The Knicks may be out of patience with coach David Fizdale after their latest embarrassing loss, writes Steve Popper of Newsday.
Fizdale’s team was run out of Madison Square Garden early last night, trailing by as many as 43 points before losing by 37. That followed a 44-point loss Monday in Milwaukee and dropped New York’s record to 4-18, the worst in the Eastern Conference.
“I don’t care about all that,” Fizdale said after the game when asked about his future. “I don’t even think about that, really. I think about the next team we’re playing, I think about the guys in the locker room and how I can help them. At the end of the day, that’s all I care about.”
Knicks fans responded with loud boos to the latest effort, and a few “Fire Fizdale” chants were heard throughout the evening. None of the promise was evident from this summer when the team added seven veteran free agents, and any hope of a quick turnaround is distant memory.
Popper notes that the fans could have targeted their anger in a number of directions, from owner James Dolan to the management team of president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry to the on-court talent, who seem worn down by the continuous losing.
Taj Gibson, one of the veterans who signed this summer, came to Fizdale’s defense.
“You’ve got to continue to keep fighting, continue to keep pushing, because nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for you,” he said. “Fiz is doing a good job preaching and keeping guys in tune, but at the same time we have to do a better job, including myself. He can’t keep taking the bullets for us. We have to step up. We have to grow. We have to mature and mature quickly.”
Teammate Marcus Morris declined to comment on Fizdale’s future, responding to an inquiry with, “Next question.”
The path for Knicks won’t get any easier. They face a four-game road trip next week and still have the Pacers, Heat, Bucks and Nets left on their December schedule. Fizdale’s 21-83 record since taking over in New York could get even worse — if he keeps his job.
“I’m still coaching this team. I’m still pushing them,” he told reporters. “I’m still preparing them. We had a hell of a practice before this game, it was just a disappointing output.”
If anyone should be fired it’s Mills and Perry. Let their assistance take over. Can’t do any worse at this point. Let Fitz stay till April then decide.
On December 15th trade Morris, DSJ,Randle, Knox for picks and a roster revamp.
Guess something really dumb like a Morris, Knox, DSJ, 2-1st for Russell is out of the question ?
Fire the owners like the NBA did to the Clippers
Knicks fans chanting Fire Fiz are even more delusional than ownership and the FO. Want to get a gauge on the fanbase, listen to their local ESPN radio call-ins and you’ll see how absurd they are.
The only players I would keep are RJ Barrett, Frank Nitlikina and Julius Randle. Everyone else should be traded for draft picks. Also keep Marcus Morris.
You’re forgetting Mitch probably their best player. Morris has been great from 3 but he’s taken some really bad shots at times. I’m fine with dumping him too
Oops! You’re right! Love Mitchell’s game.
Why in the holy Hell would you keep Randle? He makes no sense on this team at all.
Exactly! Plus what the hell did he show for anyone to want to keep him. Poor shot selection, bad defense and can’t shoot FT.
Amazing that the Knicks are worse today than they were last year when they weren’t even trying to win.
That just shows how useless tanking really is.
On 2k I can play as the Kobe and shaq lakers and score with only those two and beat this team by 40.
I used to drop 70+ with Michael Beasley, 2K is not an accurate representation of basketball lol. The Knicks are, unfortunately.
No, we actually *can’t* direct our chants at James Dolan. People get banned from the Garden for that. Nevertheless, blaming Fiz for our struggles is a fool’s errand. The roster is a tire fire and Mills and Perry are castrated pawns flailing around for their own job security.
An excellent point.
This isn’t Dolans fault IMHO.. he is not cheap like the Wilpons, he spends the money. This lands on Steve Mills. Mills signed this coach and these players. Dolan is only at fault for being loyal to guys like Mills and Isaiah Thomas. The last time there was going to be a protest at the Garden they signed Phil Jackson, everyone praised him for it, now everyone wants to hang him for it. If this is Dolan’s fault then why aren’t the Rangers as dysfunctional as the Knicks? He owns them too, play in the same arena.
I never believe in Fiz to begin with. What we need is a guy like Mark Jackson to come in here and clean this mess up. Fire Mills!
Is this real life?
This is more on the front office not the coach. What you expect when the team sign nothing but forwards.
Hey, Fizdale…if this is the result maybe you SHOULD be thinking about getting fired.
Has anyone else seen this joke of a roster? It is a bunch of misfits who do not mesh well together. While I agree VanGundy or Jackson would be better let’s all be honest if you had one of those guys maybe they are not 4-18 but more 6-16. The bottom line is I don’t think Phil Jackson in his prime as a coach could turn this bunch of scrubs into a winning team. When you look at the roster it is almost as if they put this roster together in hopes of winning the NBA lottery
link to espn.com