martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Did you watch the interview?

No. I am relying on the quoted text.

Uptown wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Couldn't agree more with the bold...

what is stubborn? He sticks with the guys he trusts. He pushes back when comments are made without the whole picture. Just because social media says stuff doesnt make it true.

http://www.82games.com/2122/2122NYK.HTM
This is old.. updated 12/6 but tells you why he went with Burks and IQ for so long

You guy are talking about Thib's emotions here like he's a high school kid. Think about WHY he's slow to change. Think about WHY he doesnt bench Randle and throw Obi out there for some games. Think about WHY he doesnt take Burk's minutes and hand them to McBride.... can you THINK of any real world reasons an NBA coach may not do those things? (aside from his emotional shortcomings)

COY and a good start wasnt enough. He's got to know when to sit vets and turn 2nd rounders into season changing assets, and most of all get past all those pesky emotions keeping him from being able to do that. Got it.

Did anyone watch last year? Did anyone see Rose's impact on the team? We have no PGs, Randle had a **** season, RJ had a **** start, Mitch had a **** start, Kemba was trash and it took Fournier a couple months. I mean the last one is on Thibs if you to point that finger. Have at that. THE ONLY REASON you guys think this should be a winning team is because of what Thibs did last year. If you want to say Thibs sucks with out Rose have at that as well. Seems Kerr sucks with Curry, and Pop is pretty average without Duncan.

Record is a reflection of the team. Lucky for us we have a good young squad and a coaching staff that clearly puts a lot of time into the kids

You guy are talking about Thib's emotions here like he's a high school kid. Think about WHY he's slow to change. Think about WHY he doesnt bench Randle and throw Obi out there for some games. Think about WHY he doesnt take Burk's minutes and hand them to McBride.... can you THINK of any real world reasons an NBA coach may not do those things? (aside from his emotional shortcomings)

Emotions may not have been the correct word, but my premise remains. Thibs said that he hates anything that "tears at the fabric of the team." Fish, benching players not named Julius for defensive lapses, but allowing Randle to log 35 plus minutes in games when he is half-ass-ing it, high jacking the offense, fighting with refs, etc. tears at the fabric of the team. Thibs is good coach but he is not without his warts. One of them being an overreliance on Vets or past performances as opposed to what is actually unfolding before him on the court in real time. I am not saying bench players need to replace the starters in the starting lineup, but how many times have we seen certain lineups or bench players playing well, only to be replaced in the middle of a run, by starters who just didn't have-it that night? One of Thibs strength's is creating a game plan before the game. One of Thibs weaknesses or warts is adjusting or deviating from that plan when it is not working in the middle of the game.

Did anyone watch last year? Did anyone see Rose's impact on the team? We have no PGs, Randle had a **** season, RJ had a **** start, Mitch had a **** start, Kemba was trash and it took Fournier a couple months. I mean the last one is on Thibs if you to point that finger. Have at that. THE ONLY REASON you guys think this should be a winning team is because of what Thibs did last year. If you want to say Thibs sucks with out Rose have at that as well. Seems Kerr sucks with Curry, and Pop is pretty average without Duncan.

The front office, the players and coaches are all to blame for the way this season has unfolded. Front office made a mistake signing Kemba. Some of the players haven't performed up to certain expectations and the coach isn't very flexible in terms of placing all players in a position to succeed. I thought this team overachieved last year and figured we would compete for a play-in which is not much to celebrate about so its more than just wins and losses. We can talk about the lack of talent on this team, but Thibs inability or unwillingness to reign-in Randle (This is actually an organizational problem which is another topic), early in the year, his inability or unwillingness to make in game adjustments, blowing multiple 20-plus point leads to teams missing their best players are on the coach.

If it tore so deeply into the fabric of the team they would not be gutting out a win at Miami, or winning 3 in a row including at Dallas to finish a road trip after losing 7 straight. Some of those losses were brutal, but its really hard to finish games with no floor general. We have seen that for decades in Knick land so its a bit puzzling to see you guys throw so much emotion behind hating on Thibs.

This team plays its ass off and can win any night. Fabric of the team is just fine. They just arent good enough yet. But like with IQ last year Thibs (I dont play rookies) has established Grimes as a rotation player moving forward plain and simple. RJ, IQ, Grimes look great. We will see how much of a developmental year for Obi/McBride/Sims this turns out to be but youth looks great under Thibs.

