PG: Deuce McBrunson School Curry's Kids

[Knicksfan1992]

good regular season coach. one of the best you could ask for.

Terrible playoff coach. and that will forever be his legacy until proven otherwise. Kind of same reputation as Doc Rivers.

He is the coach before the guy to get us over the hump.

While I tend to agree with this take... I just want to ask which series should he have won that he lost as a direct result of his coaching?

Also funny coincidence that Doc's only title came with Thibs as his assistant.

You might have some extreme people that say he's a bad coach. I think he is an excellent system builder and foundation setter with a team. He instills a winning mentality and elite preparation. That certainly makes him teams very tough to play in the regular season.

His knocks are:

Can he outcoach a good coach in the playoffs (yet to be determined). He has the reputation for being stuboorn which is both a good thing but also a bad thing. In the playoffs you have to make adjustments on the fly (its what makes someone like Spo an elite post season coach). Thibs almost to a fault believes his rotation and scheme works no matter what. In the playoffs you need to adj and be more flexible which isn't a thibs strong suit.

Can he get a team fully healthy going into the playoffs (we shall see). I don't blame every injury on him him but there are certainly cases where he shouldn't get of scot-free. There are a lot of cases where overuse has hurt the knicks. Ihart basically now has to be put on a minutes restriction because his Achilles started acting up when he was nearly play +40 mins every night.

Overall the minutes in a vacuum aren't like wild....its the stretches where the rotation tightens where we have guy playing +40 for like 5-10 straight games which puts them at additional risk.

Hopefully we do get a healthy-ish squad for the playoffs because this will be a big post season for Thibs...there is no reason we shouldn't be a conference finals type team this year.

So you're telling me he's a coach with flaws like 99.9% of the other head coaches in NBA history? Lol

Me being a pompous dick aside... I understand his flaws and agree with your takes here! However, the record speaks for itself and he's proven if you give him talent to win he will win. Even in Minnesota when Jimmy was healthy they were on pace to be one of the West's top teams. Hell.. Even if you don't give him a ton of talent he finds a way to win and develop young players simultaneously in his own unconventional way.

The best thing about Thibs is he's consistent and to your point stubborn about what he expects from his guys but when he gets "buy in" like he has this year he can win at a massive level.

Just because he's fresh in my mind but, could you imagine Steve Kerr who most people, I think, consider a better coach than Thibs trying to navigate this Knicks team with all of the injuries? He'd crap his pants lol. Every time Curry goes out or they lose Draymond the Warriors suffer and become a tanking team. The best thing about Thibs is it takes like half the roster to be out for that to happen .

I just think flat out Thibs has never had a team talented enough to make the Finals and on top of that his best Bulls teams had to try to go through peak Miami and Cleveland Lebron to get there which nobody else in the East succeeded against either FWIW. I'm just not really sure the playoff argument is really rooted in any reality even if the perception is that he has underperformed there since he hasn't made the finals.

[DOT]

so you're saying he should've won more with guys like nate robinson, cj watson, dj augustine, kirk hinrich? you can't be serious man. what coach is taking those guys to the ecf?

That's a disingenuous question

I'm not saying any of those teams should have gone to the ecf. I'm saying they shouldn't have

A good coach can win series where his teams have talent deficiencies. The Heat win series they shouldn't quite a bit, that's how you can tell Spoelstra is a good coach. Thibs doesn't have any of those wins

Again, he wins when he should win and loses when he should lose. A good coach can win when he should lose.

in 2013 the dude took a nate robinson led team to the 2nd round. and lost to the miami heat. 2 of those series listed he lost to that superteam in miami. nobody was touching them in those days in the east. you had to be around back then to know what i mean. and then he lost to lebron and kyrie in 6 games in 2015 with a washed up pau gasol, d rose's first year back and butler wasnt a star yet. so basically he's been losing to lebron's superteams while he was in his prime. im not sure what coach is supposed to beat them with much less talented teams.

and in regards to spo, he's a great coach but this dude never took down a superteam with lebron in the east to get to the finals. spo missed the playoffs a couple times once bron left miami too.

you gotta look all this stuff in context or watch tapes of those games if you never seen them

You really just keep missing the argument I'm making

That's okay though, I know you're just trolling. As long as you're having fun with it.

[Kampuchea]

Thibs haters left scrambling, he keeps overachieving with the rosters he has.

