“A byproduct of losing is everyone wants to place blame. And I understand that. We all have jobs to do. (The season) has not gone as well as it has. It didn’t go great last year until the end, right? Lock into what we have to do. Don’t get caught up in getting distracted. And focus on how we can do better. That’s where I want the focus to lie.”
The statement above was one Tom Thibodeau’s messages during his postgame press conference on Wednesday, shortly after the Knicks’ brutal loss to Brooklyn.
Thibodeau, understandably, wants his staff and players to focus on internal improvement as they head into the All-Star break. The coach had a similar message last season, when the Knicks surprised the league and finished fourth in the Eastern Conference.
But things have gone sideways for the Knicks since that late-season run in 2020-21.
The past five days have been particularly ugly.
While Thibodeau wants his players focused on improvement, it’s only natural for fans and analysts to debate who deserves the most blame for this wayward season.
Is it management and team president Leon Rose?
Is it Thibodeau?
Is it Julius Randle and the players?
You can probably make a logical case for each group.
No matter how you feel about the situation, your individual opinion won’t have much impact on what happens next with the Knicks.
Whose opinion matters?
Knicks executive vice president William Wesley.
And in conversations with Knicks owner James Dolan this month, Wesley has been laying the blame for the season – at least in part – on Thibodeau’s coaching, per SNY sources.
Does that mean Thibodeau will be fired during the All-Star break? I don’t know the answer to that question. As stated previously, I would be a bit surprised if he were let go at this point.
But stranger things have happened in pro sports.
The idea that Wesley is privately citing Thibodeau’s coaching as a significant factor behind New York’s struggles is noteworthy.
On one hand, Thibodeau’s lineups and rotations haven’t yielded desired results. So it’s understandable that management wouldn’t be happy with Thibodeau’s performance.
But Wesley and Rose hired Thibodeau in 2020. He was their hand-picked coach. Part of the allure was the relationship between Thibodeau, Rose and Wesley. The three men have known one another for years.
So you’d think that the coach and front office would be mostly on the same page. That synergy is often cited as an important factor in a team’s success.
But Wesley’s criticism of Thibodeau suggests that the coach and management are not on the same page. And it suggests that Thibodeau and the front office are not functioning properly.
Something else that suggests the front office and Thibodeau are not in lock step? The coach’s reaction at the trade deadline.
Once it was clear that the Knicks weren’t making any trades on Feb. 10, Thibodeau was angry, per SNY sources. He believed that the roster would benefit from an upgrade, those sources say.
Since he came on as coach, Thibodeau has been consulted on personnel moves. Some people who have done business with the team in the past year believe Wesley and Brock Aller – the club’s vice president of basketball and strategic planning — have significant input on team decisions. Thibodeau’s opinion is considered, they say, but management has made several significant personnel decisions that didn’t align with Thibodeau’s thinking.
Does this mean there is a significant rift between Thibodeau and management? I don’t know the answer to that question.
This could all be healthy disagreement among decision-makers. The best organizations have healthy debate about personnel moves all the time.
But given the Knicks’ struggles, it’s fair to wonder if the disagreement isn’t particularly healthy.
The club is trending in the wrong direction heading into the All-Star break.
Management’s decisions moving forward will be critical. The correct decisions can right the ship and get the team back on track toward contention in the Eastern Conference.
The wrong decisions can derail the progress has New York made in the Rose era.