Tom: League has changed ... to a point
Tom Thibodeau is bringing to the Knicks a reputation of overworking his players, a knock that was ignited and perpetuated at his previous stops in Chicago and Minnesota. On his first official day with the Knicks on Thursday, Thibodeau explained why his starters were given heavy minutes. His logic was simple: Since the opposing team’s best players most frequently play a wing position and are almost always on the court, Thibodeau used his best options at those positions (Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins) to counter.
“When you look at the league and see the load management that’s going on, it’s more positional based. You look back five years you see Lebron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, the late Kobe Bryant, those guys were all playing 35 minutes,” Thibodeau said. “They’d be matched up with Jimmy Butler, Luol Deng, they’d be guarding them.
“So if their stars go out, our guys would go out. If they go back in, they go back in.”
Thibodeau noted that minutes have decreased more recently for the star players and he’s open to adjusting.
“Those numbers have gone down now. So you won’t be at that disadvantage where they have the best player out there and you don’t,” Thibodeau said. “Talking with sports scientists and athletic trainers, you’re always are monitoring that.”
Thibodeau also addressed the small-ball trend in the NBA, which he never embraced in Minnesota. The coach said he understands the league has changed, but noted that post-ups are still effective and utilized.
“When you say the league is changing I totally agree with that, totally,” he said. “I think the league has changed now from 3 (on the perimeter), 2 (inside), and then we went to 4 out, 1 in, and now we‘re seeing a lot more 5 out where you see at least one big on every team, or one center or big on each team who can shoot the 3 to space up the floor.
“Seeing less post-ups. But Toronto, they posted the ball with (Pascal) Siakam quite a bit. People overlook Golden State has always done that. So I think It’s still a part of the game.”
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Although GM Scott Perry said Thibodeau will have “autonomy” in identifying his assistant staff, the coach acknowledged Thursday it’ll be a collective effort with the front office.
“No final decisions have been made. But when you’re putting your staff together you’re looking at the qualities you think will fit your team best, what you think you need,” Thibodeau said.
Former Knicks head coach Mike Woodson was always a candidate to be on Thibodeau’s bench and now is “expected” to join, according to The Athletic. That’s a sign Thibodeau is getting nudged by the front office since he has no previous relationship with Woodson.