Woj is back on road and still dropping bombs.
On Saturday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that the New York Knicks are finalizing a deal with Tom Thibodeau to make him the team's next head coach. Per sources, Thibodeau's contract should be close to a five-year deal worth a currently undisclosed amount.
Thibodeau has been in talks to take interim coach Mike Miller's position as the full-time play-caller for a while, but some people aren't convinced that this is the best move for the struggling franchise. Through his time with the Bulls and Timberwolves, Thibodeau has built a reputation of not being a "player-friendly" coach. It is the belief that Thibodeau overworks his players in practice which translates to unnecessary injuries.
Also, critics argue that Thibodeau's coaching style doesn't translate to the current direction of the NBA. Thibodeau is focused primarily on playing hard defense. In fact, he is credited as being the mastermind behind the defensive strategies that helped the 2008 Celtics contain Kobe Bryant in the Finals. Yet with the game being quicker and more vertical, Thibodeau's pacing limits his team's offensive production.
Although his player development could be beneficial for the young Knicks team, fans are worried that he will run these bubbling stars into the ground playing a style of basketball that won't prove to be fruitful. And as witnessed in the past, Knicks fans won't sit by and let the front office steer the ship into an iceberg without speaking their piece. As a result, New York fanatics and other NBA fans took to Twitter where they aired out the Knicks for bypassing more timely coaches to hire Thibodeau.
Tom Thibodeau is the definition of CULTURE!!!! Finally the Knicks are trending in the right direction for once.
Young players run for the hills... https://t.co/w1uPWSRBgP
