Shams: New York Knicks Fire Head Coach Tom Thibodeau

[Froob]

Malone would be the most lateral move possible

[sackings916]

Needed to be done, took the dinosaur 2 and half games to finally decide to play more than 6 players.

Who was he supposed to play on that bench?

[TravisScott55]

I am not surprised. He is too stubborn.

[Bornstellar]

Taylor Jenkins inbound

[jkvonny]

Fired the coach that just got them to the Conference Finals for the first time since 99' smh.

Actually 2000.

But, yes, this was a bad move.

Typical Knicks FO move.

Oh yes I forgot. Fixed, Thanks.

No worries.
Cool

[Sixers in 4]

Malone would be the most lateral move possible

Is Doc Rivers still a Buck? He got that championship pedigree Thibs can be Buck Showalter and Doc Rivers/Malone can be their John Farrell

[NyKnicks1714]

Maybe Dolan wants to ride the nostalgia wave after pumping former Knicks into the Garden these Playoffs the way arenas sometimes pump in crowd noise. JVG incoming.

[Wizop]

Knicks posters got what they wanted. I thought Thibs grew less stubborn as the Pacer series went on, but they do need someone good at player development. the key development coach here in Indy is Jenny Boucek. she should be getting interviews.

[thamadkant]

If Michael Malone can get fired after leading Nuggets to a championship and playoffs after playoffs... no one is untouchable except for those with strong focus on culture like Miami

[azcatz11]

Great move, no more 7 man player rotations and zero offensive identity.

He’s a fantastic coach. Why can’t nba players play 34 min 3x a week. He will get hired by the Kings

Well, because when your starting 5 is something like 2nd, 4th, 6th, 17th, and 20th in MPG... There are zero roles for anyone on the team.

How wild is it that Thibs did not go 10 deep until the final 2 or 3 games of the season? It's like too late buddy, you had these guys collective anus glued to the bench.

I need proof anyone was burned out. If we’re blaming thibs for the collapse I need proof.

[Maury2423]

I love and appreciate Thibs as much as anybody but this was necessary.

Those of you saying this was the wrong move for the Knicks, really haven’t watched much of the Knicks this season. The same issues we had in game 1 of the regular season, also showed up during the playoffs, Deuce McBride basically said during one of his interviews too.

Thibs isn’t to blame for KAT’s and Brunson’s defense but his offensive system was terrible, if there even was one. Our offense was consistently watching us walk the ball up the court, crossing half court with 16-17sec on the shot clock, then waiting until there is 10-12sec left on the shot clock before any play starts to develop, the plays for the most part would be 5 dribble hand offs on the perimeter before the ball eventually gets back to Brunson for a contested jumper with 4sec left on the shot clock. We rarely used KAT in pick and roll/pop situations, often having him having to create his shot on his own.

When you watched the Knicks against other top 5 teams you would really notice the difference between both teams. The other teams would try to play their brand of basketball, their players knew where to be and when to be there, they looked like a team. While the Knicks looked like they were making it up as they went, especially in the clutch.

And we can’t act like this is anything new for a Thibs coached team, this is who his teams have been his entire coaching career, so it would be idiotic to think things would change next year

I’ll always appreciate Thibs for what he did for us but now was the correct time.

[JulesWinnfield]

As a Knicks fan nothing but respect for Thibs. He turned the ship around. The climb started before Brunson, and obviously accelerated once we signed him. I understand the frustrations with his stubbornness. I’m not saying this is a bad move, we’ll see. But I wish him nothing but the best

[DusterBuster]

Wow, there has never been less job security for head coaches than I’ve seen this year.

Knicks should tap Terry Stotts has head coach.

[Wizop]

Malone would be the most lateral move possible

Is Doc Rivers still a Buck?

based on the messages posted here during the Pacers/Bucks series, Bucks fans are every bit as down on Rivers as Knicks fans were on Thibs.

[JujitsuFlip]

He’s a fantastic coach. Why can’t nba players play 34 min 3x a week. He will get hired by the Kings

Well, because when your starting 5 is something like 2nd, 4th, 6th, 17th, and 20th in MPG... There are zero roles for anyone on the team.

How wild is it that Thibs did not go 10 deep until the final 2 or 3 games of the season? It's like too late buddy, you had these guys collective anus glued to the bench.

I need proof anyone was burned out. If we’re blaming thibs for the collapse I need proof.

The proof is in the pudding (Thibs is fired).

But the rumbles of the coaching staff getting mad at Bridges for calling them out for too many minutes.

And also the rumbles of the coaching staff being mad KAT did not take defense serious enough.

It's time for a new voice. Thibs playground offense does not work when push comes to shove. Thibs has never been to a Finals as a head coach, not by coincidence.

[Butch718]

People who are saying this is terrible, didn’t watch every game closely like us die hards did. Thibs is the Buck Showalter of coaches. He makes your organization respectable again, but will never take a team to the next level.

What team has ever gotten to the next level after he left. The Bulls? Wolves? Your analogy is flawed.

Look I like KAT but he doesn't give effort on defense. You think bringing in a coach who is going to go along to get along is going to get better effort out of him? You crazy.

It really isn’t flawed. All you have to do is watch the games. Man, there is even no point debating with posters that defend Thibs, because they couldn’t even describe the outdated schemes that he ran, or the terrible rotations and lineups he forced, despite their being real analytics to suggest the lines that actually worked, were given minimal burn.

KAT defense is a problem, and he’s one of the main reasons why they lost game 6. But Thibs was severely out coached in this series, and those that are defending him just like refuse to point this out. Almost every roster has flaws. It’s up to the coach to maximize the talent that he has. Thibs did not do that. I am not letting sentimentality of what he accomplished get in the way of what I actually saw. And I am glad Leon Rose is doing the same. Unlike previous regimes of the last 25 years, I have the utmost confidence in this front office.

[FrodoBaggins]

Been a staunch Thibs defender here since his Twolves days and thought he did a good job this past season. We need better than good, though. We need somebody willing/able to completely re-envision this team on offense and on defense. Three high-level defenders in the starting five and two on the bench, plus two high-level scorers in the starting five and three others able to step up at any given time--that said, the parts never worked together smoothly, and our bench seemed consistently lost.

As I've posted before, Thibs was our Mark Jackson. Here's hoping we find our Steve Kerr--the young, hungry coach who sees a way to make all these parts fit in a new way.

Other way around, pal. This reeks of Bud to Griffin & Rivers. Prepare for the slide into mediocrity. The Knicks were a team held together by the duct tape that is Tom Thibodeau.

[Lalouie]

Taylor Jenkins inbound

knicks and mem are basically the same

in that context, i wouldn't fire a man who got you to the conf finals, and replace with a man who's never been

[Effigy]

Had to happen. He won too many games. The Knicks are happiest at .500.

[Stone]

I really didn't think Thibs would be fired since he was recently extended.

But there were signs.......

The game one loss would have been avoidable had Thibs called a time out before letting the pacers back in the game.

Then he started going deeper into the rotation.

I thought he was very casual in the post game press conference after the Knicks got eliminated. Almost like he wasn't bothered at all.