J-Speaks: Knicks Axe Fisher

With a 118-111 overtime victory versus the Utah Jazz (25-25) back on Jan. 22, the New York Knicks were 22-22 and they not only won five more games than they did all of last season, they had the look of a serious playoff contender in a watered down Eastern Conference. Fast forward two weeks and three days later, they have lost nine of their last 10 contest, which also includes five consecutive losses and those dreams of making the playoffs were going down the drain at a rapid rate. Something had to be done and team president did just that.

Jackson gave the axe to head coach, Derek Fisher this past Monday morning and named Associate head coach Kurt Rambis as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

In his year-plus as the Knicks head man on the sideline, Fisher went just 40-96. Only former head coach Larry Brown at .280 had a lower winning percentage than Fisher, whose winning percentage was .294.

In a statement, Fisher expressed his “deepest gratitude” to Madison Square Garden (MSG) executive chairman James Dolan and Jackson and the Knicks organization for “the incredible opportunity” to coach the Knicks. He also said in his statement that he’s “disappointed” and hopes “to grow from” this experience.

“I think its nine losses out of the last 10 games. I think it’s the business of winning” Jackson said yesterday in his reasons for firing Fisher, who was a major part in helping the Lakers win five titles in a decade under Jackson. “Obviously, there are games in which we didn’t get off to very good starts recently. But I think Derek was prepared. I think he took this business seriously. I think he was a dedicated worker. Some of that onus is on the players and I let them know that today.

Looking closely at the optics of the situation of why the Knicks are at the point they are right now, on the court, they have as Jackson mentioned fallen behind in games, including Fisher’s last game on the sidelines this past Sunday versus the Denver Nuggets (21-32), who led by as many as 19 points in the first half. The Knicks were able to claw their way back, but came up short in the end falling to the Nuggets.

On top of that, the biggest question about Fisher, who basically went from finishing his career as a player two seasons ago to being a head coach of one of the flagship franchises in the National Basketball Association in the blink of an eye when he signed a five-year $25 million contract.

This past off-season, Fisher got into an altercation with former teammate and current forward of the Memphis Grizzlies Matt Barnes. He and Barnes got into a very well-documented altercation during training camp over Fisher getting involved with Barnes’ wife Gloria Govan.

Barnes received a two-game suspension from the league for his involvement in the altercation.

Jackson said of the situation then that it, “was embarrassing for us and for Derek. But that had nothing to do with what’s happened here today.”

ESPN’s Senior Writer Ramona Shelburne said on Tuesday evening’s edition of “Sportscenter” on ESPN that they monitored Fisher closely after the incident and wanted to find out if Fisher was going to be the head coach long term.

By reliving him of his duties, the answer was no and the cherry on the Sunday was that recently, he asked what are the plans for the team moving forward about making the postseason this year. Fisher basically said that making the 2016 NBA Playoffs is not a priority for the Knicks. Whether that is true or not, the fact that he said it showed that returning the Knicks to a top tier team in the Eastern Conference and the league was not a major priority under Fisher.

It is a main priority for Rambis, who will be in his third stint as an NBA head coach. His first one was with the Lakers in the 1998-99 strike shorten season. The former Laker forward, who helped the “Showtime” Lakers capture four titles, including back-to-back ones in 1987 and 1988 went 24-13 with the Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. In two seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rambis went 15-67 and 17-65 respectably in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

“I’m going to do the best job that I can to finish out this year and get into the playoffs. That’s my goal,” Rambis, who was an assistant with the Lakers for 12 seasons and associate head coach of the Knicks the last two said to the media on Monday.

One big reason that Rambis got this opportunity and if he does well could be the solution long term is that he along with assistant coach Jim Cleamons are disciples of the famed triangle offense that Jackson used to win six titles as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and the Lakers in the 2000s. It is the main reason that the likes of former Bulls head coach, former Knicks assistant and 2011 Coach of the year Tom Thibodeau and his former boss Jeff Van Gundy, who an NBA color analyst for ESPN/ABC are unlikely to return to the sidelines of MSG.

“Someone has to match the style of the way we do things and there’s a certain style that I have that I think works and I’ve found worked before,” Jackson said. “I don’t know if all those people measure up to that, because I don’t know them well enough. But that’s an important aspect and we’ll find that type of person.”

If Rambis does not work out, the Knicks will set their eyes on assistant head coach of the defending champion Golden State Warriors (46-4) Luke Walton, who guided them to a 39-4 record as the interim head coach will head coach and five-time NBA champion as a player with the aforementioned Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs Steve Kerr, who was recovering from back surgery.

The funny thing about this situation is that Walton is in the same position as Kerr, who at the time was a color analyst for NBA on TNT/NBATV and Kerr declined and decided to coach the Warriors and that decision is looking as good as ever right now.

With that being said, Jackson said that the Knicks are not in the hunt for a coach and that he has the greatest confidence in Rambis to get the Knicks back into the playoff conversation.

The Rambis era and the drive to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2013 begins tonight versus the underachieving Washington Wizards (22-27). The Knicks currently are 4 ½ games behind the current occupiers of the No. 8 and final playoff spot in the East the Detroit Pistons (27-26).

Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of 2/8/16 6 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” with Lindsay Czarniak, report from NBA Senior Writer Ramona Shelburne; 2/8/16 6 p.m. edition of WABC 7 “Eyewitness News” with Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, Lee Goldberg and Rob Powers, report from weekend sports anchor Laura Behnke; www.espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/ny; www.espn.go.com/nba/standings; http://en.m.wikpedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_Knicks_seasons.