36 • February 24, 2022 - March 2, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Sports The Knicks need changes but firing Thibodeau isn’t the answer By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
(Bill Moore photo)
Quickley, Obi Toppin, Quentin NEWS Grimes and Cam AM Reddish) still finding their way.01/06/22 The high expectations So ascribing the Knicks’ many Knicks fans held struggles to head coach Tom for their team coming Thibodeau is an exercise in into this season were misplaced frustration. Yes, myopic, clouded by unthe Knicks need changes, but usually fortuitous cirfiring Thibodeau shouldn’t cumstances last season be on the to-do lists of owner NEWS that resulted in a 41-31 James Dolan andAM team presregular season record ident Leon Rose.01/13/22 Thibodeau and No. 4 seed in the deservedly won NBA Coach Eastern Conference. Unof the Year honors last season fortunately, the Knicks’ and is capable of producing unforseen pre-playoff positive outcomes when supsuccess was not a reliplied with elite talent as he had able index of where they in Chicago when Rose was in were in the process of his prime. AM NEWS being a sustainable postWhile he plays some startseason contender. ers too many 01/20/22 minutes, a Their 4-1 first round Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau has faced criticism for the fault he has carried with him series loss to the Atlanta throughout his head coachteam’s current 25-34 record after winning NBA Coach of the Hawks was a more coning career, and has been stubYear honors last season clusive indicator of areas born and resistant to allocate of strengths and weaknesses, and a painBy and large, they are what their record more time to Toppin and Reddish, and ful examination of a roster that was and says they are. The Knicks are composed of seemingly has not even considered giving remains in dire need of an infusion of trans- a one-time All-Star in Julius Randle who rookie point guard Miles McBride a look, AM NEWS formative talent at the top of its roster. The would be slotted as the third or fourth best no combination of young players and vet01/27/22 harsh truth is the Knicks, 25-34 coming out player on a championship contender, a erans would significantly alter the Knicks’ of the All-Star break and 12th in the confer- promising but inconsistent young guard downward trajectory. What would alter ence, aren’t equipped to challenge the top in RJ Barrett who is no lock to make an All- it are stars, a fundamental must for any dogs in the East as currently constituted. Star team in his career, several good role team with championship aspirations. They’ll host the Miami Heat tomorrow at players (Mitchell Robinson, Evan Fournier, Here is the cumulative record from 2014 the Garden and the Philadelphia 76ers on Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel), aging veter- to 2020 of Thibodeau’s predecessors Derek Sunday at MSG before going on a 12-day, ans (Kemba Walker, Taj Gibson and Derrick Fisher, Jeff Hornacek and David Fizdale, in NEWS seven-game road trip. Rose) and developing players (Immanuel addition to interim coaches KurtAM Rambis and
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Mike Miller, who briefly took over after Fisher and Fizdale were fired: 147-329. The recur01024 AM NE ring theme is they all failed to have a winning 01/06/ 0 in any season they coached 7 record and had a 74470 22784 combined zero playoff appearances. The hook was warranted for Fisher and Fizdale. Hornacek was the victim of a philosophical battle with then-team president Phil Jackson, who was married to the triangle offense and brought in Fisher, his former 01034 Los Angeles Lakers point guard, in a disasAM NE trous experiment to implement the system. 01/13/ 0 7 74470 22784 Rose decided to forego making an impactful move at the NBA trade deadline and wait for the upcoming off-season to bolster the Knicks’ roster. But it is incumbent on him to acquire game changers. No Knick should be deemed untouchable. Red Auerbach, Pat Riley or any of the all-time great 01044 NBA coaches would find it an arduous enAM NE deavor to move this season’s Knicks team 01/20/ 0 7 74470up22784 much further in the standings. Last May, ahead of Tim Duncan’s enshrinement into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who won five NBA championships with Duncan, explained succinctly why he is considered one of the best coach01054 es in the history of the game. AM NE 01/27/ “The no 0 most concise way 7 to put it is, 74470 22784 Duncan, no championships!” An immutable NBA axiom is players make coaches. Thibodeau’s charge is to be more flexible. Rose’s obligation is to stock the roster with the requisite talent to contend for a title. Neither has yet to prove willing or capable. 01064
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The Nets don’t have much time to form chemistry ahead of the postseason Returning from the NBA All-Star break, the Brooklyn Nets now embark on the last quarter of their season. It begins tonight at home against the Boston Celtics and moves on to Milwaukee Saturday night where they will face the Bucks. The Nets, who led the Eastern Conference six weeks ago, went into the break 31-28, losers of 12 of their past 14 games and the 8th seed in the East. Nets head coach Steve Nash expressed optimism after his team’s final game before the break, a 117-103 loss to the Washington Wizards at the Barclays Center last Thursday. “Hopefully, we have a good run of health where we can really build something in a short period of time and get a better seed,” he said. With 23 regular season games remaining, 10 at home and 13 on the road, the Nets don’t have the luxury of time to develop chemistry with many new additions to the team. The 13 road games could have been key because New York City COVID vaccine
restrictions still do not allow Kyrie Irving to play home games. But Irving will not be allowed to play in two of those 13 games, March 1 in Toronto against the Raptors and April 6 against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Canada has nation wide regulations prohibiting unvaccinated players from performing. Hampered by injuries for most of this season, the Nets will soon have the services of superstar Kevin Durant, who is close to returning from a sprained left MCL. The injury happened Jan. 15 in a 120-105 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant has been out for over a month. But they have reshaped their team after trading James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers at the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline. The Nets received Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond and Seth Curry. Then on Monday they signed 35-year-old veteran free-agent guard Goran Dragic, who was agreed to a
(Bill Moore photo)
By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews
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buyout with the San Antonio Spurs after being traded to them by the Raptors at the trade deadline. Dragic has only played in five games this season, the last in November. 01074 He averaged 8 points, 2.8 rebounds, AM NE 1 assist and 18 minutes per game. In 02/10/ 0 7 74470 22784 the 50 games he played last season with the Miami Heat, Dragic averaged 13.4 points and 4.4 assists. Dragic reportedly was also pursued by several top contenders. Dragic has history with Nash, serving as his back-up for four seasons with the 01084 Phoenix Suns when he first joined the AM NE league. He was also a teammate of former 02/17/ 0 7 74470 22784 All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire with the Suns and Heat. Stoudemire is currently a Nets player development assistant.
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Newly acquired Nets forward Ben Simmons has a short period02/24/22 of time to get acclimated to his teammates with only 23 regular season games remaining
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