The New York Knicks have finally broken their lengthy losing streak to improve to 6-36 and suddenly hope is very high within the locker room. The Knicks beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday and now everyone is stressing that good times are ahead for Knicks fans. Head coach Derek Fisher is stressing that tanking is not in the game plan for the Knicks while Carmelo Anthony is hoping everyone on the roster sticks around.
A week ago, it appeared all hope was lost for New York. Anthony was considering knee surgery. The team has traded away JR Smith and Iman Shumpert while releasing Samuel Dalembert. ESPN's Marc Stein was reporting that both Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani could have their contracts bought out while a trade for Jose Calderon was being explored. Now with that long-awaited win under their belt, suddenly everyone is happy again.
"You're asking the wrong person about that," Fisher said on tanking, via ESPNNewYork.com. "Maybe if you talk to [Knicks president Phil Jackson or GM Steve Mills] you can ask them. But there's no interest in thinking about which pick we might get based on the way the ping-pong bounces when we play Philadelphia [Wednesday] night. There's just no correlation, in my mind. Maybe some people see it differently. That's what I'm trying to do."
As of now, the Knicks are battling both the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves for the worst record in the league and the potential top draft pick. However, Fisher stresses that he is not thinking about any of those things. The Draft and free agency is far from his mind as he says coaching the current players on the roster is his priority.
"My job is to coach the team right now and not focus too much on that at this point," Fisher said. "Obviously, our scouts and management and people's jobs that it is to really focus on those things, I have to leave it to them."
There is optimism in the Knicks locker room after getting one win. Is it enough to save the jobs of Stoudemire and Bargnani? That is unlikely as at least one player is set to be released, but Anthony is stressing that no one should lose hope of the Knicks and brighter days are ahead.
"It feels good to come in this locker room with a win. It's a different energy, it's a different vibe," Anthony said. "I just want my teammates to understand what this feeling is and let's carry it over to Philly. It's good to experience that feeling once again. I'll take it. It's not about thinking about what happened leading up to this point or what's going to happen tomorrow."
