Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has been viewed as being emotionless by the local media for the bulk of the season, and Phil Jackson himself has said he’d like Fisher to be more emotional, and even challenge the officials to the point where he gets thrown out of games.
Forgetting the fact that Fisher leads all coaches with 11 technical fouls on the season, that perception has become reality in the New York market.
After Friday night’s loss to the Wizards, Fisher finally found something to pretend to be upset about.
From Al Iannazzone of Newsday:Fisher just called timeout with 1.3 seconds left and the Knicks down 14. Coaching
Wizards dunk with 1.3 secs left gave them 100 points and fans discount on pizza. Fisher wasn’t happy, says “pizza doesn’t taste that great.”
But Fisher said the timeout was to make sure he reminded the players finish the game.... Truthfully, Wizards should have run out the clock
I’m not sure that they should have.
Yes, there’s sportsmanship and all of that to consider -- the game was over, so, theoretically, it’s not a good look for the team that’s about to win to score a meaningless basket.
But if the game is truly all about the fans, then there’s little harm in the home team doing something that gives them some type of reward for coming out to lend their support, no matter how small it ultimately may be.
Fisher’s feisty reaction to it all may please some who’ve been closely observing his first year as head coach. But there’s always an option if you don’t want the other team to score -- you could, you know, instruct your players to try and stop them until the final buzzer sounds.