Tom Thibeaudeau NBA Coach of the Year

[Worm Guts]

I don't think it's fair to blame Thibs on Jimmy by saying he traded for him. I think that was a good calculated risk. Where he messed up was how he handled (of didn't handle) Jimmy's growing frustration. Thibs seemed the type to let things "fix themselves" and that was the wrong approach with the Butler situation. There are even some rumors that Jimmy asked out a long time ago and Thibs ignored it. That is a big mistake on Thibs part if true.

I don't blame him for making the trade, I don't blame him for banking on Jimmy. I think those were great moves at the time with the information he had. I do blame him for how he handled Jimmy and the drama. I also blame him for the reported unease and people problems that he seemed to generate on the roster and front office.

I didn't like some of his X's and O's but I know he is a great coaching mind and I was never really worried about that.

It was a calculated risk, and I don't necessarily blame him for it, but it ended up being a poor choice. You kind of had to figure that he would lose his job if it played out poorly.

[Calinks]

I don't think it's fair to blame Thibs on Jimmy by saying he traded for him. I think that was a good calculated risk. Where he messed up was how he handled (of didn't handle) Jimmy's growing frustration. Thibs seemed the type to let things "fix themselves" and that was the wrong approach with the Butler situation. There are even some rumors that Jimmy asked out a long time ago and Thibs ignored it. That is a big mistake on Thibs part if true.

I don't blame him for making the trade, I don't blame him for banking on Jimmy. I think those were great moves at the time with the information he had. I do blame him for how he handled Jimmy and the drama. I also blame him for the reported unease and people problems that he seemed to generate on the roster and front office.

I didn't like some of his X's and O's but I know he is a great coaching mind and I was never really worried about that.

It was a calculated risk, and I don't necessarily blame him for it, but it ended up being a poor choice. You kind of had to figure that he would lose his job if it played out poorly.

Sure. I don't even think it was a fireable mistake if Jimmy just wanted out and he had to trade him. That's fine. It's the way it turned into a total media circus and got t oa point where it was so bad that was firable. Him getting Jimmy, and Jimmy saying he wants to be moved and them moving him, cool. Him getting Jimmy and the team just not meshing or Jimmy getting hurt or something and it not working out. Fine. But the way it happened and him failing to deescalate, that was bad.

[younggunsmn]

Thibs is a tremendous X's and O's guy, and a terrible people person.
He's dealt with tough personalities before, he was the key defensive guru during KG's celtics run.
Butler was exactly what was needed to toughen up KAT and help him take the next step.
But that never happened, and if Thibs and Butler can't turn KAT into a serviceable defensive player, no one can.
It was a huge gamble, and I don't know that anyone foresaw that personality conflict blowing up the way that it did.

His first mistake was trading away Wiggins instead of Lavine, and that and Wiggins contract is mostly on Taylor, who was an idiot basically negotiating in public.
His 2nd mistake was not trading Butler before he went public with his trade demand. He had told Thibs privately he wanted out.
If he had traded him in the summer, preferably at the draft, he would have likely got a whole lot more back and not lost the team.
Because he lost KAT during that horrible 2-3 months when Butler was very publicly forcing his way out.
He was like a guy who couldn't quite come to grips that it was over with his ex-girlfriend.

That said, look at the talent on the Knicks roster and look at their record. He did a heck of a job with that team this year.

[KGdaBom]

Thibs is a tremendous X's and O's guy, and a terrible people person.
He's dealt with tough personalities before, he was the key defensive guru during KG's celtics run.
Butler was exactly what was needed to toughen up KAT and help him take the next step.
But that never happened, and if Thibs and Butler can't turn KAT into a serviceable defensive player, no one can.
It was a huge gamble, and I don't know that anyone foresaw that personality conflict blowing up the way that it did.

His first mistake was trading away Wiggins instead of Lavine, and that and Wiggins contract is mostly on Taylor, who was an idiot basically negotiating in public.
His 2nd mistake was not trading Butler before he went public with his trade demand. He had told Thibs privately he wanted out.
If he had traded him in the summer, preferably at the draft, he would have likely got a whole lot more back and not lost the team.
Because he lost KAT during that horrible 2-3 months when Butler was very publicly forcing his way out.
He was like a guy who couldn't quite come to grips that it was over with his ex-girlfriend.

That said, look at the talent on the Knicks roster and look at their record. He did a heck of a job with that team this year.

This is a pretty good take with hindsight. I and many others believe that Taylor meddled in the Butler trade or Thibs would have traded Wiggins and we could have kept the pick. Since we ended up trading Butler anyway now it's easy to see that Thibs should have just caved in to Butler and traded him early. Thibs tried to hold on to him. I was in favor of holding on to him not expecting him to be a PSYCHO POS.

[Klomp]

His regular season success has never been debated.