Knicks’ Embattled Tom Thibodeau Nearing ‘Expiration Date’: Insider

Getty Tom Thibodeau, Knicks coach

It’s only early February, but the Knicks have hit a freefall, heading out on a difficult five-game Western Conference swing having accumulated seven losses in their last nine games, dropping them four games below .500 and out of the NBA playoff picture.

This comes after the Knicks’ pleasantly surprising showing last year, which saw them finish at 41-31 and No. 4 in the East—though they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. And despite the fact that this is only Year 2 for head coach Tom Thibodeau, Heavy.com NBA insider Steve Bulpett believes he could be a major part of the problem.

“Surprises me not in the least,” Bulpett said during a Facebook Live talk. “As a coach, Tom has a different expiration date, you know, best used before this date here. It does not last well because he runs hard on people. A couple of different things at play with the Knicks. You can look at it in one sense, this is usually a cliché but in this case, it is true, they went from being the hunters last year to being the hunted this year. They came out of nowhere last year but this year, everyone expected them to be good.”

Thibodeau’s Up-and-Down History

Indeed, Thibodeau’s history has been that of a guy who starts well when he lands a new job but wears out his welcome soon after. He was the NBA’s coach of the year in 2010-11 when the Bulls won 62 games, his debut season as a head coach. The Bulls were 50-16 the following year but Thibodeau famously left Derrick Rose on the floor late in a first-round playoff win, and Rose tore his ACL.

Rose was never quite the same after, and neither were the Bulls. Despite solid seasons (45, 48 and 50 wins), Thibodeau’s cashes with the front office led to him losing his job in Chicago.

In Minnesota, Thibodeau took a team that finished 31-51 in his first year and brought them to 47 wins and a playoff berth in his second season. But it fell apart in a tumultuous Year 3, and he was fired with the team 19-21.

Thibodeau’s job is not in jeopardy, and he is close with team honcho Leon Rose, who was Thibodeau’s agent earlier in his career. Still, it is clear that Thibs has alienated some of his players.

Thibobeau Tends to Control From Sidelines

One problem, according to Bulpett, is that Thibodeau likes to control too much of the offense from the sideline, rather than letting players get out and run. When the younger, more athletic second unit hits the floor, they tend to play more in transition, and the reserves have regularly outplayed the starters.

“That is a team, you still want to get up and down the floor with that team,” Bulpett said. “They do reasonably well when they go to their bench and you get a guy like Toppin, the second-year player, who will get up and down the floor and play that kind of game for you, which is great. But the fact that in an up-and-down game, there is less control from the sidelines, that could be a problem here. That could be creeping in.”