Derek Fisher has no problem with using 13 players
Derek Fisher of the New York Knicks looks on in the first half against the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Coach Derek Fisher is still figuring it out, but until he settles on a bench rotation that works, he thinks having 12 or 13 players out there every game and in different situations can help the Knicks more than hinder them.
"[It's] more of an advantage than a challenge," Fisher said before the Knicks faced the Heat on Friday night at the Garden. "It creates an environment where every guy, I think, will continue to make sure he's ready when his number is called . . . Even if our rotation tightens up at different points and we play nine or 10 guys in a particular game, we have 12 or 13 guys that are capable and hopefully that will help us over the course of an 82-game season."
Despite a strong start, recent bench woes, including significant drop-offs from Jerian Grant, Langston Galloway and Derrick Williams, have prompted speculation that the Knicks would be better off if they used a steady cadre of substitutes who know how to work together.
Fisher said previously that "the rotation happens that night" and that he decides how to deploy his bench on a case-to-case basis.
The bench did have a revival Friday night in the Knicks' 97-78 loss. The reserves scored 46 of the 78 points, led by Kevin Seraphin's 10 and Williams' nine.
Before On Friday night's anemic performance by the Knicks' starters, Fisher noted that the starting five "is going pretty good, but it's my job to continue to figure and search for how to substitute guys, how to get our rotation in a way where we can sustain that and not have the drop-offs in the second and fourth quarter.''
It's something that bogged them down in losses in Miami and Orlando, where the bench was outscored 73-22.
Fisher offered some perspective on the current situation. "It's different than a year ago, so I like feeling this way more than I felt last year," when they were 4-12 after 16 games.
Notes & quotes: Former Knick Amar'e Stoudemire did not travel with the Heat to New York because of illness.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
