There is a very real chance that the New York Knicks will double their win total from last season.
The problem?
They only snared 17 wins in 2014-15, and 34 victories won’t be anywhere near enough to clinch a playoff berth, the team’s primary goal, this season. And if Phil Jackson’s decision to fire head coach Derek Fisher didn’t already give it away, make no mistake, no one in the organization is happy with the state of things in New York.
As interim head coach Kurt Rambis said, per ESPN.com’s Ian Begley:
No one in the New York Knicks organization, including team president Phil Jackson, is pleased with the state of the team right now.
“We’re all frustrated,” interim head coach Kurt Rambis said after the Knicks held a light workout at their practice facility Monday. “If you’re a competitive athlete, I don’t know how you can lose games at any point in time and be OK with it. So nobody in this organization is OK with where we’re at.”
At 25-36, the Knicks are 6.5 games outside the East’s playoff picture, with 21 left to play. They aren’t making the postseason. That’s just a fact at this point.
The most maddening part about them, though, is the lack of transparency. Phil Jackson isn’t as available to the media as he was last season and has been cryptic/incoherent when trying to paint a direction for this team.
After nearly two years at the helm as president, Jackson has yet to make it clear that he’s not married to the triangle to the point that it’s only way he’s willing to win. And that’s a problem.
More clarity will be yielded over the offseason, when the Knicks make a permanent coaching hire. But, for now, the Knicks are playing for nothing other than empty victories. And, not surprisingly, no one is happy about it.
