Breaking: Tom Fired

[gavran]

Nah they're different. JVG is much more adaptable and less rigid thinking than Thibs. I don't think they have the same faults.

How do you know that? JVG hasn't coached since 2007. He's more of an unknown than the rest.

He coached this past season in LA and was very creative with his defense.

As an assistant.

[knicks1999]

Maybe a bit off topic….but did anyone notice Thibs hands during his post press conferences during playoffs?….my wife and I noticed they were shaking in an odd way…like maybe he was starting to have health issues….nit sure that has anything to do with his firing…..just an observation

I noticed that at the beginning of this season, and my coworker got courtside tickets during the regular season and also mentioned this as well. Hope he takes care of his health.

I didn't want to say this but when Brunson had to tell Tom to take the starters out during Game 6 versus Boston...that looked very odd, like he wasn't present in the moment.

As someone who is caring for two aging parents...that really bothered me.

I can’t see him coaching again just due to health alone… your right….he didn’t look right through playoffs….and I have no idea what or if he has health issues…the optics didn’t look good

[Stannis]

Yeah I think lot of people are claiming victory a tad too quickly

What coach out there will be confident enough to take a "NBA finals or bust" job?

The money will have to be insane. But then at that point, it can just be a paycheck and bounce/retirement kinda thing .

if someone gets hired and loses in round 2 next year or god forbid round 1, that might be it. you might get fired.

if you're a young coach it might be it for you career. you might not get another chance in the league.

it's risky for both sides. you have to really nail this choice

Yeah, hate to sound like a doomsdayer, but I just don't see any worthwhile coach wanting to take that risk. Unless they are just ready to cashin and are ok with never coaching NBA basketball again

Sure, money talks and it could make anybody take the job. But we've been through this before with coaches and POBOs.

Theory.... I'm wondering if Rose is trying to move KAT before hiring a coach. It might make the job more appealing. I can't imagine coaches want to try to figure out how to mesh Brunson and KAT. I like both, but their styles don't match, IMHO.

[Jay10]

Maybe a bit off topic….but did anyone notice Thibs hands during his post press conferences during playoffs?….my wife and I noticed they were shaking in an odd way…like maybe he was starting to have health issues….nit sure that has anything to do with his firing…..just an observation

Derrick Rose said that is what happens when he gets nervous.

[BKlutch]

If Bryant is struggling to get the Suns job over another coach, is that an indictment on him? Didn't he also struggle to become a HC last off-season? (Associate HC is a bit different)

If we're talking Phoenix and Matt Ishbia, the owner who makes all other owners look better* then it's not worth thinking about.

* OK, the Adelsons may have recently dethroned him by banishing Luka, but he's had a bit more time to look bad. He certainly makes 28 other owners look better.

[will34]

It’s Hurley. Just enjoy the ride.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Capn'O]

How do ya'll know that everything you guys are giving Bryant credit for with Cleveland isn't really Ott?

More to the point, a lot of great assistants don't become great HCs. Cough Fizdale. But there are also a lot of cases of it working. Bryant seems smart and like he has great player relations. If we pick him we'll just have to find out what his HC abilities are.

[thebuzzardman]

Michael Kay just said he was told by a higher up at MSG that Thibs is "a great guy, but a real pain in the ass, it was either his way or the highway."

Welp.

Sounds like WWW.

And WWW is a Bryant backer.

For better or worse, this is the way it's going.

So far, the CAA/WWW/Leon thing has worked out. Worm might be turning here, or it's all still good or even better.

We shall see

[GONYK]

How do ya'll know that everything you guys are giving Bryant credit for with Cleveland isn't really Ott?

More to the point, a lot of great assistants don't become great HCs. Cough Fizdale. But there are also a lot of cases of it working. Bryant seems smart and like he has great player relations. If we pick him we'll just have to find out what his HC abilities are.

Here are the only 3 facts we know about Johnny Bryant as a potential coach:

1. He's worked for the Knicks before
2. He's best friends with Donovan Mitchell
3. Obi and IQ really liked him (speaks to relationship/development)

Everything else is complete and total conjecture and projection. To be honest, #1 might be the only thing that matters, since Leon and Co know him, but #1 might have only happened because of #2.

[Context]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=4vuqoSUXlHvqcncgL7JjEw

Bryant, come home

Not gonna lie my gut tells me it should and will be Bryant.

I think it's inevitable.

I hope so Dollar...

[thebuzzardman]

How do you know that? JVG hasn't coached since 2007. He's more of an unknown than the rest.

He coached this past season in LA and was very creative with his defense.

As an assistant.

Hey, you know, there's a guy who was a really good defensive assistant for an east coast team, a team that won the championship. That guy was recently coaching and even had some of the guys who were assistants on that eastern championship team on his last team. Let's hire that guy.
Since bringing in ex Coaches who coach good defense also were assistant coaches.


Guess who it is

Spoiler:

[Context]

How do ya'll know that everything you guys are giving Bryant credit for with Cleveland isn't really Ott?

