AirP. wrote:musiqsoulchild wrote:Blatt's damn good too....and thats been my opinion even before the Cleveland Cavaliers were formed. There's also Vogel, who I'll take in a jiffy over Thibs. And then there's Jason Kidd.
That's 11 coaches who can do as good a job as Thibs has done with the roster at hand.
This isnt to villify or demean Thibs. Its to make a point that the NBA top tier coaching being a barren landscape is an over-statement.
I can't agree with you on this, although the roster is good, the situation hasn't been good. The franchise player deciding not to consistently play hard on the court, minute restrictions on key players, having to rely on rookies and a first year player, not having a real starting SF and up till this season half the Bulls fan base didn't want to give Jimmy Butler an extension at or above Taj's last contract.
Under Thibs Noah became the defensive player of the year, Rose became the MVP, Gibson and Butler(both defensive players) developed offensive games, Pau has turned back the clock under Thibs. Thib's system have gotten way more out of these players then I think anyone else could have gotten out of them. Yes he asks more from his players but they also end up producing more and getting wins. I'd argue that Chicago isn't as deep as they need to be with decent veterans. Talent/Potential is great, but knowing your players are going to execute your gameplan has a ton of influence on winning games too.
Heck, Taj at age 30 developed a genuine post game with Thib's coaching. There is no denying the greatness of Thibs.
Thats not my point at all.
My point is that, Thibs has to adapt to the changing landscape. He's got to understand that injury management and player management is a real thing. He cant keep questioning the science of it when the FO fully invested in that same science.
Its Thibs own doing to a large extent that the players who believe the most in holistic treatment (Rose and Noah) have tuned him out to some extent.
I dont think we are at a breaking point yet....but we are at a point where an cost-benefit analysis will be done in the off-season on whether to keep Thibs or replace him.
And then emerges by second point....there is quite a large talent pool out there. It will be pretty easy to replace Thibs. Maybe not at a Thibsian level...but even a coach that is of slightly lesser caliber can help the team perform better if he is less robotic and more engaging. And more supportive.
For love, not money.