New York Knicks

Kurt Rambis is being totally delusional about the Knicks

Published Mar. 7, 2016 10:09 a.m. ET

foxsports

The New York Knicks are miserable. They're 26-38, currently 6.5 games back of a playoff spot with four teams in their way. What's this mean? With 18 games left in the regular season, New York's chances of making the postseason are about zero.

Does this mean interim head coach Kurt Rambis will start looking toward the future by giving younger players heavy minutes, slotting Kristaps Porzingis at center (his long-term NBA position) and experimenting with different lineups to see what the Knicks have moving forward?

Common sense says yes, but Rambis is more concerned with winning as many games as he can, and trying to keep his job beyond this year, than developing the few promising youngsters the Knicks have on their roster (via ESPN):

“Is there going to be a point in the season where you just go 'we’re going to play the young guys'? I’m not there yet,” Rambis said. “If management tells me at some point in time that we’re there and they want to make that change, then that’s something that I’ll defer to them. As a coach, I’m not there yet. So I’m going to go with the guys that I trust and have the experience right now.”

This is a mistake, but it's easy to see where Rambis is coming from. If Knicks President Phil Jackson wants Rambis to be his head coach for the next few seasons, well, first of all: why? Second, give Rambis some sense of job security so he won't feel pressure to win meaningless games down the stretch of a lost season.

New York has played its veterans this entire season, and that strategy hasn't exactly been the most successful thing in the world.

Why not unleash Porzingis at the five, put the ball in his hands and get a glimpse of his potential as a primary small-ball option? Why not start Jerian Grant and Langston Galloway in the backcourt just to see what their athleticism does to New York's molasses-slow attack?

It's worth a look, but Rambis is too afraid such risk will lead to too many losses and he'll wind up out of a job. Sometimes, though, the coach should probably just take one for the team. This is a perfect example.