Breaking: Tom Fired

[Ravenxvirall]

Possibilities are endless. I hope we see kolek get a decent shot at backup PG, delon showed that he can be useful in that role as well, we’ll have McCullar and hopefully his defense is as real as the hype, pac can grow, huk can grow. Maybe shamet sticks around for some vet presence. Cam for moral support.

And hey if we move some of these guys for new additions at least we know they’ll probably get a fair look too. Not just buried and hiding behind 37 mpg starters

Never seen this much collective hope in years on this board
It’s like we won the #1 overall pick or something LMAO

The irony, because we were just 2 wins away from the finals

We might have been two wins away but let’s be honest it felt like 10. We were never in that ecf series after we gave away game one or didn’t call time out in game two. Thibs got fired for a reason, you can’t throw away playoff games and expect to keep your damn job.

[Ravenxvirall]

Thibs is like my ravens football coach, great **** guy and great coach on practice days and training camp but completely and totally fumbles the bag in the big situations.im glad the Knicks are realizing that we already raised the floor and now is the time to break through.

[NoStatsGuy]

It makes perfect sense. Rose put their chips on the table before this season began and he has plenty of data to back up his belief the key pieces are already in place.

Only a fan with an anti-KAT agenda would believe Rose wants to blow a big hole in the starting line-up and reset.

This roster's weaknesses and flaws and chemistry issues are addressable from within, i.e. coaching.

Having a wider rotation and developing young talent will be the other benefit now.

Could we possibly see a shift with KAT to the 4, OG at the 3, ‘Kal at 2 with Huk and Mitch eating those minutes at the 5?
I’m really excited again, less than a week after being ousted
I wonder what the new philosophy will look like and new defensive schemes to mask KAT

I'm excited, but still committed to the quantitative easing of my Knicks involvement in the future. This news came so fast on the tail of the end of the playoffs that I feel temporarily Godfathered Three'd back into this, because this bodes extremely well for the franchise and I'm happy for y'all (other than a handful of weirdos here who crapped on anyone who had legit beefs with Thibs; where are they today?).

KAT is a PF in a C's body. He plays facing the rim. He defends better on the perimeter. Should have been figured out a long time ago. KD is 7 feet and a F. Dirk was 7 feet and a F. Nobody tried to make them guard the rim. KAT's deployment this season was a complete farce. The guy is a deadeye three point shooter and a threat down low and we made him charge from 30 feet out into the paint most of the time. Freaking absurd coaching.

The main consideration this roster will need is who is Brunson's backcourt mate. They need a floor general with excellent defense to relieve Brunson of bringing the ball up every time and run the offense through different players. Brunson will be more deadly once he plays more off the ball and is not the sole method for running the offense. That player is not on this roster. Wright is good, but average as a playmaker and shooter so not really good enough to fill that role as the starter.

Brunson needs a Derek Harper or Chauncey Billups type player next to him.

Either that or the next coach unlocks Brunson as a playmaker and they figure out the Brunson to KAT connection that never happened. Regardless, they will still need a defender with some size (not Deuce) next Brunson next season.

Players I think could be moved or come off the bench are Hart and maybe Mikal. My guess is the FO believes in Mikal far more than the fans and that he will blossom with a new coach. For that reason, he may simply be the guy starting next to Brunson along with OG, KAT and possibly Mitch.

I wanna reply to that, i feel like i crapped on the people sometimes. but it wasnt because they had beef with thibs. As i also said multiple times, i agree with most of the criticisms. And yes, after that i also sometimes posted that i thought he was gonna stay after he coached a good game with emotions running high, because he did coach some great games.

my problem really just was the energy that people sent towards thibs and i just returned that energy, if you wanna call it that way.

i love the points that you braught up and i am also very excited for whats to come. i still think its a risk. A new coach is no gurantee by any means. we have seen rookie coaches fail first hand and we have also seen established coaches not getting it done. Lets just hope Leon finds the right guy. At the end of the day we all just wanna win.

There is no reason our offense should be this bad in the playoffs, we have one of the most talented starting 5s and im sure, if we can unlock this offense and make adjustments on defense we are off very good.

[The KnicksFix]

Could we possibly see a shift with KAT to the 4, OG at the 3, ‘Kal at 2 with Huk and Mitch eating those minutes at the 5?
I’m really excited again, less than a week after being ousted
I wonder what the new philosophy will look like and new defensive schemes to mask KAT

I'm excited, but still committed to the quantitative easing of my Knicks involvement in the future. This news came so fast on the tail of the end of the playoffs that I feel temporarily Godfathered Three'd back into this, because this bodes extremely well for the franchise and I'm happy for y'all (other than a handful of weirdos here who crapped on anyone who had legit beefs with Thibs; where are they today?).

