by rick olivares pic by tony dejak/AP
On a recent episode of Hang Time Road Trip, former
NBA player Rick Fox spent some time with his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate
Derek Fisher who is now the head coach of the New York Knicks.
In that episode, Fox asked Fisher is he flashed his
championship rings to the luckless Knicks. The rookie head coach said no and
said that he first wanted to connect with the team “as people.”
Fisher said that it isn’t as simple as saying this is
how to win because his Lakers teams did it this way en route to five Larry
O’Brien Trophies. D-Fish is smart enough to know that it is a wholly different squad
and organization from the one he played for. This isn’t like when Pat Riley
flashed his championship rings to a then jewelry-less LeBron James and Chris
Bosh in order to join Dwyane Wade over in South Beach.
First of all, Fish doesn’t need to do that. The day
the Knicks brought back Phil Jackson to the fold as team president then that
was all the glitterati that was needed. The Zen Master is a proven commodity;
Fisher isn’t. Unless he is lining up jump shots off the double teams that
routinely covered Kobe Bryant.
Instead, he is coaching a team that has not only
underachieved but also massively disappointed.
Years ago, while Fisher was playing for the Oklahoma
City Thunder, I asked him if he could see himself coaching. He grinned then
said it was a possibility. He could still see himself a part of them game in
different capacities – a color analyst, a coach, and a commentator whatever!
“I love the game so much, man,” explained Fisher. “Its
been good to me. I won’t deny that. So I should give back.”
Fisher played alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant,
Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook to name a few. While never a superstar, he
was steady with career averages of 8.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and
1.1 steals in 1,287 regular season games (he slightly hiked his numbers in the
playoffs).
If the Knicks are thinking that Fisher is going to be
a pushover then they have another thing coming. Following the opening day
blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, Fisher didn’t hesitate to juggle the
starting lineup for the match against the Cleveland Cavaliers who were
celebrating the return of LeBron James to Ohio.
He benched Samuel Dalembert, Amar’e Stoudemire, and
Tim Hardaway Jr. in favor of the unheralded Travis Wear, Jason Smith, and
Quincy Acy. All three contributed mightily to the team’s 95-90 victory at the
Quicken Loans Arena hushing the crowd of over 20,000.
Explained the Knicks’ head coach, “It’s just trusting the work that we put in, and making
sure that these guys understand they’re not just on this team by accident. If
we didn’t believe they could play at this level, they wouldn’t be here. Our
management is showing a lot of trust in a lot of our guys, and as coaches we’re
trying to make sure they understand that everybody has to be ready to play
every night.”
By “work” the coach means the Triangle
Offense that is largely unseen in these parts. In the win against Cleveland,
the Knicks scored 10 baskets via the newly-installed offense. I’d say it’s a
work in progress because the other 20 baskets scored from total of 30 assists came off the old
fashioned route of one-on-one and kickouts (not to mention from fastbreaks).
When Fish said “being ready to play” it
meant there are no sacred cows. You have to bust your butt for the 2014-15 New
York Knicks.
So with the season barely a week old, Fisher’s Knicks
are 2-1. The opening day embarrassment at the Garden notwithstanding, they have
rebounded well.
It’s still early, way too early, to say how they will
do or even finish. The three games have demonstrated their potential if they
come to play. Yet at the same time, if they don’t, then those woeful days of
seasons past could still be around the corner (witness the loss to the Bulls).
Let’s see if Derek can make fishers of these men,
these Knicks.
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