It really didn't matter what Steve Mills and Scott Perry said when they took the podium after the Knicks' embarrassing loss to the Cavs on Sunday night. The fact that they spoke to the media at all was the only message that was needed.
If a front office has to publicly state that they still have faith in their coach, players and plan after ten games it means that there is doubt in all those things within the organization.
Even with a team playing as poorly as the Knicks, talking after a game is not something a team president or general manager will normally do. For a Knicks executive to do it, especially when hiding is the modus operandi when times are rough, was particularly startling. Mills and Perry decried the lack of consistent execution and effort from the team but they hesitated to put blame on anyone specifically.
They didn't have to. Everyone knows the glaring spotlight is now heating the seat of head coach David Fizdale. The duo said they were still patient, but the fact the press conference was held at all indicates patience is running out. The last thing Mills and Perry would want to do is add pressure to Fizdale if they were not going to consider making a move. So why talk at all?
The only logical explanation is that James Dolan is upset and made them. As the media reported, Dolan, Mills and Perry disappeared from their seats late in the second quarter and Dolan didn't return until the fourth quarter. Mills and Perry never did, likely preparing for their impromptu press conference. Multiple reports from the Daily News, SNY, The Athletic and others indicated that Dolan expressed disappointment with the team's performance in their meeting.
The head coach is always the first domino to fall, but that doesn't mean David Fizdale is the only person teetering on the edge of oblivion. There's no doubt that Steve Mills sold Dolan the same bill of goods he tried to sell Knicks fans about the team's offseason being a success. It wasn't. He probably told Dolan how much he loved all the acquisitions they made and how they executed the plan they had in mind. They didn't. He told Dolan the product on the court was going to be better. It hasn't been.
When a team president tells his owner about a successful offseason that cost the owner tens of millions of dollars, the owner's expectations are going to rise. When the team fails to meet those elevated expectations, the owner is going to find someone to point the finger that. The wagons are being circled.
No one would argue that David Fizdale hasn't come up short in maximizing the talent on the roster. His in-game decision-making leaves a lot to be desired. The offense looks stagnant with little ball movement. His lineups and rotations lack balance between defense, shooting and shot-creation. He doesn't seem to recognize which players help him win games and which players make them lose games.
The bottom line, however, is the Knicks don't have a good roster. If everything went perfectly, they might have won more than 30 games this season. With Dennis Smith's myriad of issues early this season and injuries to Elfrid Payton and Mitchell Robinson, things have not gone perfectly. Players who have not played to standard, like Julius Randle, deserve blame too. But if the Knicks were 3-7 instead of 2-8, would the owner be happy? Of course not.
Perry and Mills put Fizdale in a bad position with so many veterans with mismatched skill sets on the roster that all wanted playing time. The coach has not managed the predicament close to well enough, but even if he had, the team was not going to be good this season.
If Fizdale is eventually replaced by Keith Smart or Mike Miller, and the team continues to play to their 28-win talent level for the remainder of the season, Dolan is unlikely to be satisfied. The owner's crosshairs will eventually land on Steve Mills and Scott Perry next. Frank Isola's report in The Athletic that Dolan is already considering another run at Masai Ujiri this offseason is further evidence of that potential end-game.
Steve Mills, if nothing else, is a survivor. He has thrived as much as anyone in Dolan's spider web of intrigue and politics of Madison Square Garden. He returned from the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment fiasco to be GM under Phil Jackson and then team president after Jackson was canned. He knows how to survive. He is a top-level operator. Step one is to put the blame on someone else. Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews' ESPN report today indicated Mills was already greasing the skids for Fizdale to take the fall before Sunday night.
Ian Begley of SNY reported that it would be up to Mills to decide if Fizdale gets to keep his job. Mills will undoubtedly try to calculate what move will help him maintain his position longer. If he thinks the only way to save himself will be to move on from Fizdale, that's what he is going to do. Otherwise, he would be admitting it was his roster construction that was the problem. All the actors involved have years left on their contract, which could impact any eventual decisions.
The reality, whether Dolan accepts it or not, is that the Knicks are AT LEAST two years away from doing anything of significance. Younger players like Kevin Knox, RJ Barrett, Frank Ntilikina and Mitchell Robinson need time to improve, and the next impact free agent class won't hit until the 2021 offseason. None of that changes regardless of who the Knicks put in place as their Head Coach or General Manager. They have no choice but to be patient if they want a real chance to get out of this.
While it may be satisfying to fire people as the team struggles, cutting off a long term rebuild plan for a short-term bump would be a critical mistake. If the Knicks change the coach or front office personnel for people that can better execute a slow rebuild, it won't set the franchise back. But if Mills tries to accelerate the rebuild with ill-considered trades at the deadline or free agent signings next summer to save his job, the effects on the franchise could be catastrophic.
All we know for sure is that the clock is ticking. Perhaps all this talk will motivate the players to perform better, and no one will lose their jobs. It better happen fast. The schedule gets extremely difficult very quickly. David Fizdale will be the first one to pay the price for more losing, but Steve Mills and Scott Perry won't be far behind. Chum is in the water at Madison Square Garden. The sharks are circling. It seems like it is only a matter of time before the feeding begins.
You can follow me on twitter @Schmeelk for everything Knicks, Giants and the world of sports. You can also check out "The Bank Shot", my Knicks podcast, on most popular podcast platforms. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bank-shot/id1444801454. You can find my most recent episode of the Bank Shot here:
