For Tiki Barber, Monday's game four loss for the Knicks proved one key reality: Tom Thibodeau is not going to lead New York to a championship.
"When it came down to crunch time…what we've said many times came to fruition, and it was ugly. Erik Spoelstra considerably outcoached Tom Thibodeau," Tiki said. "It makes me believe now that Tom Thibodeau will never win an NBA title. He's too stuck in his old ways."
Tiki pointed out how Thibodeau seems set on moving forward with his pre-series plan of letting the Heat shoot from beyond the arc, considering Miami was not a great 3-point shooting team in the regular season. But the Heat have been shooting the lights out since the start of the postseason, and Thibodeau has failed to adjust.
"'We're gonna sag off of these guys and let them shoot,' except the last two series, all they've been doing is making 3-pointers," Tiki said. "At some point, you have to stop looking at what you think you know, and look at what you're seeing in real time.
"This team won't get far. They've hit their ceiling because of their head coach not adjusting…this was a coaching failure."
With that in mind, Tiki says if the Knicks can't mount an improbable comeback and advance to the conference final, Thibodeau needs to go.
"I would. It's not because I hate Tom Thibodeau," Tiki said. "I think he might be the best culture man in the last 15 years in the NBA…he goes someplace, fixes the culture, wins Coach of the Year, then hits a ceiling."
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