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Head coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks reacts during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Madison Square Garden.
New York Knicks‘best free agent acquisition Donte DiVincenzo defended Tom Thibodeau’s tarnished reputation caused by Anonymous survey of Athletic players where he was elected least favorite NBA coach.
“This survey, for me – and excuse my language – but it does not mean [expletive]”, DiVincenzo told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I saw the survey, but I signed here.”
DiVincenzo chose the Knicks over the Minnesota Timberwolves because of his college teammates Jalen Brunson And Josh Hartand after asking advice from his former Warriors of the Golden State teammate Stephen Curry, Athleticism reported on February 28.
It turned out to be the right decision.
DiVincenzo is having a career season in his first year under Thibodeau as Brunson’s backcourt partner. He has an average 14.3 points, including 3.2 3s per game on 8.1 attempts in 27 minutes – all career highs. Despite the increase in his 3-point attempts, he matches his career-best accuracy of 39.7% from deep that he set with the Warriors last season.
Already with 219 3-pointers with a dozen games remaining, DiVincenzo is on pace to eclipse Evan Fournier’s franchise record of 241 3-pointers that he set a long time ago. barely two seasons.
Half the credit should go to his work ethic. And the other half should go to Thibodeau, who was trusted to start after initially coming off the bench at the start of the season.
The reputation of the Knicks coach
Thibodeau’s reputation as an old-school coach who took his players to the ground began in Chicago where his former Bulls team faded late in his tenure there after a fast, challenging start. LeBron James and his past Cleveland Cavaliers teams.
The long, hard practices, the long minutes of its star players and the injuries of its stars, especially Derrick Rosegave Thibodeau a bad name.
“I don’t care (about Thibodeau’s reputation),” DiVincenzo told The Athletic. “I don’t care. NBA guys now (are different) than before. Everybody wants the game on offense. Nobody wants to come to practice. But me, being my first year here, I think ‘he did a great job of balancing things out.
“From the outside world, there is always (a different point of view). But in our house – internally – we have a good dynamic and we enjoy it and everyone enjoys being together. To the outside world, you don’t really know. All you know is perception. All you know is the history of other teams (Thibodeau has been a coach) and his years with different organizations. But we had a lot of days off, a lot of days off.
“The most prepared coach”
But it must be recognized that Thibodeau is a winning coach wherever he goes. He earned a reputation as the most prepared coach in the league, demanding that his players play the regular season as if it were the playoffs.
Thibodeau was aware of the criticism that followed him from Chicago to Minnesota and New York. Before accepting the Knicks job, he said ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that he evolved as a coach after visiting the Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers practices during his sabbatical following his firing at Minnesota.
He’s no longer the tough taskmaster he once was during his previous coaching stops.
DiVincenzo told The Athletic that they didn’t train as hard as Thibodeau demanded of his former teams or as people thought they would under him.
“I played for (Warriors’ Steve) Kerr and for Coach Bud (former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer),” DiVincenzo told The Athletic. “It’s not like you come here and all of a sudden you’re running track every day (in practice). I think what he does by far better than anyone I’ve been around is that he’s the most prepared. So this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stand and run for two hours. But when you’re in there, you’re going to lock in and you’re going to do the work and we’re going to get out of there.
Alder Almo is a basketball reporter who covers the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors for Heavy. He has over 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is originally from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Learn more about Alder Almo
