Tom Thibodeau, head coach of Minnesota Timberwolves, reacts during the game against Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, January 2, 2019. /VCG
The Madison Square Garden (MSG) is about to welcome a new head coach – the New York Knicks are finalizing a five-year contract with former Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, according to ESPN.
Sixty-two-year-old Thibodeau built his reputation on his excellent work in defensive coaching. He was with the Knicks assisting Jeff Van Gundy when the team made the NBA Finals in 1999. During his time in the Houston Rockets (2004 to 2007), the team remained the league's top 5 in defense. Then he moved to the Boston Celtics and helped build one of the fiercest trapping defenses in NBA history, which earned the team a championship in 2008.
Derrick Rose (R) of Chicago Bulls and his head coach Tom Thibodeau pose with the Most Valuable Player trophy and the Coach of the Year trophy respectively in Lincolnshire, Illinois, May 3, 2011. /VCG
Thibodeau took over the Chicago Bulls as head coach in 2010 and achieved huge success in the following season. The Bulls led the league with a 62-20 record in the regular season; 22-year-old Derrick Rose was named the youngest Most Valuable Player in NBA history; Thibodeau himself became the Coach of the Year.
However, it was also in that year when a series of defects of Thibodeau's coaching style were exposed: he was pushing key players too hard; he lacked the ability to teach offense; he was disappointing in improvising during the game.
These flaws began to hurt Thibodeau and his team in the later years. Rose continuously suffered career-ending injuries; the Bulls were knocked out by the Miami Heat in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals after LeBron James locked down Rose, the team's only offense launcher; the rest of the Bulls aged faster than other players in the league.
Tom Thibodeau, head coach of Minnesota Timberwolves, gives instructions to his players in the game against Los Angeles Lakers at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 6, 2019. /VCG
Thibodeau in 2016 became the head coach of the Timberwolves. Though the team made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years in 2018, that credit should go to Jimmy Butler, who, by the way, left in that summer. Meanwhile, Thibodeau failed to turn Karl-Anthony Towns or Andrew Wiggins into average defenders despite their remarkable talents. The whole team were basically disunited before Thibodeau was sacked.
Then how were the Knicks doing during that time? In short, worse than Thibodeau. The last time the Knicks appeared in the playoffs was seven years ago. Since then their regular season records were: 37-45, 17-65, 32-50, 31-51, 29-53, 17-65 and this season's 21-45.
(L to R) R.J. Barrett of New York Knicks, Kristaps Porzingis of Dallas Mavericks, Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knock of New York Knicks. /VCG
Tanking intentionally or not, the disappointing records of the Knicks brought them lots of high draft picks in return. However, thanks to the team's poor judgment in both talent selection and trade operation, they never found a young man to rebuild around him.
The following are the Knicks' first-rounders and their selections in the past years:
2015, fourth pick, Kristaps Porzingis, traded to the Dallas Mavericks;
2017, eighth pick, Frank Ntilikina, stayed;
2018, ninth pick, Kevin Knox, stayed;
2019, R.J. Barrett, stayed.
R.J. Barrett (R) of New York Knicks tries to penetrate in the game against Atlanta Hawks at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, March 11, 2020. /VCG
Judging by Thibodeau's coaching highlights, he could lead the team close to success provided he had a leader who was among top 10 of the league and a group of diligent blue-collar defenders who always followed coach's instructions. Thibodeau was not good with young men, especially those who were not desperate for victory.
So, what do the Knicks have? They have first-year rookie Barrett who averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a lot of negative marks in advanced stats like Offensive Win Shares, Win Shares, Offensive Box Plus/Minus, Defensive Box Plus/Minus and Value over Replacement Player.
By contrast, here are Rose's stats in his rookie year: 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 3.4 of OWS, 4.9 of WS, 1.1 of OBPM, -1.5 of DBPM, 1.2 of VORP.
Kris Dunn (C) of Minnesota Timberwolves meets the press at the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 24, 2016. /VCG
The Knicks this season are rated 106.5 offensively, 28th out of all 30 teams, 113.0 defensively, 23rd of 30 teams. It's true their 21-45 record may lead them to a top 3 draft pick. Nonetheless, this year's draft will be very confusing thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, when Thibodeau was in the Timberwolves, he was also president of basketball operations. His draft selections in those years were:
2016, fifth pick, Kris Dunn, career 3-point rate 30.6 percent, true shooting percentage 48.1;
2017, seventh pick, Lauri Markkanen, traded to the Chicago Bulls for Justin Patton.
Perhaps both Thibodeau and James Dolan (Knicks owner) should reconsider signing the deal.