KAT is a PF in a C's body. He plays facing the rim. He defends better on the perimeter. Should have been figured out a long time ago. KD is 7 feet and a F. Dirk was 7 feet and a F. Nobody tried to make them guard the rim. KAT's deployment this season was a complete farce. The guy is a deadeye three point shooter and a threat down low and we made him charge from 30 feet out into the paint most of the time. Freaking absurd coaching.

The main consideration this roster will need is who is Brunson's backcourt mate. They need a floor general with excellent defense to relieve Brunson of bringing the ball up every time and run the offense through different players. Brunson will be more deadly once he plays more off the ball and is not the sole method for running the offense. That player is not on this roster. Wright is good, but average as a playmaker and shooter so not really good enough to fill that role as the starter.

Brunson needs a Derek Harper or Chauncey Billups type player next to him.

Either that or the next coach unlocks Brunson as a playmaker and they figure out the Brunson to KAT connection that never happened. Regardless, they will still need a defender with some size (not Deuce) next Brunson next season.

Players I think could be moved or come off the bench are Hart and maybe Mikal. My guess is the FO believes in Mikal far more than the fans and that he will blossom with a new coach. For that reason, he may simply be the guy starting next to Brunson along with OG, KAT and possibly Mitch.

I wanna reply to that, i feel like i crapped on the people sometimes. but it wasnt because they had beef with thibs. As i also said multiple times, i agree with most of the criticisms. And yes, after that i also sometimes posted that i thought he was gonna stay after he coached a good game with emotions running high, because he did coach some great games.

my problem really just was the energy that people sent towards thibs and i just returned that energy, if you wanna call it that way.

i love the points that you braught up and i am also very excited for whats to come. i still think its a risk. A new coach is no gurantee by any means. we have seen rookie coaches fail first hand and we have also seen established coaches not getting it done. Lets just hope Leon finds the right guy. At the end of the day we all just wanna win.

There is no reason our offense should be this bad in the playoffs, we have one of the most talented starting 5s and im sure, if we can unlock this offense and make adjustments on defense we are off very good.

Hey man. I didn’t have a beef with you. Just got into the heat of the battle of the moment. That’s what I was trying to say, KFTV has a lot of connections and I’m starting to get to know those guys. Their tentacles go far into the organization. So that’s why I was saying it wasn’t just speculation what they were saying about Thibs being gone. And I kept reiterating to you it wasn’t a lock he was coming back next year. When there’s smoke there’s fire with KFTV due to their connections. Hence I kept beating that drum that Thibs was gone because I was so fed up watching lack of offensive and defensive scheming / adjustment. The money is on Wright or Bryant.

[Reign23]

absolutely the right move. he is not bad, but we need more than an average coach to maximize the roster.

[HopelessKnick]

I want to thank Tom for everything he did for this franchise. He really helped build a good culture and gave us a lot of great memories. Thank you Thibs and wishing you nothing but the best!

That said, you guys know I grew increasingly frustrated with Thibs this season:

1) Playing a 7,5 man rotation from October to June was not the right approach. When all the elite teams are playing 9-11 guys you are putting your team at a disadvantage.
2) Keeping starters in up 35points with a couple minutes to go (Game 6 against Boston etc.). I will never understand Thibs' unwillingness to reconsider this type of approach. Just completely unnecessary, risking injury, not trusting the bench for no real good reason.
3) Completely uncreative offense. We were kind of witnessing the same offense the past 5 years, no matter what the personnel. When Hart stopped hitting those 3s in january our offense took a big hit. Thibs never even tried for a handful of games here and there to make a change to see whether we can recover that 5 out offense. Again unsure why not even an attempt was made.

To me you have to look at the season and playoffs in totality and context. You can't just (like the media) point to the ECF and pretend things are good. Leon poured all assets into this team but we barely won 1 more game in the regular season. In the playoffs we played 12 games in total against Detroit and Indy. I always thought the Knicks should have played much better against Detroit. There was not a single convincing game against the Pistons. Against Indiana only game 5 was wire to wire good. 1-2 good games out of 12 against inferior or evenly matched competition is just not enough.

