A Thank You Blog To Tom Thibodeau For Kicking Nate McMillan's Ass Live On Television

Let me start this by apologizing for being mad at you, Thibs. Seeing Elf in the starting lineup again got the best of me and I let out a what the shit man at you. That was uncalled for. That was especially uncalled for after you put on a coaching clinic and pantsed Nate McMillan live on TV. Consider this blog explaining it all as my apology letter to you and/or perhaps a Mac/Chase Utley love letter. 

Yes, we can talk about the Hawks shooting. We can talk about Randle turning it on in the second half and what Derrick Rose did. But, this was all Thibs simply outcoaching McMillan. It wasn't even close. The Hawks had us dead to rights. Trae Young was cooking us ... again. Then it happened. McMillan left Young on the bench too long. He couldn't figure out how to stagger minutes and keep Bogdanovic or Young on the floor. I'm not going to give free coaching tips but it's insane not to have one of the two guys who is murdering the Knicks on the floor in a staggered lineup. 

And yes we can argue about Elf being in the starting lineup. He simply can't play right now. No hard feelings, but he's just such a negative. He's not doing anything defensively to counter a bad offensive game. So it's time to keep him on the bench, start Rose, play Quickley more minutes and start rotating based on who is playing well. You can play any combo of Rose, Quickley, Burks, Bullock and RJ. Use Frankie for a couple minutes to see if he has a defensive spark. 

This is what Thibs started to do in the second half. RJ didn't play in the fourth quarter. He rolled with Burks, Rose and Bullock down the stretch and it paid off. Bullock actually defended Trae pretty good late. He also hit a couple of big threes in the last 6 minutes of the game. Keep changing the PnR coverage and giving Trae different looks. Offensively it was simple. Attack whoever Trae is guarding in the mid post, wait for the double and swing the ball. That's when the Knicks offense looked good. 

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So thank you, Thibs. Let me know if Taj or Derrick need one of my knees.