My outlook after all that is overwhelmingly positive.
- Dude was coaching out the gate, shouted out his bosses and instantly addressed players in attendance including speaking to them. That's a quick connection play and a nice gesture.
- The enthusiasm seems real. On a couple of questions about why he picked this challenge, he would stop mid-response to remark something like "how many times do you get to coach in the Garden really?" The excitement was on his face and in those pauses.
- The implication of a Riley style conditioning program is HYPE. Fiz focusing on defense all presser was great too.
- The one blemish to me was a real lack of offensive vision. I don't know his plans and when asked about his plans he was vague. He wouldn't put players in a box or cap them which is good, but if you didn't know who KP, Frank, Mudiay or Burke were before the presser then his responses wouldn't clue you in to the types of players they are. Asked what he plans for the three PG's, he corrected that they're Guards rather than PG's and said "throw them out there and we'll find out." I Like that he's gonna play these guys, but that's about all I got on the offensive end.
- Back to the positives, he's already talking to players including guys like Noah which shows he can have influence out the gate.
- There's a real chemistry in how Mills and Perry mix responses in after Fiz talks. There's cohesion and that's the most promising bit of all. This is especially true when they talk "no shortcuts" which makes me wonder if the "bud wants to win" part of the rumors did him in on this coaching search.
- The New York Beat bothers me. They asked about KP for a second then pivoted that to Marc Gasol and what went wrong in Memphis. Question one was about KP and the next 10 minutes were about why Fiz failed before. But the good about it was Fiz mentioning that he learned from it. He owned the issues and talked about learning from it.
- Accountability and defense were the words of the day...I love both.
- In general, it was a typical press conference though. We're supposed to get excited and like what we here. That was the easy part and Fiz nailed it down well. What comes next is the truly important bit. I think they established respect for Fiz and goals that didn't trap him on a timeline or need to win. Step one accomplished.