Knicks: Is it too early to criticize Tom Thibodeau?
By Ken Tavarez
Knicks’ Previous Coaches: David Fizdale
A lot has been made about the improvement in the win column, which is important, but it shouldn’t be the only measure of success. Getting a team to be average in the NBA isn’t that hard.
David Fizdale had success in his first stint as a head coach before the Knicks. Fizdale led the Grizzlies to the playoffs in his 1st season, and became famous for saying “take that for data”. But in his 2nd season, everything fell apart when Mike Conley Jr. got hurt.
In New York, Fizdale got a raw deal. He had to work with Steve Mills, who was the main source of a lot of Knicks’ failures this century. He was also expecting to coach Kristaps Porzingis, then when he left town he thought he was going to coach Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.