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Former NBA player and current basketball analyst Brian Scalabrine joined WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts Wednesday afternoon, to discuss the Knicks and Nets.
Neither team has championship aspirations this season, as the Knicks are destined for the lottery and the Nets continue to develop while waiting for Kevin Durant to be healthy next year.
With their lottery expectations, the Knicks have shown improvement since firing head coach David Fizdale, winning three of their last four games en route to their ugly 7-21 record.
Few Knicks fans wanted to keep Fizdale, but others around the NBA, such as Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr criticized the team for firing their head coach. Add Brian Scalabrine to the list of critics.
“What does getting rid of Fizdale now prove, how are the Knicks better because Fizdale’s gone?” Scalabrine asked Joe and Evan.
“I think the younger guys are already starting to show more promise,” Roberts responded. Even though the Knicks aren't a playoff team, it's still hard to argue Fizdale was helping them get better.
“It’s not that any of us thought the Knicks should win 35 or 40 games, but there were a lot of guys not being held accountable,” Roberts said about Fizdale’s coaching tenure.
The Knicks have won three of their last four games under interim head coach Mike Miller, scoring 143 points Tuesday night, their highest total in regulation since 1980.
“Six games, you guys are talking about six games, just because they beat the lowly Hawks,” Scalabrine responded.
Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Images If he does get another opportunity, it will be Fizdale's third coaching tenure after being fired by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2017 and the Knicks this season.
As for New York's other NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets, Scalabrine said he’s not sold on the style of Kyrie Irving, believing teams can gameplan against the six-time All Star in the playoffs.
“It's so mentally and physically draining, you have to be all in, all in on your teammates, all in on everything to win it all,” Scalabrine said about what it takes for an NBA team to make the Finals.
“I can’t imagine that he’s the guy that you can win it all with, I think your fiber has to built so much tougher than that,” Scalabrine added about the Nets star point guard.
Irving did win a championship when paired with LeBron James in Cleveland, defeating the Golden State Warriors and making arguably the biggest shot of the series in Game 7.
Joe and Evan pointed out that for the Nets to have championship aspirations, Durant will be on the floor and Irving will again be the second guy like he was in Cleveland. Scalabrine, though, wondered if Kyrie understands he will play Robin to Durant’s Batman.