Tom Thibodeau has gained extra video games with the Knicks than 12 of his 13 most up-to-date predecessors coached.
Tuesday night time’s 105-91 victory over the 76ers at Madison Sq. Backyard tied Thibodeau with Pat Riley for fourth in franchise historical past with 223 wins and strikes him inside arm’s attain of Jeff Van Gundy (248) for third within the franchise report guide.
“All that individual stuff, it’s a byproduct of having great players, and you share that with your team,” Thibodeau stated earlier than tipoff. “I obviously have great respect for Pat Riley and certainly Jeff, and what they’ve done in their careers. The history of the franchise — when you look at the great players, organizationally what it represents — it’s an honor to be here.”
Thibodeau nonetheless hasn’t led the Knicks again to the Japanese Convention finals as his fifth season nears the playoffs, however he has completed the seemingly not possible and offered stability the place it as soon as was sorely missing.
“It’s huge,” Knicks ahead Josh Hart stated of Thibodeau’s regular presence. “Whenever you go through a coaching carousel, it’s hard to develop guys and it’s hard to have guys break out. Having that stability is huge for the players, but it’s also huge for the organization and fans to really have something to build around and cheer for.”
In that regard, this marriage really is a two-way avenue.
By the top of this week — after a two-game street journey to face the Cavaliers and Hawks — Thibodeau may have coached extra video games for the Knicks (395) than he did for the Bulls, who gave him his first shot to guide in 2010 after a 21-year tenure as an NBA assistant. His in-between stint guiding the Timberwolves lasted a comparatively temporary 204 video games, so the Knicks have given him stability, too.
“I know what this team means to the city, having grown up in Connecticut and being a Knick fan,” Thibodeau stated. “We have to continue to do it every day.”
The place have these Knicks taken on Thibodeau’s persona?
“That competitive nature. That’s there,” Hart stated. “Obviously, an 82-game season, he does a great job — [with] the attention to detail and preparation.”
“Competition” is precisely what drew Thibodeau into teaching within the first place, after his taking part in profession ended at Salem State.
“You get to the point where you love the game so you ask yourself, ‘What’s next?’ ” Thibodeau stated not too long ago. “If you are not a pro player, you think, ‘Coaching [and] teaching.’ I always loved that aspect. My coaches and teachers had the biggest influence, outside of my family.”
The directive from Thibodeau’s dad and mom to all 5 siblings was the identical: Pursue your ardour.
{That a} son’s ardour was the identical as his father’s was no coincidence after Tom Sr. fell in love with basketball as a pupil at St. Bonaventure and later introduced his son on an annual pilgrimage to New York to see a Bonnies sport and a Knicks sport.
It sparked what turned a profession of early mornings, late nights and check-ins with the daddy who confirmed him the best way.
“It was just more support,” Thibodeau stated. “Once I decided that’s what I wanted to do, he encouraged me all along the way, like any parent. There are going to be bumps in the road. You may not have a good season. [He’d ask], ‘What did you learn from it? How are you growing? How do you get better?’ ”
Thibodeau’s Knicks have a .567 profitable share.
That’s the greatest since one other period that he was part of — as one in all Van Gundy’s assistants (.590 from 1996-2002).
Of the 13 coaches who adopted, solely Mike D’Antoni lasted greater than 190 video games, and solely Don Nelson (34-25) and Mike Woodson (109-79) had profitable information.
Credit score the success to the work ethic that he developed as a longtime assistant and shared with others.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue was a not too long ago retired participant beginning out as director of basketball growth with the Celtics when Thibodeau was an assistant in 2009-10.
Just a few years later, when Lue was employed by the Clippers as an assistant, he watched all of Thibodeau’s outdated training-camp movies to study defensive terminology and maintain the system the identical for head coach Doc Rivers because it was below Thibodeau’s watch in Boston.
“We would meet every day at 5:15 a.m. — when most guys are going to sleep — and then go right to film,” Lue stated. “Understanding how he used to break it down, what was his counter, what was his thinking. He did a lot for me — teaching me the hard work part of it, but also what to look for and how he presented things.”
The Knicks are reaping the rewards with one other 50-win season in sight.
