Thibodeau firing sign of times
There’s a big difference in the likability factor between NBA head coaches and their assistants. Here’s how one league official put it last week: “It’s totally different for assistants. When you’re an assistant, everybody loves you. That changes completely once you become a head coach.” Tom Thibodeau’s emergence as a one of the league’s most respected defensive minds was rooted in players who loved his maniacal focus on the job. Kendrick Perkins, who transformed his body by showing up at the Celtics’ Waltham practice facility during some truly remote hours, was pleasantly shocked one early morning to find the team’s associate head coach perched in front of a video screen. Perkins estimated that the time was 4 a.m., which proved to him that Thibodeau was as driven as he was. It didn’t take long for all the members of that 2007-08 Celtics championship team to buy into what Thibodeau was selling. Though he was clearly headed on to his own team — Chicago hired him after the Celtics made their second Finals appearance in three seasons in 2010 — Thibodeau was in a much-loved position under Doc Rivers. That’s why there are many lifelong assistants very comfortable in their place in the league, devoid of the headaches and in most cases shortened job span that comes with a head job. But when Thibodeau was fired from his second head coaching job last Sunday, it wasn’t because he had lost that personal connection with his players. He had simply never warmed to the other side of management — in Chicago, executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman, and in Minnesota, owner Glen Taylor.
In his most recent situation, Thibodeau had it all — a so-called Doc Rivers Clippers situation as both coach and president of basketball operations. But just as he isolated from Paxson and Forman, with good friend and mentor Jeff Van Gundy stepping in to publicly defend him against Bulls management once the situation turned dire, he withdrew from Minnesota’s upper echelon. Some are decrying the end of the old school, hardnosed coach, with Thibodeau’s dismissal the latest example. Indeed, he overplayed his starters and ran hard practices. There was a sense of relief in the Minnesota locker room last week when Thibodeau’s young interim replacement — 32-year-old Ryan Saunders, son of the late, beloved Flip Saunders — started running his first practices. Players were allowed to put together a playlist for background music during practices, something unthinkable in the Thibodeau era. Andrew Wiggins, the mercurial forward whose reticent ways so frustrated Jimmy Butler during the latter’s time as a T-Wolf, chose Drake. Wiggins’ lagging emergence as a star certainly didn’t help Thibodeau’s security. Nor did Karl-Anthony Towns, the supremely gifted center whose own inconsistencies also strained Butler’s patience. Butler, of course, has only added to his reputation as a clubhouse irritant since moving on to Philadelphia, where he has already clashed with coach Brett Brown, and has had trouble finding his proper place in a system with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Butler is more like his old coach than he may think. And just as Butler seems to be a player with a limited tolerance wherever he plays, Thibodeau may be running out of chances. Said the aforementioned official: “Thibs’ big challenge getting back into the NBA will be the same as some other guys. Look at Mike Dunleavy and George Karl, guys with an us-againstthe-world mentality who didn’t have good relationships with the people they worked for wherever they went.”
Brian Scalabrine, thinks Thibodeau will be back in the league next season, regardless of his track record with management. “I don’t know about all that,” the NBC Sports Boston analyst said of Thibodeau’s past relationships with his bosses. “I don’t know what the dynamic is with all that stuff. I just know that to be good, you have to be on the same page.” Scalabrine has a different idea of why so-called old school coaches like Thibodeau face greater challenges now. The NBA’s increasing offensive trend works against coaches who preach defense first. “It’s not fair to them, because we’re not allowed to touch anymore,” said Scalabrine. “Everything we’ve ever learned in basketball from the time we were eight years old on how to play defense, it works at that level, it works at high school level;, but somehow it doesn’t work at the NBA level? It’s less physical with grown men than it is with little kids. “What it does is put a lot more responsibility on the GM for getting really good players,” he said. “If you don’t get great offensive players — it’s amazing that (Marcus) Smart and (Marcus) Morris have had such a big impact. A guy like Smart can still play and defend the way he does, in this league, where you’re not allowed to touch guys? Truly remarkable.”
Timeline
Monday, 7:30 p.m. at Brooklyn: The Celtics conclude their three-city road trip at The Barclays Center against a Nets team they handled surprisingly well a week ago. The Nets have otherwise been a resilient team, with a real chance of making the playoffs.
Wednesday, 8 vs. Toronto: The season series stands at 1-1, but there’s no doubt about who has the better team at this point. While the Celtics have been working hard to find themselves, the Raptors have been jousting with Milwaukee for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics have yet another chance here to show that they really have ironed out their early identity issues. Look for the possible return here of Aron Baynes, whose interior presence has been sorely missed.
Friday, 7 vs. Memphis : After a hot early start, the Grizzlies have slid down the Western Conference ladder. Saturday, 7:30 at Atlanta: The Celtics haven’t been as good in back-to-back situations as in recent years. Indeed, they’re not as good a road team, period, though the Hawks are a relatively soft landing spot for this kind of circumstance.