(GUEST POST) Ok, here’s my issue. I’m reading and hearing from a lot of Knicks fans that they want to fire Fizdale. Though I do agree that the Knicks record is entirely his fault, I don’t think firing him now is the answer. It would be a terrible reset on an already set back season, plus the management turnover issue is why we never have an identity or culture. I say stick to the culture that Fizdale set. How? Good question. Fiz has established the culture that this year nothing will be given, everything earned. You want playing time? Earn it!

My question is, why does that only apply to the players? I believe Fiz needs a little pressure too. You want to be the head coach for the Knicks? Earn it! So, rather than firing Fizdale and setting the organization back another year or 2, put someone on the assistant staff that may be a threat to the throne. To be honest, I’m not seeing any positive results coming from the assistants either. I mean, I heard Keith Smart worked all summer with Dennis Smith Jr’s jumpshot and it actually looks a lot worse than last year. I don’t see what Royal Ivey brings to the Knicks either. No offense but some of these guys were brought here to lure Kevin Durant to Madison Square Garden. They got close but they missed it by a few miles.

So now what? If you solely evaluate these guys on what they bring to NY, I don’t think it’s working out. Now, I don’t know if Tom Thibodaux, Mark Jackson, or Jeff Van Gundy would be willing to take an assistant’s seat because, as we all know, they’re pretty high profile coaches but hey, so are Ty Lue, Lawrence Frank, Jason Kidd, and Mike Brown. Couldn’t hurt to give them a call with a generous offer. I would definitely give Mike Woodson a call too. You would have a great chance with him. For all the flack he’s gotten for switching everything (which is normal NBA now by the way), he’s hands down the most successful Knicks coach in the last 20 years. He knows a thing or 2 about defense and would be a threat to the throne on Fizdale’s bench. Fiz would have to “earn it” like he tells his players and I believe it would bring the best out of Fizdale.

Can’t lie, Fiz doesn’t look like he knows how to coach a team without a superstar on it. All this isolation, no cutting, or any semblance of freelance offensive concepts looks like a coach who relies on an all-star to do all-star things. In a way, it’s not fair because it’s not what he expected to walk into. KP was supposed to be here and the Knicks were supposed to be a major draw in 2019 free agency. Had it worked out the way the Knicks planned, the Garden and the city would be on fire right now. It didn’t work out that way and here we are. So, if you can’t get him an all-star, get him some coaching competition in the form of an assistant coach.

John David