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"Maybe this guy can coach."
That was what WFAN's Boomer Esiason had to say about Knicks interim coach Mike Miller after his team crushed the Atlanta Hawks 143-120 on Tuesday night.
The Knicks have now won three of their last four, and Tuesday's offensive output was the most by the Knicks in regulation since 1980.
"(David) Fizdale was obviously the problem," Esiason said on Wednesday's "Boomer and Gio" show, referring to the head coach fired by the Knicks earlier this month. "The other problem is, look, they don't have superstars, they don't have the talent and all that other stuff. I understand all that. But you should be able to win a number of games just by being competent as a coach and getting the most out of your team and saying, 'Look, let's not shoot as many as 3s, let's not always switch, let's play a little bit more defense, and let's get a better rotation going' and talk to your team about what they're supposed to do. So I'm assuming that this coach is doing this.
"The point being is that a coach can actually make a difference. And I think we see that this coach is making a difference. You can't dispute it."
Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Images "Early returns are better on Mike Miller," he said. "We could be talking about January, February the team diving deep into another pathetic basketball hole, for sure, right? But early returns are good. So I don't know what it was -- motivation-wise, rotations, just X's and O's or whatever with Fizdale.
"At least it makes me feel better about my initial take on this team, that they are better than what they were playing. There is just professional basketball players on that team that should not be getting their skulls kicked in every single night, and here we are at least where we're seeing a little bit better basketball."
To listen to the open from Wednesday's "Boomer and Gio" show, click on the audio player above.