Some call it shocking but real Knicks fan knew it had to be coming. It hasn’t felt right lately and today the team tried to make it feel a little “righter” by firing their head coach, Derek Fisher.
From the team:
New York Knickerbockers President Phil Jackson announced today that Derek Fisher has been relieved of his coaching duties. Associate Head Coach Kurt Rambis has been named the interim head coach.
Fisher, who was originally hired on Jun. 10, 2014, finishes his Knicks coaching career with an overall record of 40-96 (.294).
Rambis becomes the 27th head coach in franchise history. Originally hired as the team’s associate head coach on Jul. 7, 2014, the 18-year NBA coaching veteran starts his second-stint as a head coach, after leading the Minnesota Timberwolves for two seasons from 2009-10 through 2010-11 (56-145). The Terre Haute, IN native was a member of eight NBA Championship teams, all as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers (four as a player and four as a coach or executive). Rambis becomes the fifth former Knicks draft pick to coach the team (third round, 58th overall in the 1980 NBA Draft).
In just his second season as the Knicks coach, Fisher had the team sitting at 23-31. Although it’s much better than last year’s disaster, it wasn’t good enough for Phil Jackson James Dolan or the fans. They currently sit in the 12th spot in the East and are five games behind the no.8 spot in the playoffs.
Watching the team lately made it clear that something had to be done. Poor substitutions, bad game management and horrible end of game decision making were all evident, particularly over the last two weeks. Fisher, at times, looked lost on the bench as the Knicks fell behind, hustled to come back and then ultimately fall at the end of the game.
Somewhere you know Matt Barnes is chuckling.
