David Fizdale and the New York Knicks plan to unleash the young lions upon the Eastern Conference during the 2019-20 season. The coach of the New York Knickerbockers will help the youngsters develop next season. As a matter of fact, Fizdale’s already spending time with Knick players in the gym this summer.
The hiring of David Fizdale as coach of the New York Knicks was a very underrated acquisition by Scott Perry and Steve Mills. A young rebuilding team like the Knicks must be in the midst of great talent development, especially with very young NBA players being exposed to correct teachings at the beginning of their careers.
The University of San Diego alumni is not a stranger to communicating to his players about what he expects from them. Fizdale is very direct, straight forward and clear with his message and it doesn’t matter whether a player is an approachable type or not. It doesn’t matter if a player is a star and heartbeat of a team like Marc Gasol was to Memphis a while ago. Every player is guaranteed to be held accountable by Fizdale, and every player will understand that defense is the way to earn playing time under Fizdale’s watch.
It says a lot when veteran players like Tony Allen, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and other high-quality vets respect and vouch for Fizdale. Years of experience in the Eastern Conference playoffs alongside Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley don’t hurt either. This is the kind of culture the youngsters need for growth on the basketball court.
The New York Knicks have a plethora of young talent from Julius Randle (24) to RJ Barrett (19) and Ignas Brazdeikis (20). Young players need reps and will for greatness during the offseason. Fizdale clearly and thoroughly delegating job duties to the young guys and preparing them for the season will be beneficial to each player. It will also be beneficial to the New York Knicks win column next season. Fizdale had the youngest team in the league last year competing for a full 48 minutes and staying close late in games against quality teams earning their respect. Opposing coaches would warn their teams about slacking against the lottery-bound Knicks last season to avoid embarrassment.