Let me add one thing: I'm not convinced on the KAT/JB pairing. Already we are unsure whether they can make it work defensively. And that's not that much on Thibs. Both are just not good defenders. I feel like Leon should look if a good deal for KAT shows up and seriously consider it.

Overall I think Mikal summed it up best when he said that Thibs remains stuck in his own ways. Still thanks for everything Thibs!

[HopelessKnick]

absolutely the right move. he is not bad, but we need more than an average coach to maximize the roster.

I would say Thibs is overall a good coach but I agree with your sentiment regardless. We do not have a top 5 player that can do it all. Our star players have some major holes in their game (defense!). We definitely need a coach that gets 100% out of the team. We can't have flawed superstars, flawed bench and a flawed coach and still expect to have a real shot at a title.

[Ravenxvirall]

Haha what’s crazy is my son and his cousin and me are in a franchise online on 2k and my son says wait you are developing a bench now that’s almost unfair. Lmao moral of the story is if the Knicks get half a bench we should compete for the conference finals easily

[NoStatsGuy]

Hey man. I didn’t have a beef with you. Just got into the heat of the battle of the moment. That’s what I was trying to say, KFTV has a lot of connections and I’m starting to get to know those guys. Their tentacles go far into the organization. So that’s why I was saying it wasn’t just speculation what they were saying about Thibs being gone. And I kept reiterating to you it wasn’t a lock he was coming back next year. When there’s smoke there’s fire with KFTV due to their connections. Hence I kept beating that drum that Thibs was gone because I was so fed up watching lack of offensive and defensive scheming / adjustment. The money is on Wright or Bryant.

Good we got that out the way.

i am willing to embrace the thought, that cp and the guys over there are more plugged in than i thought. i think he proved that, since he was correct 2 offseasons in a row now. He seemed like he indeed was onto something. i just didnt like how you attacked my fandom. i have lived in NY for many years, have family there an i am in NY multiple times a year. I just work in germany otherwise i wouldnt be here. And this forum is my only way to connect with likeminded people outside of some people on social media or groupchats. But its all good from my end. As i said it was an emotional rollercoaster all year.

i think bryant should be the guy. i personally would be a little more confident with him, since he sniffed success in the NBA. And i think wright might just be another thibs. but tbf i havent watched enough vallanova to really say that. but its the impression i have from him as a coach, he preaches the same things that thibs does or what am i missing?

[The KnicksFix]

Hey man. I didn’t have a beef with you. Just got into the heat of the battle of the moment. That’s what I was trying to say, KFTV has a lot of connections and I’m starting to get to know those guys. Their tentacles go far into the organization. So that’s why I was saying it wasn’t just speculation what they were saying about Thibs being gone. And I kept reiterating to you it wasn’t a lock he was coming back next year. When there’s smoke there’s fire with KFTV due to their connections. Hence I kept beating that drum that Thibs was gone because I was so fed up watching lack of offensive and defensive scheming / adjustment. The money is on Wright or Bryant.

Good we got that out the way.

i am willing to embrace the thought, that cp and the guys over there are more plugged in than i thought. i think he proved that, since he was correct 2 offseasons in a row now. He seemed like he indeed was onto something. i just didnt like how you attacked my fandom. i have lived in NY for many years, have family there an i am in NY multiple times a year. I just work in germany otherwise i wouldnt be here. And this forum is my only way to connect with likeminded people outside of some people on social media or groupchats. But its all good from my end. As i said it was an emotional rollercoaster all year.

i think bryant should be the guy. i personally would be a little more confident with him, since he sniffed success in the NBA. And i think wright might just be another thibs. but tbf i havent watched enough vallanova to really say that. but its the impression i have from him as a coach, he preaches the same things that thibs does or what am i missing?

Agreed. On my end I just didn’t appreciate getting called a fool for saying thibs had coached his last game. Or that I was on CP from KFTV’s nuts. Or saying a video wouldn’t explain principles as to why he would lose his job, or saying if Shams’ didn’t report it then how would CP know anything. The thing is, Im beginning to get to know them doods over at KFTV. I know they have connections, which is why I call in. KFTV is tight with the Knicks and represented by the same companies. And when they say something, they know what’s up. The Knicks are tight lipped with espn fox and other sports outlets. But they let KFTV have access. Like I said before, I wasn’t trying to solely focus on KFTV. I was just reiterating why Thibs was indeed gone. I’ve been watching the game a long long time, I even discussed the exact moment as to when Knicks brass knew the time had come for Thibs. It doesn’t make me a fool, it just means that sometimes you might know someone thru the grapevines that knows something, whether it’s fodder or not, there were rumblings

