This year is reaching its mid-way point, and it seems as if the New York Knicks are having a historically bad season. They are officially the worst team in the league, and things are not looking up. There are three different things a team needs to thrive in - a great front office, great coaching, and pure talent on the court. So what is the reason for the Knicks' failure?
Coaching: In the NBA, the coaching position probably gets the most blame when things go haywire. The bad thing for the Knicks is that this is Derek Fisher's first year as a head coach. Fisher was previously an NBA point guard, and he played for Phil Jackson, who so happens to be a part of the Knicks front office, so obviously D Fish was a suitable choice for the team.
An organization like the Knicks takes loosing hard, and they don't like getting used to it, so the blame has already started going to Derek Fisher for not leading this team to at least a near .500 season in an inferior Eastern conference. It's not like he needs to coach a 40-win team. After the previous success of Jason Kidd as a first-year coach in Brooklyn, it was perceived that Fisher could hop into the role and try and be a sort of Phil Jackson understudy. Even though their record is absolutely awful at 5-35, Fisher may not be the blame. There is much more than just a coach, who has tried everything to motivate his team in every way, that is causing this horrid season.
Players: When it comes to pure talent, this is possibly the problem. Yes, the Knicks don't have the most talent in the league, but they definitely have enough to not be playing this terribly. Carmelo Anthony has been injured but even when he was playing, they weren't winning games at a good enough rate. Amar'e Stoudemire is a washed up, old, former star whose time has definitely passed, and Tim Hardaway Jr. is a young player on the right path but just not at the level to score consistently yet. There was a thought that adding a veteran point guard like Jose Calderon would immensely help this team mesh together a lot better, but he seems to be having the worst year of his career. So yes, the talent is not all there but hey, they still have enough to conjure up at least 15 wins at this point of the season.
Front Office: A part of the game that most people, who are everyday fans of a team, don't look at is the front office. It's all the people you never get to see on the courts or on TV, but this front office was the most talked about this year. This being Phil Jackson's first year as the leader of any front office, he actually did exactly what he wanted to when he re-signed Carmelo Anthony and kept him with hopes that the team was going in an upwards direction. He did as much as he possibly could have when it comes to signing a players and also bringing in a veteran like Calderon, but the NBA doesn't always pan out like you hope it would.
What is the problem: The team is, for the most part, a very new team. They have a lot of young players playing for them, and they have a rookie coach at that. We have to give the team at least a year until the overreactions really start taking place. Although they have been horrible, this is a work in progress. The team had never run any type of the Triangle offense before this season. They were more of a run-and-gun type of team, and they are resorting back to that style as players are getting injured and success is not happening. Hopefully, by next year, this team could build chemistry and mesh together to finally understand the game plan, which could result into a much improved season. Phil Jackson will also have to do whatever he can and work his Zen magic to get some more talent on this team. Until then, this season is a complete wash, and the Knicks can only go up from here.