As Mike Miller prepares for his first game as Knicks interim head coach on Saturday night, he met with the media for the first time since David Fizdale was fired.
Here are the biggest takeaways from what Miller had to say before Saturday's tipoff with the Pacers:
Thanking the team
Miller, who spent four seasons at the helm of the Westchester Knicks of the G League before making the jump to an assistant with Fizdale this season, started his press conference by thanking Fizdale and the Knicks.
"I would like to thank Coach Fiz for the opportunity to be a part of his staff and to work with such a great group of coaches," said Miller. "I'm very appreciative there, and [I] would like to thank the entire Knicks organization. I've been here, as you know, this is my fifth year working for the Knicks, and I'm very appreciative to the entire organization for giving me the opportunity to start and work my way up into the organization."
Finding out he was named interim head coach
Miller said that he was notified Friday afternoon about becoming the team's interim coach, and that he spoke with Fizdale after receiving the news, though he said he's keep that conversation private.
While the last 24-plus hours have been a bit of a whirlwind, he's tried to keep the focus on the players.
"I didn't know I was this popular. I'm not sure my phone is functioning now. I have so many messages and so forth," Miller said. "It's been, going through the last 24 hours, we've been communicating nonstop with our group and working through things.
"I have no sense of time right now as it's moved. [I found out] yesterday afternoon, and where we've really pushed all the focus is with the players and the staff to work on what we've talked about: let's get ready for this game, play more consistent on both sides of the ball."
"Well we've been doing a lot of talking with players, coaches, and staff, and again, so fortunate to have such a great group and be as connected as what we are," Miller added.
Areas of Improvement
The word used most often by Miller during his first press conference was 'consistent.' As the team looks to climb out of their 4-18 hole, Miller is looking for more consistent play overall, and better ball movement on offense.
"Our focus has been on the consistency on both ends of the floor," said Miller. "That's where it's at.
"The players, we have a high-character group of players. They're professional, they come in, they work every day, and the message is we want to be more consistent. We're going to be more consistent in what we do and how we work play to play, possession to possession.
"We really feel like offensively, if we took one area, when we're moving the ball and we have a constant movement and we have that force with the ball, we've seen a lot of good things happen. So that's one area that we would like to go to work on."
Player Development
Player development has been one of Miller's strong suits through his coaching career, both in college and in the G League.
He said that will not change as he takes over the reins for New York.
"There's always a focus on player development," Miller said. "That's obviously the foundation of every team, and that will always be something that's very important."