More isnt better. Kevin Knox got "more" his rookie year.

Does Thibs get FULL CREDIT for the Heat win? I mean what was an epic comeback right? No.. it's "he should have done this 3 months ago" which just so absurd. I watched. There was no savior. What's important is guys arent quitting and that speaks a lot of the fabric of the team and how hard these guys play for this coach.

EwingsGlass wrote:

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Did you watch the interview?

No. I am relying on the quoted text.

You are relying on Marc Berman's VERY KNOWABLE clickbait quotes without context? Is that a better way of saying it?

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Couldn't agree more with the bold...

what is stubborn? He sticks with the guys he trusts. He pushes back when comments are made without the whole picture. Just because social media says stuff doesnt make it true.

http://www.82games.com/2122/2122NYK.HTM
This is old.. updated 12/6 but tells you why he went with Burks and IQ for so long

You guy are talking about Thib's emotions here like he's a high school kid. Think about WHY he's slow to change. Think about WHY he doesnt bench Randle and throw Obi out there for some games. Think about WHY he doesnt take Burk's minutes and hand them to McBride.... can you THINK of any real world reasons an NBA coach may not do those things? (aside from his emotional shortcomings)

COY and a good start wasnt enough. He's got to know when to sit vets and turn 2nd rounders into season changing assets, and most of all get past all those pesky emotions keeping him from being able to do that. Got it.

Did anyone watch last year? Did anyone see Rose's impact on the team? We have no PGs, Randle had a **** season, RJ had a **** start, Mitch had a **** start, Kemba was trash and it took Fournier a couple months. I mean the last one is on Thibs if you to point that finger. Have at that. THE ONLY REASON you guys think this should be a winning team is because of what Thibs did last year. If you want to say Thibs sucks with out Rose have at that as well. Seems Kerr sucks with Curry, and Pop is pretty average without Duncan.

Record is a reflection of the team. Lucky for us we have a good young squad and a coaching staff that clearly puts a lot of time into the kids

There is a lot of difference between benching a player and reducing minutes to give others time. I am not a proponent of benching Randle. I’m a advocate of his despite his poor shot selection. I think there should be a better minutes allocation.

In the OKC game last month, Randle played 45 minutes and Toppin played 8. That was one of the worst examples of what I see as mismanagement. That’s just dumb.

Against Miami, the Knicks do well with Toppin and the youths. After the game, Thibs makes these statements. I felt that Thibs was overly defensive after a win over where the kids led that charge as a “you don’t understand cause you don’t watch as much tape”.

Last night? 31 mins Randle to Toppin 17. I’m ok with this last split.

You can say it’s not Randle (and I mostly agree) but the second unit deserves more minutes as a whole. Quick has good days and bad. Everyone does. I just thought he was defending himself because the youths played well. Instead, I want him to ask what is working that the second unit is doing?

There is better ball movement in the second unit. The guards are staying in front of their opponents better. Rotations are better. Fast breaks are more likely. More players are involved.

It’s true I am ready to move on from this starting unit. Might not take a lot to fix, but I see no reason to commit to that squad for 33 wins.

Can’t give him credit for last year without blame for this year.

You said he never makes adjustments and literally show me two examples of him making adjustments

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Did you watch the interview?

No. I am relying on the quoted text.

You are relying on Marc Berman's VERY KNOWABLE clickbait quotes without context? Is that a better way of saying it?

A quote is a quote as denoted by the quotation marks. You going to start requiring primary source citations in format approved by Chicago Manual of Style on this site? If you let me footnote my posts I’ll add lots of fun citations to my posts and hire an intern to fact check them.

Quotes are quotes. If you wanna play See no evil Hear no evil at the same time, that's on you.

I can add "F--- Berman" to my post if it squares with you? Most of my posts on Berman are "F--- Berman" posts. But this one wasn't about Berman, it was about Thibs.

fishmike wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Couldn't agree more with the bold...

what is stubborn? He sticks with the guys he trusts. He pushes back when comments are made without the whole picture. Just because social media says stuff doesnt make it true.

http://www.82games.com/2122/2122NYK.HTM
This is old.. updated 12/6 but tells you why he went with Burks and IQ for so long

You guy are talking about Thib's emotions here like he's a high school kid. Think about WHY he's slow to change. Think about WHY he doesnt bench Randle and throw Obi out there for some games. Think about WHY he doesnt take Burk's minutes and hand them to McBride.... can you THINK of any real world reasons an NBA coach may not do those things? (aside from his emotional shortcomings)

COY and a good start wasnt enough. He's got to know when to sit vets and turn 2nd rounders into season changing assets, and most of all get past all those pesky emotions keeping him from being able to do that. Got it.

