Tom Thibodeau Earns 100th Knicks Win Amidst 'Great Culture'

Tom Thibodeau has some work to do if he's ever going to make it to Madison Square Garden's ceiling. For now, though, his New York Knicks proteges are more than happy to keep it 100.

The Knicks' Friday win in Toronto was their fourth in a row and 22nd of the season, as well as their first up north since November 2015. It also served as the 100th New York victory earned by Thibodeau since accepting the top job in July 2020, making him the eighth coach to reach the blue and orange century mark.

Red Holtzman remains the all-time leader in New York victories at 613, a number immortalized with a banner than hangs alongside the Knicks' retired numbers and championship commemorations.

The road to 100 has been anything but smooth and only time will tell if "Thibs" is allowed to climb higher. His players, however, enjoyed being a part of Knicks history through their 112-108 win over the Raptors.

“Thibs has come in here and created a great culture for all of us," praised Julius Randle, per the New York Post. "He’s been amazing. The support, holding us accountable, the belief for us to win every night, I’m happy for him. We’ve got to get him another hundred.”

Randle, the Knicks' leading scorer, is one of five Knicks (along with RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Mitchell Robinson, and Obi Toppin) who have been on the team roster for all 194 games of his tenure. The accomplishment was not lost on his newcomers, as first-year Knick Jalen Brunson labeled the 100th victory "big time."

"Coach puts us in positions to be successful," Brunson said. "He helps prepare us for games. He’s a workhorse. He loves this game. So it’s only right for us to go out there and try to give our all every time on the court for him. A lot of respect for him, congrats for him, but I think we can do a lot more.”

In spite of the relentless metropolitan criticism that has followed Thibodeau since taking the Knicks job (particularly after he followed up his COTY season with a 37-win disappointment last year), he is the first Knicks coach (min. 100 games) to have a winning record since Mike Woodson. Combining the yields from prior head coaching stops in Chicago (2010-15) and Minnesota (2016-19), Thibodeau is seventh amongst active coaches with 452 victories. He's three wins away from passing Billy Cunningham and Byron Scott for sole possession of 40th place all-time.

Through his Knicks tenure (and other locales), Thibodeau has often been criticized for constant lineup tinkering, one that forces younger players to go through daunting feats to become rotation stables. Sophomore first-round pick Quentin Grimes was among them, playing only 17 minutes a game in his debut campaign.

But Grimes has since become a mainstay in the Knicks' premier lineup at shooting guard, averaging 12.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 23 games since his de facto promotion in November. Grimes sounded grateful for the trials Thibodeau put him through in the aftermath of the win over the Raptors.

“He’s meant a lot. (I’m) just a guy that had to come in and had to earn everything." Grimes said, per Newsday. "Nothing was handed to me, and that’s how I wanted it to be. Once you earn a guy’s trust like that, it’s kind of (like the) sky’s the limit.

If he can trust guys like me, thankfully, I've got to just keep working," he continued. "For him to trust in guys, coming in they said he didn’t really trust rookies, and for my confidence, just knowing I got trust from a guy like that, when I had to really earn it from day one. So for me, I’m happy that he got his 100th win.”

Thibodeau and the Knicks (22-18) will go for win No. 101 on Monday when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks at MSG (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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