It's a players league. This team is still short on NBA quality rotational talent. It's also a team that relies on kids for the bulk of their production. I'm not saying Thibs hasn't made mistakes this year, he obviously has. But on the list of problems I would rank coaching near the bottom in terms of impact.
There will be more pressure on Thibs to improve the win/loss record next year as there should be. But unless it's a complete disaster next season, Thibs is going to get at least a 3rd year to continue what he started. He was not hired on a trial basis. He was brought in as the all-in solution to years of terrible management and performance on the court. The very interesting thing is what he's going to do this offseason. He's never really led on about what he thinks the personnel problems are on the team. His actions are going to tell us a lot. Players that fit his long term vision are going to stay, those that don't are going to be gone. You will be able to tell what he sees as problems areas by the players he adds.
It will also be interesting to see what he does with our draft asset. Our discussions have begun to focus on what is the best course of action with that pick. As I've said, I love the idea of keeping our pick if we get into the top 3. I like the idea of keeping it if we don't, but could also see packaging it with something else to get an established piece to add to our core. I'm sure we will debate this for the next 3 months. But the real key is what Thibs values, and I'm really looking forward to how he maneuvers through the offseason.
Playoff Push Begins Tonight - Kings at Wolves GDT
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Coolbreeze44
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longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]
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Re: Playoff Push Begins Tonight - Kings at Wolves GDT
Good discussion here about Thibs' first year grade...more to come when we do our end of season post mortem.
I agree with a couple of you that give Thibs a blended C as POBO/coach, but I see the individual grades as vastly different. For many of the reasons Lipoli cites above, I'm reasonably satisfied with his performance as POBO and give him a solid B...nearly an A for his restraint in the offseason and signing some free agents on the cheap coming off good seasons, but probably only a C for the draft (or more likely an incomplete).
But if anyone seriously gives him higher than a D for his coaching performance, I wish I had had them as teachers when I was pulling my 2.3 GPA the first three years of college. I can think of only two successes he has had: 1)the 15 game stretch where he seemed he had imparted some defensive wisdom to this squad (man, does that seem like eons ago), and 2) some credit for the resurgence of Ricky Rubio. But offsetting those minor accomplishments are a myriad of failures and poor decisions that I won't annoy Abe by recounting at this time (although I won't hold back in postmortem thread). I gave Sam Mitchell a C coaching grade last year (good enough to earn another year I thought), but the paltry number of added wins this year despite a year of seasoning for its youngsters and the clear fact (in my opinion) that this team is not as good at the end of this season as it was at the end of last years, tells me that Mitchell impacted the team more positively than Thibs did in their respective first years...and for that reason, I give coach Thibs a D.
I've read the argument that Coach Thibs was taking the long view and doing things that cost us wins this year. While I agree that POBO Thibs clearly took a long view, I see no evidence that Coach Thibs did anything that he feared might cost us wins this year. Playing his starting 5 more MPG than any other coach in the league is not the strategy of a coach taking a long view...it's a strategy of a coach who is afraid to play his bench (mostly guys he brought in!) and therefore wore out his starters in an attempt to treat every game like a playoff game (not a sustainable winning strategy in today's NBA). Plus I think any observer of Thibs will see him as a guy constitutionally unable to do anything but try to win every game. Look at him on the sidelines...it's ion his DNA.
Should he be replaced? Worthless question because his contract makes him bulletproof at least for one more year. But I think it is at least worthy of discussion even though it won't happen. He just didn't perform the way I thought he would, and I already had low expectations coming in.
B as POBO, D as coach.
I agree with a couple of you that give Thibs a blended C as POBO/coach, but I see the individual grades as vastly different. For many of the reasons Lipoli cites above, I'm reasonably satisfied with his performance as POBO and give him a solid B...nearly an A for his restraint in the offseason and signing some free agents on the cheap coming off good seasons, but probably only a C for the draft (or more likely an incomplete).
