fishmike wrote:Thibs would be so much better and is so much better than Woodson is laughable. Same with Mike Miller. Folks dont want to chase Lebron because they like David Lee part 2. Thibs took a 500 Bulls team to 60 wins in year one. Minn had their only winning season since KG was there under Thibs. He was instrumental in Boston championship. All he does he work hard and win. Thibs would be a great hire. Reminds of Carlisle going to the Mavs. He was replaced by Larry Brown and Pistons immediately won a title and the knocks on Carlisle were similar to what folks like to regurgitate about ThibsThibs would be a great hire. Someone like Jay Wright would be interesting. Woodson is the definition of a retread and he's had more losing seasons than winning ones. Mike Miller is a stop gap.
Thibs checks most of the boxes. Winning record as a coach, won division titles, defensive minded coach, was the coach when Minny made their 1st playoff appearance after missing the previous 13 years and developed a 30th pick in the draft, Jimmy Butler, into an allstar player. His resume looks really good, but I do have some concerns hiring him for This Team.
The Knicks as a franchise are at ground zero which is a place that Thibs has never coached from before. Minny was young and building when he got there, but they were much further along than we are today. In his first year, they won 31 games. It wasn't until he traded for his former Bulls (Butler, Rose, Gibson) and other vets (Teague) that they won 47 games in his second year and made the playoffs. Keep in mind, the T Wolves turned into a **** show the next year under Thibs' watch. My biggest concern with Thibs coming here is that his presence may cause us to skip steps in this rebuild and start reaching for vets and players to help us compete right away and chase the same 8th seed his Timberwolves achieved. We need a coach that is in it for the long haul, will grow with the team and allow us to not skip steps. Thibs strikes me as a coach you hire to finish the deal, not to begin the process.
Rightly or wrongly, perception is reality to a lot of people. And the perception of Thibs that's out there is not a good one. I was watching NBA the Jump, and Paul Pierce who played for Thibs when he was an assistant with the Celts mentioned that Thibs personality and overbearing ways may clash with today's players. He didn't give his former coach a ringing endorsement. If the Knicks are still delusional enough to believe that can attract free agents, even though this has never been a coveted destination, then Thibs would not be the way to go based on his perception.
Lastly, in Boston and Chicago, Thibs was known as a defensive guru. But his defense failed him in Minny. His defense was stellar for more years than it wasn't, but his poor defensive display in Minny also goes on his resume. Did the league catch up to his defensive principles? The league changed and was able to exploit his ICE pick and roll coverage. With that said, Thibs has been coaching for a long time, I'm certain he can adjust to the new pace and space NBA. But to what level?
I think Thibs is a good coach, I'm just not sure he is the right coach for where we are in our process.
