Very well written. Extremely objective and, to quote the great JM, a "fair" synopsis.
I will like to stress one point that was cited, but is a bigger deal than most give credence to. Rose turned a middling 500ish team (appropriate with the talent on the team even with an effective Randle) into a 4th seed. Him playing against other team's reserves was a legit weapon that made the bench elite. Plus, he elevated guys like Obi and IQ. His absence was a HUGE deal! However, as stated, our Coach couldn't resist playing him 35 minutes a game, as opposed to the 18-22 minutes his body could withstand, and the inevitable injury occurred...leading back to Thibs...and here we go again...lol
But even with that said, I do believe we need Thibs for where this organization realistically is (after 20 years of hot garbage and terrible drafting). His ethos and old school values is what is necessary and we are seeing results in our young players actually developing. This was never a 2-3 year turnaround unless we lucked up with a generational talent. And the Knicks will never get lucky at anything with the curse of Dolan!
Damn Macri, you had you're creative writing juices flowing with your "jab-jab-jab-18-footer-brick" line and Randle falling asleep with the read on his chest instead of reacting...all in one tight paragraph. Strong work! Agree as usual with most of your takes, but the start Quickley & Grimes Game 1 is a bit of revisionist history. That seems viable today on 4/4 but that would've been an eye popper to start the season. This season was a pass through and I'm not going to hold the FO's feet to the fire because they tinkered with a team that delivered beyond its wildest expectations and resulted in a 1st ROUND EXIT. They didn't nearly win a championship. They lost in the first frickin' round. That's far from a handle with care scenario. We retool and give it a go again next year, applying the lessons we learned from this year. Done and done.
Excellent, excellent writeup! This is a must read for all knicks fans right now. The beautiful part of it all is watching RJ, Obi, IQ, Grimes, Sims and Deuce get time and improve these last weeks. I do think it's normal in a team like ours to play out the season up until the all star break and then make adjustments in terms of who plays depending on playoff possibilities. I don't hate the plan, I don't hate the FO (i love our young players right now, cap space and no bad contracts), I don't hate the coach (young players are blossoming under him and appear to know how to 'play the game'), I understand Julius' frustrations (he is competitive and over-utilized)...honestly, a finish just under .500 with all the injuries and stuff, with all our draft picks starting to show promise, with all the cap space and good contracts...it's not bad at all, it's actually kind of great.
Thibs is the problem. He can’t see the forest through the trees. This is a recurring issue. Elf last year too many examples so let us just focus on last night. What is the logic to play burks instead of mcbride?!? Why was Gibson in instead of toppin in the fourth last night? Don’t say toppin got his minutes. Thibs routinely plays guys over 40. Maybe he thought Taj needs an extended look?!? Didn’t see enough in the 35 years he’s been in the league?!?
It is without a doubt better for the future of the franchise to learn about mcbride and the rest of the youth. And guess what? If despite being up by 30 you lose and get a better draft pick is that the worst thing? I am not trying to have the tank conversation. But look at the rest of the teams who are out of contention. Only 1 is being as stupid as the Knicks. The kings! Not good company. Every other team is giving their youth an opportunity to showcase. Every other team is trying to learn about their players or at minimum increasing their assets trade value. What is Thibs doing? This kind of behavior is asinine and he deserves to get fired.
As much as I want to put the blame on the season on the misery known as Randle, the “winner” of killing the season is Coach Thibs:
1. While he didn’t want Kemba on the team, did he have to make so well known to the other players, fans and opposing teams? Kemba deserved better.
2. Talk about stubborn, we know you like “veterans” Coach but playing Burks constantly at the expense of Quick, Grimes, McBride was a crime. Burks was not, is not, a PG. Loved the box score on the recent Charlotte game. Burks played more minutes than Quick and McBride combined in a game that was relatively meaningless. But this happened all season with Burks over Quick, Taj over Sims and/or Obi, Randle over Obi, etc.
3. All coaches have their unassailable rules and philosophy. Thibs hard-rock philosophy was that the players earn playing time. Thibs says it over and over. Unfortunately it was a philosophy for the entire team BUT Randle. Didn’t matter how poorly Randle played; didn’t matter when he wasn’t playing a team game; wasn’t playing defense, Randle would get his minutes.
4. Once it was clear the season over, I am sure management and I know fans, wanted him to start playing the young players more: Obi, Quick, Sims, McBride, Grimes. Instead we got a solid diet of Burks, Taj, Fournier, Randle. That meant losing with no upside. Losing without getting a clear picture on the young guys. Losing without many fun.
Thibs is not the right coach for a young, developing team. He doesn’t like that role, was never built for that role, and will never play that role.
Unfortunately it seems Thibs is coming back and it is likely the misery known as Randle is also coming back. Trading Randle at the nadir of his play would just mean peanuts in return.
