Knicks' Playoff Performance: Thibodeau's Strategy Analyzed

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00:00Here's Tibbs. Loved how the Knicks came out, started, established, and got it done. Here's

00:06Tom Thibodeau. Tom, how much did Cat set the tone in the first half? I thought he was very

00:12aggressive and I think that's super important. I think Jalen as well. I thought the first quarter

00:20that set the tone for the game. We got to make sure that we stay aggressive and we have to stay

00:25disciplined. I think staying disciplined and playing with toughness is huge.

00:30Listen, I've heard a lot of talk around here over the last, let's say, 10 days that this guy should

00:38be fired because they're going to lose this series. I disagree, frankly, with all of that

00:45assessment. I really do because this guy has done nothing but, frankly, win in New York for the Knicks.

00:52They have been a perennial playoff team. They're in the playoffs every year. What have they done?

00:58They've done first round, first round, then second round, second round. Now, in the conference

01:04finals, first time in 25 years, all he's done is get them to the playoffs and people don't realize,

01:11I believe, how hard it is to actually get through all of it and win a championship.

01:16They're not winning a championship either way. They're not even winning this series,

01:20but I don't think firing him is the answer. I really don't. Like, this league is filled. Are you

01:25kidding me that David Fisdale, they're saying, is going to get that son's job? You know why,

01:30don't you? Because he is the ultimate players coach. All the players love Fisdale. You know why?

01:36Because none of them will ever listen to him. They love him as a coach. They're like, we want him as

01:41the coach because we're not going to listen to whoever it is. They never listened to Budenholzer.

01:45They want Fisdale because he's one of the boys. So, I don't need that with the New York Knicks.

01:51I like Thibodeau. I like his, he's in charge. Like, you don't listen to him. You're not playing.

01:58He calls the shots. They win. I think they have a great product now that's consistent and annually

02:06in the postseason and annually in the top three in the East, in my opinion, in their, and certainly

02:13in their division. I do not fire Tom Thibodeau when they lose the series to the Pacers, Mike. I'm not

02:19doing it. There's too many hat coaches in the NBA and retreads. I just don't think it's a good idea

02:25to fire him at this point. They're still winners. They win. And as long as I'm winning, I'm not firing

02:31the coach. No, I think the talk of firing him is, is honestly kind of silly. Like this is the

02:38furthest they've been in 25 years. And we're looking to, we're looking to chop them. It just,

02:45it's every, cause it's like you said, it's gotta be, uh, Dolan likes it too. Cause you want to know

02:49why? Dolan likes when there's multiple rounds of playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Dolan likes that

02:55a lot. Same thing with the Rangers. Why the Rangers chopped lobby? Cause they didn't make the playoffs

02:59this year. He wants playoff games in his building every spring for both of his teams. That's what he

03:05wants. Uh, and if you're doing that, he leaves you alone for the most part. He don't bother you

03:11anymore. Um, here's cat, uh, talking about the defense. Of course, it's hard to keep the

03:16Pacers Scotty under like one 20, let alone a hundred, which the Knicks did for the first

03:21time in this series. Last night, defense was the key. I think for us, it was, I think in

03:27this series, we haven't lacked scoring. It's been more about us not stopping them from scoring.

03:32And I thought we did a great job tonight of, um, up in the pressure, making sure that, you

03:38know, we make it more difficult for them to get those open looks and get those shots

03:42that they got comfortable last game with in the series with. Um, it's a testament to

03:46our, our team, um, answering the call, you know, understanding that, you know, we have

03:51to be better. We have to execute at a higher level. And, uh, I think that tonight we did

03:54that, but, uh, we're going to have to even be better next game if we expect to have our

03:58season continue. I agree. I think the key to this game Saturday night is defense without

04:05fouling. You gotta be in their face. You gotta get a hand up. You gotta check them. You gotta

04:12play better defense. What they've done in the last game there that they lost, all they

04:16did was foul them all night. I mean, Christ, they shot so many free throws. I lost count.

04:21They had so many cheap fouls and bad fouls and stupid fouls and turnovers. Cannot turn the ball

04:29over, have to have a hand in the face and not give them any space. I am telling you this

04:35guy, Halliburton, his plan is real simple. He's going to run wild on the Knicks tomorrow

04:41night. Cause he had eight and people are making fun of him. They like, everyone's like, Oh,

04:45he was so awful. Oh, Halliburton where, what happened to him? He disappeared. Oh, he's not

04:50a superstar. Did you see how bad he shot? This guy is going to come out in fifth gear for

04:5848 minutes and he is going to try to have 35 points. And I think he's going to shoot

05:03for 15 dimes. I think he's shooting for a triple double for sure. Halliburton knows one

05:09bad game and they're all over him. He's not having a second bad game in a row. And if

05:14they don't guard him and get in his face, I have never seen a guy between him and McConnell

05:20get more space in my life. The space that they give these two is like, it's embarrassing.

05:26It really is like, you cannot leave this guy open from 30 feet. He'll stick to, he shoots

05:32rainbow threes and teardrop threes and McConnell, they just don't guard him. They let this guy

05:39run wild and he's shooting layups and shooting bunnies. He does that little 360 cycle on the

05:46baseline, right out in front into the paint, stops and pops and hits it every time. Sick and tired of

05:52it.

05:57You

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