Getty The Knicks are struggling.
The New York Knicks are in the midst of a three game losing streak, and it has people calling for the firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau.
With the Brooklyn Nets letting go of head coach Steve Nash, the floodgates have no opened up for other teams to make a move. With a team like the Nets, it makes sense to make a change this early because that’s a team with championship aspirations while the Knicks don’t exactly have those same expectations.
If you ask Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, he’ll tell you he’s seen enough and it’s time for the Knicks to make a coaching change.
Knicks Urged to Fire Tom Thibodeau
Two seasons ago, the Knicks overachieved and found themselves in the playoffs with the fourth seed. That year saw the season come to a close in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks.
Fast forward to now, and Favale is calling for Thibs’ head after another loss to the Hawks, so things have sort of come full circle. He cites last season and now the start of this one as his reasoning. He says this isn’t something that should come out of nowhere or catch anybody by surprise.
“It is instead a completely logical, level-headed response to what we’ve watched both this season and last,” he wrote. “And not only is it logical, but right now, unless something dramatically changes, it’s necessary. Falling to the Hawks on Wednesday isn’t everything. But it is the latest evidence, amid a mind-melting amount of proof, that the status quo isn’t working.”
Adding Jalen Brunson to this team has resulted in a better roster on paper, but the results haven’t really shown that. Part of that does come down to coaching, and not playing Obi Toppin alongside Julius Randle has had made an impact. This is something fans have been calling for for a while now, but Thibodeau has been reluctant to do it.
“Stubbornness, and all that branches out from it, is Thibs’ downfall,” Favale continued. “He implicitly packages inexhaustible inflexibility and a lack of innovation as continuity. That schtick is getting old.”
Thibodeau is very much an “old school” coach, and he brings all the positives and negatives that come with that. Something that worked two seasons ago was running the offense through Randle, but that hasn’t been the case this year or the last.
“Is Thibs that married to watching Julius Randle decision-make his way to disaster,” he said. “He could, of course, always play Randle and Toppin together. But he won’t, because he never does.”
Easier to Fire Thibs Than Trade Randle?
This is a roster that’s filled with talent, but it just might not all work together. Missing out on Donovan Mitchell looks like a disaster in hindsight considering the year he’s having with the Cavs, but there’s no sense looking back on that.
If a change is made, it’ll likely be a coaching one as the Knicks have assistant coach Johnnie Bryant waiting in the wings as a possible replacement. Moving Randle is a possibility, but his extension has kicked in and there won’t be many teams who want to bring him on if he’s struggling for a second year in a row.
“And switching up head coaches, even if it’s just to pivot toward associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, is much easier than finding a taker for the contracts of Randle and Fournier and just flat-out tearing down the roster and admitting to larger-scale failures,” Favale adds.
We’re only seven games into an 82 game season, but it’s clear enough is enough already for many people.