Ps. I wasn’t kidding about being a doc lolol

And yea man. It’s either Bryant or Wright

[The KnicksFix]

Hey man. I didn’t have a beef with you. Just got into the heat of the battle of the moment. That’s what I was trying to say, KFTV has a lot of connections and I’m starting to get to know those guys. Their tentacles go far into the organization. So that’s why I was saying it wasn’t just speculation what they were saying about Thibs being gone. And I kept reiterating to you it wasn’t a lock he was coming back next year. When there’s smoke there’s fire with KFTV due to their connections. Hence I kept beating that drum that Thibs was gone because I was so fed up watching lack of offensive and defensive scheming / adjustment. The money is on Wright or Bryant.

Good we got that out the way.

i am willing to embrace the thought, that cp and the guys over there are more plugged in than i thought. i think he proved that, since he was correct 2 offseasons in a row now. He seemed like he indeed was onto something. i just didnt like how you attacked my fandom. i have lived in NY for many years, have family there an i am in NY multiple times a year. I just work in germany otherwise i wouldnt be here. And this forum is my only way to connect with likeminded people outside of some people on social media or groupchats. But its all good from my end. As i said it was an emotional rollercoaster all year.

i think bryant should be the guy. i personally would be a little more confident with him, since he sniffed success in the NBA. And i think wright might just be another thibs. but tbf i havent watched enough vallanova to really say that. but its the impression i have from him as a coach, he preaches the same things that thibs does or what am i missing?

RealGM is still king when it comes to basketball talk
But the magic of social media has flipped reporting on its head nowadays. Gone are the days of sports channel outlets having first access. All these podcasts and Knick content creators have flourished but I always come back to realgm because these are the truest hardcore fans. Yourself included.

Wright is a good coach, inverts the offense and puts the big at the top , runs sets with the guards at the baseline and wings at the elbows . Theoretically helps Brunson out to get him more off ball and gets the game flowing thru KAT first. Defensively he ran a lot of 1-2-2 press defense. I don’t know if that translates to the nba, but he also runs regular 2-3 zone a LOT. It’s very interesting because it freshens up the game so much now for us

Also, what part of Germany are you at bro?

[Adelheid]

thibs can really be a good coach for 2-3 years for a team trying to find their footing with a new roster. Strictly no more than that

[NoStatsGuy]

Hey man. I didn’t have a beef with you. Just got into the heat of the battle of the moment. That’s what I was trying to say, KFTV has a lot of connections and I’m starting to get to know those guys. Their tentacles go far into the organization. So that’s why I was saying it wasn’t just speculation what they were saying about Thibs being gone. And I kept reiterating to you it wasn’t a lock he was coming back next year. When there’s smoke there’s fire with KFTV due to their connections. Hence I kept beating that drum that Thibs was gone because I was so fed up watching lack of offensive and defensive scheming / adjustment. The money is on Wright or Bryant.

Good we got that out the way.

i am willing to embrace the thought, that cp and the guys over there are more plugged in than i thought. i think he proved that, since he was correct 2 offseasons in a row now. He seemed like he indeed was onto something. i just didnt like how you attacked my fandom. i have lived in NY for many years, have family there an i am in NY multiple times a year. I just work in germany otherwise i wouldnt be here. And this forum is my only way to connect with likeminded people outside of some people on social media or groupchats. But its all good from my end. As i said it was an emotional rollercoaster all year.

i think bryant should be the guy. i personally would be a little more confident with him, since he sniffed success in the NBA. And i think wright might just be another thibs. but tbf i havent watched enough vallanova to really say that. but its the impression i have from him as a coach, he preaches the same things that thibs does or what am i missing?

RealGM is still king when it comes to basketball talk
But the magic of social media has flipped reporting on its head nowadays. Gone are the days of sports channel outlets having first access. All these podcasts and Knick content creators have flourished but I always come back to realgm because these are the truest hardcore fans. Yourself included.

Wright is a good coach, inverts the offense and puts the big at the top , runs sets with the guards at the baseline and wings at the elbows . Theoretically helps Brunson out to get him more off ball and gets the game flowing thru KAT first. Defensively he ran a lot of 1-2-2 press defense. I don’t know if that translates to the nba, but he also runs regular 2-3 zone a LOT. It’s very interesting because it freshens up the game so much now for us

Also, what part of Germany are you at bro?

