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3 reasons why the Knicks should fire Tom Thibodeau

By Desmond Novack

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Head coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks in action against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden on October 15, 2021 in New York City. The Knicks defeated the Wizards 115-113. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Head coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks in action against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden on October 15, 2021 in New York City. The Knicks defeated the Wizards 115-113. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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3 reasons why the Knicks should fire Tom Thibodeau
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 26: Evan Fournier #13 reacts with Kemba Walker #8 of the New York Knicks during the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden on October 26, 2021 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User ex, 3 reasons why the Knicks should fire Tom Thibodeaupressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

3 reasons why the Knicks should fire Tom Thibodeau: Horrible rotations

One of the biggest issues Tom Thibodeau has had all year is his inconsistent. and sometimes terrible rotations. Whether Thibodeau is neglecting young players like Cam Reddish and Obi Toppin, or over-playing veterans like Kemba Walker, his rotations just don’t make sense a lot of the time.

However, what is, in my opinion, Thibs’ biggest issue with his rotations is the fact that he over-plays RJ Barrett, especially as of late.

In Saturday’s matchup against the Lakers, RJ Barrett played 50 minutes. Thibs would go on to play Barrett 43 minutes against the Jazz on Monday and 35 minutes against the Nuggets on Tuesday. That’s 128 minutes in three games over a span of four days.

Things only get worse when you consider what happened in Tuesday’s game against the Nuggets. The Knicks were getting blown out for the majority of the game, yet, for some reason, Tom Thibodeau put RJ Barrett back into the game with the Knicks down 15 with 3:56 remaining in the game.

This in itself is not all that terrible, however, the Knicks made zero progress in making a comeback and Thibs decided to keep RJ in for the remainder of the game. At least, until Barrett went down with an ankle injury with only 18 seconds remaining.

This is very similar to what Tom Thibodeau did with Derrick Rose back on the Bulls. Obviously, the injury was not nearly as bad, but the fact that Thibodeau did not learn from his previous mistakes is scary.

Even without this incident, Tom Thibodeau’s stubbornness in terms of lineup changes has cost the Knicks big-time this season. The fact that he has yet to make a single change to a starting lineup that clearly doesn’t work is disturbing.

If Thibs does not make any changes after the trade deadline it is going to be very difficult to back him up anymore, especially after the incident with R.J Barrett.

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