Possessed. Focused. Maniacal. Brilliant.
Sounds like a description for a mad scientist concocting a secret formula to rule the world, doesn't it?
Well, Boston Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau isn't looking to rule the world. He's just trying to help his employer win championship No. 17 as its "defensive coordinator."
"I not only needed a guy with great defensive focus," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, "but I needed a guy who could spend his dying minutes (focused on defense) so I could run the team."
Thibodeau was available after Jeff Van Gundy was fired by the Houston Rockets. After being interviewed by the Celtics and Washington Wizards, Thibodeau chose the Wizards.
A few days into his tenure, he realized he made a mistake and called Rivers. The Wizards let him out of his deal to come to Boston, which is 25 miles from where he had played and coached at Salem State.
The extra work it took the Celtics to get the 1981 Salem State grad was apparently worth it as they get set to begin the Eastern Conference finals tonight when they host the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 (8:30 p.m.) at the TD Banknorth Garden.
While the Kevin Garnett acquisition is mostly credited for the Celts' worst-to-first metamorphosis — he was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year — Thibodeau's acquisition might be as important.
The Celtics ranked 18th and 24th in points allowed (99.2) and opponent field goal percentage (46.8) last year. But under Thibodeau's guidance, the Celtics defense has been, as several opposing players have stated, the best in the NBA.
"I've never seen defense like that," said Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady.
This season the Celtics ranked second in points allowed (90.3), first in opponent field goal percentage (41.9) and first in opponent 3-point field goal percentage (32.0).
More importantly is the way the Celtics play when the opponent has the ball: relentless.
Which is another adjective to describe the guy running the defense.
***
Now an ESPN NBA analyst, Van Gundy pulls no punches talking about his former assistant.
"He is smarter than me," the former Knicks and Rockets coach said of Thibodeau. "I have no problem saying it because it is true."
Van Gundy, then with the New York Knicks, hired Thibodeau as an assistant after the 1995-96 season. Thibodeau, a native of New Britain, Conn., spent seven years with the Knicks where their defense, with his help, was regularly among the best in the league.
Nothing states that case better than the NBA record 33 consecutive games the 2000-01 Knicks held opponents under 100 points.
"Defense is about making the proper effort and having proper schemes," said Van Gundy. "It's about having accountability and responsibility. You give more freedom offensively to players who need it, but on defense it's about doing your job. Nobody understands that better than Tom."
Van Gundy later took Thibodeau with him to Houston, where they again brought a defensive presence.
Thibodeau's defenses guided the Rockets to a top-five ranking in opponent scoring defense and field goal percentage over each of his four seasons there.
"People talk about Tom being a defensive guru, especially this year when you see how the Celtics defense has played," said Van Gundy. "He's just a guru. As I've said, he's the best coach I ever worked with.
"One of the things he did with me in Houston is help Yao Ming's development. We came in after Yao's rookie year and Tom was the most instrumental part of Yao's success ... other than Yao, of course. Tom can coach any part of the game."
***
Ray Allen recently completed his 12th NBA regular season. He readily admits he has never played harder and smarter on defense than he did in his first season with the Celtics.
Thibodeau, he says, deserves a pat on the back for his encouragement.
"Thibs has a philosophy that he believes in," said Allen. "It's about putting pressure on the opponent. But it's not just the guy you're covering. It's also the guy on your right side and the guy on your left. You have to be smart."
Second-year Celtics backup forward Leon Powe didn't realize defense could win as many games as it has this season. And Thibodeau, says Powe, seems to always have an answer for what an opponent is trying to do.
"The man knows his stuff," said Powe. "I pretty much had learned about playing my man straight up. It's something I've always had to do. But this year has been different.
"With our defense, everything is predicated on helping. You are covering your man, but you're also supposed to be ready to help. Nobody is supposed to get an easy lay-up on this defense. If it does, Thibs let's us know about it."
Thibodeau couldn't be interviewed for this story because Celtics assistant coaches are supposed to be seen and not heard, similar to what many NFL teams do.
***
During the 2008 NBA All-Star game, where he was an assistant, all coaches were available for interviews. Thibodeau told Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus a few of his philosophies.
"You're constantly evaluating your defense in terms of one, your ability to get back and your floor balance; you don't want to give up easy baskets," Thibodeau told Pelton.
"Then you want to keep the ball out of the paint. Then you want to evaluate whether you're challenging shots properly, whether you're rebounding the ball well enough. Then you look at your schemes to make sure that you're executing those things correctly. It's a constant battle, because you can't work on everything but you're trying to build all those habits that make you have a consistent defense."
In a nutshell, Thibodeau told Pelton, "We feel if you take easy baskets away and force teams to shoot contested twos, then you're going to have a good defense."
***
Van Gundy credits Rivers for giving Thibodeau so much authority.
"You've got to give Doc Rivers credit for hiring him in the first place," said Van Gundy. "A lot of head coaches with somebody as good as Tom wouldn't. If Doc wasn't secure in himself; if he worried about anybody else getting the credit, Tom wouldn't be there. This is Doc's team and he's letting Tom run the defense."
Rivers, in fact, called Van Gundy when he was thinking about interviewing Thibodeau. The connection was Pat Riley, whom Van Gundy and Rivers both assisted with the Knicks before becoming head coaches.
"There is a coaching tree, the Van Gundy tree, the Riley tree, and we all have a lot of the same beliefs," said Rivers. "So I knew about Tom."
Rivers said he also learned from his first experiences as head coach of Orlando, when he tried to micromanage everything.
"I looked at the football models, which I believe are the right models," said Rivers. "Football is the most prepared sport in terms of scouting and teaching. They have offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators. It works.
"We talked about it before I hired him. I thought it was very important to let Tom run the defense. And he does. Tom can't have credibility if I'm questioning everything. So I let him coach."
The Thibodeau effect
First-year Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau is Boston's defensive coach. Here are the Celts' key defensive stats all four years of Doc Rivers' tenure.
Year%Points allowed%Opp. FG%Opp. 3-point FG
2007-08%90.3 (2)%41.9 (1)%32.0 (1)
2006-07%99.2 (18)%46.8 (24)%35.0 (12)
2005-06%99.5 (20)%45.6 (19)%35.0 (11)
2004-05%100.4 (22)%44.4 (13)%36.0 (13)
Note: NBA ranks are in parentheses
Thibodeau's coaching resume
Years%Team%Position
1981-84%Salem State%Assistant
1984-85%Salem State%Head coach
1985-89%Harvard%Assistant
1989-91%Minnesota Timberwolves%Assistant
1991-92%Seattle SuperSonics%Advance scout
1992-94%San Antonio Spurs%Assistant
1994-96%Philadelphia 76ers%Assistant
1996-03%New York Knicks%Assistant
2003-07%Houston Rockets%Assistant
2007-present%Boston Celtics%Assistant
Notes: His teams have been in the top 10 in defense 15 of his 18 seasons as an NBA assistant coach; the 2001-02 Knicks set a then-NBA record by holding teams under 100 points in 33 straight games
