madman? or just determined to win?

 we’ve heard it before:

“load management”.. the wear and tear of the long, 82 game season catching up..


yet there’s a coach in the East who doesn’t seem to care about the term “load management”

Tom Thibodeau.

Thibs has this gritty, defensive based coaching scheme and mindset that we’ve never quite seem before.. he plays to win. we understand..

but is his coaching style a pro.. or is it the definition of his team’s self destruction?


in 2012, the youngest MVP in NBA History, Derrick Rose, tore his ACL in Game 1 of the first round..

the question rose: is it Rose? or is it Thibs?

Thibs’ coaching regime and methods have starters playing load-intensive minutes, seemingly ignoring this new “load management” warning but instead vying for the taste of championship success..

this season, we saw the Novas and their newly adopted KAT attempt to fight their way into the playoffs for a chance at postseason success.. but looking at game logs and highlights: Thibs’ rotation leaves us asking:


“is this a madman who doesn’t care about the health of his players? or is this a fierce competitor who’s only agenda is he plays.. to win?”

the rotation out East with the New York Knickerbockers was intensive: few substitutions, keeping it to core players who’s play contributed to wins and that’s all. the starters were playing 35, 40+ minutes a game with little to no rest, outside of play stoppage and the occasional timeout.

the result?

a 51-31 regular season record, good for 3rd in the East and 5th overall in the NBA.. but that doesn’t come without controversy:

the Brunson Burner, who signed a 4 year, $104 million dollar contract with the Knickerbockers, went down with a ankle sprain on March 7. the result? 15 missed games and he returned to play on April 6th.. in that timeframe, the remaining Novas and their wildKAT went 9-6, keeping the momentum going.. but with all of these games and a lot of minutes playing a sport where contact comes and goes and a lot of explosive moves, fast pacing and moments requiring grit and tenacity on both sides of the ball, you have to ask:


is Thibs a crashout who defies the rules of the NBA? or is he trying to bring back the old brand of basketball where stars didn’t care about the possibility of injury, they wanted to win and get paid, their names in the stanchions.. 


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