Is the "Five Donkeys Tactics" ruthless? Thibodeau trained Yao Ming back then, and McGrady couldn t stand it even after seeing it

In the NBA world, Thibodeau is definitely the most alternative head coach. When he finds that a player is very useful, he will give the player too high playing time and even play the whole game. The Knicks' starting five-man Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunobi and Towns are nicknamed "Five Donkeys" by fans, which means that Thibodeau has used them for too long.

Relying on the "Five Donkeys" tactic, Thibodeau led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals. Therefore, in addition to the nickname "plantation farmer", Thibodeau has another nickname - the master of "Five Donkeys Tactics".

Some fans joked with Thibodeau that if a donkey cannot win the game, then go to the five-head stove. This season, Thibodeau's employment issues have been repeatedly ridiculed, saying that he used the starting five players too ruthlessly. But compared to Yao Ming, Thibodu is called "ruthless".

Some fans may not know that Yao Ming had undergone a crazy "torture" under Thibodeau's men back then. When Yao Ming was playing for the Rockets, although Thibodeau was not the head coach, he did serve as an assistant coach and also served as Yao Ming's shooting coach. This took him three years.

How "ruthless" was Thibodeau training Yao Ming? Before each game, Thibodeau would ask Yao Ming to watch an hour of video first to analyze the defensive strategies his opponent might implement. After doing this, Thibodeau arranged for Yao Ming to perform a series of exercises such as shooting free throws and turning around at low posts. The whole process lasted about two hours. So much so that Yao Ming was already exhausted and sweating profusely before the game started.

McDy felt distressed after seeing it. He thought Thibodeau had too much training for Yao Ming. According to McGrady's later recollection, "I feel sorry for him. Because Thibodeau trained him too hard before every game, and he was exhausted before the game. He trained Yao Ming to death, and he practiced too hard." In Thibodeau's training, Yao Ming's ball skills improved rapidly, but his weight also increased rapidly, so that Yao Ming went from a clever center to a big killer in the inside line. However, after Yao Ming gained weight, the lethality of the inside line increased, but the injuries also increased.

The most terrifying thing is that after Yao Ming returned to China, Thibodeau also chased China to train Yao Ming. During the offseason in 2004, Yao Ming flew from the United States to Beijing and spent a summer practicing Yao Ming's left hand jump hook.

The most perverted thing is that Yao Ming was injured, and Thibodeau did not intend to let him go. In September 2009, Yao Ming came to the training ground with a cane. Thibodeau brought two chairs, one for Yao Ming to sit and the other for him to put his left foot. In this way, Yao Ming took a leg injury and sat down and completed 300 shots.

Tubdue couldn't stand the amount of training that Yao Ming was trained, but Yao never called him tired and his training was never discounted.

Comparing with the current "Five Donkeys Tactics", perhaps it is nothing to Thibodeau. Some people say Thibodeau is cruel to the players, but he is even more cruel to himself.

Thibodeau is 66 years old this year, but he never married and has no children. He dedicated everything to basketball. Since receiving his first NBA contract in 1989, Thibodeau has been working as an assistant coach in the forest. Since then, Thibodeau has not spent any holidays with his family, and has even missed the weddings and funerals of relatives and friends.

The strangest thing is that Thibodeau once broke up with his fiancée when he was only one and a half months away from his wedding. In this regard, he explained: "If I were to become a basketball coach, there would be no more room for women in my life."

The league was suspended in 2011, and Thibodeau finally had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, but he still couldn't rest and even took a long time to train his nephew's defensive footsteps. Thibodeau devoted his whole life to basketball, and other than that, he seemed to have no life.

Ros once commented on Thibodeau this way: "I have never met such a focused head coach. He is not doing anything else, he doesn't even have time to watch TV, and Thibodeau won't do anything except basketball. It doesn't matter what time you call him, basketball is the whole of his life."