Knicks fire head coach David Fizdale after abysmal start to regular season

By: Danny Cacace

Here is David Fizdale looking at his team play with his face full of disappointment. Credit: northjersey.com

Earlier today, head coach for the New York Knicks David Fizdale got fired after starting the regular season 4-18. 

  Assistant coach Keith Smart got relieved of his duties as well.

This doesn’t come as a surprise to most fans especially after most of them were just waiting for it to happen. 

Fizdale’s poor rotations, and the younger guys on the team not getting enough playing time besides R.J. Barrett, who has been the starter every game, and played the most minutes on the team, is a reason why most fans weren’t too fond of his coaching style.

However, the real reason why he got fired though was due to his previous season coaching the Knicks where they had the worst record in the league, and because of this terrible and slow start to the regular season.

This comes after two back to back losses from the Milwaukee Bucks and the Denver Nuggets so it was bound to happen sooner or later that he would be let go as the head coach of the team.

Fizdale coached two years for the team, and finished his coaching run with them with a 21-83 record. It was one of the worst coaching records in franchise history.

Soon after, the Knicks made assistant coach Mike Miller as the interim head coach of the team. Miller was the head coach of the Westchester Knicks from 2015-19 before becoming an assistant coach of the Knicks this season.

 In his time with the Westchester Knicks, he led his team in the four years he coached them to a 108-92 record and was the 2017-18 G-League’s Dennis Johnson coach of the year.

The Knicks next game will be at home against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday where Miller will debut as the head coach of the team.

A step in the right direction was perhaps made by the front office of the Knicks in firing Fizdale.

Most fans out there though believe the next step that should be made is getting rid of the whole front office which would be president of basketball operations Steve Mills, and general manager of the Knicks, Scott Perry. A good majority of the fans of the Knicks believe that the owner of the Knicks James Dolan should step down, and let someone else take control of the organization due to his lack of care for the team.

So, what’s next for the New York Knicks?

Well, the Knicks can look at guys like Mark Jackson who is a New York native and once played for the Knicks back in the early 1990’s or Tom Thibodeau, who last coached the Minnesota Timberwolves to become the head coach of the team. Both men have a good track record with the teams they’ve coached over the years. 

Who will be the right fit for the Knicks?

That is the real question here. 

The Knicks, I feel need a head coach who can bring a defensive minded approach to the team which they both can as well. The head coach needs to also play the young guys, and help them grow to become better players.

The Knicks should also consider trading their veteran and more established players such as Taj Gibson, Marcus Morris, Julius Randle, and Wayne Ellington, and trade them to potential playoff contenders for young assets and draft picks. That way the Knicks can build around all those young players, and hopefully have a bright future ahead. 

Can the Knicks have that bright future in store for them ahead? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.