Monica McNutt on the criticism Tom Thibodeau has received for playing his players too much: “I’m old enough to remember when we had to put a 65-game limit in for awards. And so now we’re like, ‘Oh guys are playing too much! Rawr rawr rawr!”
by SwellandDecay
30 Comments
[Source](https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1790009197146304734)
The minutes police must have been on a donut break when we were grinding out clutch win after clutch win in the playoffs because they were quiet as hell.
We look rough in exactly one game (out of 10!) in the playoffs and now they’re back sirens blaring.
Amen
Well said. People just pushing the Thibs running his players into the ground narrative.
The only consistent knock imo is playing guys too long when the game is either in hand or out of reach
None of our guys were among the league leaders in MPG during the regular season. Only reason everyone is playing heavy minutes now is due to a ridiculous amount of injuries. Anyone complaining about Thibs and his minutes management now has no idea what they’re talking about.
I do not understand the narrative either, these guys get paid millions of dollars to run back and forth on a court, what is the difference if they do it for 30 something minutes or 40 something minutes. They should be super conditioned and ready to go the distance.
Obviously the issue we have is injuries, but other than the OG Hammy how can you say any of these injuries are truly due to high usage?
Regardless, I know its only averages and guys like Josh and DDV have several completed games under their belts, but none of our guys are even top 10 in most mpg
https://www.espn.com/nba/seasonleaders/_/sort/avgMinutes
Even yesterday I feel like thibs had to balance taking the starters out for rest vs admitting exactly when you think the lead is insurmountable. Like you start the bench for the 2nd half and you’re telling your guys they don’t got it in them.
PREACH
People can express the opinion of “Thibs playing his guys too much”, but the same people will need to say the same thing when we win. So it’s only a problem when we lose? Not how that works.
I think I love Monica after watching this clip. About time someone balances the false narratives this organization has to contend with, coming from national media
Shout-out to OP for posting this!
None of our injuries were due to high usage. That’s the funny thing.
Monica is a gem
Thibs also doesn’t have much choice. Who else is he going to put on the floor? Jacob Toppin? lol
Our bench from the beginning of the season are now our starters. Theres hardly an alternative to the rotation. How can u critique the minutes when anything else gives a worse chance to win lol.
Thibs gets results it can’t be denied, but Josh Hart playing full games without sitting back to back is insanity
Not the point of the post, but I’m really going to miss Monica McNutt when we fully lose her from MSG to the big broadcasters. One of the more talented, entertaining, and knowledgable voices on ball we’ve had in Knicks land. May she keep fighting the fight for orange and blue skies.
I got more issue with Thibs offensive gameplan just being iso pick and roll
I don’t care what it takes – pay this woman now to lock her in to replace Clyde whenever he decides to hang em up. She really is awesome
Amen Monica!
Monica capturing all of our hearts. Do your thang ma
PREACH
❤️❤️❤️
The fact of the matter is, we’re only this far into the playoffs because of the high playing times of our best 5-6 players. People can criticize Thibs, but without him doing this idk we’re even in the 2nd round
“buh buh playing more makes it more likely for injuries to happen” — and bojan got hurt minutes after checking into a game. you cant coach with fear of injury, it can happen whenever wherever. that and people really do not understand that there are entire medical staffs dedicated to tracking a player’s wear and tear, not to mention thibs literally asks them if they need rest and they dont complain about minutes. narrative only gets pushed when we’re down but not when we’re up
Sorry but full squad this is a sweep, if pacers don’t win this that would be embarrassing imo.
I used to think i was being sexist because i hate listening to people like doris burke and cheryl miller. But i love monica man shes deff 1 of us
Dear me she is the absolute GOAT. Don’t ever change Monica!
With more success comes more criticism. They said we were a playin team. They said we didn’t have a 1A star. They say we play too many minutes. They hate us cause they anus.
Finally some common sense. People keep forgetting we’ve been very injured for half the season into playoffs, so what other option was there. Thibs is playing the guys that give the Knicks the best chance to win games. If they didn’t play as much we very likely wouldn’t even have made it this far.
I wish more Knicks fans were like Monica. This team is full of dawgs.