With back-to-back road wins, Mike Miller’s record as the interim coach for the New York Knicks is now 11-18. Miller and the Knicks are 7-9 away from the Garden.
The Knicks have had yet another roller coaster of a season. But, being able to perform on the road bodes well for Miller’s coaching performance. He’s a good coach that have connected better to his team than David Fizdale. If Miller can win games with this below-average team, imagine what he could do with more talent.
If Miller was leading the charge at the beginning, the season may have gone very differently. The Knicks could have been only 3-4 games out of the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. Instead, under Fizdale, the Knicks started out 4-18 and now have to fight and scratch their way back into the conversation.
Fizdale was 2-8 against teams under .500, that’s terrible. The team seemed uninspired and while at teams you see that under Miller, the team has responded better.
The season felt like a failure until Miller took over. The only thing that some may still consider a failure is the development and less minutes for the younger players. They’ve played less but performed better when given the opportunity. This is part because of the Knicks showcasing the veteran players ahead of the trade deadline.
On Monday in Cleveland, the Knicks went on a 11-1 second quarter run getting the team back into the game with manly younger guys. Miller still has some head scratching rotations but for the most part it’s been working better than Fizdale’s. You may see the younger players minutes increase following the deadline tomorrow.
Even though the New York Knicks win percentage is only .294 on the season, they’re still only 7.5 games out. The playoffs still seem like light years away but there’s a chance. Miller’s win percentage since taking over is .393. Based on his record, if he started the season, the Knicks would currently be in the 9th spot in the East.