CHICAGO — The Knicks made dark history Saturday night, officially becoming the franchise's worst team ever.
The Knicks are the losingest team in a history that dates to 1946-47. The Knicks notched their first 60-loss season in style — 60 losses for the $60 million team president Phil Jackson, who was not in his old haunt to witness the latest carnage.
Fisher's Knicks got blown out by 31 points by the Bulls, 111-80, at United Center as the barebones club suffered the Chicago blues in falling to an unimaginable 14-60. Four Knicks teams had lost 59 games, but no Knicks team ever posted a 60-loss season until Derek Fisher and Jackson joined forces. And there are still eight games left.
"It's difficult, especially with the thoughts we had going into the season, wanting to be in the playoffs,'' Cole Aldrich told The Post. "It's about not giving up now. We still have basketball to play."
In losing their seventh straight, the Knicks found it difficult to stop Pau Gasol inside (19 points), rookie Nikola Mirotic from deep (24 points) and versatile Jimmy Butler (18 points) from anywhere. Neither of the trio would likely be on the roster if the Bulls signed Carmelo Anthony.
It was Bulls 84, Knicks 53 in the final minute of the third quarter when bored Chicago fans started doing the wave. They already have a 16-game losing streak, 10-game losing streak and an eight-game losing streak.
Before the game, the usually sugarcoating Fisher said there is no excuse for his deplorable rookie record despite the wreckage of the roster.
However, Fisher took a poke at a recent online survey that voted him as the worst coach in the NBA.
Asked if it was unfair considering Jackson tore down the roster in January, Fisher said, "It's reality. When you take the job, there's no guarantee you'll be successful. There's no guarantee any particular year will go as well as it can go or as bad. It's part of the journey. It's the first year. I'll learn a lot from it. I don't think we can look at anything in this business as unfair. You learn from the tough times, bad nights, the losses.''
Fisher didn't take kindly to an ESPN panel of 200 basketball experts that ranked Fisher 30th among NBA coaches. "I used to hear and see similar rankings when I was a player and how low I used to rank,'' Fisher said. "The 200-plus players above me didn't have near the success I had before. There will be coaches who will always be better than me, have more success and better records, but I don't need validation from 200 random people on a website to tell me what I can and can't do.''
The fan base has shifted focus on the draft lottery and free agency. The Knicks likely will have a top-four pick with a legitimate shot at low-post center Jahlil Okafor and athletic big Karl-Anthony Towns. They will have more than $30 million to spend on free agents. But Fisher said it's no lock that means things will change next season, pointing toward the summer of 2010, when the Knicks had a ton of cap space and made the wrong decision in signing knee-challenged Amar'e Stoudemire.
"We have a lot of money to spend,'' Fisher said. "We'll get a chance to sign someone. But that's no guarantee of anything. We should all learn from the past in terms of the history of our organization. Spending money on people really doesn't mean anything. Who are they? Who are we? What are we trying to accomplish? What kind of culture are we trying to build? And all of that stuff has to come together. It doesn't matter who we get. It's what foundation we're bringing them into. Those are the habits we've been building no matter what our record is.''
Against the Bulls, the Knicks started a lineup of Shane Larkin, Langston Galloway, Andrea Bargnani, Lou Amundson and Lance Thomas. Three of the five players weren't even drafted. Along the ride, Jackson dumped Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, Samuel Dalembert and Stoudemire while Carmelo Anthony underwent season-ending surgery in February. Still, Fisher lost famously with those guys.
Bulls esteemed coach Tom Thibodeau gave Fisher high praise.
"Derek's done a terrific job,'' the former Knicks assistant coach said. 'His demeanor is outstanding. Anytime you take a hit like he's taken with Melo going out, it's a big hit.''
"This is my first year. Sometimes the support of the front office isn't always a good thing. A coach gets support of the front office and things don't end well. Our relationship will always go well. [Jackson] will always be supportive of me. But he's my boss. If something changes, something changes.''
Fisher said Ricky Ledo's status hasn't been determined on whether he will get a second 10-day contract.
His first 10-day deal expires Sunday. Ledo was coming off 10 turnovers in the last two games and shot 4 of 10 for 11 points Saturday vs. the Bulls and played better defense in a career-high 29 minutes. "He's done the best he could do under the circumstances,'' Fisher said.
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