Where was Jim Mora when the New York Knicks needed him?
Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry expected the team to compete for a spot in the NBA playoffs coming into the 2019-20 season, SNY’s Ian Begley reported Thursday, citing sources. They told players and then-head coach David Fizdale during the team’s first official meeting of the season that failing to reach the playoffs would represent failure on their respective parts.
In setting such a lofty goal, Mills and Perry apparently ignored the Knicks’ NBA-worst, 17-65 record in 2018-19 and the fact they failed to lure any of the top free agents to their side of the Big Apple.
The Knicks fired Fizdale last month after starting the season 4-18. Mike Miller’s appointment as interim coach hasn’t made the Knicks much better, as they’ve gone 8-15 since Dec. 5.
Was setting such a laughter-inducing goal a ploy to instill some belief in the team? We don’t know what Mills and Perry were thinking at the time, but we’re certain of what Mora, the former Indianapolis Colts head coach, would have said if he were present at the meeting: “playoffs?!?”
