Kristaps Porzingis has moved on, so has David Fizdale. But for the Knicks, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
When Kristaps Porzingis returned to Madison Square Garden in November, he found the place just how it looked when he left 10 months earlier.
Chaos, confusion, miscommunication, and losses … plenty of losses. The New York Knicks are still the poster team for everything except winning basketball games.
The phrase dumpster fire is used frequently whenever describing the state of the Knicks. Calling them a chaotic or disastrously mishandled situation almost comes across as a compliment when describing this organization.
It’s been six years since the Knicks were an NBA playoff team, that’s 60 years in New York minutes. I’m kidding, slightly.
But in a city where sports fans have more faith in Alka-Seltzer than they do their respective teams, no die-hard or casual basketball fan needs a recap on why the phrase dumpster fire is so synonymous with the team that just happens to play their home games inside the “World’s Most Famous Arena”.
Porzingis didn’t stay around long enough to experience how it feels inside Madison Square Garden for a playoff game. However, he was there long enough to be force-fed a pipe dream about there being an actual plan worth sticking around for.
It’s the same plan which apparently was sold to David Fizdale when he agreed to accept the head coaching job.
“We’re about winning, but we’re about creating something where we can win for a sustained period of time,” Knicks President Steve Mills said at Fizdale’s introductory news conference.
19 months later, the Knicks, at 7-24, have remained consistent only in the theory they’re still about everything except winning.
Four nights before Porzingis returned to the Garden hardwood wearing a Dallas Mavericks’ jersey…
Mills, and general manager Scott Perry, spoke to the media after watching their team sleepwalk through another embarrassing loss at home. To call this press conference impromptu, would almost be an understatement. Watching Fizdale come out afterwards to answer questions was awkward and uncomfortable to watch, but certainly not surprising.
Because no matter how good a front Fizdale put on for the cameras, the obvious was already put in the air for everyone to see. Mills and Perry, with all their talk about patience and doing things the right way, basically stepped in front of their head coach, took his hand, and used it to pull the emergency brake.
Twelve games later, with a 2-10 record since the press conference, Fizdale was fired
When it comes to the New York Knicks, the more things change the more they stay the same. This is their culture, not the bag of beans they’ve been trying to sell disguised as a team rebuilding “to compete for championships in the future, through both the draft and targeted free agents”.
Fizdale lost his job while Mills and Perry are scrambling for more time from the team’s owner, James Dolan.
It’s not hard to wonder why top NBA free agents are not taking this team seriously. It’s also not difficult to understand why Porzingis became fed up, wanted out, and eventually asked out.
Porzingis, in his short time in New York City, played for four head coaches. He saw how badly it ended here for Carmelo Anthony. Imagine what else he possibly witnessed behind the scenes, away from the cameras.
Fizdale’s 21-83 record as Knicks’ head coach wasn’t entirely his fault.
Yes, he could’ve called time outs a little quicker. Yes, he could’ve decided on a rotation and stayed with it. And, yes, he could’ve reminded Julius Randle that, while at 6-foot-8, he’s not the next coming of Magic Johnson. There were also a handful of games where some players were not giving maximum effort, no matter what they’d say to dispute that.
Once players stop giving the effort, it’s time to make a change with either the players or the coach. Mills and Perry, twelve games earlier, stood in front of the media and professed their belief in the players they assembled. Meanwhile, their belief in Fizdale came off lukewarm, at best.
“We have patience,” Mills said. “We believe in coach, and we believe in the group that we put together.”
It was inevitable what would happen soon thereafter.
There was a thought Fizdale could’ve been coaching Porzingis, possibly a top free agent (feel free to insert any qualified name here), and a handful of young developmental pieces with alluring talent. He was instead handed a deeply flawed roster with inflated expectations high enough to make even the delusional proud.
Porzingis, nearly two years after tearing his ACL, is beginning to find his way in Dallas. Fizdale, apparently in no hurry to jump back into coaching, reportedly will return to a role as an NBA Analyst for ESPN.
And as for the Knicks…
Interim head coach Mike Miller is calling more time outs than his predecessor, so there’s that. The Knicks, however, are coming off their third consecutive loss, 121-115 to the Washington Wizards. This was a game where the Wizards, a team missing six of their top eight scorers, only had nine healthy bodies ready at tip-off.
And yet, here are the Knicks, afterwards admitting to a lack of focus at their morning shootaround which spilled over into their loss to the Wizards. Really?
The more things change the more they stay the same.
This is the culture of the New York Knicks…
Chaos, confusion, miscommunication, and losses … plenty of losses.
Don’t let anyone there currently in charge convince you otherwise.
You also have to credit to the problems of everything you stated to KP and Fizdale.
KP decided not to do an exit strategy with Phil… And set a culture that did not give growth to organization.
Fizdale was a terrible coach as the record would tell you. But you need to focus on how he runs X/O plays… How he developed players … He doesn’t. Which set a culture of not winning.
Everyone is at fault here including KP and Fizdale.
Thank you for this take Jai! You make good points. To that with KP, I’d leave room for Phil Jackson’s job performance also playing a role in what led to KP not doing that exit interview. That doesn’t excuse KP by any means, it could’ve been handled better, but I don’t believe that’s what set up a culture that did not give growth. This team was already bleeding internally before that… Fizdale definitely could’ve handled coached better and his rotation patterns drove me crazy at times. I alluded to that in the column. He didn’t help his case, but he also wasn’t setup to succeed.
Congrats on your new venture bro! Proud to see you on the come up. I really enjoyed this piece on my sorry Knicks and agree with your view! This team will only get worse with the Dolan at the top, Mills is part of the problem as well. They are living in the past & the current crop of superstars know it. Mark Jackson I think would be a step in the right direction but, I can see the Knicks promoting David Blatt from that mysterious unnecessary consultant position to the HC. Get ready! Congrats once again bro!
Thank you brother, much appreciated! I have to apologize for just replying to this, the holiday season has me all messed up! lol…Thank you for reading and always supporting! The Blatt hiring definitely is intriguing, I saw that though as Mills having to make a move to help his situation there… right now I want to see if this Mike Miller magic continues!