No Dibs On Thibs

February was admittedly a lackluster month for my writing efforts...But thankfully, the world had the New York Knicks to entertain them while I was on my hiatus. While my fingers fell silent, the roars of the Garden could be heard from Penn Station below as myself and many others made their evening commutes in and out of the greatest city on Earth. Over the course of 12 games in February, the Knicks went 10-2, with one of those losses coming in OT to the Clippers. They scored over 1,000 points in that stretch, 1,276 to be exact, averaging 106 points per game and holding opponents to 99 points per game respectively. The team did so many amazing things in Feb. and have made basketball fun to watch for the New York faithful. But even as IQ's electric breakout sent playoff hopes racing through my mind, I was shocked back into reality by the reminder that Tom Thibodeau is still our commander in chief, and I'm ruefully confident that his raspy voice and commitment to 90's Defense has taken us as far as they can...

Before digging in any further, I want to start by thanking Thibs for all that he has done. When he came to the Knicks our only identity was that we didn't have one, and that no matter what James Dolan was going to do something that we didn't like over the course of the season. Thibs brought a bit of culture, minimal personality, but most importantly some experience that our team of misfits desperately needed. And that was great when our options at starting point guard were Kemba Walker, Derrick Rose, and Alec Burks (yeah...), but we're at the point now where we have players that can really hoop, and we need a visionary that can do more than just make the most of what he's got.

As discussed every M/W/F with the #BrewCrew fam over at The Morning Brew Sports, my biggest issue with Thibs is that after he took us from the slums of Elfrid Payton, Austin Rivers, and Nerlens Noel, he has since refused to change his style to incorporate the energy and potential of our new, young talent. Sure we have seen some flashes from Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes, but we haven't seen nearly as much improvement from guys like RJ or Obi, who are supposed to be the future. And I won't go in too deep on the depressing tenure of Cam Reddish, who was shipped off in the night after only appearing in ~40 games with the Knicks, all while we suffered from a MASSIVE hole at the small forward position. So for everything Thibs did to dig us out of a hole, he has done just as much to secure our place firmly amongst the mediocre, and has all but guaranteed that we will never compete for the top of the East, that is, as long as he is in charge.

I'll keep rooting for the Knicks as I always have, even if I think we are destined for a loss at the shortcomings of our guy Tom. I almost feel bad, but the key word there is ALMOST, and I want a CHIP! His contract is currently scheduled to run through 2025 but I'm not sure our team will still be in position to compete at that point with all the guys we will inevitably have to pay by then. Again, thank you for your service Thibs, you did a lot for this team, but now is time to do us one more favor and take your talents, or lack thereof, elsewhere. Please & Thank You!