spree8 wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:spree8 wrote:
I think everyone criticizing Thibs knows that and appreciates that, but with every critique, I wouldn’t expect everyone to preface with a long list of his accomplishments as a reminder that we’re grateful for what he’s done. He obviously doesn’t literally suck, that’s just frustrated fans lashing out like every fanbase does.. with coaches and players.
He’s not perfect tho and clearly isn’t the guy to bring us a title. I wish he was because I respect him (despite the jokes), but he’s just not.
I don’t mind getting an upgrade but expecting another coach to turn this poorly constructed roster into a championship contender is unrealistic imo. There’s no scheme that can fix KAT’s defense at the 5. Josh hart is scared to shoot 3s and is the reason why he’s been bouncing around from team to team. Brunson will never be a positive defender because of how small he is. Mikal has stopped playing elite defense for years. I mean these are issues that have been going on with these players for years before Thibs even coached them. If other coaches couldn’t fix these problems, then why are we blaming Thibs? I get he could be more creative with the offense but you’re only talking about getting a couple more wins at most. Thats just how I view this. I could be wrong but I just feel like until you fix the roster it doesn’t really matter who’s the coach imo.
I understand where you’re coming from. It seems everyone knows Jalen n KAT aren’t good with team defense. But Thibs certainly can help them.
A switch heavy defense like Houston’s (who also uses zone with certain lineups), has been the #1 suggestion by posters here. We wouldn’t be giving up so many open 3’s if we did. I think you’ve pointed to times where KAT was beat by Tatum, but I know I’ve pointed to the fact that the root issue was that he was picking him up out of position and a step behind (either in drop or running thru screens).
If we had a switch heavy defense, these guys would be in better position from the jump, and in the limited times they do properly switch (without miscommunication which happens often), guys like KAT and Jalen do well. I don’t think Jalen’s size has anything to do with poor man defense… his issues are more team defense/awareness, etc. He’s excellent at drawing charges tho.
Mikal is also guarding at the POA which isn’t ideal especially with Deuce on the team. He still is a good defender.
You’d agree that Thibs literally hasn’t changed or tried anything different on either side of the ball this year right? I think that alone is a fireable offense, not even counting everything else. I also don’t think there’s a way to definitively say how many more games they’d win if Thibs experimented with the team to find the best version of it. We’re limited by the bench sure, but the best version of this team could surprise people especially in the PO.
Switching heavy still isn’t going to fix KAT. He’s poor at switching and moving his feet and that also leaves us with zero rim protection. Senguen took a big leap on defense this year which we never saw KAT do ever.
My point is that even if you fire Thibs you still need to fix the roster. So you’re just putting a bandaid on something that needs surgery.
