Knicks put their unwavering trust in Tom Thibodeau
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, April 10, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
When Leon Rose finally spoke on the final day of the season, the Knicks’ president gave an unambiguous endorsement of coach Tom Thibodeau, a necessary move to silence the chatter that had grown around the team for months.
It wasn’t only the team’s struggles that put Thibodeau, the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year, on the hot seat. There were whispers around the league that voices in the front office were in Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan’s ear, blaming Thibodeau for the failure of the revamped roster. And as the season wore on with Julius Randle struggling, there were more and more cries for Thibodeau to discard him in favor of the team’s youth.
“As far as Thibs’ performance goes, I mean, again, he’s one of the best coaches in the NBA,” Rose said in an interview on MSG Network on the final day of the season. “So obviously none of us are happy with the results this year. But he’s a guy who, you know, prepares our team better than anybody. I feel that he’s done a good job under the circumstances.”
Whether it is the belief of Rose in Thibodeau, whom he hired when he took over the leadership of the Knicks, a reaction to the outcry when the whispers went public or a push by the only voice above Rose to get along and get things done, the coach seems secure for now.
In a letter sent this past week to Knicks season-ticket holders, Rose reiterated his belief in the staff, writing, “Our coaching staff is at the heart of our young core’s development and confidence to compete at the highest level, as well as our vets’ ability to produce in their roles. We have seen multiple players take leaps over the last two seasons under Coach Thibodeau’s tutelage and commitment to playing the right way.”
When the season ended, Thibodeau was asked about the criticism he faced.
“This is not my first year, OK,” he said. “Here’s my thing: Whether it’s praise or it’s criticism, it’s all the same. To me, only you know whether you put everything you have into something. And once you do that, I frankly don’t care. I’m gonna put everything I have into each day and I’m going to live with the results. I don’t think there’s anyone who studies this team harder than I do. It doesn’t mean I’m always right, but I know how hard I’m going to study.”
Rose noted that Thibodeau guided the team to a strong 12-7 finish, even if that meant dropping the Knicks’ NBA Draft Lottery odds with every win. He did it with much of the roster that the front office had planned on carrying the team having been moved aside. Kemba Walker was separated from the team, Nerlens Noel played only 25 games, Derrick Rose never played after Dec. 16 and Randle was shut down, sitting out eight of the last 11 games.
In his message to season-ticket holders, Rose pointed out that the Knicks have nine players on the roster right now 24 or younger. The future of the franchise rests in that group, led by 21-year-old RJ Barrett. Even the fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference a year ago didn’t fool anyone into believing the team truly was a contender, so the pieces that the team has assembled, along with the draft picks they possess, could be paired with one of the bigger contracts to obtain the sort of star that the franchise has craved.
Or they could develop what they have as the core of any future plans. Barrett stepped forward as the face of the franchise this season as Randle struggled. Rookie Quentin Grimes became a key contributor before suffering a knee injury. Last season’s rookies, Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin, fueled hope with their efforts in increased minutes at the end.
“You go into a season; you don’t know how it’s gonna unfold,” Thibodeau said. “So when a player goes in and plays well, he’s gonna play more. It’s really that simple. And you don’t know when the opportunity comes. The challenge for us as coaches is we have to make sure when the opportunity comes that those players are ready, and so we put a lot of extra time in with those guys.
“Last year, I had no idea Quickley was gonna play. Quickley earned that. He went in, he played well, he played more. Obi played well in stretches. He was playing behind Julius. And he made a major step this year, and the better he plays, the more he’s gonna play. But he’s earned his way. And same thing with Quentin. When Quentin got in there, played well, so he played more. Jericho [Sims], same thing.
“So you don’t know when that time comes. The one thing that I do know is if you don’t put the work in and you’re not prepared, when the opportunity does come, you’re gonna miss it. But if you put the work in, when your opportunity comes, you’ll take advantage of it, and he has.”
While Thibodeau has drawn the ire of fans for sticking with the likes of Alec Burks in the starting lineup, the young players have agreed that what they did out of sight of the public made them better and ready when the chances came.
Could you argue that Thibodeau has stubbornly stuck by his players — Elfrid Payton a year ago as an example of one who didn’t perform and Burks as one this season who did but still didn’t fit in a rebuilding timeline? Certainly.
But you also could argue that Thibodeau has given time when it has been earned. Quickley immediately was thrown into the rotation last season, Grimes was a regular part of it by midseason in 2021-22, and after the All-Star break, Sims and Miles McBride got minutes. And the players say Thibodeau’s work on player development has made them ready when they got the chance.
“Thibs is a great coach,” Toppin said. “He’s been doing great with all the teams he’s coached for. I trust Thibs personally. I feel like he’s going to have my best interests. But he’s also going to do what’s good for the team, not what’s good for me. Thibs has been in the game for a while. He knows what’s right. If that’s me not playing a lot, that’s what it is. I trust his judgment. I just trust my work. I trust my teammates. Every time we put the work in will translate to the court.”
Those players have worked and it has paid off. And while they have engaged in late-night sessions at the gym, they point out that the coach is there, too.
“I could go in there at 1 a.m., Thibs is going to be in there,” Quickley said. “That Range Rover is always going to be right in that same spot.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
