The UMBC Retrievers pulled off the greatest upset in NCAA Tournament history. In doing so, UMBC provided a lesson that could be beneficial to the New York Knicks.
The New York Knicks, in the midst of a forgettable season that will once again end without a postseason berth, are in clear need of guidance as their rebuild has yet to produce the type of results many had hoped to see.
Kristaps Porzingis, the franchise cornerstone, is out for the rest of the season, and newcomer Frank Ntilikina has yet to prove he was the right selection over Donovan Mitchell or Dennis Smith Jr.
The UMBC Retrievers, now entering the Round of 32 of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, are quite familiar with the pain of the continuous losing streaks that plague the Knicks.
The Baltimore squad has now appeared in two NCAA tournament brackets, the first time receiving a cameo appearance as a No. 15 seed in a round of 64 loss to Georgetown.
The team followed a path filled with both luck and setbacks to reach the celebrations witnessed by many. A path that while very different from NBA franchises, offers promise into the possibilities that are available when a team avoids instant gratification.
What The Knicks Are Getting Wrong
Knicks fans are slaves of their own consumption. The team provides them with a small piece of hope, and the Madison Square Garden faithful are instantly hooked.
While longtime Knicks fans will generally share their frustration when asked about the team’s recent struggles, the fans tend to share a sense of illogical faith that the franchise will quickly return to prominence.
The willingness to feed the Knicks fans stems from the team management, therefore making the cycle one hard to break free of. Knicks executives see a chance to establish hype for the team, and in doing so gain fans and profits
The team’s decision-makers see a declining free agent with a big name who will gain praise from fans, and add him to the payroll for multiple unproductive seasons. This cycle is kept alive by the few intelligent decisions the team makes in the process, such as drafting Kristaps Porzingis or acquiring Enes Kanter for Carmelo Anthony.
The mindset of the team will be to continue this process, and maybe witnessing a patient “rebuild” is the only way to change the minds of the team brass.
The Retrievers of Baltimore took the court Friday night as a heavy underdog. ESPN had UMBC as 20.5-point underdogs. They were underdogs to the self-proclaimed experts at your office, who claimed a No. 16 seed would never win a first round tournament game.
Yet the team itself didn’t feel the statistical analysis would truly predict their outcome because of the rebuilding process they had undergone to get there.
What is the Retrievers’ Lesson?
The Retrievers have developed a winning mindset, and said mindset is crucial in competitive basketball. The team suffered through a forgettable seven-win season, poor coaching, and a clear lack of recruiting talent before it could achieve the unthinkable Friday.
The key to the development of the Retrievers may have been the willingness to take a risk on a star talent who had transferred from two previous schools, or maybe it was the decision to bring in head coach Ryan Odom, son of famous coach Dave Odom.
Yet, while both decisions played significant factors in building a mid-major power, the key drawing point for the Knicks is that they must focus on being patient and taking calculated risks.
Retrievers leading scorer Jairus Lyles may have been a two-time transfer who had trouble asserting himself in previous team cultures, yet cleary Baltimore County felt they had a prospect they could develop.
The Knicks need to assess future franchise-altering decisions with a similarly critical view. Instead of signing a big name free agent who will bring instant hype, and likely eventual disappointment, take chances on young players who may just require the right coaching staff to become future difference makers.
The Knicks’ path to eventual success will not be a mirror image of the path UMBC took to defeat Virginia.
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However, the values the Retrievers expressed in their quest for relevance and success need to be replicated by New York Knicks management if the organization wishes to achieve similar postseason locker room celebrations.