JayTWill wrote:NoLayupRule wrote:This is so silly
Thibs has the respect and full effort of this team
His staff has consistently taken draft picks to well beyond their expected level, developed players into much superior versions of themselves (Donte, I-hart, duce, precious, hart, even Brunson).
His roster isn’t his making.
This team may need another trade cycle or two to get where it needs.
Come next season we won’t be under the restrictions we are now.
This team suffers from lack of quality depth.
Thibs trys to win every game.
That apparently means playing our starters way too much
With Payne, precious and even shamet we will see less mins for the starters
I have never really agreed with this narrative around Thibs about his developmental skills. I feel like he is given a little too much credit from some for players being who they have previously been or exceeding lower expectations that fans have had for some players.
Donte was a great college player that was trending upward in the league until he got injured and had a down year. He had a great season in Golden State and continued it in New York on a larger scale. I don't think there was anything unique to Thibs and his staff that made Donte play the way he played last year other than possibly the freedom to jack up shots and play a lot of minutes.
iHart showed the same capabilities he had in New York prior to his arrival here and he actually said he had more to offer than he showed here when he left. The scouting report on Deuce coming out of college was that he was a defensive minded guard with an improved jump shot and questionable point guard skills. He may have struggled for a bit his first few years but he has become exactly that.
Precious is Precious. I'm not as high on him as others. He looks like the same guy I saw in Toronto just taking less threes. Hart has been Hart for years. Brunson is Brunson on a larger stage with a larger opportunity imo.
I see a coach that can push his guys to compete hard for as long as possible but i'm sure I see much outlier development. I don't see non-defenders becoming defenders. I don't see non-shooters becoming shooters. I'm not seeing poor ball handlers becoming great ball handlers. I actually feel like the way he may raise the floor and lower the ceiling for his teams is the same thing he does for players.
What unexpected developments have you seen from many of his players that you would attribute to him and his staff?
Id say the player development side of things is too consistant a plus to ignore
sure Ihart and Devo showed they could play like this. or that their ceiling was what we got for them.
But at the same time Devo and Ihart were exception contracts who are now top of their position. Not literally top but Ihart is the starting center, when he returns, for the best team in basketball (arguably) and Devo is leading the league in 3s, or did last year
but even if we discount them we cant ignore quickly & duce, even Randle and Brunson
Quick and Duce were as unheralded as players can be and now both are very much on the radar of the coaches and fans
Randle would never have been thought of as an all-nba player before NY and then made it twice
Brunson was famously denied a 30mil contract and then laughed over his current one. Now hes all nba and mvp level.
its not one guy I need to point to but the fact that all the guys are playing higher than previously expected of them.
Hart is another good example.
But sure, he demands more and they give more. that could be the narrative.
Or we could look at Cam Reddish and Toppin and their lack of success here.
But I dont think they have proven to be any better since they left.
Grimes is an example of a really good player for us whos now not really making an impact.
