The Knicks are in a significant hole, down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. If you want to divide the blame pie, a large slice of it should be served to Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks' head coach didn't experiment with his lineup all season and hasn't been able to maximize the talent on his roster. Yet, at the same time, the stubbornness and resolve that he exudes may be the exact reason the Knicks can climb out of this hole.
First, let me say this. You don't get credit for creating a problem and then solving it. Thibodeau has many faults, and no matter what the outcome of this series is, ownership needs to take a long, hard look at him this offseason and decide if he is the man best equipped to lead this specific roster.
In the regular season, Thibodeau played the starting lineup of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns for a total of 940 minutes. For reference, the lineup with the next most total minutes played in the regular season with the Minnesota Timberwolves starting lineup, who shared the court for 714 minutes.
That Knicks lineup was fairly average in the regular season, with a net rating of 3.3. They have been downright horrendous in the playoffs, with a net rating of -7.3. Yet, because Thibodeau spent no time trying different tactics in the regular season, he has now been forced to run a crash course on finding out what works.
His stubbornness may be an asset now
So yes, Thibodeau shoulders a great deal of the blame for the position that the Knicks are in. On the other hand, his stubbornness seems to have bled into his players, and might be one of the reasons they actually have a chance to climb out of this series deficit.
For as flawed as the Knicks are, they have shown an incredible level of resolve throughout these playoffs. In this playoff run, the Knicks became the first team in the play-by-play era to come back from 20-point deficits in three separate games to win, with one of them coming in this very series.
Perhaps Thibodeau's knack of digging his heels in and standing by what he believes has had a positive impact on his players in that respect. The Knicks players believe they can win any game, no matter how much they may trail.
They also believe that they can win any series, regardless of what history has to say. No team has come back from a 3-1 series deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals in 40 years, yet the Knicks players have the stubborn belief that they can; now they just need to prove it.