Did anyone watch last year? Did anyone see Rose's impact on the team? We have no PGs, Randle had a **** season, RJ had a **** start, Mitch had a **** start, Kemba was trash and it took Fournier a couple months. I mean the last one is on Thibs if you to point that finger. Have at that. THE ONLY REASON you guys think this should be a winning team is because of what Thibs did last year. If you want to say Thibs sucks with out Rose have at that as well. Seems Kerr sucks with Curry, and Pop is pretty average without Duncan.

Record is a reflection of the team. Lucky for us we have a good young squad and a coaching staff that clearly puts a lot of time into the kids

There is a lot of difference between benching a player and reducing minutes to give others time. I am not a proponent of benching Randle. I’m a advocate of his despite his poor shot selection. I think there should be a better minutes allocation.

In the OKC game last month, Randle played 45 minutes and Toppin played 8. That was one of the worst examples of what I see as mismanagement. That’s just dumb.

Against Miami, the Knicks do well with Toppin and the youths. After the game, Thibs makes these statements. I felt that Thibs was overly defensive after a win over where the kids led that charge as a “you don’t understand cause you don’t watch as much tape”.

Last night? 31 mins Randle to Toppin 17. I’m ok with this last split.

You can say it’s not Randle (and I mostly agree) but the second unit deserves more minutes as a whole. Quick has good days and bad. Everyone does. I just thought he was defending himself because the youths played well. Instead, I want him to ask what is working that the second unit is doing?

There is better ball movement in the second unit. The guards are staying in front of their opponents better. Rotations are better. Fast breaks are more likely. More players are involved.

It’s true I am ready to move on from this starting unit. Might not take a lot to fix, but I see no reason to commit to that squad for 33 wins.

Can’t give him credit for last year without blame for this year.

The bold just isnt fair... Im sorry. The bench was not good in that game, Obi/IQ/Burks were missing all their 3s, and Randle played the entire OT. I mean coach went with the unit that was playing better. He was trying to win. Its "just dumb" isnt looking at that game.

You said he never makes adjustments and literally show me two examples of him making adjustments

If the standard that units that aren't performing get substituted out, I would not have an argument. He stubbornly plays a starting unit that is outscored by its opponents. Stubborn doesn't mean never makes changes. But the two worst 5 man units sorted by Defensive Rating with over 300 minutes on court together are both the Knicks. He has stubbornly stuck to these units despite a wealth of information that these are not good units.

This is units in the NBA with more than 300 minutes sorted by Defensive Rating. Thibs has the two worst performing units without over 300 minutes of court time. Substantially the rest of the 12 units with over 300 minutes are because they work well together.
https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1&CF=MIN*GE*300&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

No other unit has played more than 100 minutes on court together for the Knicks despite finding success. Why not play any of these other units more when not injured -- see if those outrageously positive numbers come back to earth? If the man says cause he watches more tape - he doesn't have enough tape with these other units on them. I stand by my statement that its bad management. The starting lineup he uses doesn't work.
https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced/?sort=NET_RATING&dir=1&CF=TEAM_ABBREVIATION*E*NYK&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

martin wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Did you watch the interview?

No. I am relying on the quoted text.

You are relying on Marc Berman's VERY KNOWABLE clickbait quotes without context? Is that a better way of saying it?

A quote is a quote as denoted by the quotation marks. You going to start requiring primary source citations in format approved by Chicago Manual of Style on this site? If you let me footnote my posts I’ll add lots of fun citations to my posts and hire an intern to fact check them.

Quotes are quotes. If you wanna play See no evil Hear no evil at the same time, that's on you.

I can add "F--- Berman" to my post if it squares with you? Most of my posts on Berman are "F--- Berman" posts. But this one wasn't about Berman, it was about Thibs.

I'd heed this advice. Maybe watch the actual Q&A session. Thibs is backing his players, he didn't say it directly but he is going to the matts for Randle.

