After advancing past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in 13 years in 2012-13, the New York Knicks crashed back to earth in spectacular fashion last season, going from a division-topping 54 wins to a 37-win lottery team.
Phil Jackson took over as team president towards the end of that injury-plagued, drama-filled comedy of errors, hiring the recently retired Derek Fisher as head coach this summer.
Jackson has been open about the Knicks needing to go through a process to return to legitimate contention, but he's not shying away from moderate expectations in his first full season on the job.
"We believe we're gonna be a playoff team (this year)," Jackson told the Wall Street Journal. "Then we don't know how far we can go."
While the Knicks are nowhere near as good as the team that won 54 games two seasons ago, they're probably better than what they showed last season, and the playoffs aren't out of the question in the weak Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks all enter the season as better teams than the Knicks. Sure, unexpected events take place every year and the Knicks could very well leapfrog a couple of those teams. But a realistic path to the postseason for the Knicks likely involves battling the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons just to squeak into the eighth and final spot.
If they are going to beat out some of those teams to return to the postseason, the Knicks will have to improve on a woeful defense that allowed 106.5 points per 100 possessions and ranked 24th last season.
The need for a vastly improved defense isn't lost on Fisher, who says it's the most important thing for the team to fix.
The rookie head coach also announced that forward Carmelo Anthony is the only Knick guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup.
