It was a good day for Tom Thibodeau, who finally won the Eastern Conference’s monthly coaching award after the Knicks went 6-3 in May.
And the coach of the year candidate got a shout-out from his former player, Kendrick Perkins, who did not always see eye-to-eye with the Knicks taskmaster when they were together in Boston.
Perkins, now an ESPN analyst, said Thibodeau reevaluated how he conducted matters during his sabbatical after being bounced in Minnesota in January 2019, when he didn’t connect with their young guys. He did something right this season in leading the Knicks to a stunning 41-31 record for the East’s fourth seed.
“I think the year and a half to two years that he had off, he had a chance to evaluate himself, right, because even like the great Gregg Popovich, he had to take a step back and say, ‘You know what, this is a new generation of players,’ ” Perkins said. “ ‘I’ve got to adjust the way that I coach.’ ”
Perkins sees a freer flow to the Knicks’ offense than the ones he remembered in Minnesota and Chicago.
Tom Thibodeau Getty Images“Thibs didn’t adjust his things for us on the defensive side of things, because that’s what he does,’’ Perkins said. “I just see now he adjusted and looked himself in the mirror, because if you watch how the Knicks play on the offensive end, they’re playing freely. There’s no more come down, set up half-court offense, and run sets and all that. He’s letting those guys be themselves, whether that’s taking quick shots or going isolation basketball.’’
When Thibodeau was hired last July, there wasn’t a uniform agreement the Knicks had hired the perfect guy for a young team, but Perkins thought he’d make it happen.
“My quick reaction was I thought Thibs was the right man for the hire because the Knicks were lacking culture,’’ Perkins said. “They were lacking identity. When Thibs got there, I thought that was a great fit for them.
“A lot of people tried to criticize Thibs. But the Knicks’ culture or organization, he’s building from the ground up. I know one thing about Thibs is that when you describe him, he describes culture.”
