Even before a startling news conference …

Even before a startling news conference in the wake of a blowout loss to Cleveland, New York Knicks president Steve Mills had started to lay the internal groundwork for the eventual dismissal of coach David Fizdale, league sources told ESPN. Mills is selling owner James Dolan on a roster constructed to be highly competitive in the Eastern Conference, leaving Fizdale vulnerable to an ouster only weeks into the second season of a four-year contract that league sources say is worth $22 million.

Rival coaches and executives see a …

Rival coaches and executives see a mismatched Knicks roster slow of foot, without legitimate NBA guard play but Mills is selling Dolan on a poorly coached team that is underachieving at 2-8 to start the season, league sources said. Around Madison Square Garden and the league, the timing and tone of the news conference was met with considerable surprise and dismay — and considered completely undermining of Fizdale. “Everyone is moving to their positions now,” a league source close to management and the coaching staff told ESPN. “This is how they’ll make (Fizdale) the fall guy.”

Greece coach Rick Pitino says he is …

Greece coach Rick Pitino says he is planning on trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympics without Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Pitino officially took over as coach of the Greek national basketball team on Monday. He said he would leave a roster place open for Antetokounmpo in qualifying games but is not sure if he will be able to rely on his best player.

The 19-year-old Frenchman was on his …

The 19-year-old Frenchman was on his way to starting for 16 seasons. “During training camp, and then the first couple of games, I was really tough on him, gave him a lot of things to think about, a lot of things to do,” Popovich said “(I) put him on the best players on the other team whenever I could. And he showed that he had the fortitude and the courage to do this and the challenge of taking over a team that’s supposed to be successful wasn’t going to matter to him. He was just going to play. “I just gave him the ball and said, “This is yours. Figure it out, and I am going to love you and dump on you, both at the same time.’

“Given that this is our 10th game, we …

“Given that this is our 10th game, we felt like we had an obligation to come and speak to you guys,” Mills said. “Obviously, Scott and I are not happy with where we are right now. We think the team’s not performing to the level that we anticipated or we expected to perform at and that’s something that we think we have to collectively do a better job of delivering the product on the floor that we said we would do at the start of this season.