Yea it really seems like the traditional media is out of the loop mostly. at least when it comes to the knicks. would also explain why stephen a smith was enraged on national tv yesterday. he is mad he doesnt get the information fed and it hit him out left field. i thought that was funny.

thanks for the quick breakdown it definitley sounds good. although im not a huge zone fan in todays NBA. its nice if you can sprinkle it in every now and then. it can be super effective vs teams that are not feeling it on offense. but mostly i dislike zone, when the players fail to find their boxouts and we lose the boards. But again, if the team can make it work it can be an effecitve weapon for sure.

I am working in cyber security at a tech company near munich, so the south of germany. but honestly cant wait to go back asap. It hurt me deeply i couldnt be there for the last 2 playoff runs

[The KnicksFix]

thibs can really be a good coach for 2-3 years for a team trying to find their footing with a new roster. Strictly no more than that

Washington come on down !

[markdeez33]

I give Thibs all the credit in the world. He's the best coach we have had, BY FAR, since Woody, and prior to Woody, Jeff Van Gundy.

The staggering amount of underachieving, overpaid, unmotivated, and ill fitting coaches we have employed over the last quarter century is insane. It has to be the WORST 25-year run in the entire NBA for that time period.

I thought Phil Jackson would be the one to break the long-running curse, but since he never came down out of the front office, and only hired triangle offense Acolytes, we suffered and would still be suffering, if not for Thibs.

But Kenyon Martin said it best on Gil's Arena, today. "That's what being stubborn gets you!" -- He was so right. Thibs has never improved his weaknesses as a coach, going back 20 years, now. He had a God tier team with DRose in Chicago, and could never get them over the hump. And I can guarantee you, this season was his absolute ceiling as Knicks coach. It would be all downhill from here. The front office made the right call. And now it's up to them to find an adequate replacement.

Thibs had to go. 4-10 in elimination games. His abysmal coaching, God-awful rotation decisions, horrible timeout management, etc. We lost in 7 last season to this exact same Pacers team, yet we were severely injured and we struggled. We lose in 6 this season to the Pacers, with, on paper a MUCH stronger roster, with a MUCH MORE POWERFUL Frontline, and a way deeper bench that Thibs refused to use. Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges are a step above role players on a championship team and Thibs would routinely play them 48 minutes or more a game, depending on if we went into OT.

He rarely used our bench, which is quite deep now, especially compared to past NYK teams. Landry Shamet came to play in the Indy series. Where the **** was he during the 2 previous series? Riding the pine. It's unacceptable, in my opinion. Thibs routinely plays a full game with 7, 8 players max. And he did this dumb **** for an entire 82 game season + 3 playoff series. He is beyond lucky that we didn't suffer any significant injuries from overplaying our rotation. How can any of those bench players gain any confidence in their games or get any consistency going? They NEVER see the floor, outside of practice. How are these young players supposed to develop if they never get any playing time? Thibs has his favorites and he sticks with them, to the point of detriment to the team. It's time to change all of that. NOW. Next season, we need to routinely play these young guys. It doesn't have to be every night. But when we are up BIG, why the hell are Brunson, KAT, Bridges, OG, and Hart still in the **** game? Rest them! Let Hukporti, Dadiet, Kolek, Beauchamp get some development time! Make Shamet a regular rotation player. It's utterly insane that Deuce McBride is the ONLY guy off the bench that gets any significant minutes.

Let's see who steps into the coaches chair, before I can really make an assessment on where this team is headed, but clearly, there's a ton of fatigue and frustration in our locker room, right now.

Thank you Thibs. I wanted you as the Knicks coach going ALL THE WAY back to when JVG was fired and they brought in the likes of Don Chaney, etc. instead of promoting you to HC. But you joined the organization as a HC at the right time, truly. But let's be honest. Thibs is the EXACT same Thibs that coached in Chicago and Minnesota. Absolutely zero improvements in his flaws over the years. He is who he is. He should go to one of these struggling, young franchises down south. Imagine what the Hawks, Magic, Hornets, Wizards, etc. could accomplish with Thibs as their HC? Or if he wants to go out west-- Blazers, Suns, Pelicans, any of them would be good fits for him. Surely, someone will pick him up this offseason if he wants to work. He peaked with NYK. This was his ceiling. He fluked. He choked. And it's now time for a coaching change while we still have this current personnel on the court.

As long as we don't have a nepo pick in Rick Brunson being promoted to HC, I'm cool. My top 5 picks for coach are:
1. Mike Malone (go back thru my posts and comments, I've been advocating for Malone to replace Thibs as HC since the middle of the NYK-IND series.)

