The New York Knicks had a very busy offseason. They hired Phil Jackson as president. He quickly dealt center Tyson Chandler and point guard Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks were able to meet their biggest goal, re-signing star forward Carmelo Anthony. Then, Jackson hired one of his former players, Derek Fisher, as the Knicks’ head coach.
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Fisher told Al Iannazzone of New York News Day the team is committed to defense and believes the Knicks can be an elite defensive team.
"After going 37-45 last season — 17 games worse than 2012-13 — Jackson said he believes the Knicks will be a playoff team this year in the revamped Eastern Conference and thinks the Atlantic Division is wide open.But at least for right now, Jackson and Fisher are concerned with seeing how the Knicks, with seven new faces, play together and pick up the triangle offense and commit to defense.“I think defense is what we have to focus on from Day One,” said Fisher, who played on five NBA championship teams under Jackson with the Lakers. “We got to figure out a way to break into that elite defensive teams.”"
If Samuel Dalembert, one of the players that came over in the trade with the Mavericks, can protect the rim and the Knicks complete buy in to Jackson and Fisher’s system, they should be able to improve upon what was a very disappointing unit last season.
Be sure to check FanSided’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league as we get you ready for the start of the 2014-2015 season.
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