The Knicks Dilemma and Future: Questions about the Eastern Conference Finals after the change of coaches

On the NBA stage, the New York Knicks have always been a highly-watched team, carrying the Big Apple City basketball dreams and glory expectations. However, recently, the Knicks have fallen into an unprecedented chaos and dilemma. The meritorious coach was dismissed and the new coach was repeatedly rejected for interviews. This series of turmoil makes people deeply worried about his prospects for next season: Can the Knicks still enter the Eastern Conference Final next season?

Meritorious coach dismissed: The double interweaving of grades and contradictions

The five years of Thibodeau coaching the Knicks were undoubtedly a period of success and change. When he took over, the Knicks were deeply trapped in the quagmire of the bottom team and had no sense of existence in the fiercely competitive Eastern Conference. But with his unique coaching philosophy and iron-blooded defensive system, Thibodeau pulled the Knicks out of the darkness. Under his leadership, the Knicks entered the playoffs four times in five years and reached the Eastern Conference Finals again after 25 years this season. This result is undoubtedly a joy like a long drought and rain for Knicks fans.

However, there are many contradictions hidden behind the achievements. From a tactical perspective, Thibodeau's coaching style has gradually exposed problems. He relies heavily on the "Five Donkey Tactics" of the main players, which makes the team's main players play for too long. In the playoffs, this drawback is infinitely amplified. For example, when facing the Pacers, the Knicks' main player's physical fitness declined severely during the long series. At the critical moment, Brunson lost the threat due to physical exhaustion, which became one of the important factors for the team's failure. At the same time, his offensive tactics are relatively rigid. When he has a scoring expert like Towns, his tactical arrangement is too dependent on Brunson to do so, resulting in a sharp decline in offensive efficiency as the series progresses. The conflict in the locker room is also a key factor in the dismissal of Thibodeau. The players were dissatisfied with his coaching style, Bridges publicly complained about too much playing time, Towns also questioned the defensive arrangement, and even Hart suggested increasing Robinson's playing time. These voices from within the players reflect the cracks within the team. In order to calm the players' emotions and pursue higher championship goals, the management finally chose to sacrifice Thibodeau, making him the "burden" of the team's contradictions and ambitions.

The new coach repeatedly refused interviews: the chain reaction of management chaos and strategic misjudgment

After the firing of Thibodeau, the Knicks management started an urgent journey to find the coach, but this process was full of ups and downs and repeatedly hit walls. They successively issued interview requests to Rockets coach Uduka, Mavericks coach Kidd, Timberwolves coach Finch, Bulls coach Donovan and Hawks coach Snyder, but were rejected without exception, which made the Knicks a laughing stock in the league and was ridiculed by the media and fans as "not even an AI coach can be hired." The dilemma that the Knicks encountered in the process of selecting coaches lies in his chaotic management and wrong strategic judgments. From the management perspective, the team's frequent personnel changes have seriously affected long-term planning. In the past, five consecutive basketball operations presidents have been replaced, which has led to the inability to continue the team building idea and lack of consistency and stability. At the same time, the boss Dolan interferes with the coach's specific affairs through private consultants, which makes the coach not have enough room for freedom in the team, which discourages many excellent coaches. For example, the previous departures of star players such as Anthony and Posses highlighted the team's shortcomings in star player management, damaged the team's reputation, and made potential coaching candidates have doubts about coaching the Knicks.

In terms of strategic judgment, the Knicks management has a cognitive bias in its own strength. Although the Knicks can reach the Eastern Conference Final this season, there are certain factors such as improving the team's strength and coaching by Thibodeau, there is also a certain amount of luck. However, the management regarded this result as the norm, believing that the team has the strength to reach the finals, and then blindly pursues the famous coach, trying to quickly achieve the goal of winning the championship by changing coaches. But they ignored the problems that existed in the team's lineup itself, such as offensive efficiency ranked only 10th in the playoffs, 11th in three-point shooting percentage, bottom in assists, insufficient depth on the bench. These shortcomings cannot be solved immediately by changing coaches, and the management's eagerness for quick success and instant benefits have put the team in an embarrassing situation of choosing coaches today.

Outlook for next season: The road is full of thorns, the road to the East Final is full of fog

Outlook for next season, the Knicks' prospects are full of uncertainty, and it is difficult to enter the East Final again. In terms of lineup, in order to get Bridges and Towns, the team overdraws future draft picks, leaving only one first-round pick in the next seven years, and the team's salary space is occupied by five high-paying players, which makes the team's operating space in the free market extremely limited, and it is difficult to make up for the lineup shortcomings through signings. For example, the team has loopholes on the defensive end, Brunson is not tall enough and Towns is slow to move. He was beaten by the Pacers' running and bombing tactics in the Eastern Conference Finals. With the current salary and draft pick situation, it is difficult to introduce suitable players to solve this problem. The unresolved coaching candidates cast a shadow on the team's prospects. Currently, most of the excellent coaches available on the market are on the job. After hitting a series of walls, the Knicks may have to turn their attention to some unemployed coaches, such as former Grizzlies coach Jenkins, etc., but these coaches have a gap with their initial goals in terms of fame and strength, and it is questionable whether they can lead the team to achieve their expected results. The new coach also needs time to integrate into the team and establish a new tactical system and locker room culture, which is a huge challenge for the Knicks who are eager to achieve results immediately. The competitive landscape of the Eastern Conference is also not optimistic. Traditional strong teams such as the Celtics and the Bucks still maintain strong competitiveness, while some emerging teams are also rising. It is easy to imagine how difficult it is for the Knicks to stand out in such fierce competition.. If the team cannot solve the coaching problem as soon as possible, straighten out the internal relationships, and improve the strength of the lineup, let alone the Eastern Conference Finals next season, it will even be a big question mark whether it can make a breakthrough in the playoffs.

Knicks are currently standing at the intersection. The dismissal of the meritorious coach and the difficulty in finding the new coach are just appearances. The deep management chaos and strategic mistakes behind it are the core issues that need to be solved urgently. If the team wants to return to the Eastern Conference Final next season or even launch an impact on the championship, the management must learn from the pain, make fundamental changes, and find a coach and team building idea that suits the team. Otherwise, their championship dream will only drift away, and the journey next season will be full of thorns and bumps.