NEW YORK -- When the New York Knicks leave the court following the conclusion of a game, you'll notice Derek Fisher waiting around on the floor until the last of the Knicks players leaves the court. It's something he's picked up from coaches along the way. High school coaches, college coaches, even Jerry Sloan seemed to linger often following a game. Fisher does the same.
It's his way of letting the players know that they come first. It's a way of showing respect for the guys trying to execute the game plan on the court. Fisher is attempting to instill a new culture of basketball in a city that has a fabled tradition but a lack of legacy over the recent decade-plus of basketball. Random bouts of competency and competitiveness have been marred by high-priced futility and embarrassment. Always the punch line and never the puncher.
The Knicks have a long way to go to wash away the stink of the James Dolan-influenced basketball culture and let the sweet, metallic smell of Phil Jackson's championship rings waft over the organization. The roster will be turned over immensely over the next eight months. Carmelo Anthony is the centerpiece of the next era of Knicks basketball and young guys like Tim Hardaway, Jr., Iman Shumpert, and Cleanthony Early may get a chance to stick around if they prove they're worthy of being a part of this future.
But the old habits of letting the players run the asylum on the court, like we saw under Mike Woodson, are being killed off by Fisher as an extension of Jackson. While the success of a couple early season victories may end up being fleeting this season, Fisher's goal of finding out who belongs here long-term and who is just passing through is in progress.
Part of that process is seeing which players are willing to ride it out in the Triangle Offense. Whether they're running the Triangle or implementing elements of the Triangle to get them in the proper mindset for the future game plan of this Knicks era, avoiding breaking off into isolation ball will go a long way with Fisher, Jackson, and making sure you belong on this team. The Knicks have been an isolation-heavy offense for a while now, so breaking those bad habits can be tough.
"Yeah, that’s the toughest part of this early on," Fisher explained following the loss to the Wizards Tuesday night. "When you’re still trying to figure out who you are within what we do [you have] to still trust in and have faith things will work out without reverting back to what you normally do in these situations. And that’s tough for guys to do when the game is getting away from you. The feeling for each guy is to feel like ‘I can do it. I can help us get this back.’ It’s actually the reverse. We have to stick together even more."
You'll see elements of Fisher testing his guys, especially a young one like Hardaway, when it comes to running the system. Hardaway has the ability to light up the scoring column of the stat sheet. He also has the ability to take the same reckless shots that shooting guard J.R. Smith has been criticized for taking time and time again. And the criticism is often correct for Smith. It's not a pattern of play you want to see from Hardaway; you'd rather see his talent harnessed and focused in a positive manner of team play.
As of right now, Fisher isn't afraid to pull the second-year player if he has a bad sequence or two. It's something that maybe wouldn't have happened with past regimes, but learning the concept of team basketball in Jackson's vision is paramount for Fisher's player development success. Some people around the team have been impressed that this very basic approach is being executed in New York. Their recent history of coddling to the new shiny object, instead of instilling discipline is something that has to breed new success.
Accountability means more than the price tag of the player. Jason Smith will earn minutes with hard play and sticking to the script laid out in front of him and his teammates. It's an opportunity Andrea Bargnani will have in front of him when he returns from injury, but his salary and No. 1 draft pick status from nearly a decade ago no longer earn him minutes. And someone like Iman Shumpert, one of the only two-way players the Knicks employ, no longer has to worry about being misused in an archaic style of play. He can flourish on both sides of the ball, or at least the opportunity is there.
“As long as we run the offense," Shumpert said on Tuesday night, "everybody should trust that when the ball comes to them, they’ll know what shots to shoot.”
The Knicks are down a very capable point guard in Jose Calderon, meaning they're susceptible to the ball pressure of their opponents. It rattles them and gets them out of the fabled system that is supposed to return them to glory. You can break away from it from time to time, but really the trust in the system will breed trust from the sidelines. Deviation from the system to a more familiar individual playmaking is something that can break the momentum of what the team is trying to build under Fisher and Jackson.
“It’s not really about [devolving]," Anthony said. "This is not about going to [isolations] and things like that. But I think as players out there, when you see something that’s not working at the time, your first instinct is to use another option. Whether that options is to break out of the system, the offense, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
It's a tough habit to break, but it is breakable. The key is showing that when things start to get away from you, you can trust the system will correct the problems developing on the court. If that happens, then trust to run the system and the various reads it brings to confuse a defense start bringing you success. When the success comes, the culture turns from laughable losers to something much more resembling a winning team.
"It’s just tough when the momentum changes and the game is getting away from you a little bit to revert to our old habits,' Fisher said.
The coaching staff and front office want the system to be the fallback option. And when the culture does turn, you are able to recreate the home court advantage that all of the good teams end up manifesting in their home arenas. Because the Knicks have been so bad and inconsistent over the last decade, they haven't been able to rely on that home court advantage because it doesn't exist. They get booed just as much at home as they do on the road, if not more. The fans have seen them as a threat to their enjoyment of basketball, much more so than the opposing teams in road arenas view the Knicks as a threat to their own favorite team.
“We want to start winning our home court and we have to start winning our home court," Anthony said. "We should feel good about playing on our home court, playing in the Garden. Sometimes, that don’t seem like that’s the case. Sometimes, it feels like a lot of pressure for guys out there to play at a very high level here. We should be relaxed, should be having fun, and enjoy playing on our home court. Think about getting on the road and having more fun on the road than we do at home.”
This all sounds like basic stuff and the 2-4 record with the low ranking offensive and defensive ratings certainly don't make it look like this is working right away. The key is having a plan, which the Knicks do. And it's a good plan. Move the ball, move the defense, and find successful shots. It's something Carmelo has embraced. While his shot frequency has increased on a per minute basis, his assist rate is the highest it's ever been.
“Carmelo is trying to do everything he can to help us win right now," Fisher explained. "He’s been patient offensively, in terms of waiting for his spots, waiting for his opportunities to get some chances to attack out there."
Eventually, the Knicks will pursue big free agents in the summer of 2015. They're expected to target Marc Gasol as the anchor big man on both ends of the floor to give Melo some much needed help and a post presence. They'll fill in the rest of the roster with smart players who are willing to embrace the system. They'll demand accountability like Phil Jackson teams have always done.
And you'll see Fisher standing there on the court after each win or loss, waiting to follow his players into the locker room.