EwingsGlass wrote:Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything

Maybe. Or maybe he is defensive about his unwillingness to play anyone other than the 5 guys he likes despite overwhelming evidence (1) that they aren't that good and (2) he has better options.

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Uptown wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

fishmike wrote:its a dark day when fans look to Berman for pulse of the team.

Thibs comments were spot on, at least the 7 seconds worth listening to. He wants team unity.

Fans set expectations based on last year's team. You know... the one that Thibs coached. He's a good coach. He's far from perfect, but he's good. It impossible that guys like Obi and IQ are playing well BECAUSE of the coaching staff. Everything is always in spite.

Team plays hard. Its same **** year after year... we should be winning 50 games except for the coach.

All of my reaction is to the words Thibs used - the quotations. Maybe Berman creates negative context to everything, but its not that I rely on Berman to tell me how to feel. If anything, I tend to think the opposite of whatever he writes.

If Thibs thinks its fans that create the dissension in the locker room, he is talking to the wrong people about attitude and relationship. We all see demeanor on the court. We all see that Randle is still trying to play iso ball and is using Fournier as the release valve to the exclusion of the other 3 people on the court. That disharmony isn't coming from the fans or social media and if Thibs doesn't see it, he has a significant blind spot.

That's the point of my post. He is validating his decisions based on the amount of tape watched -- and yes, he watches more tape than us. That's why he is the coach and gets the final decision. That said, he seems to be emotionally tied to his decisions and is truly slow to change. He seems to be using that process to validate decisions made months ago instead of challenging his assumptions. That second unit has been bailing out the starting unit all year. That's the only reason they even have 33 wins. You can call that "strategy" but it looks more like stubbornness. They are 5.5 games back from the 10 game play in with 7 games left.

Play the kids more and get them some experience.

Couldn't agree more with the bold...

what is stubborn? He sticks with the guys he trusts. He pushes back when comments are made without the whole picture. Just because social media says stuff doesnt make it true.

http://www.82games.com/2122/2122NYK.HTM
This is old.. updated 12/6 but tells you why he went with Burks and IQ for so long

You guy are talking about Thib's emotions here like he's a high school kid. Think about WHY he's slow to change. Think about WHY he doesnt bench Randle and throw Obi out there for some games. Think about WHY he doesnt take Burk's minutes and hand them to McBride.... can you THINK of any real world reasons an NBA coach may not do those things? (aside from his emotional shortcomings)

COY and a good start wasnt enough. He's got to know when to sit vets and turn 2nd rounders into season changing assets, and most of all get past all those pesky emotions keeping him from being able to do that. Got it.

Did anyone watch last year? Did anyone see Rose's impact on the team? We have no PGs, Randle had a **** season, RJ had a **** start, Mitch had a **** start, Kemba was trash and it took Fournier a couple months. I mean the last one is on Thibs if you to point that finger. Have at that. THE ONLY REASON you guys think this should be a winning team is because of what Thibs did last year. If you want to say Thibs sucks with out Rose have at that as well. Seems Kerr sucks with Curry, and Pop is pretty average without Duncan.

Record is a reflection of the team. Lucky for us we have a good young squad and a coaching staff that clearly puts a lot of time into the kids

You guy are talking about Thib's emotions here like he's a high school kid. Think about WHY he's slow to change. Think about WHY he doesnt bench Randle and throw Obi out there for some games. Think about WHY he doesnt take Burk's minutes and hand them to McBride.... can you THINK of any real world reasons an NBA coach may not do those things? (aside from his emotional shortcomings)

Emotions may not have been the correct word, but my premise remains. Thibs said that he hates anything that "tears at the fabric of the team." Fish, benching players not named Julius for defensive lapses, but allowing Randle to log 35 plus minutes in games when he is half-ass-ing it, high jacking the offense, fighting with refs, etc. tears at the fabric of the team. Thibs is good coach but he is not without his warts. One of them being an overreliance on Vets or past performances as opposed to what is actually unfolding before him on the court in real time. I am not saying bench players need to replace the starters in the starting lineup, but how many times have we seen certain lineups or bench players playing well, only to be replaced in the middle of a run, by starters who just didn't have-it that night? One of Thibs strength's is creating a game plan before the game. One of Thibs weaknesses or warts is adjusting or deviating from that plan when it is not working in the middle of the game.

