The reason why Thibodeau was fired by the Knicks, and how to evaluate Thibodeau s employment strategy?

1. Core reasons for dismissal‌

‌Tactical concepts and lineup conflict‌

Thibodeau emphasizes the system of defense first, but failed to effectively activate Brunson and Towns' offensive talents. Brunson held the ball slowly, and Towns was forced to take on the role of blue-collar defensiveness, and the single-on-offensive tactics restricted the star's performance.

‌The trust in the locker room collapsed‌

Bridges publicly called for additional rotations. Core players such as Towns and Anunobi questioned their tactics that had not changed for five years. Anonymous players complained that "the extra training at 3 a.m. caused physical and mental exhaustion", and eventually forced the management to fire Thibodeau.

‌The management's ambition to compete for the championship forced the Knicks to reach US$308 million (42 million in tax line), and the boss Dolan believed that "new voices need to compete for the championship." After being eliminated by the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the team determined that Thibodeau's extreme rotation and conservative tactics hit the ceiling.

2. Bilateral evaluation of employment strategy

Advantage dimension

Founder of the defensive system:

In five years, the Knicks' defensive efficiency has been improved to the second place in the league (2022-23 season), and lost only 104.7 points to set a team record, leading the team into the playoffs 4 and the first Eastern Conference Final.

Short-term record breakthrough:

226 wins and 174 losses in the regular season (win rate 56.7%), the fourth place in team history, and 50 wins in two consecutive seasons were the best after 1995.

The last passive adjustments were effective:

The Eastern Conference Finals G3 used 10-man rotation (Shamet, Wright), substitute scores rose to 34 points, and offensive efficiency increased to 116 points.

The defect dimension

Overconsumption of main players:

Hart (37.6 minutes), Bridges (37.0 minutes), Anunobi (36.6 minutes) won the top three playing time in the league. The "Five Donkeys Lineup" caused the physical fitness collapse in the final quarter of the playoffs.

The rigid rotation leads to low fault tolerance:

The playoffs only used 6-7 players to rotate, and the substitutes averaged scores per game at the bottom of the league. The East Final G2 Towns defensive loophole was deprecated for 5 minutes after being exposed, and the on-site adjustment was lagging behind.

Star function mismatch:

Downs' three-point shooting in the playoffs dropped to 4.1 times (6.3 times in his career), becoming a defensive tool; Brunson's singles accounted for 32.7%, and the system failed to release its dual-core potential.

3. Summary of fundamental contradictions‌

Tibodeau’s employing strategy is essentially the conflict between "high-intensity discipline" and "modern star management"‌:

‌Short-term value‌: Iron-blooded style reshapes the team culture, lays the foundation for defensiveness and breaks through the bottleneck of record.

‌Long-term cost: Ignoring load management triggers a health crisis (the top three in the Knicks' playoff injury rate), rigid tactics limit the upper limit of luxury lineups, and eventually left the court due to the imbalance between the locker room backlash and the management's championship goal.

Although its passive adjustment briefly activates the deep lineup, it confirms the unsustainability of the "over-reliance on the main force" strategy in the championship stage.