Tom Thibodeau might need some more comfortable clothing, because his seat is getting a little hot.
Ian Begley of SportsNet New York said this week that the job of the New York Knicks head coach Thibodeau may be in peril amid their recent skid.
“[Thibodeau’s seat] is warm,” said Begley. “I think, just my guess, if you get a few more games … where the Knicks are just not competing enough on the defensive end and they look like they have let go of the rope for too long of stretches of the games on this [upcoming] West Coast trip here, I would expect there to be a significant change, whether it’s Tom Thibodeau or something else.
“This is a team that, from Tom on down, this organization expected to have this team competing,” Begley added.
Thibodeau, who is in his third year as the coach of the Knicks, did a fine job during his first season at the helm. He led the Knicks to their first playoff berth in nearly a decade and was even named NBA Coach of the Year. But since then, Thibodeau’s coaching performance has cratered. He has gone 43-52 (.453) over the last two seasons and is angering fans with some baffling coaching decisions this year.
About to begin a crucial five-game road trip, the Knicks are currently 6-7 after giving up an unacceptable 145 points in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. That will not cut it for a team that has spent a lot to compete (over $460 million combined on just the quintet of Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier, and Mitchell Robinson alone).
Thibodeau is known to be close with Knicks president Leon Rose. But that might not be enough to save his job since even some Thibodeau loyalists sound unhappy with the state of affairs in New York right now.
