New York Knicks: Five reasons Tom Thibodeau was the right hire

The New York Knicks have reportedly hired Tom Thibodeau to become the franchise’s new head coach. It was the right move.

The New York Knicks have been without a full-time head coach since David Fizdale was relieved of his duties on December 6, 2019. Over the course of the near eight months that have followed, drastic changes have been made to the organization.

Steve Mills was replaced by Leon Rose as team president, Marcus Morris was traded for multiple draft picks, and the Knicks went 17-25 after starting the season at 4-20.

As the Knicks embraced the youth movement, found a new lead executive, and began to play winning basketball, questions inevitably grew louder about the head coaching position. Mike Miller did an excellent job with the interim title, but the full-time job was still up for grabs.

On Saturday, July 25, 2020, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Knicks are finally concluding the coaching search by finalizing a five-year deal with Tom Thibodeau.

Thibodeau, who has been steadily coaching in the NBA since 1989, is the first head coach of the Leon Rose era.

Thibodeau is one of the most recognizable names in coaching, but he’s also a polarizing figure. He’s an undeniable winner in the NBA, but he also has knocks against him as far as how willing he is to modernize his approach to the game.

After spending the past year studying the coaching techniques of the sharpest minds around the basketball world, however, Thibodeau is returning to the NBA.

Despite the admittedly rational concerns, New York Knicks fans should be excited.

5. Why Tom Thibodeau is the right hire for the Knicks: The minutes complaint is somewhat dated

The primary reason to be skeptical of the New York Knicks hiring Tom Thibodeau is playing time. Throughout his Chicago Bulls tenure, as well as the first season of his Minnesota Timberwolves run, he was accused of overworking his best players.

If one actually takes the time to evaluate the growth that Thibodeau displayed in that regard, however, they’ll start to believe that the minutes complaint is dated.

In Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns’ minutes decreased during each of his three seasons with Thibodeau as head coach. After averaging 37.0 minutes per game during Thibodeau’s first season at the helm, Towns was on the court for 35.6 in 2017-18.

At the time of Thibodeau’s firing during the 2018-19 campaign, Towns’ playing time had been cut down to 33.9 minutes per game—a figure that would’ve ranked outside of the top 20 in the NBA.

The same story can be told of Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins averaged 37.2 minutes per game during Thibodeau’s first season and 36.3 during his second. At the time of Thibodeau’s departure in 2018-19, Wiggins’ playing time had been cut to 34.7 minutes per game—a decrease of 2.5 per contest.

For what it’s worth: Jimmy Butler also played fewer minutes in Minnesota than he did during his final non-Thibs year in Chicago.

It may be easy to push the narrative that Thibodeau doesn’t understand how to balance playing time, but the evidence clearly shows that he was adapting to modern standards.

4. Why Tom Thibodeau is the right hire for the Knicks: He has coached young teams to relevance

The second knock against Tom Thibodeau is that he hasn’t been able to connect with his young players. This complaint was lodged after he failed to last three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which played home to two former No. 1 overall selections in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.

That certainly offers reason for skepticism, but lest we forget: Tom Thibodeau has proven that he knows how to coach young teams to the playoffs.

The Chicago Bulls won 41 games in 2009-10 and I won’t attempt to convince you of that being insignificant. When Thibodeau took over as head coach, however, six of his best and most important players were 25 and under.

That list includes Derrick Rose (22), Omer Asik (24), Luol Deng (25), Joakim Noah (25), Taj Gibson (25), and Ronnie Brewer (25)—fiven of whom ranked in the top-seven on the team in minutes per game.

Asik would go on to become a key rotational asset in future seasons, and Jimmy Butler debuted and made his first All-Star Game appearance under Thibodeau.

Furthermore, Minnesota played its only meaningful basketball since 2004 under Thibodeau. Butler—again, a player developed by Thibodeau—may have been the veteran leader of the team, but Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins were both 23 years of age at season’s end.

If the Knicks plan to surround the young core with respected veterans who prioritize defense, Thibodeau has proven to know what to do with that type of roster.