[Deeeez Knicks]

I am just happy Thibs finally listened to me and played more Deuce and more small ball. Thank you Thibs!

[god shammgod]

nice to put together a string of wins right now but between randle, og and mitch needing to be and stay healthy going forward, i'm not sure these playoffs are gonna be what people think they'll be. and it's not gonna be thibs fault if so.

Read on Twitter

some of the injuries can still be on the coach/medical staff...its hasn't been ideal there handling of some of the guys to be fair...not blaming it all on coach/medical staff but we can't keep saying he doesn't have a full roster when it seems every year he doesn't have a fully healthy roster...is that just happenstance or a coincidence? Or maybe a little of both?

like i said a couple of games ago tho, thibs doesn't clear guys to play. the medical staff does. at that point he's gonna use them like they're healthy. but i also think there's no way to simulate actual gameplay so until a guy plays you really don't know how well he'll stand up to it. and i talked about this in "around the nba" but the league in general has a serious injury epidemic right now. like a 3rd of the bigs in the league can't stay healthy anymore and in general there are just way more injuries. the pace of the game just might be too much for the human body. especially if you're really tall. it's not just the knicks. i think they're gonna have to try to fix this somehow. they did their best to curtail load management and there's more guys out not less.

[3toheadmelo]

nice, the classic, it doesn't bother me it bothers you response...

you the one mad about it brodie

who came in this thread complaining about anti "thibs" people

we’re just pointing out the extreme degrees the anti Thibs crowd is going for to discredit Thibs. you’re the one mad I called you part of them because of your ridiculous arguments carry on with your fire Thibs posts though.

[3toheadmelo]

That's a disingenuous question

I'm not saying any of those teams should have gone to the ecf. I'm saying they shouldn't have

A good coach can win series where his teams have talent deficiencies. The Heat win series they shouldn't quite a bit, that's how you can tell Spoelstra is a good coach. Thibs doesn't have any of those wins

Again, he wins when he should win and loses when he should lose. A good coach can win when he should lose.

in 2013 the dude took a nate robinson led team to the 2nd round. and lost to the miami heat. 2 of those series listed he lost to that superteam in miami. nobody was touching them in those days in the east. you had to be around back then to know what i mean. and then he lost to lebron and kyrie in 6 games in 2015 with a washed up pau gasol, d rose's first year back and butler wasnt a star yet. so basically he's been losing to lebron's superteams while he was in his prime. im not sure what coach is supposed to beat them with much less talented teams.

and in regards to spo, he's a great coach but this dude never took down a superteam with lebron in the east to get to the finals. spo missed the playoffs a couple times once bron left miami too.

you gotta look all this stuff in context or watch tapes of those games if you never seen them

You really just keep missing the argument I'm making

That's okay though, I know you're just trolling. As long as you're having fun with it.

You literally admitted to have never watched basketball during those years and yet you’re trying to make awful arguments about Thibs in games you’ve never seen in your life. lol: if that ain’t trolling then I don’t know what it is. Then again you have a massive ego and never admit when you are wrong so why am I surprised at this point.

[stuporman]

Read on Twitter

WTF is he talking about? Has he not watched the games since the all star break while he's riding the bench? That's a talking point from before the break, he needs to update his excuse making. Brunson is the player that gets some of the most contact while not getting calls now.

[3toheadmelo]

To me, a good coach is someone who is able to elevate the talent, to get them to win when they shouldn't

Like, let's look at his postseason resume

2011 he beat the 37 win Pacers and 44 win Hawks. Neither of those are super impressive for a 1 seed who won 60 games

2012 lost in the 1st round

2013 beat a pretty decent Brooklyn team

2014 lost in the 1st round

2015 beat a Bucks team whose leading scorer was 23-year-old Khris Middleton

2018 lost in the 1st round

2021 lost in the 1st round

2023 beat the Donovan Mitchell Cavs

So in 8 trips to the playoffs, you can argue his teams have beaten a team they shouldn't twice (2023 and 2013). And like I said, that's even not super impressive because the teams he's beaten which he arguably shouldn't aren't like, great contenders, just teams that are better on paper by a bit.

lets take a look at this in context since you said you only started watching ball in 2018 or 2017

in 2011 they went to the ecf against the big 3 in miami.
in 2012 d rose tore his acl
in 2013 got to 2nd round without d rose
in 2014 no d rose
in 2015 lost to the nba finals cavs in 6 games
in 2018 lost to the rockets who took gsw to 7 games in the wcf

there isnt a series thibs should've won that he lost. he won everything with the talent that was given to him. and most of those teams there wasnt much talent there. majority of those teams thibs was relying on backup point guards. nate robinson, cj watson, washed kirk hinrich, dj augustine. thibs was overachieving with those teams at that point.