2. Jeff Van Gundy (I would absolutely LOVE to see him return. He's my favorite NYK coach of all time. And I think that he is the perfect coach for the kind of roster we currently have. This team is very well suited to JVG's likes & strengths, and I believe he could do great things with this roster. He taught Thibs everything he knows, but he's not stubborn, and he will play whoever is going to get us a W. He is as competent as a coach as there is.)

3. Patrick Ewing (Ewing has head coaching experience in the NBA & NCAA & was a long time assistant around the NBA. I would love to see him come home & coach here. If there's ever anywhere that Pat will find success as a HC, it's here in New York. He's beloved here. He has a rapport with the front office and with the current roster. I know that he technically did an awful job at GTown and w/ The Hornets. But that is mostly due to the rosters he had at his disposal. With this Knicks roster, I believe he can flourish. He would do wonders for both KAT & Mitch especially.)

4. Mike Budenholzer (This slot would be going to MIKE WOODSON, but he just signed 2 weeks ago as associate HC with the Kings, essentially the lead assistant for Doug Christie. But with Woody gone, Coach Bud is my num. 4. I know a lot of you don't want to pick from the crop of coaches that get moved around every season. But I'm a huge fan of Bud. I was utterly enthralled with the way he turned the Hawks around years back, with Paul Millsap and Korver as the top guys. They won 60 games. He did great stuff everywhere he's been, IMO. He's a Pop protege and a prestige coach that was built by the Spurs org, which if anything, we should be trying to emulate the kind of system that Pop had down in San Antonio, especially since we have the roster to do so. Get these guys away from the over dribbling and ISOs and let's start moving the **** ball and making the extra pass.)

5. Johnnie Bryant (This is the guy everybody here is so high on and the top pick on many lists. I don't know much about him, other than he has history with the org, and he is beloved in CLE and coveted in Phoenix. But I think there are much better choices out there. He's unproven. I think yall just want new, untapped coaching blood.)

Honorable Mention: Mark Jackson (He's a former Knick, he did wonders for the Warriors, and I think he would be a great fit w/ Brunson, especially considering that's the position he played in the league. He's another protege of Van Gundy. Why not give him a chance, if he wants it?)

Please, no Rick Brunson. Please, no Doc Rivers. I would love someone with Knicks lineage, but I would take a flyer on Allan Houston or Kurt Thomas or Marcus Camby wanting to coach a roster before I would ever want either of those dudes up in here.

[The KnicksFix]

Good we got that out the way.

i am willing to embrace the thought, that cp and the guys over there are more plugged in than i thought. i think he proved that, since he was correct 2 offseasons in a row now. He seemed like he indeed was onto something. i just didnt like how you attacked my fandom. i have lived in NY for many years, have family there an i am in NY multiple times a year. I just work in germany otherwise i wouldnt be here. And this forum is my only way to connect with likeminded people outside of some people on social media or groupchats. But its all good from my end. As i said it was an emotional rollercoaster all year.

i think bryant should be the guy. i personally would be a little more confident with him, since he sniffed success in the NBA. And i think wright might just be another thibs. but tbf i havent watched enough vallanova to really say that. but its the impression i have from him as a coach, he preaches the same things that thibs does or what am i missing?

RealGM is still king when it comes to basketball talk
But the magic of social media has flipped reporting on its head nowadays. Gone are the days of sports channel outlets having first access. All these podcasts and Knick content creators have flourished but I always come back to realgm because these are the truest hardcore fans. Yourself included.

Wright is a good coach, inverts the offense and puts the big at the top , runs sets with the guards at the baseline and wings at the elbows . Theoretically helps Brunson out to get him more off ball and gets the game flowing thru KAT first. Defensively he ran a lot of 1-2-2 press defense. I don’t know if that translates to the nba, but he also runs regular 2-3 zone a LOT. It’s very interesting because it freshens up the game so much now for us

Also, what part of Germany are you at bro?

Yea it really seems like the traditional media is out of the loop mostly. at least when it comes to the knicks. would also explain why stephen a smith was enraged on national tv yesterday. he is mad he doesnt get the information fed and it hit him out left field. i thought that was funny.

thanks for the quick breakdown it definitley sounds good. although im not a huge zone fan in todays NBA. its nice if you can sprinkle it in every now and then. it can be super effective vs teams that are not feeling it on offense. but mostly i dislike zone, when the players fail to find their boxouts and we lose the boards. But again, if the team can make it work it can be an effecitve weapon for sure.