More to the point, a lot of great assistants don't become great HCs. Cough Fizdale. But there are also a lot of cases of it working. Bryant seems smart and like he has great player relations. If we pick him we'll just have to find out what his HC abilities are.

Here are the only 3 facts we know about Johnny Bryant as a potential coach:

1. He's worked for the Knicks before
2. He's best friends with Donovan Mitchell
3. Obi and IQ really liked him (speaks to relationship/development)

Everything else is complete and total conjecture and projection. To be honest, #1 might be the only thing that matters, since Leon and Co know him, but #1 might have only happened because of #2.

So we have no evidence that he can be creative offensively?

[Jeffrey]

Man, I wonder how Brunson feels. He gave up a lot of dollars to continue this ship. They traded away DDV, let go of Thibs and possibly his dad won't comeback.

[GONYK]

More to the point, a lot of great assistants don't become great HCs. Cough Fizdale. But there are also a lot of cases of it working. Bryant seems smart and like he has great player relations. If we pick him we'll just have to find out what his HC abilities are.

Here are the only 3 facts we know about Johnny Bryant as a potential coach:

1. He's worked for the Knicks before
2. He's best friends with Donovan Mitchell
3. Obi and IQ really liked him (speaks to relationship/development)

Everything else is complete and total conjecture and projection. To be honest, #1 might be the only thing that matters, since Leon and Co know him, but #1 might have only happened because of #2.

So we have no evidence that he can be creative offensively?

He's never coached an offense, so I don't know where the evidence would come from.

[gavran]

He coached this past season in LA and was very creative with his defense.

As an assistant.

Hey, you know, there's a guy who was a really good defensive assistant for an east coast team, a team that won the championship. That guy was recently coaching and even had some of the guys who were assistants on that eastern championship team on his last team. Let's hire that guy.
Since bringing in ex Coaches who coach good defense also were assistant coaches.


Guess who it is

Spoiler:

I give up, who is it?

[thebuzzardman]

How do ya'll know that everything you guys are giving Bryant credit for with Cleveland isn't really Ott?

Kind of inverted age wise, but the Yankees around 95? had Showalter, really good, intense, motivator, but could kind of get old. Yanks had a lot of talent and looked for a different kind of voice, because they felt that the young guys were veteran enough and had other veterans, so they brought in a competent manager (by reputation) but who was well known for ability to deal with people. That was Joe Torre.

Maybe the Knicks see Bryant as being able to reach all the vets on the team where Thibs didn't reach everyone. And that the team is gelled enough and vet enough they don't need the guy who is as intense.

Spitballing.

[Knick4Real]

Yeah I think lot of people are claiming victory a tad too quickly

What coach out there will be confident enough to take a "NBA finals or bust" job?

The money will have to be insane. But then at that point, it can just be a paycheck and bounce/retirement kinda thing .

Thibs wasn't fired because he didn't make the Finals.

He was fired because:

- refused to use his bench

- had to be down 0-2 in a series before using the bench players and when he did they helped the team win games

- had Josh in the starting lineup for the entire season when everyone watching the game saw opposing teams would ignore him to double-team other players when Deuce could've spaced out the court with his 3 point shooting

- refused to run the offense through the willing passer in KAT, to instead have everyone stand in the corner while being forced to watch Jalen dribble out the entire shot clock

- since his first season as the head coach teams have been running the same screen play for open 3 pointers, and he would continue to use drop coverage and it took until Game 6 against the Celtics to finally defend it

- allowed opposing teams to dictate the players he would have on the court by only playing starters vs starters and bench players vs bench players

- watched how better the offense looked when Jalen was out because everyone was involved in the offense, and reverts the offense back to iso-ball when Jalen returns

Add to that list that Thibs reportedly insisted to the front office it was his way or the highway. It became the highway.

[thebuzzardman]

As an assistant.

Hey, you know, there's a guy who was a really good defensive assistant for an east coast team, a team that won the championship. That guy was recently coaching and even had some of the guys who were assistants on that eastern championship team on his last team. Let's hire that guy.
Since bringing in ex Coaches who coach good defense also were assistant coaches.


Guess who it is

Spoiler:

I give up, who is it?

Lol. Thibs.

[Context]

Here are the only 3 facts we know about Johnny Bryant as a potential coach:

1. He's worked for the Knicks before
2. He's best friends with Donovan Mitchell
3. Obi and IQ really liked him (speaks to relationship/development)

Everything else is complete and total conjecture and projection. To be honest, #1 might be the only thing that matters, since Leon and Co know him, but #1 might have only happened because of #2.

So we have no evidence that he can be creative offensively?

He's never coached an offense, so I don't know where the evidence would come from.

How do we know that he wasnt behind offensive schemes as an assistant?

[thebuzzardman]

So we have no evidence that he can be creative offensively?

He's never coached an offense, so I don't know where the evidence would come from.

How do we know that he wasnt behind offensive schemes as an assistant?

Counterpoint: How different was the offense last year to this year?

I'd say not that different.