Tom Thibodeau named NBA coach of the year

Tom Thibodeau (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau of New Britain, Connecticut has been named the 2020-21 National Basketball Association Head Coach of the Year according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. There is no doubt the Knicks exceeded expectations this season, and a major reason for the turnaround was Thibodeau.

A year ago the Knicks struggled mightily. They had a record of 21 wins and 45 losses, and were 12th in the Eastern Conference. New York got off to a horrendous start, as they won only four of their first 22 games, and as a result, the team fired head coach David Fizdale. Mike Miller then came in and the Knicks played a little more respectable, and posted a record of 17 wins and 27 losses.

At the end of their regular season, the Knicks made a coaching change and the addition of Thibodeau turned out to be an outstanding move by general manager Scott Perry. Thibodeau got increased production from R.J. Barrett and Julius Randle, and the acquisition of veteran Derrick Rose from the Detroit Pistons had huge dividends. Randle was also honoured as the NBA’s most improved player on May 25.

This was the second time Thibodeau was named NBA coach of the year. He was previously honoured while with the Chicago Bulls in 2010-11. The one similarity between the 2010-11 Bulls squad and the 2020-21 Knicks squad is the fact that Rose was on both teams.

Even though Thibodeau was honoured for his regular season work, New York was outplayed by the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Thibodeau could not find a way to stop Hawks star point guard Trae Young as Atlanta eliminated New York in five games.

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