After losing their seventh and eighth consecutive games by 81 points, the New York Knicks fired David Fizdale on Friday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. At 4-18, the Knicks have the second-worst record in the league only to the Steph Curry-less, Klay Thompson-less, Kevin Durant-less and Andre Iguodala-less Golden State Warriors (by a half game.) The Knicks own the NBA’s worst net rating.
David Fizdale was just another Knicks scapegoat
Fizdale has been fired, but the Knicks front office is and always will be worse.
Congrats to Fizdale, who will serve as the team’s scapegoat, but will still be paid the remainder of his four-year, $22 million contract.
Although Fizdale isn’t absolved from blame, this Knicks team was doomed before the season ever began. The Knicks set fans’ hopes as high as ever, targeting Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant in free agency. When they failed to sign any of them, New York instead signed an uncanny legion of power forwards and in-their-prime players to fill the void. To the surprise of nobody, this didn’t work.
The franchise’s plan to try and win with mercenary free agents instead of developing their own young players was always the wrong move. This roster never had a chance to succeed. Now, as always, the coaching staff is blamed while the same front office stays put. Assistant coach Keith Smart was also fired, according to Woj.
Fizdale is taking the blame. No coach in the league could’ve designed a plan to get this mismatched talent to win games. Fizdale did an especially poor job job, though.
The Knicks have lost seven of 22 games by 18 points or more this season, and were only trending downhill from there. They have the worst offense in the NBA, and eighth-worst defense, which isn’t all that dissimilar from last year (worst offense and fifth-worst defense.) At 21-83 over two seasons, Fizdale finished with the worst record in Knicks head coaching history.
Whether influenced by the front office, or performing on his own, Fizdale at times went against developing his team’s promising talent in favor of an old-school coach’s mentality. Last season he was criticized for leaving Frank Ntilikina out of the lineup, and last weekend he decided to bench a healthy 20-year-old Kevin Knox for his struggles in place of veterans who didn’t fit the franchise’s long-term vision. He hardly won over the locker room. The team’s lethargy on the court was clear over the last few weeks, and Fizdale’s coaching style couldn’t have helped.
For all his faults, though, Fizdale wasn’t the main problem. The problem lies where it always has, with owner James Dolan and the decision makers he empowers. Fizdale’s firing doesn’t change the ill-fitting roster his replacement will inherit. It won’t make the team’s Kristaps Porzingis trade look any brighter. Marcus Morris will still demand minutes, as will Wayne Ellington. Julius Randle will continue struggling to play with Mitchell Robinson. There is no magic solution to fix this disaster.
Fizdale accepted a challenge nobody could’ve won. Now he’s free.
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