I am working in cyber security at a tech company near munich, so the south of germany. but honestly cant wait to go back asap. It hurt me deeply i couldnt be there for the last 2 playoff runs

You didn’t miss much bro. I wasted money for those games. Should have just went to a bar and drank my sorrows away. Was at game 7 last year and game 2 this year. Great seats because of my friend’s connect. Still the biggest waste of my time. Watching them lose in person, I’d rather just drink lmao

Stephen A just yelling non stop today man. I thought the same thing. These guys are so far removed that they get the news once it’s already done. Hey man hopefully you get back next year, Munich sounds like a nice place man, wish I could go. I’m telling you man, we get the right coach in place, you could find yourself here next year at the garden for the finals

[snadler]

I give Thibs all the credit in the world. He's the best coach we have had, BY FAR, since Woody, and prior to Woody, Jeff Van Gundy.

The staggering amount of underachieving, overpaid, unmotivated, and ill fitting coaches we have employed over the last quarter century is insane. It has to be the WORST 25-year run in the entire NBA for that time period.

I thought Phil Jackson would be the one to break the long-running curse, but since he never came down out of the front office, and only hired triangle offense Acolytes, we suffered and would still be suffering, if not for Thibs.

But Kenyon Martin said it best on Gil's Arena, today. "That's what being stubborn gets you!" -- He was so right. Thibs has never improved his weaknesses as a coach, going back 20 years, now. He had a God tier team with DRose in Chicago, and could never get them over the hump. And I can guarantee you, this season was his absolute ceiling as Knicks coach. It would be all downhill from here. The front office made the right call. And now it's up to them to find an adequate replacement.

Thibs had to go. 4-10 in elimination games. His abysmal coaching, God-awful rotation decisions, horrible timeout management, etc. We lost in 7 last season to this exact same Pacers team, yet we were severely injured and we struggled. We lose in 6 this season to the Pacers, with, on paper a MUCH stronger roster, with a MUCH MORE POWERFUL Frontline, and a way deeper bench that Thibs refused to use. Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges are a step above role players on a championship team and Thibs would routinely play them 48 minutes or more a game, depending on if we went into OT.

He rarely used our bench, which is quite deep now, especially compared to past NYK teams. Landry Shamet came to play in the Indy series. Where the **** was he during the 2 previous series? Riding the pine. It's unacceptable, in my opinion. Thibs routinely plays a full game with 7, 8 players max. And he did this dumb **** for an entire 82 game season + 3 playoff series. He is beyond lucky that we didn't suffer any significant injuries from overplaying our rotation. How can any of those bench players gain any confidence in their games or get any consistency going? They NEVER see the floor, outside of practice. How are these young players supposed to develop if they never get any playing time? Thibs has his favorites and he sticks with them, to the point of detriment to the team. It's time to change all of that. NOW. Next season, we need to routinely play these young guys. It doesn't have to be every night. But when we are up BIG, why the hell are Brunson, KAT, Bridges, OG, and Hart still in the **** game? Rest them! Let Hukporti, Dadiet, Kolek, Beauchamp get some development time! Make Shamet a regular rotation player. It's utterly insane that Deuce McBride is the ONLY guy off the bench that gets any significant minutes.

Let's see who steps into the coaches chair, before I can really make an assessment on where this team is headed, but clearly, there's a ton of fatigue and frustration in our locker room, right now.

Thank you Thibs. I wanted you as the Knicks coach going ALL THE WAY back to when JVG was fired and they brought in the likes of Don Chaney, etc. instead of promoting you to HC. But you joined the organization as a HC at the right time, truly. But let's be honest. Thibs is the EXACT same Thibs that coached in Chicago and Minnesota. Absolutely zero improvements in his flaws over the years. He is who he is. He should go to one of these struggling, young franchises down south. Imagine what the Hawks, Magic, Hornets, etc. could accomplish with Thibs as their HC? He peaked with NYK. This was his ceiling. He fluked. He choked. And it's now time for a coaching change while we still have this current personnel on the court.

As long as we don't have a nepo pick in Rick Brunson being promoted to HC, I'm cool. My top 5 picks for coach are:
1. Mike Malone (go back thru my posts and comments, I've been advocating for Malone to replace Thibs as HC since the middle of the NYK-IND series.)

