Get ready to hear Tom Thibodeau bellowing commands on NBA sidelines once agai

Posted by seestyle on August 8th, 2022

Get ready to hearTom Thibodeaubellowing commandson NBA sidelines once again.Despite recent reporting aboutfor the Knicks'coaching job, New York and Thibodeau are in the proce s of finalizing a five-year deal to make him the next head coach in New York, according to . A signed agreement is expected Taylor Rapp Jersey soon, per Wojnarowski, ending a coaching search that has stretched over multiple months.Thibodeaulast served as the Timberwolves' head coach and president of basketball operations. Minnesota fired Thibodeau midway through the 2018-19 season after a rocky start, which prominently featured Jimmy Butler doing his best to burn down every bridgeon his way out of town.MORE: The 62-year-old has enjoyed his fair share of succe s, of course. He complieda 394-255 record over five seasons with the Bulls, winning the Coach of the Year award in 2010-11 after Chicago finished 62-20 and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. He also guided the Timberwolves to the postseasonin 2017-18, their first playoffberth since the 2003-04 campaign.His resume is impre sive, but the big question here isn't about Thibodeau'sprevious accomplishments. It's about whether he is capable of leading these Knicks into the future.In his previous stops, including as a topa sistant with the "Big Three" Ndamukong Suh Jersey era Celtics, Thibodeauhas primarily worked with veteran players. That's not to dismi s the impre sive development of Butler or Derrick Rose in Chicago, but Thibodeauhasn't previously coached the kind of roster he will be handed in New York.RJ Barrett (19 years old), Kevin Knox (20) and Mitchell Robinson (21) are only scratching the surface of their potential, and the Knicks could Todd Gurley Jersey end up with a top-five pick in this year's NBA Draft. Thibodeau'srun with Zach LaVine, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins didn'tinspire a ton of confidence. He must maximize the talent available this time.Aside from the youth movement, Thibodeauneeds to re-evaluate his on-court tactics. He routinely had one of the NBA's top defenses while coaching the Bulls, but he failed to clean up the Timberwolves' performance on that end. In his onlytwo full seasons in Minnesota, the Timberwolves finished and in defensive rating, per NBA.com advanced stats.It's fair to notehe had Towns instead ofKevin Garnett or Joakim Noah on the backline, but Thibodeau is supposed to be a defensive-minded guy. His Minnesota groups didn't embrace that identity.The key for Thibodeau is considering his personnel and adapting to the modern NBA. For example, while Thibodeau has traditionally called out"ICE"in Robert Quinn Jersey regards to his pick-and-roll coverages meaning the defense is forcing the ball handler toward the sideline rather than the middle of the floor hemay realize dropping the big or switching screens is the better approach for his team. Maybe Robinson can becomeNew York's version of Brook Lopez in that sense as he learns the finer points of the game.The same goes for the offensive side of the ball, as Thibodeau teams haven't typicallyembraced the pace-and-spacerevolution. His teams have never even finished in the top half of the league in 3-point attempts per game. That could change with this squad depending on roster construction; for now, the Knicks feature one of the worst groups of shooters in the NBA.And then there's the health and conditioning i sue. Thibodeauhas a reputation forrunning his players into the ground with intense practices and big minutes. (Luol Deng is nodding out there somewhere.) For what David Long Jersey it's worth, Thibodeau seems to have a different perspective after seeing how other teams handle their players."The way everyone's managing with load management and where your team is, sports scientists, so it's different," ."And if your team is young and you're in a rebuild, you're probably practicing more than an older veteran team. In some cases where the team is mixed, there's almost two practices going on in one, where your young guys are getting the work they need, and the older vets are in the weight room getting strength and conditioning."Obviously the Knicks' future won't solely come down tohow Thibodeau allocates minutes or attacks pick-and-rolls defensively. Knicks president Leon Rose, who built a relationship with Thibodeau duringtheir time together at Creative Artists Agency, is in charge of overseeing what will be a challenging rebuild. Thibodeau will pour his heart into this job, but it won't matter if New York can't acquire betterplayers.It also won Marcus Peters Jersey 't matter if Knicks owner James Dolan continues to change leadership like most people change socks. Thibodeau does have slightly more control there, though. If he can make New York just competitive in the East, the front office maydo something crazy: Let the coach keep his job.But if Thibodeaurelies on his old tricks in a new NBA landscape, the Knicks could find themselves paying off the remaining years of a long-term deal and starting up another disappointingly familiar search.