Derek Fisher’s Militant Style Is Key To Victory

The New York Knicks opened up training camp just two days ago at West Point Military academy, and already the team feels there has been a change.

One of the biggest contributors the Knicks new mindset is the environment. The team visited the military academy Mess Hall Wednesday afternoon to dine with the cadets.

“What we’ve been able to do these past couple of days is accountability, leadership, being honest with one another, having each other’s back, teamwork, and that’s something that’s the cadets’ thing, what they live by,” Anthony said. “We had a great opportunity to have lunch with the cadets and talk to them about what teamwork really means.

This militant style is no coincidence. Coach Derek Fisher has always been a player that believes in accountability, and has brought that mindset to coaching.

“You see everybody now is willing to help one another,” Anthony said. “Everybody is very focused on the things that we have to be focused on. These past couple of days we’ve been very detail oriented on what we want to accomplish.”

One of the Knicks many flaws last season was the small details. The Knicks played very undisciplined, and unorganized.

Fisher has attacked that weakness the first week of training camp. “We finished with a defensive drill because part of our mindset will be that we have to finish every game with a stop to close out games,” Fisher said. “We lost 15 games last year by five points or less, so if you can get stops at the end of the game, more of those games can be wins.”