New York Knicks: The post-trade deadline outlook for the Knicks

Mike Miller’s Tryout

The former Westchester Knicks head coach will be fighting to keep his promotion. He was initially hired as an assistant coach under David Fizdale when he started this season. Miller became the interim head coach after Fizdale got fired in early December thanks to the team’s horrendous 4-18 start.

Since Miller was an assistant coach and part of the old regime, there is no reason for the new front office to keep him onboard. Usually, when there is new management it means that they will want to hire their people.

As reported by Stefan Bondy, Stoute had this to say (before his role was clarified by the front office, so take this for what it’s worth):

"“There had to be a change in (firing team president Steve Mills). That change will bring a new coach and new coaches that are going to help develop these younger players,” Stoute said. “And they got some young players — you see RJ Barrett, Mitch Robinson. They got something to work with. And getting a coach in there and ultimately getting a coach and a coaching staff that’s going to help develop a team. That’s what I expect to happen so that we can actually get to what you expect from a New York team.”"

This comment proves that new management usually hires their people. Also, it reinforces that Miller has to prove his worth which means helping this team win games and developing the players.

For the winning aspect of Miller’s tryout, since he took over the New York Knicks have gone 13-21. The tweet below by Tommy Beer is when the Knicks were on a four-game winning streak, before the 2OT loss to the Atlanta Hawks (140-135).

Miller’s record since he has been head coach may not seem impressive. However, based on how the team started 4-18 with a lackluster roster, he might as well be considered Mother Teresa.

As for the player development aspect, it is tricky to evaluate Miller on this subject because it includes skill-set development and game management. It would not be fair to judge Miller on the players’ skill-set development since he did not have a full offseason with the team using his coaching staff.

However, we can critique his game management, which has been a pleasant surprise for Knicks fans. Based on Miller’s floor spacing and utilizing players’ strengths, he has a high basketball intelligence. There is little point-forward Julius Randle, very few isolation plays, and no more swinging the ball east to west at the top of the key.

Miller has been able to keep this team organized and has his players performing effectively. For instance, instead of Randle playing point-forward, he has played off-ball and has to stay in motion to score.

Another example is that Miller has utilized the pick-and-roll effectively since the Knicks have an extremely athletic rim running center like Mitchell Robinson.

https://twitter.com/NBAspain/status/1224663894687244288

These changes may not seem like much because other successful teams understand basic floor spacing and utilizing players’ strengths. But there is a drastic difference from Fizdale’s to Miller’s coaching. Even though Miller has done a commendable job, he will need to continue this type of success to be the head coach next season.