There was never much emotional attachment to David Fizdale. He seemed like a nice guy, but ultimately became the latest in a carousel of coaches who failed to turn around a franchise that has been flailing for decades. Fizdale left New York with the worst winning percentage in team history (.202), and some of his decisions were such head-scratchers that your scalp is probably still bleeding. Still, he deserves a proper goodbye.
The Knicks, you may have noticed, are quite bad. Since Steve Mills and Scott Perry relieved Fizdale of his duties and installed Mike Miller as interim head coach, the team is 1-2, including a 28-point shellacking at the hands of Carmelo Anthony and the Portland Trail Blazers and an overtime victory over the also terrible Golden State Warriors.
Depending on who you ask, Fizdale’s firing was either completely egregious or entirely overdue. The true answer lies somewhere in between. Let’s explore Fizdale’s time at the helm and see what his tenure has taught us, if anything.
When Fizdale arrived, the Knicks had grand delusions
The hiring of Fizdale came after an exhaustive search by the Knicks; the team interviewed 11 total candidates and ultimately selected the bespectacled former Memphis Grizzlies head coach over fellow finalists Mike Budenholzer and David Blatt. The mere fact that the Knicks interviewed multiple candidates was welcome news, and although Kristaps Porzingis was out with a torn ACL, expectations were that Fizdale would keep the team ready for his eventual return.
At first, it looked like the Fizdale-Porzingis relationship might blossom. Fiz even famously traveled to Latvia to spend time with KP and his family over the summer.
Kristaps Porzingis on Twitter
Just had a great conversation on the phone with Coach Fiz. Man im excited!!!!! Lets gooo!!! 🔶🔷
But then the 2018-19 season began.
Though Fizdale praised Porzingis as a “monster waiting in the wings,” by early November 2018 there were subtle signs that the relationship wasn’t as spectacular as the Knicks would have liked us to believe. That’s when Fizdale said KP wasn’t sprinting yet. Only he was sprinting. The coach and star not being on the same page was concerning, as was all the losing that was going on, but, you know, Rome wasn’t built in a day or whatever.
By January 21st, the Knicks were 10-29, and people were already starting to question whether Fizdale knew what he was doing. Still, optimists saw upstarts like undrafted Allonzo Trier and 9th overall draft pick Kevin Knox, not to mention second round selection Mitchell Robinson, and thought that an eventual Porzingis return might enable Fizdale to be the coach who set things right.
The Knicks trade KP, the tank hits high gear and free agent fantasies abound
In February, the Knicks abruptly traded their franchise cornerstone to the Dallas Mavericks, and it became clear that New York’s plan all along was to sign major free agents. Specifically, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Oh, okay.
The efficiency with which Fizdale was tanking served to obscure that he was actually not a very good coach. Emmanual Mudiay got minutes over Frank Ntilikina all season long, and then Dennis Smith Jr. immediately jumped ahead of Ntilikina in the pecking order. Fizdale failed to properly handle his decision to bench Enes Kanter, which may have been the right move but should have gone more smoothly.
Robinson, who started 12 straight games early in the season and was quite clearly the best thing the Knicks had going for them, was benched for guys like Kanter and Luke Kornet, and then eventually DeAndre Jordan, who the Knicks thought was going to help them land KD and Kyrie.
Fizdale’s Knicks tied the franchise record for futility. Then this season they got worse
The catastrophe that has been this season should not fall entirely on Fizdale, as the front office gave him a completely new cast of characters, most of whom aren’t exactly the most talented players in the league. Still, Fizdale failed to install a solid enough system to eke out more than four victories in the first 22 games of the 2019-20 season, so he was canned. That’s business.
Fizdale’s Knicks were never good, at all. Last year, the Knicks were second to last in offensive rating and fifth worst in defensive rating. This year, the Knicks are last in the league in offensive rating and seventh worst in defensive rating. That serves to illustrate what was obvious to those watching: the Knicks never seemed to have much of an offensive or defensive identity under Fizdale.
Instead, his finest quality was that he was a friendly guy who the players liked. Likability is nice, but it isn’t the most important quality in a head coach. Coaches need to be competent at implementing offensive and defensive schemes. They should be able to tweak their systems to suit their players. They should be adept at drawing up plays in a pinch for the various late-game situations teams will find themselves in.
Fizdale didn’t excel at any of those things. Is that because he was handed a laughable roster? Is it because he’s a straight up bad coach? As noted earlier, the answer is probably somewhere in between.
One thing is for certain, however. Fizdale failed to attract the free agents coveted by James Dolan. That fact, combined with the reality of the Knicks’ overall 21-83 record under Fiz, led to Mills and Perry sacking him like a quarterback. He may no longer be employed by New York, but there’s nothing more Knicksy than being a scapegoat.
Farewell, Fiz. Enjoy getting paid to not work for the next two and a half years.
