Tom Thibodeau Named Coach of the Month

docgundy · Dec 3, 2007

http://www.nba.com/news/coach_071203.html

NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2007 – The Boston Celtics’ Doc Rivers and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November.

Rivers guided the Celtics to a 13-2 (.867) record last month, including eight straight wins to open the season. Boston outscored opponents by a 13.7 ppg margin while holding teams to a .410 field goal percentage. The Celtics recorded a perfect 8-0 mark at TD Banknorth Garden, besting the opposition at home by 21.6 points over that stretch. Owners of the NBA’s top record at month’s end, the Celtics enjoyed the franchise’s best November since 1985-86 when Boston opened 13-1.

Popovich led the Spurs to a 14-3 (.824) record in October and November, tying the franchise record for best start after 17 games, last accomplished in 2005-06. San Antonio, which won five straight from Nov. 16 through Nov. 25, was a perfect 9-0 at AT&T Center. The Spurs committed a league-low 12.0 turnovers per game, including setting a franchise record low with three turnovers in a 128-110 win over Orlando on Nov. 21.

Other nominees for the Coach of the Month were Dallas’ Avery Johnson, Detroit’s Flip Saunders, Houston’s Rick Adelman, Orlando’s Stan Van Gundy, Phoenix’s Mike D’Antoni and Utah’s Jerry Sloan.
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weslinder · Dec 3, 2007

docgundy said:

http://www.nba.com/news/coach_071203.html
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Really misleading thread title. I get your point, but that doesn't make it truth.

docgundy · Dec 3, 2007

http://www.boston.com/sports/basket...bodeau_is_celtics_minister_of_defense/?page=1

Thibodeau is Celtics' minister of defense
TOM THIBODEAU He's been around TOM THIBODEAU He's been around

By Peter May, Globe Staff | November 1, 2007

WALTHAM - As Doc Rivers looked to fill out his coaching staff for this season, he put two names at the top of his wish list. One was Larry Brown. The other was Tom Thibodeau.
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One would get the call if Rivers began 2007-08 with the same crew of callow fellows he finished 2006-07 with. The other would get the call if, by some good fortune, the 2007-08 Celtics would be a team of All-Star veterans. Once the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett, Rivers knew whom he wanted.

And so, after being Jeff Van Gundy's faithful lieutenant in Houston for the last four years - as well as five-plus years in New York before that - Thibodeau returns to his roots to, as they used to say on "What's My Line," perform a service: coach defense. The New Britain, Conn., native, former Harvard assistant, and former Salem State head coach is back in New England, where it all started for him 26 years ago.

"Being an assistant on the Knicks and an assistant on the Celtics, how can a guy who grew up in New Britain have it any better than that?" Van Gundy said yesterday. "From a coaching standpoint, it's a perfect fit."

Thibodeau, who started his NBA career in 1989 as an assistant with the first-year Minnesota Timberwolves and the late Bill Musselman, is not able to communicate his sentiments to reporters because of a Rivers-imposed gag order. (Someone who dressed like Thibodeau for Halloween yesterday, however, appeared to be enjoying himself at the Celtics' practice.)

Van Gundy, who knows Thibodeau as well as anyone, called the Boston move "a great change for Tom. I think when you work for someone so long, as Tom did for me, it works a lot better for the head coach. I'm not so sure how well it works for the assistant. But he has a talent for player development, and by that I mean development on the court, off the court, film, friendship, those types of things. The work he did with Yao Ming was the epitome of player development."

There's no Yao in Boston, but there is a collection of veterans, some of them All-Stars, all of them intent on reversing the Celtics' recent pathetic ways. Rivers knew Thibodeau's message would get through to the likes of Kevin Garnett, James Posey, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce because (a) they knew what Thibodeau was saying, and (b) they believed in what Thibodeau was saying.

"We got a group of guys who are trying to win and a group of veterans who understand the sense of urgency," Rivers said. "Where last year it would have been pulling teeth, frustration. I lived it, so I know it.

"Veterans listen," Rivers went on. "And the talent here is better. And that's all Tom wants to do, every day - coach defense. He lives it, breathes it. He has an energy. We haven't changed a lot of our coverages, but we have more detail to them. Tom pays a greater attention to detail. And it was needed."
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It's hard to make a case for any meaningful statistic in the exhibition season - Ray Allen said as much yesterday - but the Celtics have to be a better defensive team this year because, well, they can't get much worse. Boston ranked 24th in the league in defensive field goal percentage; Houston was No. 1.

"They were not a strong defensive team last year," Van Gundy said, being quite diplomatic. "Tom is a strong defensive mind. They added some good defensive players. It's a good match for both."

Thibodeau has been around, as is the case with most assistants not tied to Jerry Sloan. After two years with the Timberwolves, he worked as an advance scout for Seattle. Then he joined the staff of Jerry Tarkanian in San Antonio. The Tark lasted 20 games (9-11) and was gone. When Van Gundy went looking to hire Thibodeau, the most glowing endorsement he got was from Tarkanian. Thibodeau stayed with the Spurs when John Lucas replaced Tarkanian and then went to Philadelphia when Lucas replaced Fred Carter in 1994. Two years later, he was on to the Big Apple as Van Gundy's assistant. He stayed in New York to work with Don Chaney before rejoining Van Gundy in Houston.

This past summer, Thibodeau accepted a job with the Wizards, then left after a day. "It wasn't a good fit," Rivers said.

Brown became a nonfactor for Rivers when the Celtics loaded up on veterans.

"If we had stayed young, it was going to be Larry with his teaching and fundamentals," Rivers said. "I believed these young guys had heard my voice over and over and they needed to hear someone else preach it. But once we got veterans, I was thinking Tom all the way because of defense, defense, defense. And I knew Larry didn't want to coach veterans.

"A lot of coaches do defense because they're assigned to it, even though they like the whole game," Rivers went on. "Tom likes the whole game, too. He's a good basketball mind. But his passion is defense. He asks me what I want, I tell him, and he runs with it."
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Dei · Dec 3, 2007

Seems like Doc Rivers is gonna get a freebie COY award again because of a certain player. His first time, it was Tracy, now, it's Garnett. That guy does squat.

Pest_Ctrl · Dec 3, 2007

No he didn't get his first COY because of Tmac. It was the year before that. Orlando basically did everything they can to clear up cap space, and they went into the season with a bunch of scrubs led by Darell(sp?) Armstrong. And they were .500 for the season. Rivers got his COY because he almost led that ultra scrubby team into the playoffs.

Dei said:

Seems like Doc Rivers is gonna get a freebie COY award again because of a certain player. His first time, it was Tracy, now, it's Garnett. That guy does squat.
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