3. Why Tom Thibodeau is the right hire for the Knicks: 2012-13 was a Thibodeau style formula

The 2012-13 New York Knicks were led by scoring champion Carmelo Anthony and a roster that set the then-record for three-point field goals made. Due to this, the false narrative has been created that the Knicks were an offensive-minded team.

Led by defensive-minded head coach Mike Woodson, however, the Knicks found offensive success by first prioritizing defense—a Tom Thibodeau style approach.

The 2010-11 Chicago Bulls won 62 games and reached the Eastern Conference Finals with a similar approach. The team went all-in on defense, thus enabling Derrick Rose to make the leap to MVP status as the No. 1 scoring option.

When Rose missed all of 2012-13, we saw a similar formula pay off with Nate Robinson taking the postseason scoring lead during the upset of the Brooklyn Nets in Round 1.

The 2017-18 Minnesota Timberwolves admittedly ranked 27th in defensive rating, but that number is quite misleading. Minnesota went 19-4 when it held opponents below 100 points and 27-8 when it limited opponents to fewer than 105.

In other words: Minnesota, too, won games by prioritizing defense in order to make the game easier for its primary scoring option.

Having scorers of Anthony, Rose, and Karl-Anthony Towns’ caliber certainly helped Thibodeau’s cause, but the Knicks’ front office aspires to find or develop a franchise player itself.

2. Why Tom Thibodeau is the right hire for the Knicks: He wins

Whether you love, hate, or feel indifferent about Tom Thibodeau’s approach, there’s no denying that it wins games. Every team Thibodeau has coached has managed to make the Playoffs, whether that be as a head coach or an assistant.

Focusing primarily on his experience as a head coach, however, Tom Thibodeau has a number that works heavily in his favor: A win percentage of .589.

Thibodeau boasted a win percentage of .647 over the course of five seasons in Chicago. The Bulls won at least one postseason series in three of those five campaigns, making the postseason every time—and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 13 years.

Thibodeau also led Chicago to its only 60-win season and its only three 50-wins seasons since Michael Jordan retired in 1998.

In Minnesota, Thibodeau compiled a win percentage of .475—a mark that Minnesota has only exceeded in two of the past 13 seasons that it’s played without him as head coach. He led the 2017-18 Timberwolves to the playoffs, thus ending the franchise’s 14-year postseason drought.

Minnesota was 19-21 (.475) at the time of Thibodeau’s firing in 2018-19, and has since gone on to compile a record of 36-70 (.340).

Thibodeau was also an assistant coach for the NBA Champion Boston Celtics in 2007-08, the Knicks team that made the NBA Finals in 1998-99, and the Houston Rockets groups that had two 50-win seasons between 2004-05 and 2006-07.

Thibodeau simply wins.

1. Why Tom Thibodeau is the right hire for the Knicks: The Knicks are never prominent without defense

Ever.

The New York Knicks have a long history of being a contending-level franchise, despite the woes of the James Dolan era. The key to the franchise’s success during that time was its quality of play on, as well as its commitment to, defense.

With Tom Thibodeau as head coach, the Knicks are taking a massive step towards embracing defense as the primary method of operation again.

For perspective: The Knicks have won at least 50 games in 12 different seasons since 1970. During those 12 years, the team ranked in the top 10 in Defensive Rating every time but in 2012-13, when it was top 10 in points allowed per game.

New York also went 6-0 when it held opponents below 80 points during the 2013 NBA Playoffs and 0-6 when it failed to. Once again, the defense was the key to team success.

Thankfully for the Knicks, Thibodeau will have a number of committed defenders to work with. That includes versatile perimeter defender Frank Ntilikina, elite shot-blocker Mitchell Robinson, and potential all-around impact player RJ Barrett, who should at leats thrive as a ball-hawk.

There are still questions to be answered by Thibodeau and his coaching staff, but if he can get the Knicks back to prioritizing defense, Madison Square Garden will be a better place.

More importantly: The New York Knicks may do what Tom Thibodeau helped the Minnesota Timberwolves did and end an extensive postseason drought.