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Sunday night’s game at MSG was the Knicks’ 10th of the 2019-20 season — it was also a humiliating beatdown, the third such beating the ‘Bockers have suffered in their last four games. Apparently that round number 10 is meaningful for president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry, because they called a rare press conference following the Knicks’ 108-87 defeat to set the record straight: this sort of mediocre play will not be tolerated.
Interestingly, Mills said that he felt an obligation to address the media. The Knicks’ front office has been notoriously hesitant to do press conferences during the James Dolan Era, so the whole thing came as a shock, both to fans and to the reporters present.
Surprising for Mills and Perry to address media after this debacle. Can’t be a good sign for Fizdale. Mills said still believes in coaching staff but at 10-game mark, he’s “not happy.”
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) November 11, 2019
When asked about the level of patience the front office will show head coach David Fizdale, Mills said, “We have patience and we believe in [Fizdale] and we believe in the group that we put together but we also know, as Scott and I have said a number of times, we need to find a way to have a consistent level of effort and execution that has to pull itself together.”
Fizdale tried to sound upbeat during his own time with the media, but he probably just gave detractors another juicy WTF soundbite:
David Fizdale: "For perspective, a good friend of mine told me never overreact to overreactors. We’re 2 games from the 8-seed. The team that’s in the eighth seed right now has 4 wins. It’s not that, like, oh my god everybody is acting like the world is coming to end. It’s not." https://t.co/cUQiPDJJEX
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) November 11, 2019
Being two games out of the eighth seed after 10 games isn’t good, Fiz...like, it’s pretty damn pathetic.
Veteran forward Marcus Morris, among others, jumped to Fizdale’s defense. However, he too managed a seriously debatable quote:
Marcus Morris supports David Fizdale:
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) November 11, 2019
"At the end of the day, fuck the X’s and O’s. We have to come out and we have to be better."
Just once, I would like the Knicks to not say “Fuck the X’s and O’s.” X’s and O’s are important, particularly if your job title is “head coach.”
Does this mean Fizdale is on the line? Probably. Kristaps Porzingis comes to town on Thursday for a national TV game, and the front office might be looking for a sacrificial lamb should the Knicks embarrass themselves on the court. If the Knicks don’t turn things around soon, Fizdale could find himself on the chopping block.