New York Knicks: Be Patient with Phil Jackson’s Vision

If you’re asking the New York Knicks to send Phil Jackson on his way, you’re clearly satisfied with the status quo. Another early exit would only continue New York’s unproductive pattern.

If you’re at all connected to the New York Knicks community, you’ve heard many impatient fans call for Phil Jackson’s job. A 17-65 record in 2014-15, as well as New York missing the playoffs in 2015-16, simply hasn’t been enough to appease title-hungry Knicks fans.

If New York does pull the trigger on firing Jackson, all it will be doing is repeating the same mistakes that put New York into its current predicament.

All parting ways with Phil Jackson would do is continue the same pattern that thrust the Knicks into obscurity in the first place.

New York has an uncanny ability to give up on coaches and general managers before their vision can be executed to its fullest extent. It routinely judges an unfinished product with no sight for the future, and that’s cost many men their jobs in the past.

There’s no telling if said coaches and executives would or wouldn’t have led the Knicks to championship success. What’s become abundantly clear is that New York is more interested in the quick fix than the achievement of sustainable success.

That formula fails far more often than it works.

Give It Time to Grow

Since making the 1999 NBA Finals, the New York Knicks have hired six general managers in 17 seasons. One could argue that all have been underwhelming, but there’s no denying that the following statistic is a concerning one.

Since 2000-01, the Knicks have hired a new general manager or team president roughly once every three seasons.

Since Jeff Van Gundy was let go in 2001, the Knicks have had 10 head coaches in 15 seasons—and an 11th is expected to be hired during the summer of 2016. In other words, New York is hiring a new head coach once every 1.5 seasons, and that rate is soon to grow.

Thus, one can’t help but wonder why people feel firing yet another general manager two seasons into their tenure is a wise idea.

Forget about the fact that Phil Jackson has already re-signed the franchise player and drafted the heir apparent. Ignore the cost-friendly deal handed to Robin Lopez and how New York is already No. 1 in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage at the rim behind RoLo’s effort and influence.

If you need a reason to be patient with Jackson, try the fact that firing him would be nothing more than a continuation of the same mistakes that dragged New York down into its current predicament.

Trusting Jackson may not work out, but at least New York will have given someone a chance to build something—the only rational way to go about, you know, building something.

Blowing Up a Sinking Ship

The most common criticism of Phil Jackson is that the New York Knicks were better off without him. Many reference the Knicks’ record, but that is not a product of The Zen Master’s leadership.

Here’s the thing: New York was bad before Phil Jackson arrived.

Everyone loves to reference the 2012-13 season, and with good reason. Behind Carmelo Anthony winning the scoring title, New York went 54-28 and won the division for the first time since 1994.

Here’s the thing: New York had already dropped from 54-28 to 37-45 before Jackson’s arrival.

Rather than attempting to pull the last shreds of greatness out of the roster that won 54 games, Jackson accepted that the team’s window had closed. It wasn’t some egomaniacal attempt at proving he could build his own roster, but instead an acknowledgement of what we all knew.

As if a 17-win decline with a generally healthy roster wasn’t evidence enough, Jackson put an end to the illogical belief that the Knicks could win a championship with the previous roster.

Building a Winning Culture

Championship teams are built over time. Even the proverbial super-teams require some measure of patience before they gel and become the dominant forces they’re supposed to be.

While most have accused Phil Jackson of moving at too slow of pace, The Zen Master is focused more on building a winning culture than crafting an overnight contender with a short lifespan.

Many will point to Carmelo Anthony’s age, and with good reason; the franchise player will turn 32 years old on May 29. Beyond Anthony, however, is a 20-year-old rookie named Kristaps Porzingis who is showing all of the signs of being the future face of the organization.

Along with 27-year-old Robin Lopez, who’s completing the first season of a cost-effective four-year deal, Porzingis already has the Knicks at No. 1 in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage at the rim.

Individually, Porzingis is doing things that have never been achieved before.

Between the elite rim protection, the future star, and Anthony transforming his game for the better—a career-high 4.2 assists per game, and career-best defense are evidence enough—Jackson is well on his way to building a team that can contend for years to come.

Rather than abandoning Jackson’s vision for the Knicks after just admittedly underwhelming seasons, it’d behoove New York to see it through. It may not work out for the best, but The Zen Master has already blessed New York with a player who can be built around as the next face of the franchise.

In the city that never sleeps, New York Knicks fans must find it in themselves to provide Jackson with something uncharacteristic and uncommon: patience.

More knicks: Alvin Gentry believes Phil Jackson covets Luke Walton as a potential head coach

Rather than calling for his job, Knicks fans should be relishing the opportunity to tell rival fans: In Phil We Trust.