With David Fizdale being welcomed as the next coach of the Knicks, Marc Berman of The New York Post examines what went wrong for him in Memphis. Fizdale, who inherited a perennial playoff team, took the Grizzlies to the postseason last year before being fired after 19 games this season with a 7-12 record.
Former NBA player Brevin Knight, who serves as a broadcaster in Memphis, suggests that Fizdale tried to infuse too much of an uptempo approach into a veteran team that was comfortable with its “grit and grind” philosophy.
“It’s hard to give a true assessment of him as a bench coach because he was trying to change a culture when he came to Memphis,’’ Knight said. “It wasn’t just him running his offense. It was almost a hybrid of what he would’ve liked to have done — coupled with guys who were comfortable and accustomed to doing something else for so long.’’
Fizdale also had a long-running feud with center Marc Gasol, which raises concerns about how he might relate to Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis. Knight said Fizdale had a “learning experience” in Memphis about coaching international players after years with the Heat where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh served as team leaders.
There’s more news today out of New York:
- Knicks guard Courtney Lee, who remains close to some of his former Grizzlies teammates and has heard the inside story of Fizdale’s time there, is ecstatic about his new coach, relays Al Iannazzone of Newsday. “Even in his time in Memphis, you can tell he was focused on a team or getting better — whether it was holding your best player accountable or your worst player accountable,” Lee said. “He wasn’t afraid to be confrontational and get his message across. So that’s a quality I like about him.”
- Fizdale’s plan to travel to Latvia to meet with Porzingis is the latest sign that the Knicks are committed to building the franchise around their young star, notes Ian Begley of ESPN. The rift between Porzingis and the organization that caused him to skip his exit meeting last year hasn’t been fully repaired, Begley adds. Porzinigis is eligible for a five-year, $157 million extension this summer, but it’s uncertain whether the Knicks are willing to commit to that while he’s recovering from a torn ACL.
- It’s now up to Fizdale to end the cycle of coaching changes in New York, writes Mike Lupica of The New York Daily News. The Knicks have employed 11 coaches in the past 14 years, he adds, and nearly all have left with damaged reputations.
I don’t think Fizdale and Porzingis will click since KP has an inflated ego, better off moving him for Leonard.
And Leonard’s ego isn’t inflated??
He’s coachable and is not always really concerned so much about the roster he has around him and just focused on playing.
That’s because he had a roster with Tim Duncan on it for most of his years and a legendary coach.
Leonard is a bigger issue than KP (and I don’t see the ego in KP) of you’re going down that road – he quit the team. Call it bad advice, whatever, but ultimately he’s in charge of his own destiny. Right now, as talented as he is, I’d be concerned if I were trading for him – for both health and mental commitment issues.
And KP is not? The only system & so-called Coaches KP has known have been under Phil & were forced to run the Triangle. KP liked Fisher but hated Rambis & lost respect for Hornachek the way he handled the Rose AWOL situation & for allowing Rambis to remain poisoning the team. This change will likely be a breath of fresh air & a reset for KP. Fizdale traveling to Latvia is a big deal. After Phil was fired Hornachek never made any significant attempts to mend fences with his best player. Any discussion of trading KP now is ridiculous. The Knicks would be getting less than 50 cents on the dollar now.
KP has an ego? Since when
Why do you always say the most asinine stuff? You are always proposing awful trades or free agent signings that are never going to happen
I attribute most of KP’s seemingly prima dona behavior to having Melo foisted upon him as a “mentor” or “example” of what a star is. The rest could just be Jackson’s head games, or his family and foreign status giving him an excuse to just act out. He’ll be fine (mentally). Smart player. He realized early in the year that volume shooting (because it’s his team) isn’t the way to be a real superstar.