{"id":209474,"date":"2021-03-24T06:57:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T03:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-is-the-only-way-for-knicks-coach-tom-thibodeau\/"},"modified":"2021-03-24T06:57:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T03:57:55","slug":"this-is-the-only-way-for-knicks-coach-tom-thibodeau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-is-the-only-way-for-knicks-coach-tom-thibodeau\/","title":{"rendered":"#This is the only way for Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#This is the only way for Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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You might think Tom Thibodeau would be tempted to take full advantage of a game<\/a> like the one the Knicks played Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, a game in which they led by 20 by the end of the first half and by 30 midway through the third quarter, a game that might\u2019ve been mercy-ruled if such legislation existed.<\/p>\n

You might think the Knicks\u2019 coach, who sees his team play so many close games, who demands maximum effort every minute of those games, might see a game like this 131-113 breeze over the Wizards as an opportunity to give guys like Julius Randle and RJ Barrett the equivalent of some lieu time, let the walk-ons play, maybe have a seat for himself, take a deep breath or three, chill.<\/p>\n

You might th\u2014 \u2026<\/p>\n

Um \u2026 never mind. It\u2019s hard to type any of that with a straight face. We have seen Thibodeau\u2019s work from a distance for a decade and up close for 44 games now, which is more than enough to understand that this is part of the Thibodeau tapestry. There are no nights off. There are no possessions off. There is no garbage time. Not by choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re striving to be a 48-minute team,\u201d Thibodeau said when the drubbing of Washington was complete, and he takes that sentence as seriously as a tax audit.<\/p>\n

He leans on the guys he trusts, asks them to lean on each other, demands that they run through the tape, even if the other guy waves a white flag (neither Russell Westbrook nor Bradley Beal played a second of the fourth quarter for the Wizards). It sometimes drives the cognoscenti of social media<\/a> to distraction, but that\u2019s who he is. That\u2019s always been who he is.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how he coaches. And when a coach does as much good as Thibodeau has done \u2014 and it\u2019s hard to remember a Knicks coach, even Pat Riley, who had such a profound impact in his first 44 games on the job \u2014 you accept the quirks that go with it.<\/p>\n

He wouldn\u2019t call them quirks, of course.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d call them standards.<\/p>\n

\"Tom
Tom Thibodeau (l) and Julius Randle<\/figcaption>
NBAE via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou want to learn,\u201d Thibodeau said, \u201cand every game will teach you things, show you the things you\u2019re doing well and not doing as well as you\u2019d like. What we\u2019re doing every day is concentrating on playing our best at the end and you need everyone to buy in, sacrificing for the team, putting the team first. You look back and you\u2019ve made a quantum leap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe the circumference of Thibodeau\u2019s circle of trust isn\u2019t terribly wide, but he\u2019s willing to grow it. Jimmy Butler hardly played his rookie year. Young players like Joakim Noah and Luol Deng \u2014 and, recently Barrett \u2014 have developed significantly on his watch. He\u2019d just rather work out the kinks of that development in practice, if possible, than games.<\/p>\n

So there are no sympathy minutes for Kevin Knox or Obi Toppin. There are no quarters off for Randle or Barrett. It\u2019s like he channels Frank Galvin from \u201cThe Verdict\u201d:<\/p>\n