldn’t want the FO just to look at retreads. Maybe the WNBA, if a candidate really stood out.
It seems like he lost the locker room
martin wrote:It seems like he lost the locker room
Would seem like a situation where you cut Westbrook not Malone. Odd.
EwingsGlass wrote:martin wrote:It seems like he lost the locker room
Would seem like a situation where you cut Westbrook not Malone. Odd.
Unless they were looking for reasons to cut Malone. Some owners are patient and others are hungry for a chip, even if they just won a chip only a few years ago. Knick fans (historically) also have short leashes, and ready to cut a player or coach in a second. I believe that culture is slowly changing with Leon running the ship. But I see Malone for Thibs as a lateral move, meaning we might go in reverse, instead of forward. Too risky at this point to remove Thibs, unless his performance in the first round is atrocious. Otherwise, we should see the same coach and team back for another year, with minor tweaks (if any).
blkexec wrote:EwingsGlass wrote:martin wrote:It seems like he lost the locker room
Would seem like a situation where you cut Westbrook not Malone. Odd.
Unless they were looking for reasons to cut Malone. Some owners are patient and others are hungry for a chip, even if they just won a chip only a few years ago. Knick fans (historically) also have short leashes, and ready to cut a player or coach in a second. I believe that culture is slowly changing with Leon running the ship. But I see Malone for Thibs as a lateral move, meaning we might go in reverse, instead of forward. Too risky at this point to remove Thibs, unless his performance in the first round is atrocious. Otherwise, we should see the same coach and team back for another year, with minor tweaks (if any).
3 days before playoffs with the 4 seed. One of the more unusual firings I’ve seen.
EwingsGlass wrote:blkexec wrote:EwingsGlass wrote:martin wrote:It seems like he lost the locker room
Would seem like a situation where you cut Westbrook not Malone. Odd.
Unless they were looking for reasons to cut Malone. Some owners are patient and others are hungry for a chip, even if they just won a chip only a few years ago. Knick fans (historically) also have short leashes, and ready to cut a player or coach in a second. I believe that culture is slowly changing with Leon running the ship. But I see Malone for Thibs as a lateral move, meaning we might go in reverse, instead of forward. Too risky at this point to remove Thibs, unless his performance in the first round is atrocious. Otherwise, we should see the same coach and team back for another year, with minor tweaks (if any).
3 days before playoffs with the 4 seed. One of the more unusual firings I’ve seen.
I find it disrespectful UNLESS there’s more to the story we don’t know. Otherwise that’s not how you treat a former championship coach. How does this entice any new coach to come on board? Seems toxic.
Malone is an abrasive dude. It go him unfairly tossed from SAC 10 years ago. His first few years in Denver were not that great.
Denver fired George Karl after he was named COY when he was entering his final season and wanted an extension. ITs not unreasonable for a coach to not enter a lame duck season without one. Denver is cheap and fired him.
Tim Connelly who took over for Massai when the exec of the year's contract ran out and his price was going up. Denver is cheap.
Connelly built the team that won the chip. He left for a mega deal with Minny that included some ownership. Denver is cheap.
Calvin Booth then took over.
some teams let execs run the team, some owners do it instead. Denver hired Brian Shaw who lasted a year and a half.
Eventually they hired Malone. I guess they had to pay him after he won a chip. They extended him after and he was doing a great job!
This is what their ownership does. They did it to Karl who also is an abrasive dude as well.
I get teams don't want to pay the tax and sometimes its about roster flex with this CBA, but Denver ownership is historically cheap and my guess is if your a Massai or a Connelly you don't cheap ass owners.
martin wrote:Dammit should have thought of it first
#LOL
good one! Martin, made ole' guy like me smile. Through Knicks bruises against better teams we gotta have something to smile on.
You just gave me that 
Malone ain't perfect. But his SOB ways may work in NY system, Brunson, Mitch, Josh and even OG wont be affected by the abrasiveness as long as Knicks show better VS BEST teams. WE had not that issue too much 1..2 yrs back cause SOB like DiVincenzo , Hartenstein had Son.of.a.gun attitude
regardless of yo' name was Lebron, Tatum, Steph Curry etc. Maybe NY misses that! Think at times these Knicks were ONDEMAND SOFT! I aint use to that! ! ! NY Tough place tougher town.
LETS GO KNICKS