Yup. Thanks for including some of the actual players rosters which was in my original point instead of comparing nameless records.

Dudes be like why couldn't Thibs beat Lebron with Kirk Heinrich

People be trolling hard these days. dude admitted he never watched basketball those years and is trying to complain that thibs should've beaten prime lebron with the likes of kirk hinrich because thats what "good coaches" do lmao this is top tier trolling

[Capn'O]

I don't really think anyone holds the ATL series against thibs...he has had some talented teams in the playoffs. Those CHI teams weren't buns. Our team last year wasn't buns.

But waiting until after game 1 in the playoffs to remove Elfrid Payton from the starting lineup was a really bad coaching decision in the sense we all so what happening months ago and because we were winning "enough" he kept playing him. We had time to adjust and get comfortable with a new lineup but he stubbornly stuck with the rotation even starting him to then never bring him back in because he didn't want to "mess with the bench". It was a silly decision and making that change in game 2 of the playoffs is too late.

To me, a good coach is someone who is able to elevate the talent, to get them to win when they shouldn't

Like, let's look at his postseason resume

2011 he beat the 37 win Pacers and 44 win Hawks. Neither of those are super impressive for a 1 seed who won 60 games

2012 lost in the 1st round

2013 beat a pretty decent Brooklyn team

2014 lost in the 1st round

2015 beat a Bucks team whose leading scorer was 23-year-old Khris Middleton

2018 lost in the 1st round

2021 lost in the 1st round

2023 beat the Donovan Mitchell Cavs

So in 8 trips to the playoffs, you can argue his teams have beaten a team they shouldn't twice (2023 and 2013). And like I said, that's even not super impressive because the teams he's beaten which he arguably shouldn't aren't like, great contenders, just teams that are better on paper by a bit.

lets take a look at this in context since you said you only started watching ball in 2018 or 2017

in 2011 they went to the ecf against the big 3 in miami.
in 2012 d rose tore his acl
in 2013 got to 2nd round without d rose
in 2014 no d rose
in 2015 lost to the nba finals cavs in 6 games
in 2018 lost to the rockets who took gsw to 7 games in the wcf

there isnt a series thibs should've won that he lost. he won everything with the talent that was given to him. and most of those teams there wasnt much talent there. majority of those teams thibs was relying on backup point guards. nate robinson, cj watson, washed kirk hinrich, dj augustine. thibs was overachieving with those teams at that point.

Right. It's hard to play above your talent level in the playoffs. Especially by the 2nd round you can get countered/scooped by other excellent coaches.

[sol537]

Starters: iHart / Randle / OG / DDV / Brunson
Bench: Mitch / Hart / McBride

Is gonna go at teams so hard in the playoffs assuming everything is healthy by then. So many weapons and a ton of defense. Feels like the Walt Frazier championship teams... Just need our health!

[Capn'O]

thibs aint getting fired anytime soon and everyone knows it. this is all pointless.

I don't think anyone disagrees with that. The POBO is one of his good friends and the best player loves him. And he doesn't deserve to be fired either (right now). I think this playoffs will be important for him but even an early round playoff loss probably doesn't hurt him too much either.

I don't think people should overreact to IGT comments...I don't know about the rest of you and how you watch games but its difficult to be a fan and watch the game in the basement not trying to make too much noise to wake up the kids. So I angrily write to you bums

I watch a player go down with an injury or hurt and they aren't taken out I get upset

i myself am never hyperbolic in game threads. you guys need to learn to control yourselves.

Big game from your favorite.

