By Jordan Long
The New York Knicks are still looking for a new Head Coach. New York fired David Fizdale 22 games into this season. At the time the New York Knicks were a disappointing 4-18. Mike Miller took over and guided the Knicks to a 17-27 record. New York stood at 21-45 before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped play. There are plenty of candidates New York is looking at to replace Fizdale.
Miller is the top in-house name. Sure, their record wasn’t much better, but New York was playing improved basketball under him. New York might as well agree for him to be the next Head Coach. This would allow him to have a full season to show what he can do. The worst case scenario is they let Miller go at the end of next year.
The best name in their search is Tom Thibodeau, who is the early favorite to land the job. Thibodeau has plenty of NBA Head Coaching experience. He was the Head Coach for the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2015 and the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016 to 2019. Thibodeau’s overall record is 352-246, a winning percentage of .589. His teams went to the playoffs 6 times, but he has yet to coach a team to an NBA Finals or even a Conference final.
Thibodeau makes the most sense. He can help the Knicks be a proud franchise again. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2013. That year they advanced to the 2nd-round but were knocked off by the Pacers. The last time the Knicks made the NBA Finals was in 1999 and when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. It would take him a few years and the New York Knicks Owner James Dolan needs to be patient with him if they hire Thibodeau. They will not be a winning franchise in his first year.
The other choices for the New York Knicks are former Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, Philadelphia 76ers assistant Ime Udoka, and Chicago Bulls’ assistant Chris Fleming. Atkinson is just like Thibodeau because he has been a Head Coach in this league with the Nets. Unfortunately, the Nets were a disappointing 118-190, a winning percentage of .383, but they made the postseason once.
Atkinson can take the lessons he learned in Brooklyn to New York. He may have to change up his coaching style because it didn’t work in Brooklyn.
Udoka and Fleming have never been a Head Coach. Udoka’s knowledge of the game comes from playing in the NBA for 7 years. His career lasted from 2004 to 2011. Once he was done playing, he joined Gregg Popovich’s staff from 2012 to 2019. This season he has been an assistant coach in Philadelphia.
Udoka understands the game of basketball. The knowledge he gained with Popovich would help him turn the Knicks into a winner.
For Chris Fleming, he never made it to the NBA as a player. He has been an assistant coach for the past 5 years. Who knows how long it will take him to find his coaching style. It might be a few years, but the Knicks may not have that much patience. They want to be a consistent playoff team year in and year out.
The New York Knicks have plenty of time to find their next Head Coach. Whoever they hire needs more than 2 years to change the culture of the locker room and be a consistent playoff team.
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