Any coach who has been in the league for more than a few seasons must learn to adapt to remain competitive. In fact, this is true of any profession. The people who identify new trends, who continue to be curious and learn to master their craft, are the types who excel.
Thibodeau is a workhorse. A team trained by the native of New Britain will always be prepared. Whether that means they are prepared with the right blueprints to deal with modern NBA crimes seems to be the question of the moment.
Thibodeau found great success using an “Ice” defensive approach against pick-and-roll in his early coaching years. The basic idea is to use two, rather than three, defenders to detonate the side pick-and-rolls. As the league evolved with more shooters, it made it more difficult to breastfeed the handler when the screener was able to punish his man by chasing the ball with a perimeter shot.
However, this is an example of defensive coverage that receives a lot of attention because … Thibodeau was revolutionary in using it. He suffers from his own invention. If anything, he should tell fans that he has a defensive mind to invent new techniques to stop what has become a league that relies much more on high pick-and-rolls than on secondary actions, which Ice was created to defend.
However, there are other questions and concerns. Can Thibodeau learn to manage the new generation of young stars? Will he manage game time in the age of load management?
We know what Thibs did in previous stops. How will he adapt and define his time in New York?