Why the Knicks were right to extend head coach Tom Thibodeau

The Knicks continued their headline-making offseason Wednesday afternoon, signing head coach Tom Thibodeau to a three-year extension. Just over a season ago he was on the hot seat, but has since proven to be one of the league’s top coaches (again) and is on pace to be the longest tenured Knicks coach since the legendary Red Holzman.

Those that have watched the recent successes of these Knicks and have a proper context of the coaches that preceded it should be overjoyed by this news. A franchise once cursed with no consistency or competency in its top leadership positions just signed two well-deserved long-term contracts with their point guard and head coach, a development that exemplifies how far they’ve come in just a few years.

For that reason and many others, New York was absolutely right in extending Thibodeau.

Younger fans may not remember the “Fire Isiah” chants and Larry Brown-Stephon Marbury rift. New York was a combined 147-329 in the six seasons between Mike Woodson and Thibodeau, with five different coaches in that span.

The coaching carousel issue dated back even further when they cycled through five coaches in six seasons prior to the Mike D’Antoni-Donnie Walsh regime with nothing to show for it. Leon Rose knew he needed stability at the head coaching position to have any chance at success, and went with the veteran Thibodeau.

At that point, Thibodeau was a year removed from his mixed stint in Minnesota, after a highly successful run with the Chicago Bulls and a long assistant career. Given his ties to the franchise, impressive resume, and emphasis on defense, in many ways, he was a perfect fit for a flailing Knicks team.

That proved true out of the gates when a largely unchanged and deeply flawed Knicks roster that went 21-45 the year before emerged as one of the league’s best defenses and finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Thibodeau took home Coach of the Year honors for the effort, which included embedding his ultra-high work ethic and defensive effort culture, developing RJ Barrett plus rookies Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin, and putting the system in place that…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-knicks-were-extend-head-143839564.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-07-25 14:38:39

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