But if anyone seriously gives him higher than a D for his coaching performance, I wish I had had them as teachers when I was pulling my 2.3 GPA the first three years of college. I can think of only two successes he has had: 1)the 15 game stretch where he seemed he had imparted some defensive wisdom to this squad (man, does that seem like eons ago), and 2) some credit for the resurgence of Ricky Rubio. But offsetting those minor accomplishments are a myriad of failures and poor decisions that I won't annoy Abe by recounting at this time (although I won't hold back in postmortem thread). I gave Sam Mitchell a C coaching grade last year (good enough to earn another year I thought), but the paltry number of added wins this year despite a year of seasoning for its youngsters and the clear fact (in my opinion) that this team is not as good at the end of this season as it was at the end of last years, tells me that Mitchell impacted the team more positively than Thibs did in their respective first years...and for that reason, I give coach Thibs a D.
I've read the argument that Coach Thibs was taking the long view and doing things that cost us wins this year. While I agree that POBO Thibs clearly took a long view, I see no evidence that Coach Thibs did anything that he feared might cost us wins this year. Playing his starting 5 more MPG than any other coach in the league is not the strategy of a coach taking a long view...it's a strategy of a coach who is afraid to play his bench (mostly guys he brought in!) and therefore wore out his starters in an attempt to treat every game like a playoff game (not a sustainable winning strategy in today's NBA). Plus I think any observer of Thibs will see him as a guy constitutionally unable to do anything but try to win every game. Look at him on the sidelines...it's ion his DNA.
Should he be replaced? Worthless question because his contract makes him bulletproof at least for one more year. But I think it is at least worthy of discussion even though it won't happen. He just didn't perform the way I thought he would, and I already had low expectations coming in.
B as POBO, D as coach.
Re: Playoff Push Begins Tonight - Kings at Wolves GDT
LST -- I'll admit i consider my C grade for Thibs as coach was a bit generous, but I'll stand by it. I honestly do believe he made coaching decisions that he knew would hurt wins this season for sake of longer term development.
Playing his starters mucho minutes in this context was not a sign of a win-now approach. Because the starters are our young core guys, playing them high minutes suggests that Thibs was focused on giving them experience, challenging them and evaluating them for the long term. It's unlikely that Thibs (or anyone for that matter) would leave his PBO hat entirely at the door when stepping into the arena to coach. This season was Thibs' chance to fully evaluate and teach these young guys with minimal pressure to win. I believe he did that knowing his approach and some decisions would cost us wins. That's why I think it's fair to give him a C, in spite of the terribly disappointing record.
My concern with Thibs so far relates primarily to the type of atmosphere he's creating on this young team. I'm concerned about what looks like a lack of fun on the faces of most of our players. I'm not pining for Smiley Wes, but a young up-and-coming team like this should feel and reflect the joy of playing along with a competitive zeal to win. I'm not too down about this season on the assumption that Thibs has laid the groundwork for vast improvement next season. But we'll see.
Playing his starters mucho minutes in this context was not a sign of a win-now approach. Because the starters are our young core guys, playing them high minutes suggests that Thibs was focused on giving them experience, challenging them and evaluating them for the long term. It's unlikely that Thibs (or anyone for that matter) would leave his PBO hat entirely at the door when stepping into the arena to coach. This season was Thibs' chance to fully evaluate and teach these young guys with minimal pressure to win. I believe he did that knowing his approach and some decisions would cost us wins. That's why I think it's fair to give him a C, in spite of the terribly disappointing record.
My concern with Thibs so far relates primarily to the type of atmosphere he's creating on this young team. I'm concerned about what looks like a lack of fun on the faces of most of our players. I'm not pining for Smiley Wes, but a young up-and-coming team like this should feel and reflect the joy of playing along with a competitive zeal to win. I'm not too down about this season on the assumption that Thibs has laid the groundwork for vast improvement next season. But we'll see.