The New York Knicks — stop me when you’ve heard this before — are a total mess. They’re off to a 2-8 start and rank as the worst offensive team in the league. After a particularly embarrassing 21-point loss to the also-pretty-bad Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry called an impromptu press conference in which they stated, for the record, that they “are not happy with where the team’s at right now.”
Mills went on to talk about the team’s lack of consistency and the need to put together complete games. In doing so, no matter how adamant they were with the always-ominous “we still believe in our coaching staff” show of support, they completely threw coach David Fizdale under the bus for, in essence, not getting enough out of the team that Mills and Perry built for him.
This is quite the stance to take given the highly questionable offseason strategy Mills and Perry devised, and executed, but nonetheless it puts Fizdale square in the crosshairs right alongside Mills and Perry.
Basically, everyone is trying to save their own job at this point.
To that point, SNY.tv’s Ian Begley is reporting that “no major coaching or management change” is imminent, but that “nothing had been ruled out.” From Begley:
Multiple SNY sources familiar with the matter said as recently as Thursday that there was no indication that any major coaching or management change was imminent. But those sources stated that nothing had been ruled out with regard to an in-season front office or coaching change.
Sources also told SNY that high-ranking MSG officials — those that would be part of the decision-making process to make changes to management or the coaching staff — weren’t thrilled after last Sunday’s 113-92 home loss to the Sacramento Kings. That’s understandable, given the result. But it’s worth pointing out given the sense of urgency and general disappointment expressed by top Knicks decision makers on Sunday.
At its core, this is about outsized expectations. The Knicks, after they struck out on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, CHOSE not to at least try to sign good free agents this past summer like Bojan Bogdanovic or Malcolm Brogdon. They wanted their books clean for upcoming free agent classes and said they were going to be patient. The president and GM calling a press conference 10 games into the season is not being patient.
Oh, the Knicks.
