Anyway... I am out on an island on this one, just about everyone is up in arms, angry, and surprised over Tibs getting fired. It was unfair, he was made the scapegoat for the players, he led the Knicks to the playoffs 4 of his 5 years as coach, Rose is weak for not holding a presser and answering questions, etc. I stand by my opinion this is the right move for the Knicks moving forward. The it was unfair comment is crazy to me, welcome to sports, coaches get fired all the time, and sometimes it isn't fair. This has nothing to do with fair or unfair. The scapegoat for the players/it's the players fault thinking I get. At the end of the day the players didn't get it done, so yeah, they absolutely have major accountability for the way they played, especially against the Pacers. Firing Thibs and putting responsibility on the players can both be true and go together IMO. Both the players and Thibs didn't get it done is how I see it, but you cannot fire all the players. For making the playoffs 4 of 5 years as Knicks coach, Thibs deserves great credit for that, and for bringing the Knicks back to respectability. I won't take a thing away from him, and I thank him for it. I totally agree Rose should man up and face the music from the media, that is weak of him to do it behind a curtain. Now, with all that said, it doesn't change my opinion. I think these are all micro POV's. Macro POV, which is what I take, is what I have stated already. No titles or Finals trips, inflexibility, stubborn, refuses to play a bench, no offensive system, lost as the higher seeded favorite with home court 3 straight years, etc. For all those macro reasons I believe the Knicks have run their course with Thibs and it was time for a change. I said it last year as well, so to me this firing isn't about making Thibs a scapegoat, or "blaming" him for a ECF loss to Indiana, it's for all of the above over a period of time, and when I put it all together I come to the conclusion this is absolutely the right move for the Knicks moving forward. I'll stay on that island by myself, and we'll see if it turns out good or bad, if bad I'll be the first one to say I was wrong. And BTW, there is work to be done. Rose needs to hire a very good coach, and he needs to improve the roster a bit more. If those things don't happen, Thibs or no Thibs, next season is not going to end well. The pressure is on Rose to get it done and make the right moves to finish it off.
Thus move is eerily reminiscent of the JD/Gorton firing by Dolan, I'm sure he was the driving force behind Thibs firing.
I don’t know, but it’s not being well received around the media. Thibs doesn’t play his bench and he wouldn’t even if he had one. With the Knicks trading most of their picks away, it’s crucial that they develop the few young players they drafted. Thibs probably won’t do this. Still a huge risk.
I agree, it is a risk, but one worth taking. Everyone hates the firing, so that's a plus for Rose/the Knicks as far as I'm concerned. Remember this, it could go poorly, but the alternative is Thibs who has never made an NBA Finals let alone win a title, so let's not act as if they fired this prolific championship coach. I would have made the same move and taken the shot I could bring in a coach to put in an offensive system, be much more flexible, play the darn bench, and take the team all the way. Hopefully Rose hires the right coach, we'll see how it plays out. Rose also needs to improve the roster, let's not forget that is a big key no matter who the coach is.
Firing Thibs if you have a better replacement in mind is fine, maybe Rose is keeping his cards close to the vest on who he wants as a new coach. Most new coaches want to put their fingerprint on their team, will be interesting to see what roster changes come along with the new coach. Even if Thibs beat the Pacers, the Knicks could combine rosters with Indy and still have trouble stopping SGA and OKC.
