Schmeelk: Phil The Recruiter Must Overcome Past Knicks Mistakes
By John Schmeelk
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When a team like the Knicks hires someone like Phil Jackson, there are two huge advantages that should bear out.
The first is autonomy, and the ability of Jackson to do things without owner James Dolan interfering. What happened to Donnie Walsh when he tried to trade for Carmelo Anthony shouldn't, in theory, happen to Jackson.
The second advantage Jackson should bring to the Knicks is recruitment. The old legend of Pat Riley dumping out a bag full of championship rings in front of LeBron James to recruit him to Miami comes to mind.
It's time for Jackson to pull something like that off. In his first spring as Knicks general manager he failed to land his first choice for coach: Steve Kerr.
Whether he lost Kerr because Dolan was stubborn to his contract demands (as has been reported), or Jackson simply let Kerr go to a better geographical fit for him in Golden State is still unclear. The bottom line, however, is all that matters. Kerr did not become the coach of the Knicks. You can argue how vital Kerr is to the success of the Warriors given their immense talent, but you can't argue he wouldn't have been a better fit than Derek Fisher with the Knicks.
Now Jackson has stepped into the batter's box again. This time the best candidate from his coaching tree is Luke Walton, who will be the target of many teams with a coaching vacancy this offseason. He already turned down the Nets job, which went to Kenny Atkinson.
After Marc Berman of the New York Post reported Sunday night that Jackson had contacted Walton, it took all of two hours for Frank Isola of the Daily News to report that Walton has no interest in the Knicks job at this time. It has been reported since that Walton might change his mind after the Warriors' playoff run due to the "unique" opportunity to coach under Jackson, but the consensus around the league seems to be that Walton will stay put. Jackson also failed to get Walton as a Knicks assistant coach last season.
So far, Jackson's recruiting skills have left a lot to be desired. If he can't convince his own former players with whom he has a great relationship to come to the Knicks, then who can he get? How is he going to get the top free agents in a shallow market to come here in the offseason? Last year, Fisher, who given his recent tenure as a player in the league should be trusted, told Jackson not to stress the triangle offense in meetings with players. Ostensibly, playing in the triangle is not considered an attraction to the current NBA player.
Installing a system and way of playing basketball is great, but having the right coach and players to implement that system is far more important. Jackson needs to do that with both a coach and a great player badly, starting this summer or the Knicks aren't going to get any better anytime soon.
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No one needs to tell Knicks fans how disastrous the head coaching situation has been since Jeff Van Gundy left. Fans never pined for the likes of Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkins, Larry Brown, Isiah Thomas, Mike D'Antoni, Mike Woodson or Derek Fisher. D'Antoni was the best of them, but he couldn't mesh his style with Anthony.
The problem the Knicks ran into was Dolan's refusal to continue on with the Riley and Van Gundy coaching trees after Van Gundy quit. The franchise didn't see the coaching talent that was already on the roster. Tom Thibodeau and Steve Clifford were both not only on Van Gundy's staff, but also on Chaney's staff after Van Gundy quit. Scott Layden passed on both men for Chaney and then Thomas rid the coaching roster of the two of them after he took over. They are both very highly respected head coaches.
When D'Antoni came in under Walsh, Atkinson became an assistant. Atkinson didn't survive the transition from D'Antoni. He is now considered one of the best player development coaches in the NBA.
The Knicks simply need to get their next coaching hire right. They can't be changing coaches again in three seasons or less. They need someone here to bring stability and order to what has been a chaotic organization. They need someone that can be here even after Jackson leaves. They need someone like Clifford or Thibodeau, two coaches the Knicks had but chose not to retain.
Those types of mistakes need to end.
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