New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale outlined his plan for his pending meeting with Kristaps Porzingis. The key theme: Winning.
New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale learned the hard way how important it is to connect with one’s franchise player. The inability to do so was his undoing with the Memphis Grizzlies, as strong relationships with his other players failed to save Fizdale from a clash with Marc Gasol.
Mere weeks into his tenure as head coach of the Knicks, Fizdale has already prepared his pitch for Knicks franchise player Kristaps Porzingis.
News of Fizdale’s intention to travel to Latvia to meet with Porzingis and his family leaked within hours of his hiring. It was an encouraging sign, but the questions remained about whether or not he could connect with the face of the franchise.
According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, Fizdale’s plan for his meeting with Porzingis is centered around proving that he’ll be returning to a winning environment.
"“I want him to feel something different. I want him to feel something that when he comes back here it’s going to be special for him,” Fizdale said Thursday at the draft combine. “That he’s walking back into a culture and environment that’s set up for winning. That’s my biggest goal this summer, is to really bond with him and connect with him and get insight from him: His experiences, what he liked, what he didn’t like, what he’d like to see, what’s his goals.”"
Having spent the first three seasons of his NBA career playing for teams that missed the playoffs, Porzingis would certainly benefit from the introduction of a winning culture.
Porzingis has improved with every season, but the Knicks can’t exactly say the same. New York won 32 games during Porzingis’ rookie season, but regressed with records of 31-51 in 2016-17 and 29-53 in 2017-18.
Porzingis’ 2017-18 campaign may have ended with a season-ending injury, but New York began to exit the postseason picture before he tore his ACL.
Thus, if Fizdale is going to convince Porzingis to buy in, then outlining how he’ll change the culture and create a winning environment would be an excellent start.
Porzingis has a hurdle to overcome himself, as the torn ACL he’s recovering from could keep him sidelined for the entire 2017-18 season. Fizdale has made the playoffs as a head coach in the past, however, and isn’t going to waste any time with installing a new system.
If Fizdale can connect with Porzingis during their meeting in Latvia, then it stands to reason that the players who will be available in 2017-18 will take that as a sign they should buy in.
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The question is: Will David Fizdale be able to connect with Kristaps Porzingis in the way he failed to with Marc Gasol? The New York Knicks will need him to.