Jay10 wrote:Jeff Van Gully wrote:Jay10 wrote: 
 And whomever the person or people were that told him to use the bench, they can now say playing Shamet and Wright earlier in the series could've been the difference in the series.
TJ McConnell was too physical for Deuce and the moment Shamet and Wright started defending him, he was non-existent on the offensive end.
 
so deuce and payne weren't supposed to get a chance in their roles? or would we call that an adjustment?
speaking of shamet, he was in the 9-man rotation in the detroit series but not in boston because...
wait for it...
boston went 8 guys instead of 9 and the knicks scaled down for the matchups. 9th/situational guy was precious for size reasons. same argument being made for the shamet adjustment to mcconnell.
 
When it comes to McConnell I was saying Thibodeau could've tried using Shamet from the beginning of the series, because McConnell did the same thing to Deuce in the series last season, and Shamet and Wright's height looked to be the difference this time around.
 
This is an issue with Thibs, where it seems like he'll stick with a guy "because", lose a game, and THEN adjust. 
It's not that he doesn't adjust, it's that he's SLOW to adjust or doesn't predict the issue like other coaches do. 
No one is saying Thibs sucks (ok, some are) but I think there's a world where his style and mentality is costing some points and even outright games, and in the playoffs, those can't be spared. 
Like, Thibs is 95% fine as a playoff coach. Knicks need to find the guy who is 100% dialed in