2. Jeff Van Gundy (I would absolutely LOVE to see him return. He's my favorite NYK coach of all time. And I think that he is the perfect coach for the kind of roster we currently have. This team is very well suited to JVG's likes & strengths, and I believe he could do great things with this roster. He taught Thibs everything he knows, but he's not stubborn, and he will play whoever is going to get us a W. He is as competent as a coach as there is.)

3. Patrick Ewing (Ewing has head coaching experience in the NBA & NCAA & was a long time assistant around the NBA. I would love to see him come home & coach here. If there's ever anywhere that Pat will find success as a HC, it's here in New York. He's beloved here. He has a rapport with the front office and with the current roster. I know that he technically did an awful job at GTown and w/ The Hornets. But that is mostly due to the rosters he had at his disposal. With this Knicks roster, I believe he can flourish. He would do wonders for both KAT & Mitch especially.)

4. Mike Budenholzer (This slot would be going to MIKE WOODSON, but he just signed 2 weeks ago as associate HC with the Kings, essentially the lead assistant for Doug Christie. But with Woody gone, Coach Bud is my num. 4. I know a lot of you don't want to pick from the crop of coaches that get moved around every season. But I'm a huge fan of Bud. I was utterly enthralled with the way he turned the Hawks around years back, with Paul Millsap and Korver as the top guys. They won 60 games. He did great stuff everywhere he's been, IMO. He's a Pop protege and a prestige coach that was built by the Spurs org, which if anything, we should be trying to emulate the kind of system that Pop had down in San Antonio, especially since we have the roster to do so. Get these guys away from the over dribbling and ISOs and let's start moving the **** ball and making the extra pass.)

5. Johnnie Bryant (This is the guy everybody here is so high on and the top pick on many lists. I don't know much about him, other than he has history with the org, and he is beloved in CLE and coveted in Phoenix. But I think there are much better choices out there. He's unproven. I think yall just want new, untapped coaching blood.)

Honorable Mention: Mark Jackson (He's a former Knick, he did wonders for the Warriors, and I think he would be a great fit w/ Brunson, especially considering that's the position he played in the league. He's another protege of Van Gundy. Why not give him a chance, if he wants it?)

Please, no Rick Brunson. Please, no Doc Rivers. I would love someone with Knicks lineage, but I would take a flyer on Allan Houston or Kurt Thomas or Marcus Camby wanting to coach a roster before I would ever want either of those dudes up in here.

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First let me start off by saying that firing Thibs can be justified by the argument of him being unable
To get his teams over the top. But to be clear, the knicks roster right now is very flawed, and this idea that a new coach is all that is needed and all of a sudden this same roster but new coach means they are playing in the finals. You talk about this bench the knicks had, could they have played more in the regular season absolutely, but outside of Mitch who missed 60 games and Deuce, this bench was awful, payne, shamet etc, these guys are not championship level bench players. What we saw with Thibs, when he had a deep bench, he played them, it wasn’t until injuries hit and depth was lost and bench players needed to become starters. Leon has to share some of the blame, we all knew this bench this season wasn’t good enough regardless of the coach. Also, the KAT and Brunson defensive problems aren’t going away just because a new coach is around.

[markdeez33]

I agree that our roster is flawed and unbalanced. I don't think a new coach is all that's needed, but getting rid of Thibs was step 1. Step 2 is getting a new coach. Step 3 will be deciding whether or not to go all out to get Giannis or keep the core of this team together.

In my opinion, if we keep KAT and Brunson together as our stars, we need to go out and get some more shooters, and we need to go grab another defensive big or two. Our main concern should be DEPTH. I personally would love to find a veteran PG to efficiently backup Brunson. I love Deuce, but I don't think he's the answer. And as much as I love Mitch, he's injury prone. Losing Hartenstein was a big blow to the team. One that we still have not addressed.

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[Kampuchea]

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[gavran]

I agree that our roster is flawed and unbalanced. I don't think a new coach is all that's needed, but getting rid of Thibs was step 1. Step 2 is getting a new coach. Step 3 will be deciding whether or not to go all out to get Giannis or keep the core of this team together.

In my opinion, if we keep KAT and Brunson together as our stars, we need to go out and get some more shooters, and we need to go grab another defensive big or two. Our main concern should be DEPTH. I personally would love to find a veteran PG to efficiently backup Brunson. I love Deuce, but I don't think he's the answer. And as much as I love Mitch, he's injury prone. Losing Hartenstein was a big blow to the team. One that we still have not addressed.

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Getting KAT was addressing the Fartenstein issue.