Please forgive us if we’re a tad cynical about all this, if maybe we felt more than a subtle twinge of déjà vu.

Knicks president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry met the media and spoke of the interview process to find the one perfect coaching human to transform Madison Square Garden from a basketball House of Horrors back into a shrine to the game.

Here he was: David Fizdale, who proceeded to acknowledge the challenge before him while stressing the tools that would make the transformation possible. Stout defense. Get-everyone-involved offense. Accountability. Work.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and I love challenges. I love the history of the game and trying to make history,” Fizdale said.

Heard it before. On one side of the river from Derek Fisher, Phil Jackson (as an executive hire), Larry Brown, Jeff Hornacek, among others. From the other side of the river, or rivers, from John Calipari, Lionel Hollins, Butch Beard, to name a few.

But in 30-plus years of days that were “a landmark/great/historic/important” for one franchise or another, some guys actually went on and did what they said they would do. Pat Riley promised excellence. Chuck Daly promised defense and competition. Rick Pitino promised a nutty defensive style that could bring the playoffs (cue the Jim Mora tape) after three seasons of 24, 23 and 24 wins. Jeff Van Gundy promised work and dedication.

Sometimes, forecasts of excellence are fulfilled, and not with just one meager foray into the postseason. And the city hopes with intense fervor Tuesday becomes another one of those days.

Of course, there’s no way of knowing now. And it won’t be easy. They spoke of Fizdale’s championship pedigree in Miami. Of course, said pedigree came with LeBron James on the roster. Phil Jackson was a genius with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, then again with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, then not so much in New York. Fizdale has no idea when he’ll have his best player, Kristaps Porzingis, back from knee surgery.

And Porzingis is “the future of the NBA … super long, super athletic, super skilled, super tough-minded,” Fizdale said. We harken back to a Sparky Anderson quote: “If you ain’t got the horses, you ain’t holding parades.”

Oh yeah, a challenge.

There were no bold or brash guarantees of the playoffs or a can’t-miss time frame of a five-year plan. Fizdale spoke of developing and building the right way. No free-agent quick fix.

“I just know that if we build this thing right together with the guys we have here, who we’re focused on here, people will want to come,” Fizdale said.

And the 43-year-old coach stressed action. Words are, well, words, usually empty. Remember Jackson at his press conference promised transparency and a working cooperation with the media, then quickly became as accessible as government missile silos.

“They talk about the vision of defense, tough-minded, sharing the ball, pace, culture, accountability, those are just words. A lot of people have them on their walls, I’ve even put some of those words on walls in places. They’re very cliché in a lot of ways. But I’ve gotten to live a lot of these words, and fail through these words and achieve high things with these words,” Fizdale said. “It takes so much to win in this league, and if one person is off in one way, it crumbles.”

No promise of non-crumble. Just confident assertions that work/develop eventually will succeed. And players seemed willing to accept. Lance Thomas admits he’s heard it all before — but this time, he believes.

“He’s been a part of winning organizations, been a part of things that weren’t good. When adversity hits, he’s been able to persevere,” Thomas said. “It’s going to be tough especially in this market. You’ve got to have alligator skin. I know what it’s like to play here. I’m going to do everything in my power to help him.

“He speaks powerfully. He spoke confidently and I support a guy like that.”

But until there is something to judge on the court, it’s all words that have been heard so many times before.