It’s Super Bowl Monday around the country, as sports talking heads and other prognosticators are waxing poetic about the Denver Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday. That is, of course, unless you live in the New York metropolitan area. On this particular morning, when everyone wants to dissect the ‘big game’, like a freshman biology student on a dead frog, the news came down around 11 a.m. EST, that the New York Knicks had fired second year coach Derek Fisher.
This was somewhat of a surprise to most folks who follow the Knicks, and those throughout the NBA. Given the team’s recent performances it should not have been entirely unexpected. The Knicks had just lost on on Sunday to the Denver Nuggets. This was the team’s ninth loss in the last ten, and put them at a season’s low eight games under .500 – at 23-31. Combine that with last year’s record of 17-65, and Fisher’s short tenure saw the team put up a paltry 40-96 record; nothing to write home about.
The timing was probably not the best, since the Super Bowl was taking up all the chatter, but since the Knicks only have one game remaining before the long all-star break, it was most likely the best chance to make some changes for team president Phil Jackson. The team needed a change, and they weren’t going to get rid of Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, or any of the other players, despite the recent poor run. Fisher seemed to be an experiment that Jackson wanted desperately to make work, but taking a talented former point guard, and thrusting him into the limelight of the Big Apple, didn’t make much sense to a lot of folks.
It worked with Jason Kidd, and he may be the exception to coaching success by former players rather than the rule, but it never felt that Fisher had the capacity to coach Anthony and the Knicks to anything other than mediocrity. While they have improved immeasurably over last season’s embarrassment, signing real NBA players over D-League castoffs, Fisher seemed over his head from day one. After being spurned by Steve Kerr, his first choice, Jackson had no choice but to pick someone that not only new how to run the infamous ‘triangle’, but could deal with the mindset of the ‘Zen Master’.
No one can say that losing to Denver was the straw that broke Derek Fisher’s back, but was probably a culmination of things over the last two weeks – along with some off the court issues that showed Fisher the door. He didn’t even seem to emotional when he said he was ‘disappointed’ that he was let go, and that ‘changes needed to be made.’ For some reason, his internal drive and meddle wasn’t something that meshed for a New York audience – and very tough media. Experiment one of the Jackson era has failed, on the coaching front – so what’s next for the Knicks?
Kurt Rambis, a Jackson mainstay, who has drifted around the league as much as a lost ship, is now the interim coach. The question is, will it be for the rest of the season, or temporary until the all-star break is over in a week and a half. Rambis is never going to be the full-time head coach of the New York Knickerbockers, and no one expects him to be, but does this mean that Jackson and the rest of the Knicks brass feel that the season has already slipped away? The team is only five games out of the eighth and final eastern conference playoff spot, with twenty eight games to go, so all is not lost – or is it?
It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that Jackson is huddling right now with Knicks brass and brain trust to come up with the next, best replacement to take the team to the next level. Never mind that the team has had good coaches since Red Holtzman last won a championship with the team in 1973. That’s a long time ago – and Knicks fans are still smarting over the near misses by the team in the 90’s – with a roster that could have won multiple championships. So really, where to they go from here to calm the masses of fans who overpay for tickets at Madison Square Garden each and every night?
Names have already surfaced for those who might be the permanent replacement for Fisher, and the who’s who cast of potential ‘savior’s’ for the franchise make the rounds – including Dennis Rodman – who tweeted Jackson, telling him he was interested and had the resume’ to back it up. The first names that naturally come up are Tom Thibodeau, Mark Jackson, Brian Shaw, and Luke Walton. Problem is, only Shaw and Walton are even remotely capable of deciphering the famed triangle offense, created in the 1940’s by USC coach Sam Barry. Jackson swears by it, and it would be surprising if he strayed from this path for the Knicks.
Thibodeau is a no-brainer to most, and a lot of former Knick players, can vouch for his tenacity as a coach. Ask Kobe Bryant, who as a young player out of high school, credits Thibodeau for most of the success he has in his game. Not a triangle guy. Mark Jackson seems to have a black mark next to his name, and hasn’t been mentioned in any potential head coaching gigs – not even for the lowly Brooklyn Nets. Shaw was a disaster in Denver, and most of the players he coached didn’t like or respect him. That leaves Walton as a potential long term solution.
The problem is, why would Walton want to go the Knicks, who are fair at best, when he led the Warriors to their best start in franchise history after Steve Kerr was sidelined with back problems? He’s an extremely hot commodity right now, and there are other teams out there who are sure to line up to make a pitch to get the young and talented Walton to roam their sidelines. The team that seems to really want his, and makes the most sense, is the Lakers who are looking for a ‘do over’ after Kobe retires. The fight for Walton would pit Jackson against his fiancee’ and Lakers part-owner Jeannie Buss. Not sure how many folks are married, or engaged, but is this a fight Jackson wants to make with his cross country love interest?
Regardless of what happens over the course of the remaining games this season, the Knicks don’t appear to be poised to make a significant run in the eastern conference to make a difference come playoff time. Even if they squeaked in, no one can see them besting the Cavaliers or Raptors in the first round – not with the current lineup they have – despite it being much more talented and competitive than they were a year ago. The team needs to take a breath, figure things out, and start addressing the future needs, not just the head coach.
There’s still time for the zen master to right the ship in New York, and bring some of the magic back to the Garden. He looks like a genius for drafting Porzingis, when everyone else said it wouldn’t work, but it’s going to take much more than that to get close to being a championship caliber team. A viable point guard who can be the floor general, figuring out how much Melo has left, and building a team of quality players around ‘Zingis’, are all on the to do list for next season. The Knicks are a team that is looking ahead, but they need to insure that all the stars line up to make a serious run at a potential championship. Nothing else in NY would suffice, or be accepted. By the way, was there a big football game Sunday? You wouldn’t be able to tell in this neck of the woods.
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