Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. New York Knicks fans still shouldn’t pay any mind to rumors of his return for home games in 2016-17.
It’s no secret that Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, having the most championships as a coach to date. It’s been rumored that he has shown interest in coaching the New York Knicks during their home games in 2016-17, but let’s be honest: that isn’t a good idea.
As we’re all aware, Jackson coached the infamous Chicago Bulls and managed the egos of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. He also coached the Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant, who has been viewed as one of the NBA’s more selfish players throughout his career. Despite these players’ mentalities, Jackson was able to reshape rosters and draw up plays that would ultimately result in 11 championship rings.
What I really want to be understood from this massive rant is: Jackson coached these teams throughout their entire season.
The idea of taking the reigns of the New York Knicks roster for only home games– as it was rumored by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN — is absurd. The Knicks are 16-18 at home this season, so perhaps Jackson would be able to offer a bit of an improvement at the Garden. But what about the rest of the season?
The Knicks are a horrid 12-22 on the road this season, and those numbers come from two separate coaches. The betterment of their home performance sounds appealing, but when it isn’t balanced out by, at least, decent performances on the road, then the Knicks just end up back at square one.
Carmelo Anthony opposed the rumor and said that Jackson isn’t actually considering the coaching position.
Carmelo isn't buying this theory of Phil coaching only home games. Says it wouldn't be accepted. Carmelo is a wise man.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) March 15, 2016
But let’s say Jackson did consider taking on coaching responsibility. What would that entail for the Knicks?
Were he to coach, Jackson would likely try to stick with his age-old techniques, but it’s beginning to look like his strategies simply don’t work in New York. The triangle offense is hard to replicate for New York due to the lack of an all around point-guard. If Jackson does want to successfully institute the triangle, a point guard who fits the system should be on his hit-list for the summer.
Jackson needs to continue his role as president of basketball operations because he has managed to build a solid roster for a team that had been irrelevant the past three years. Jackson is of more use finding the talent to bring to New York as opposed to coaching it himself, which he is reportedly not going to do anyway.
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What he should be doing — on top of finding free agents that are willing to play for New York — is hunting for a coach that has a winning portfolio, unlike Kurt Rambis. Fisher only made it a year and a half into his coaching tenure and produced a wretched record for New York.
There are plenty of coaches looking for work, some of which include Mark Jackson and Tom Thibodeau. If I’m Phil Jackson, I’m putting all my effort into recruiting Thibodeau to New York because of his defensive-minded skill set.
The Knicks have been poor defenders for years now, and while Robin Lopez and Kristaps Porzingis offer ecellent rim protection, the Knicks don’t have much else.
Thibodeau could introduce a defensive culture to New York and turn their reputation around, but Jackson has to do the dirty work and convince him to join the Knicks.