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Derek Fisher Sending Right Message By Ending New York Knicks’ Practice With Defensive Drill

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Despite a tumultuous season in 2013-14, there is still plenty to talk about the New York Knicks. There are some familiar faces, new ones and a couple of returning parties; whether it be returning after technically never leaving or after going away for 40 years and coming back as the team president. Oh, and a lot of talk about triangles. Hidden behind all of the hoopla that comes with competing in NYC is how the team will address its most glaring problem, their atrocious defense.

Not everybody let this go unnoticed, and thankfully one of the people that didn’t is new head coach Derek Fisher, who has decided to end every practice with a defensive drill. This decision by the rookie head coach will prove to be a good one, as it will set the tone for the restructuring process heading into the start of the 2014-15 season. Fisher and his mentor/boss, Phil Jackson, have not been shy about implementing change in their brief tenure with the team, and for two men in the beginning stages of new roles, this is a bold move. Not to mention the fact they are spending their first couple of training camp days at West Point, a place where discipline and defense are preached daily.

The defense, or lack thereof, successfully held the Knicks back for most of last season. As star Carmelo Anthony pointed out on Wednesday, 15 of the Knickerbockers 45 losses were by five points or less. That is a lot of close games to drop, especially when you finish just one game out of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. It was not only a fourth quarter struggle, but a full-game problem. Despite ranking 11th in the NBA in points allowed per game, the Knicks gave up 106.5 points per 100 possessions, the seventh worst mark in the league.

Practicing situationally and in the grand scheme of a season will both be factored into what they will work on.

With that being said — and the fact that they traded away Tyson Chandler, resident rim-protector and 2012 Defensive Player of the Year — this is far from an easy task. Individually, the Knicks’ best defenders are probably Iman Shumpert and Samuel Dalembert. Both those players, however, feature downsides. Shumpert is no offensive threat and Dalembert won’t give you much more than 20 minutes per game.

There are a lot of things to improve on for this team, so it will be hard to focus in on specific things. With their talent and the fact that they play in a weaker conference, the turnaround might not be as strenuous as it would be for another franchise. Fisher is being very proactive by initiating the ritual of ending practice with a defensive drill. By doing this so early in the season, this shows they are facing their weaknesses head-on in an attempt to make them strengths.

All players and coaches remember the end of practice. The last memory of practice has the power to finish a good day or erase some of the memories of earlier struggles, both resulting in smiling faces heading into the locker room. If the Knicks are walking out of practice everyday after making some solid progress on the defensive side of the ball, that confidence could carry over to games and help them improve over the course of the season.

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