New York Knicks: Will Phil Jackson Be the Knicks Next Head Coach?
Phil Jackson is arguably the greatest coach in the history of the National Basketball Association. His teams won 11 NBA championships during his 20 seasons with the Bulls and Lakers. His critics will argue that he won simply because he had the best players. His supporters counter by saying that it takes a great coach to manage superstar egos.
There is some truth to both sides of the argument. Personally, I believe Jackson had to be a great coach to blend the talent he had on his roster. As a basketball coach, the easiest thing to do is coach a team with one really good player that plays with a bunch of average players. If those average players want to win, they will have no problem letting the best player get the most shots, most points and most notoriety.
The hardest thing to do in coaching is to get two or three really good players to play well together, while still involving those role players on the team. Phil Jackson probably did that better than anybody in the history of the NBA, with apologies to Red Auerbach, the architect of the legendary Celtics dynasty.
So after the Dallas Mavericks knocked the LA Lakers out of the playoffs last year, they brought an end to the Lakers quest for a three-peat. Immediately, Jackson announced he would not be back to coach the Lakers. Of course the question was going to come up, "is this the last we've seen of Phil Jackson."
That is when Rick Carlisle gave us this epic quote.
"I don't know how long he can go to Montana and meditate. Or smoke peyote."
As for his return to coaching, when asked, Phil didn't rule it out. If there is one team out there that Phil might consider coming out of retirement for, I believe it is the New York Knicks. Why the Knicks? Well, first of all, Jackson was a member of their 1970 NBA championship team. That team was coached by Red Holzman, who was one of the truly great coaches in the NBA during that era. Holzman was a mentor to Jackson, having a tremendous influence on his coaching philosophy.
More importantly, I think the Knicks would be a great "triangle offense" team. Can you imagine the Knicks in the triangle offense, with Carmelo in the low post against an overmatched small forward? Can't you just picture the Knicks overloading one side of the floor, with Carmelo in the low post, and then swinging it to the other side, where Amare Stoudemire would kill somebody from the pinch-post area?
The strengths of the triangle play right into the strengths of the Knicks roster. The fact that the Knicks don't have a true center or a true point guard isn't a major concern for teams that run the triangle. The center position for the Bulls was held down by guys like Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley. The point guards were either BJ Armstrong or an aging Ron Harper.
My point is, you don't need superstar players at those spots to be able to run the triangle.
What you need are guys that are versatile scorers. Carmelo Anthony is the most complete, most versatile scorer in the NBA right now. He can shoot it, he can face up, and he has a low post game. Amare can do a lot of the same things that Carmelo does, and in my opinion, he is one of the best mid-range players in the game today.
I love Mike D'Antoni's style of play, the whole "seven seconds or less," but they need to make a big splash this year. The pressure is on for the Knicks to play better defense, and get deeper into the playoffs . Knicks fans are not patient people, and they know the window is closing with Stoudemire's history of injuries.
Otherwise, Phil Jackson may get a call from the Knicks, to see if he is tired of "meditating in Montana, and smoking peyote."