[3toheadmelo]

To me, a good coach is someone who is able to elevate the talent, to get them to win when they shouldn't

Like, let's look at his postseason resume

2011 he beat the 37 win Pacers and 44 win Hawks. Neither of those are super impressive for a 1 seed who won 60 games

2012 lost in the 1st round

2013 beat a pretty decent Brooklyn team

2014 lost in the 1st round

2015 beat a Bucks team whose leading scorer was 23-year-old Khris Middleton

2018 lost in the 1st round

2021 lost in the 1st round

2023 beat the Donovan Mitchell Cavs

So in 8 trips to the playoffs, you can argue his teams have beaten a team they shouldn't twice (2023 and 2013). And like I said, that's even not super impressive because the teams he's beaten which he arguably shouldn't aren't like, great contenders, just teams that are better on paper by a bit.

lets take a look at this in context since you said you only started watching ball in 2018 or 2017

in 2011 they went to the ecf against the big 3 in miami.
in 2012 d rose tore his acl
in 2013 got to 2nd round without d rose
in 2014 no d rose
in 2015 lost to the nba finals cavs in 6 games
in 2018 lost to the rockets who took gsw to 7 games in the wcf

there isnt a series thibs should've won that he lost. he won everything with the talent that was given to him. and most of those teams there wasnt much talent there. majority of those teams thibs was relying on backup point guards. nate robinson, cj watson, washed kirk hinrich, dj augustine. thibs was overachieving with those teams at that point.

Right. It's hard to play above your talent level in the playoffs. Especially by the 2nd round you can get countered/scooped by other excellent coaches.

especially when you are running into prime lebron and his superteams majority of the time. im not sure what else thibs is supposed to do at that point.

[MrDollarBills]

McNutt so cute

I looked up Monica's playing career and she was a really solid player at Georgetown. Starter and double figure scorer her junior and senior years, and all Big East as a junior. Her last two years, she shot .353 and .341 on 5.7 and 6.0 three point attempts per game.

Yeah man Monica could hoop

Watch on YouTube

Long arms, nice touch from outside.

Monica has such a bright future ahead as a hoops analyst. Glad to see that ESPN realizes it too. She should be getting more national TV games honestly

[3toheadmelo]

nice to put together a string of wins right now but between randle, og and mitch needing to be and stay healthy going forward, i'm not sure these playoffs are gonna be what people think they'll be. and it's not gonna be thibs fault if so.

He put Mitch back in the game with a fractured ankle.
He left Randle in a game where we were up 17 with 4 mins to go in the 4th.
When OG got here he was playing 40+ mpg after like a week, also brought him back in the 2nd half when it was clear he reinjured something.

If Hart gets injured you guys will act like averaging 43mpg had nothing to do with it. The injuries are in large part his fault because he has a clear track record of this happening.

i am not sure you can blame thibs for playing mitch. he was cleared by medical staff so thibs is going to play him. that's more of a medical staff issue. og too was cleared by the medical staff and i believe og also told thibs he was fine after the game. im not too worried though, i think he is just sore/inflammed from the surgery. just needs a lot of rest

you have a point with josh hart though. he is overplaying him a bit lol

looking at the randle injury, i dont blame him for keeping randle in the game. jimmy butler, bam, tyler herro and rozier was still in the game too.

[Capn'O]

nice to put together a string of wins right now but between randle, og and mitch needing to be and stay healthy going forward, i'm not sure these playoffs are gonna be what people think they'll be. and it's not gonna be thibs fault if so.

It could really go in a number of directions. If we catch lightning in a bottle and are mostly healthy or there are key injuries elsewhere I really think this team can challenge anyone. Health feels like a long shot though.

[DOT]

Right. It's hard to play above your talent level in the playoffs. Especially by the 2nd round you can get countered/scooped by other excellent coaches.

People get so mad when I say Thibs is mediocre and then y'all make arguments like this

Like, if Thibs can't get his teams to play above their talent levels and excellent coaches can, then by definition Thibs isn't an "excellent" coach

I don't know why that's such a scandalous thing to say.

[MrDollarBills]

I am just happy Thibs finally listened to me and played more Deuce and more small ball. Thank you Thibs!

Thibs coached circles around Kerr last night.

I can't speak to the debate ongoing here but I'll give Thibs that.

[stuporman]

Weird swings from iHart (+26) to Prince (-14). I think Prince is playing himself out of a rotation once Mitchell is back. He couldn’t box out anybody last night.

[Deeeez Knicks]

I am just happy Thibs finally listened to me and played more Deuce and more small ball. Thank you Thibs!

Thibs coached circles around Kerr last night.

I can't speak to the debate ongoing here but I'll give Thibs that.

I love that he started Deuce and went with small ball. Def a great decision so a ton of props to Thibs for that