The New York Knicks have started the 2019-20 NBA season 1-6. There was a lot of optimism surrounding this squad at begin the season. They made moves to help them compete and continue developing their young talent this year.
However, fans were hopeful that those players, Julius Randle, Marcus Morris, etc., were going to help the Knicks compete. It’s even crazy to believe that some thought the Knicks could be a playoff team. Yes, myself included, believed that if the Knicks played to their potential they could sneak into the playoffs.
The new Knicks players did a lot of talking this off-season about being ‘dogs’ and ‘picking up their man for 94-feet’. Despite, all of that talk, they went back to being the same old Knicks.
The old Knicks get down on themselves way-too-easily. They take bad shots in crunch time, have careless fouls and passes and get dominated rebounding. A lot of that has to do with coaching.
Head coach David Fizdale is now coaching for his job. He mentioned after last night’s blowout to the Sacramento Kings that some players are “doing too much.” On the contrary, Fizdale is the one doing too much. He continues to have head-scratching coaching decisions that make fans want to pull their hair out.
Fizdale think players are “doing too much” because that is now how he coaches the New York Knicks. He created that culture around this team. They played together like a team for a few games then go back to isolation and one-on-one basketball.
He also has unnecessary substitutions in times that don’t require them. Case-in-point, the Orlando Magic game. Kevin Knox had the hot hand in the second half as the Knicks were back in the game. Fizdale decides to sub Morris in for Knox and basically lost the game. That was the tipping point already.
A coaching change could come soon. This Knicks team was suppose to be complete different and competitive, they are anything but that. These games have been unwatchable at points. Something needs to change already in this young 2019-20 season for the Knicks and it starts with the head coach.