Did anyone watch last year? Did anyone see Rose's impact on the team? We have no PGs, Randle had a **** season, RJ had a **** start, Mitch had a **** start, Kemba was trash and it took Fournier a couple months. I mean the last one is on Thibs if you to point that finger. Have at that. THE ONLY REASON you guys think this should be a winning team is because of what Thibs did last year. If you want to say Thibs sucks with out Rose have at that as well. Seems Kerr sucks with Curry, and Pop is pretty average without Duncan.

The front office, the players and coaches are all to blame for the way this season has unfolded. Front office made a mistake signing Kemba. Some of the players haven't performed up to certain expectations and the coach isn't very flexible in terms of placing all players in a position to succeed. I thought this team overachieved last year and figured we would compete for a play-in which is not much to celebrate about so its more than just wins and losses. We can talk about the lack of talent on this team, but Thibs inability or unwillingness to reign-in Randle (This is actually an organizational problem which is another topic), early in the year, his inability or unwillingness to make in game adjustments, blowing multiple 20-plus point leads to teams missing their best players are on the coach.

I have problems with the bold.. they are based totally on speculation and fuled by your feelings and your emotions regarding this coach. Truth is you dont know how Thibs addressed Randle and how he was playing with the team, or with Randle. We know Randle played poorly but was allowed to continue to go out there. He absolutely did sit longer for stretches and Thibs allowed the bench to finish games or play extended minutes. Beyond that it seems you were assuming this was in no way managed, addressed or worked on in the team concept.

If it tore so deeply into the fabric of the team they would not be gutting out a win at Miami, or winning 3 in a row including at Dallas to finish a road trip after losing 7 straight. Some of those losses were brutal, but its really hard to finish games with no floor general. We have seen that for decades in Knick land so its a bit puzzling to see you guys throw so much emotion behind hating on Thibs.

This team plays its ass off and can win any night. Fabric of the team is just fine. They just arent good enough yet. But like with IQ last year Thibs (I dont play rookies) has established Grimes as a rotation player moving forward plain and simple. RJ, IQ, Grimes look great. We will see how much of a developmental year for Obi/McBride/Sims this turns out to be but youth looks great under Thibs.

More isnt better. Kevin Knox got "more" his rookie year.

Does Thibs get FULL CREDIT for the Heat win? I mean what was an epic comeback right? No.. it's "he should have done this 3 months ago" which just so absurd. I watched. There was no savior. What's important is guys arent quitting and that speaks a lot of the fabric of the team and how hard these guys play for this coach.

None of us have access to what's going on behind the scenes, so we do not know what was or wasn't said to Julius and the team. All we have are the games. When I first started coaching over 12 years ago, a coach who was sort of a mentor to me said to me, "one of the best ways to discipline and or reward a player is minutes allocation". There have been plenty of games this year where Randle's play and effort have been ****ty and still he was rewarded with extensive minutes. We've seen RJ, early in the year, get benched for defensive lapses. Evan, Kemba and Mitch have all been benched individually for defensive miscues. When Randle is "benched", the entire starting 5 was benched.

In one of Randles worse games of the year, effort and performance-wise, @ Milwaukee, Ranldes logged a team high 36 minutes. In the game when MSG homers called out Randle's effort and energy, he played 37 minutes @ Minnesota. I could be wrong, but I don't remember Randle being pulled for his individual poor effort. Fish, honestly, are you trying to tell me there hasn't been accountability issues with Randle this year?

Ian Begley had an article about the Knicks back when Walker was benched about what was going on in the locker room.....

“Some players privately questioned how [Thibodeau] handled the benching of Walker earlier in the season. Walker said that he and Thibodeau didn’t speak for a significant stretch after Thibodeau decided to bench him,” Begley wrote on Thursday.

If you are telling me that the way Randle has been handled or mishandled this year hasn't affected the fabric of this team because they are still playing hard; Cool! Then that also means that the noise on social media that Thibs referenced when he mentioned not liking "anything that eats at the fabric of the team", is in fact not destroying the fabric of the team either. If that's the case, why are you bringing this up? A better question is, why bring this up after the young-guns beat the first-place team in the east, on the road, for the first time in 5 years?

https://sportsnaut.com/new-york-knicks-locker-room-drama/

And Burks last two games has been the hero!!! LOL!!! So when Thibs is wrong he is “Stubborn”, when he is right he demonstrates a high conviction for his goals?