One of the many criticisms about New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was that he would be unable to adapt his eat-breathe-sleep basketball ways to a new wave of young players. But after being fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves in January 2019, Thibodeau is at the start of a third basketball act that many thought wasn't possible.
New York wasn't expected to win much in Thibodeau's first season, but as was the case in his first year with the Chicago Bulls in 2010-11, the team has exceeded expectations.
As the Knicks head into Thursday's second-half opener against the Milwaukee Bucks with a surprising 19-18 record -- good for fifth in the Eastern Conference -- they've won the same way so many Thibodeau teams have succeeded in the past: playing hard and coming together on the defensive end; the Knicks are second in the league in defensive rating, behind only the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.