History Repeats Itself

Let's examine the real stakes of the next few weeks.

Good morning. I was hoping that 24 hours or so would wipe away the vomitous taste in the back of my throat from Monday night. No such luck. As a result, you’re getting one of the more acerbic newsletters I’ve penned in a while. I’ll try to drum up some optimism before tomorrow, but for now, we wallow.

History Repeats Itself

Coming off the most successful, feel-good season in recent memory, a once moribund franchise made a bet.

Wagering that what they had developed over the previous season was so special that it could withstand a slight adjustment to their play style and culture, New York’s front office made the biggest gamble of their tenure, bringing in a brand new starting shooting guard who would help the team reach previously unattainable levels.

It did not go as planned. Even though the player they brought in put up roughly the numbers everyone should have expected and played in the same manner as he had throughout his career, the fit was wrong from day one. Ultimately, fans were left yearning for what they once had and was now gone, and the experiment was largely deemed a failure.

That player not only wound up symbolizing the shortcomings of a season that began with sky high expectations and ended with unfathomable disappointment, but he became a punching bag for an irritated fan base who just wanted to go back in time.

Thank goodness such unpleasantness is behind us now.

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Tom Thibodeau always says you win or you learn.

It is a mantra so ingrained in the franchise that it is probably printed on the two-by-fours beneath the sheetrock at Tarrytown. He uses the saying in reference to what happens on the court, but there is no segment of an organization - inside or outside the world of sports - that can’t benefit from embracing it.

Fail to learn from history, and you are doomed to repeat it.