P.J. Carlesimo has a grim stance on the Knicks’ operating procedure that has often times proved true.
“The Knicks always think they’re smarter than everybody else, that’s the Knick philosophy,” Carlesimo said Tuesday on the “Ryen Russillo podcast.”
“They think they’re different and we’re smarter than all these other teams and we know what we’re doing, and I would say they’re normally the opposite. They’re often times their own worst enemy.”
The former NBA and college coach who now calls games for ESPN Radio believes the franchise yet again is being its own worst enemy after deciding to fire Tom Thibodeau after five seasons.
The Knicks axed Thibodeau last week after leading the franchise to its first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 seasons, along with four playoff berths.
In their search for a replacement, the Knicks have since been rebuffed by three teams for interview requests and a pair of two-time college championships coaches are not interested.
“I’m biased, I’m always going to come down on a coach,” Carlesimo said, “but first of all, that’s the Knicks, they don’t know what they’re doing, they’re their own worst enemy, they’ve been their own worst enemy.”
The Knicks moving on from Thibodeau has been a polarizing discussion since there are staunch supporters and critics of the longtime coach.
Thibodeau turned the Knicks from a laughing stock into a legitimate title contender, punctuated with this year’s second-round upset of the heavily favored and reigning champion Celtics.
However, being eliminated by the Pacers meant the Knicks lost to a lower-seeded team for the third straight year under Thibodeau.
The Post reported that Knicks decision makers had concerns about whether Thibodeau could lead a title-winning team and several players were frustrated with Thibodeau’s style.
“I don’t know who made the decision. (Knicks president) Leon (Rose has) made a lot of good decisions. Was his decision OK? I don’t buy that it was players. They didn’t do without the players, it’s not like there’s a mutiny because it happened,” Carlesimo said.
“But I don’t think the players were that unhappy, to be honest. I didn’t care for the decision. Thibodeau is still one of the best coaches in the NBA and he gets an awful lot out of a roster. You don’t win a game because you out-coached him or anything like that. I really don’t feel that. I’m really disappointed.”
Carlesimo, who coached the Trail Blazers, Warriors, SuperSonics/Thunder and Nets during his career, complimented Thibodeau for taking the roster as far he did.
Some have argued moving on from Thibodeau was an indication the higher-ups felt the team underperformed despite being on the final four teams remaining.
Carlesimo pointed to the losses of Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder and Donte DiVincenzo to the Timberwolves in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade as moves that hurt the team.
“They make big changes, I didn’t necessarily love them,” Carlesimo said. “(ESPN’s) Bobby Marks said there was no way they could have kept Hartenstein, I thought that really hurt them. I thought letting Donte go was a mistake also. Those two guys were so good for them last year. I just think that he did a great job. You can criticize, alright, he doesn’t use the bench, blah, blah, blah, all those guys. They got beat last year seven games in the second round, this year they go to Eastern Conference finals. Come on. Everybody says, ‘The roster’s really good.’ It’s a good roster, not a great roster, and he’s got a couple of non-defenders that he has playing adequate defense. They weren’t nearly as good defensively as they used to be and I thought that partially was because of the trade. I just think it’s unfair. I thought he did a great job.”
He added: “I’ve sat on benches across from Tom Thibodeau. He’s not a good coach, he’s an excellent coach and it’s been in multiple places.”
Carlseimo also noted that it’s not helping the Knicks’ cause that they have yet to find a replacement.
The team’s choice will affect how fans and pundits view the move, but so far the Knicks are striking out in their quest to land a top candidate.
The Mavericks said no to a Jason Kidd interview, the Rockets turned down a proposal to chat with Ime Udoka and the Timberwolves prevented a conversation with Chris Finch.
Former Villanova coach Jay Wright is not in the mix and UConn coach Dan Hurley indicated he’s not going to be.
“Where they hell are they going? If you’re going to do a thing like that, you would have thought they had a deal in the drawer or something happening,” Carlesimo said.
“It seems they’re really aggressive at trying to get J-Kidd. I don’t even know if Dallas gonna give ’em permission to talk to him but J-Kidd is the only name I see that seems to have any traction.”
