Transcript
Speaker: Tom Thibodeau has been fired as the head coach of the New York Knicks and people all over the internet are going crazy about how it is not fair and it is very shocking. My personal take is it's not shocking at all and it's actually maybe a little justified.
Speaker: Let's talk about it here on the post up. If this is your first time here, I go by the name of DJ Treacy Treason. I'm always posted up right here running my mouth about sports. I have no interest in click baiting you here. So I'm go give you my take right at the beginning of the video. I think that the Knicks didn't have a choice really in how they executed the Timbs firing because based on the NBA trends,
Speaker: This is what is happening around the league. I'm not saying that he's a great, he's not a great coach. I believe he's a great coach. I believe he had great results here, but based on how the series ended, this was an emotional decision that many owners around the and NBA have been making with the high stakes job of the coach.
Speaker: So that's the, that's a short version of it. Let me get into running my mouth and giving you some reasons why I believe these things. First things first, let's talk stats. Tibbs' performance as the coach of the New York Knicks, he won 226 games and lost 174 regular season games.
Speaker: Got to the playoffs four of the past five seasons, which the Knicks were in a huge drought, y'all. They hadn't reached a postseason in so long, and Knicks fans had been waiting for this huge breakthrough. So for four of the past five seasons, for them to get to the postseason, that's a huge thing there.
Speaker: And just recently they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and got beat by the Indiana Pacers. Just off the numbers alone, you can see that Tibbs is a great coach. I mean, notoriously he's known for his defensive playmaking and and having teams button up.
Speaker: His starting roster is usually a a solid starting roster. The tough part that people usually talk about is how um much he actually plays his starters.
Speaker: Mikael Bridges has been vocal about it. um Jalen Brunson is used to it, likes Tibbs as a coach, but he regularly plays 40 minutes or close to 40 minutes every game. So the question soon becomes, okay, cool. We see these regular season numbers are great.
Speaker: We're making it to the postseason. But do we believe that as the leader of this team, you can get us past the point that we've made it to with your coaching style? And I don't know if that's altogether true.
Speaker: The Indiana Pacers were beating the Knicks because there were people coming off the bench and playing like they were prime playoff contenders. Okay? These people who were playing on the bench looked like they could have been a starting five at other... ah in the Western Conference. You feel me? So...
Speaker: That's the tough part that the Knicks organization probably had to deal with, though it doesn't feel like firing him is justified, maybe getting some assistant coaches in there, working on some different player development.
Speaker: The Knicks were right there. So for them to pull the plug on a coach that got them that far when they... hadn't had the pieces put together is kind of crazy, but also to these coaches know when you are going into these jobs, that this is one of the highest visible highest risk, highest reward kind of jobs that you can have. And that's being an NBA coach. They know what they're signing up for. A lot of them are used to being terminated for reasons that are beyond their control.
Speaker: honestly, Tons who are in successful positions. Let's talk about some past coaches. Mike Malone was just fired from the Denver Nuggets after a championship. Frank Vogel was fired from the Lakers right after a championship.
Speaker: Mike Budenholzer was fired from the Bucks after a championship. Nick Nurse was fired from the Toronto Raptors right after a championship. So if the and NBA has created this trend, and we talking about way back in 2021, I believe was when that first started happening. Maybe a little bit before that 2020 was Frank Vogel. Okay, cool.
Speaker: So if that's the trend, it makes sense that Tibbs would get fired. If that's what's happening in the league that you're in. So i am, I understand how the organization could have said, let's keep it this way and let's go this far. But I don't think based on how the series played out that they felt the need to uphold his contract extension.
Speaker: He was already extended, y'all. It wasn't like they weren't committed to him going into that series. You can very clearly see that the numbers are there. The team has broken some barriers and have gotten a lot better.
Speaker: But maybe the Knicks organization has lost hope that he can continue to lead the team from where they they are to push them to that next level. They have full right to move on from there, even though it feels like it's unjustified.
Speaker: Now, one of my frat, Jermon, one of the Knicks ah fans that has been a Knicks fan from as long as I can remember be people being a Knicks fan, so not bandwagoner.
Speaker: He said from the players' perspective, i'm I'm sorry, not from players, from the fans' perspective, They want to see consistency. They want to see the same coaches. They feel like they get better when there's not so much turnover. And I hear you.
Speaker: Me too. Kind of going through the same thing with with my l L.A. Sparks there, right? We've had so many different changes. We've got different star players. But it takes a minute to get the recipe right. Imagine you were baking bread or something like that. Cooking, okay? Okay.
Speaker: And you you add a little bit of salt and it don't taste exactly like it. But the next time you add a teaspoon of salt and it gets so you you you might need something to enhance it just a little bit more. And that might be what's happening here.
Speaker: Also, I think it has a lot more to do with the players complaining. And I heard first take they said that nobody cares about the players and everything. And the players need to just play like back in the ninety s But these $30 million dollars pieces that these organizations are putting into place, they want to make sure that they're happy. And if they're being ran into the ground by their coach,
Speaker: And the coach is not trusting the bench. And everybody who's on the bench ain't playing at all. But we are responsible for winning. It's just you're going to be beat as sometimes be at some time because you're tired is the point there. So there are a lot of ways that the cookie could crumble. There's a lot of reasons why Tibbs should still be the coach. He has gotten the Knicks far. But there are a lot of reasons, too, you should question if maybe there is a better fit.
Speaker: I'm not sure who that better fit is, but... The Knicks shouldn't fell apart against the Pacers like that in the Eastern Conference Finals. So if the official question is, was Tibbs firing justified?
Speaker: Maybe. Probably, especially based on the facts that we have on how other coaches were treated. and how the current culture is inside of the NBA around results.
Speaker: Let me know your thoughts. I know everybody's emotional. If you're a Knicks fan, let me know your thoughts as well. I want to hear both sides of it. But from ah historical background, this was very predictable. We wish the best for Tim. I'm sure he's going find another franchise that needs to be rebuilt and that can use his kind of genius. But let me know. Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of The Post-Up.
Speaker: I'm your host, DJ Treacy Trece, and I'm always posted up right here running my mouth about sports.
