Knicks Fire Tom Thibodeau: New York passes from the coach after the end of the finals of the Eastern Conference, compared to – Blogging Sole

THE New York Knicks sent the head coach Tom Thibodeau, the team announced. The decision comes three days after the Knicks were eliminated during the finals of the Eastern Conference by the Indiana Pacers In six games. The Knicks have entered the season in the hope of winning their first championship since 1973 after spending six first round choices, a first round exchange, Julius Randle And Donte Divincenzo to acquire Mikal Bridges And Cities of Karl-Anthony during the offseason. However, despite their best qualifying series since 2000, they ultimately did not reach the Nba Finals despite the advantage of home at home in the finals of the Eastern Conference.

Thibodeau won 56.5% of his regular season games as Knicks chief coach in 226-174 in total.

“Our organization focuses singularly on the victory of a championship for our fans. This prosecution led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau whom we decided to move in another direction,” said Knicks president Leon Rose, in a press release. “We cannot thank Tom enough for shedding his heart and soul in every day for being the head coach of the New York Knicks. He has led us not only with class and professionalism in the past five seasons, but also for a huge success in the field with four places in the playoffs and four victories in the eliminatory series.

The Knicks hired Thibodeau in 2020 to resume a team that had not reached the playoffs in the previous seven seasons. He immediately changed this, the winning coach of the year with a 41-31 2020-21 campaign. The Knicks missed the playoffs in 2022, but reached the second round in consecutive seasons thereafter thanks to the addition of free agent Jalen Brunson. With Brunson in place, the Knicks felt like a fundamental room and were ready to go all-in.

Bridges, who played collegially with Brunson and his colleague Knick Josh Hart In Villanova, was to arrive like a second star in 3 and D near OG Anunoby. He ended up spending his worst 3 -point shooting season since his recruit year and has decreased considerably in defense. Cities have proven to be a full -fledged defensive problem despite attack prosperity.

Meanwhile, years playing his starters more than any other coach began to make up for Thibodeau. Bridges said In March, in March, playing so many minutes is sometimes not “fun on the body”. However, Thibodeau did not give in and, in part, the Knicks have never developed a reliable bench.

They also did not experience with almost enough queues. A major problem that has developed throughout the season was the bad shooting of Hart. The Knicks failed to execute a pick-and-roll between Brunson and Towns because the defenses put their centers on Hart so that they can serve as additional assistance defenders. The Knicks could have circumvented this by inserting a shooter in the place of Hart in the programming, with Deuce McBride frequently mentioned as a candidate. But the less of the less Hart played only 82 regular season possessions with McBride. All the other combined knicks only played 91 possessions alongside the unity of four men from Brunson, Towns, Anunoby and Bridges. Hart played a little less than 1,900 with his starting colleagues.

Tom Thibodeau coach record with Knicks

The Knicks entered the 2025 playoffs as a seeded n ° 3, the highest seed that the Knicks team had won in more than a decade. It was not always easy, but they managed to go through the Detroit pistons In six games in the first round then stun the reigning champion Boston Celtics In six games in the second. With Boston defeated and the 64-win Cleveland riders Eliminated on the other side of the support, New York had its clear way to the finals for decades.

These hopes were destroyed by the possible champion of the Eastern Pacers conference, and a large part of what went wrong in this series was posed at the feet of Thibodeau. Despite Josh Hart suggesting A change in private departure range during the Boston series, Thibodeau remained with the most used programming in the NBA for the first two games against Indiana.

The Knicks lost both at home, and their starters lost their minutes by 29 points. This unit was finally upgraded by 31 points in the playoff series. They were on the ground while the Knicks surprisingly blown up a nine points lead in the last minute of match 1, the loss that could have cost them the series. Thibodeau has adjusted as the series progressed, even by removing good minutes of reserves rarely seen Landry Shamet And Delon WrightBut that led to other questions about the reasons why it took two defeats to use his bench in the first place. In the end, New York lost a winning series in six games.

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Thibodeau – who signed a contract extension last summer This was to travel the 2027-28 season – left New York as the fourth most winning coach in the history of the Knicks behind Red Holzman, Joe Lapchick and Jeff Van Gundy. Now, the Knicks reintegrate the coaching market with a strong list and a proven front office.

The work should be quite attractive, and with so much turnover of coach in the league in recent years, there is no shortage of qualified candidates. But the bar is high here. Thibodeau won six wins in less in the championship. Anyone who replaces the replacement will take the work knowing that the Knicks are in Ou-Bust championship mode.