The New York Knicks hired David Fizdale in May 2018, hoping he would be the guy who could help the Knicks rebuild and potentially bring them back to prominence (no, that was not me snickering; it must have been you).
But here the Knicks are, a year and change into Fizdale's reign, and New York has gone just 19-73 since he took over.
You don't need to be a math major to know that that is not exactly a good winning percentage.
The Knicks won 17 games last season, and through 10 games this year, they have gone 2-8, most recently suffering a home blowout loss at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who appeared to be nearly as bad as New York last season but are a step ahead this year.
With the Knicks on pace to finish with one of the worst records in the NBA yet again, Fizdale's seat is getting hot, as it looks like team president Steve Mills wants him out the door.
But does Fizdale deserve to get fired?
Let's be real here: Mills and general manager Scott Perry have not exactly given him much to work with.
Last year's roster was catastrophically bad, and because the Knicks thought they would be landing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency, they traded away Kristaps Porzingis (who was out with a torn ACL at the time) to free up some cap space.
Of course, in typical Knicks fashion, they landed neither Durant nor Irving, instead having to settle for mid-to-lower tier free agents like Julius Randle (who has been less-than-stellar thus far), Bobby Portis and Elfrid Payton, who is, well, Elfrid Payton.
Yet, somehow, that is Fizdale's fault.
Apparently, Mills is looking for a “fall guy,” but how many more chances is James Dolan going to give Mills before he realizes that perhaps he doesn't really know what he's doing?
Whether it has been Mike Woodson or Derek Fisher or Kurt Rambis or Jeff Hornacek or Fizdale, the Knicks have been losing consistently ever since Mills was given an increased role in 2013.
What's the common denominator here?
How many coaches is New York going to go through before it realizes that maybe Mills is a bigger problem?
Of course, that would require Dolan understanding that he is the biggest problem, so that probably won't ever happen, but Fizdale being on his way to becoming the latest Knicks coach to get dealt a raw deal is exactly what Durant was talking about when he said that playing for the Knicks isn't cool these days.
Plain and simple, New York is a bad front office. It has been a bad front office ever since Dolan took over for his father, Charles, in 1999. It will likely continue to be a bad front office so long as he is in power.
The best part is that the Knicks seem to be under the assumption that they can make a serious play for Masai Ujiri and then Giannis Antetokounmpo. You know, just like they thought they were shoo-ins to snag Durant and Irving this past offseason.
Not only are the Knicks clueless, but they are also in denial.
Blaming Fizdale for that is a coward's way out.
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