Recognizing the growth of an imperfect but great coach

Tom Thibodeau still gets his share of blame when things don’t go right for the Knicks.

Take a look at post-game threads on this very site, tune into any post-game show on YouTube, or head on over to X (formerly known as Twitter) and you’ll get the idea of what fans are saying and their feelings—you are likely to see a fair share of criticisms aimed at the Knicks coach.

While some fans are just delusional or have a personal vendetta against him, some of the critique is warranted. Thibodeau is a coach who has very clear weaknesses and flaws that include but are not limited to, being slow to make necessary adjustments, being stubborn, and leaving players in too long.

But as is the case with everyone else, if we are to point out his flaws, we must also praise him when he does things right and makes improvements. Such is the case with some of his rotation decisions as of late. Long considered a coach who heavily favored veterans and was overly infatuated with lineups featuring two big men, the veteran coach has changed his ways.

In prior seasons, we’ve seen the likes of Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle, Josh Hart, and Alec Burks all getting more minutes than they deserved to be playing, and it often came at the expense of younger players like Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes who, at the time, seemed more deserving of those minutes.

Thibodeau is far from the only coach to be lambasted for how he sets up his rotations. Almost every coach, at some point in the season, upsets their teams’ fanbase with a weird move or two. But with Thibodeau, it always seemed like such a constant and given, which upset, and even confused fans.

And to be fair, it even happened earlier this season. Before the Knicks traded them away, both Quickley and Grimes spent time sitting on the bench even though there were games and situations where they would have helped the team more than whoever was on the floor.

Recently, Thibodeau has made one small change that goes against this trend and that change has come in the form of Deuce McBride. Over the last couple of weeks, Thibodeau has started playing the aforementioned Burks—who was once a favorite of his and a certified member of his circle of trust—less and less.

Now, it helps that there simply aren’t a lot of young players on the roster left, but it’s still been nice to see one of the most stubborn and veteran-reliant coaches trust McBride and give him the minutes he so clearly deserves over an underperforming veteran like Burks.

Another change we’ve seen from Thibodeau is his willingness to play small(er) lineups. When it was announced that OG Anunoby would be returning from his elbow injury, the initial question was who he’d replace in the starting lineup. While I loved the idea of pairing him with Hart while sending Precious Achiuwa to the bench, I assumed that Thibodeau would start Achiuwa over Hart because I questioned if the Knicks coach had it in him to give up some size by playing a non-traditional big man at the power forward spot. I get that Anunoby isn’t small, and that Hart plays a lot bigger than his 6-4 frame, but neither are the kind of traditional protecting power forwards that Thibodeau has almost always preferred. But lo and behold, the madman did it.

Thibs opted to go for what was a smaller lineup by keeping Hart in the starting lineup. But this isn’t the only instance of Thibodeau going small. Remember when he didn’t play Quickley as much as he should’ve because he was afraid of having a small backcourt? Remember when he didn’t want to play Quickley next to Jalen Brunson? Well, he’s also become less rigid there as he’s been more prone to playing McBride next to Brunson as of late.

This doesn’t mean that Thibodeau has figured it all out and that he’s a completely changed man. Again, it’s not like he’s out there giving multiple young players big opportunities over veterans, and the fact that he’s always been a big fan of Hart’s probably made choosing him to start over Achiuwa an easier one. That being said, it’s evident that he’s learned from some of his past mistakes and that he’s not completely immune to evolution.

Will Thibodeau continue to make questionable rotation decisions? Maybe. Will he stay the stubborn old coach that we’ve grown to love and hate? Probably.

But since becoming the coach of the Knicks, he’s instilled a culture that fans can be proud of, gotten every player to buy in, turned the Knicks into a perennial playoff team, and, has apparently learned how to play some small ball and play the kids.