In a departure, Thibodeau was a panelist in March at Boston’s Sloan Sports Conference — the cathedral of analytics — as he continued to try and develop, according to a source. Though Thibodeau’s teams have never been devoted to pace-and-space, he agreed layups, corner 3s and free throws are priorities because of their high value. However, Thibodeau said he most prioritized “diversification of offense.” According to a transcript of the Sloan event printed by The Athletic, Thibodeau said, “How are the playoffs being played? If you looked at the shot profile of Golden State, they were prolific shooting 3s because of Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson], but they also were very good at the pick-and-roll game, catch and shoot, and utilized the post-up for the split game, which got them layups. To win in the playoffs, you have to have balance.”