Madison Square Garden President James Dolan, Knicks President Phil Jackson, and Gerenal Manager Steve Mills. |
This appears on the NBA website.
Who can coach
Jackson’s Knicks?
by rick olivares with photos by nathaniel butler nba/getty images
Phil Jackson is now President of the New York Knicks.
“A power move” in the words of Carmelo Anthony. And James Dolan and the city of
eight million are hoping that he can turn this moribund team into a winner. Dolan
has gone on record to cede basketball matters to Jackson and general manager
Steve Mills: "I'm happy now that we have the
team of Phil and Steve to do that, and my whole job here now is supporting them
to win a championship."
There’s no need to recount Jackson’s resume that is
well known to every sports fan. Having said that. Let’s throw him an assist as
he tries to figure out who will coach the Knicks for 2014-onwards (you don’t
really think that Mike Woodson is staying, do you).
Before we list the candidates, Jackson
already bared in broad terms what he hopes to lay out. First off, the culture
of creating “Security of knowing they
will be supported by the coaching staff and the organization. Developing a
health record in which injuries are limited. Developing a mindset which focuses
on a capability. Developing a system so that balls are moved and passes are
made and people make cuts to create opportunities for teammates. These things
are opportunity for me.”
With the latter statements, he pretty much said he is
installing the triangle offense in the Big Apple.
Now who could be more familiar than that than some
former players and protégés?
Steve Kerr has five NBA championship rings from his time in
Chicago and San Antonio. Played for two of the all-time great coaches in Phil
Jackson and Greg Popovich. Learned how to play with superstar players Michael
Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman in Chicago; and Tim Duncan, David
Robinson, and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio. He worked in the capacity of the
general manager of the Phoenix Suns from 2007-10 and was an basketball analyst
for TNT and for Yahoo Sports.
In his first year in the Suns’ front office, Phoenix
finished second in the Pacific (dropping from first the previous year). After
his second year that saw the Suns continue to drop in terms of win-loss totals,
Phoenix bounced back after fixing their coaching woes (Alvin Gentry became the
full time head coach after transitioning from Terry Porter) in 2009-10. Kerr
retired after that year.
In my opinion, that provides a wealth of experience
and knowledge as well as a unique perspective that should help him should he
get into coaching. He’s played for bad teams (Cleveland) and some darn good
ones. He’s had some difficult teammates (Dennis Rodman and even Jordan to an
extent) and some terrific ones (Scottie Pippen). Plus, Kerr played for Jackson
for five years and knows how the Zen Master ticks. I have always thought that
Kerr had an astute mind for the game.
He might come in as a rookie head coach but why not?
They Knicks have had veteran coaches in the past few years in Mike D’Antoni and
Mike Woodson and they never went anywhere.
Kurt Rambis has come from being one of the unsung heroes of
1980s Lakers’ Showtime to being a Jackson lieutenant. He did get a chance to
briefly coach the Lakers in 1999 following Del Harris’ dismissal and parlayed
that into Minnesota job for a couple of years but they were disastrous to say
the least.
Currently a Lakers assistant, I don’t think Clark
Kent will be making the trip eastward.
Now there aren’t too much other Jackson-people out
there as Brian Shaw might be unavailable as he is in his first year with the
Denver Nuggets so the Zen Master will have to look elsewhere and to some other
coaches who aren’t too familiar with the triangle offense.
Byron Scott has had a relative successful career in coaching
after a successful playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana
Pacers. But in all his head coaching stops, he got initial results with New
Jersey, New Orleans, and Cleveland but wore everyone down. Sort of reminds me
of Doug Collins. And both have been let go from their positions with
acrimonious departures.
But make no mistake. Scott can get the job done. He
took the Nets to the Finals. He also coached the Hornets to a Southwest
Division title and won the Coach of the Year Award. With Cleveland, he had the
misfortune of following a post-LeBron Cavs team that was terrible than
terrible.
George Karl is another coach who can turn franchises around.
He’s done that with Seattle then proved everyone wrong by going to a Denver
Nuggets team that really didn’t have anyone.
Jackson should identify with Karl’s CBA roots where
he won two Coach of the Year Awards with the Montana Golden Nuggets (Jackson is
from Montana) and had a stint with the Albany Patroons (where Phil won his very
first title as head coach). He took a Golden State Warriors team that won only
30 games the previous year to playoffs in his first year of coaching them.
Karl guided a Sonics team to the NBA Finals in
1995-96 where they lost to Jackson’s Bulls. With Milwaukee, Karl built a
winner. And in Denver, his Nuggets were one of the best and he was honored with
his first NBA Coach of the Year Award in 2013.
Stan Van
Gundy is recharged after a couple of
years away from professional coaching. He’s done well with the Miami Heat and
the Orlando Magic while earning a reputation as an outstanding good tactician.
While he can turn moribund teams into contenders, getting them over the final
hump is altogether another question. But an move to the east is a long shot as
Van Gundy has stated a preference to stay in warmer climates.
If all fails, Jackson could
possibly step down into the sidelines just to jumpstart the Knicks.
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