Very well written. Extremely objective and, to quote the great JM, a "fair" synopsis.
I will like to stress one point that was cited, but is a bigger deal than most give credence to. Rose turned a middling 500ish team (appropriate with the talent on the team even with an effective Randle) into a 4th seed. Him playing against other team's reserves was a legit weapon that made the bench elite. Plus, he elevated guys like Obi and IQ. His absence was a HUGE deal! However, as stated, our Coach couldn't resist playing him 35 minutes a game, as opposed to the 18-22 minutes his body could withstand, and the inevitable injury occurred...leading back to Thibs...and here we go again...lol
But even with that said, I do believe we need Thibs for where this organization realistically is (after 20 years of hot garbage and terrible drafting). His ethos and old school values is what is necessary and we are seeing results in our young players actually developing. This was never a 2-3 year turnaround unless we lucked up with a generational talent. And the Knicks will never get lucky at anything with the curse of Dolan!
Damn Macri, you had you're creative writing juices flowing with your "jab-jab-jab-18-footer-brick" line and Randle falling asleep with the read on his chest instead of reacting...all in one tight paragraph. Strong work! Agree as usual with most of your takes, but the start Quickley & Grimes Game 1 is a bit of revisionist history. That seems viable today on 4/4 but that would've been an eye popper to start the season. This season was a pass through and I'm not going to hold the FO's feet to the fire because they tinkered with a team that delivered beyond its wildest expectations and resulted in a 1st ROUND EXIT. They didn't nearly win a championship. They lost in the first frickin' round. That's far from a handle with care scenario. We retool and give it a go again next year, applying the lessons we learned from this year. Done and done.
Excellent, excellent writeup! This is a must read for all knicks fans right now. The beautiful part of it all is watching RJ, Obi, IQ, Grimes, Sims and Deuce get time and improve these last weeks. I do think it's normal in a team like ours to play out the season up until the all star break and then make adjustments in terms of who plays depending on playoff possibilities. I don't hate the plan, I don't hate the FO (i love our young players right now, cap space and no bad contracts), I don't hate the coach (young players are blossoming under him and appear to know how to 'play the game'), I understand Julius' frustrations (he is competitive and over-utilized)...honestly, a finish just under .500 with all the injuries and stuff, with all our draft picks starting to show promise, with all the cap space and good contracts...it's not bad at all, it's actually kind of great.
Beautifully done, Jon.
Thibs is the problem. He can’t see the forest through the trees. This is a recurring issue. Elf last year too many examples so let us just focus on last night. What is the logic to play burks instead of mcbride?!? Why was Gibson in instead of toppin in the fourth last night? Don’t say toppin got his minutes. Thibs routinely plays guys over 40. Maybe he thought Taj needs an extended look?!? Didn’t see enough in the 35 years he’s been in the league?!?
It is without a doubt better for the future of the franchise to learn about mcbride and the rest of the youth. And guess what? If despite being up by 30 you lose and get a better draft pick is that the worst thing? I am not trying to have the tank conversation. But look at the rest of the teams who are out of contention. Only 1 is being as stupid as the Knicks. The kings! Not good company. Every other team is giving their youth an opportunity to showcase. Every other team is trying to learn about their players or at minimum increasing their assets trade value. What is Thibs doing? This kind of behavior is asinine and he deserves to get fired.
As much as I want to put the blame on the season on the misery known as Randle, the “winner” of killing the season is Coach Thibs:
1. While he didn’t want Kemba on the team, did he have to make so well known to the other players, fans and opposing teams? Kemba deserved better.
2. Talk about stubborn, we know you like “veterans” Coach but playing Burks constantly at the expense of Quick, Grimes, McBride was a crime. Burks was not, is not, a PG. Loved the box score on the recent Charlotte game. Burks played more minutes than Quick and McBride combined in a game that was relatively meaningless. But this happened all season with Burks over Quick, Taj over Sims and/or Obi, Randle over Obi, etc.
3. All coaches have their unassailable rules and philosophy. Thibs hard-rock philosophy was that the players earn playing time. Thibs says it over and over. Unfortunately it was a philosophy for the entire team BUT Randle. Didn’t matter how poorly Randle played; didn’t matter when he wasn’t playing a team game; wasn’t playing defense, Randle would get his minutes.
4. Once it was clear the season over, I am sure management and I know fans, wanted him to start playing the young players more: Obi, Quick, Sims, McBride, Grimes. Instead we got a solid diet of Burks, Taj, Fournier, Randle. That meant losing with no upside. Losing without getting a clear picture on the young guys. Losing without many fun.
Thibs is not the right coach for a young, developing team. He doesn’t like that role, was never built for that role, and will never play that role.
Unfortunately it seems Thibs is coming back and it is likely the misery known as Randle is also coming back. Trading Randle at the nadir of his play would just mean peanuts in return.