Tom Thibodeau is a war criminal. Thibs’ mismanagement of rotations, play calling, and clearly defining roles has stifled the development of the Knicks young players. For the first time in a long time, the Knicks have a cache of draft picks and talented young players such as RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Hartenstein,  Cam Reddish, Quentin Grimes,  and Jericho Sims. Thibs has failed to put these players in a position to succeed and expand their game due to his affinity for veterans, lack of creativity, improvisation, flexibility, and a plainly archaic style of basketball.

Thibs has utilized an unevenly heavy handed approach which has failed to hold key players chiefly, Julius Randle accountable. It should be noted that Thibs and Randle share the same agency CAA, where current team President Leon Rose was formerly employed as an agent. Leon Rose hired his former client Rick Brunson as an assistant coach and signed his son Jalen Brunson to a $100M deal. Jalen Brunson has played amazing but he’s not the pass first point guard the Knicks direly need and it’s strange that Immanuel Quickley was never given an opportunity to start at PG despite strong play.

Thibs yanks young players for defensive miscues  while ignores the defensive ineptitude of “his guys” despite advanced analytics showing that alternative lineups have had drastically better results in limited minutes.

Tom Thibodeau was never the right coach for a young Knicks team looking to rebuild and he will never be the solution. Thibs coaching style and defensive schemes are outdated and his offense is hyper dependent on a super star to play through and make quick reads.  Knicks don’t necessarily have a bonafide superstar yet, but they have a collection of talented players and young players who can continue to improve and possibly break out into the NBA’s next star. 

Rather than make full use of this roster and develop our talent, Thibs would rather over play a 8-9 man rotation. In the era of load management, Thibs bucks all norms and basically plays guys playoff minutes to  churn out regular season wins. This is a costly approach that more often than not leads to player injuries, post season burnout, and shorter careers for star players (Think Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah). Time and time again Thibs touts overachieving regular season performances while leaving a trail of broken players and first round playoff exits. Thibs has no problem sacrificing the long term development of his players and the championship aspiration of fans to maintain his job security and coaching record and it’s why he’s never won a championship as a head coach. Thibs has proven true to his reputation of being an inflexible, abrasive coach, that does not hold “his guys” accountable. We saw this in Chicago and later in Minnesota when Jimmy Butler demanded a trade.

It’s time for the Knicks to fire Thibs before he does anymore long lasting damage to this franchise. Let’s let’s James Dolam and Leon Rose know that enough is enough! They must #FireThibs now.