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The New York Knicks have already bid farewell to head coach Jeff Hornacek and (praise the Lord!) lead assistant Kurt Rambis, and now the purge looks to continue under new head coach David Fizdale, according to Stefan Bondy and Frank Isola of The Daily News:
With David Fizdale bringing in his own staff, three Knicks assistants from last season - Jerry Sichting, Corey Gaines and Dave Bliss - won’t return to the team, the Daily News has learned.
Coaching associate Pat Licursi is also gone, sources said.
Sichting and Gaines were brought over by Jeff Hornacek, while Bliss was the final remaining holdover from Derek Fisher’s staff. This would leave Howard Eisley as perhaps the only assistant left from last season’s bench.
As for Fizdale’s new staff, Keith Smart is the safe bet to join as his lead assistant. Smart has a ton of experience as a head coach, nearly all of it on losing teams, but he’s a respected basketball lifer. Also in the mix are Lakers developmental coach Jud Buechler and former Nets assistant Pat Sullivan. Thunder assistant Royal Ivey and former Fizdale colleague Pat Delaney have also been connected with the Knicks.