Former National Basketball Association head coach Phil Jackson appears
to be happy in retirement and he isn’t afraid to give his opinion. In a
recent interview with HBO’s “Real Sports”, Jackson classified The New
York Knicks as “clumsy”. Jackson was never offered The Knicks head
coaching job which went to Mike Woodson, but he believes that Knick
stars Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire cannot play with each other
and he is very accurate. Jackson has won 11 NBA Championships while
coaching The Chicago Bulls and The Los Angeles Lakers respectively.
Jackson will only take over a team that is on the cusp of winning a
title and The Knicks currently do not fall into that category.
Jackson took over The Bulls in 1989 and by 1991, Jackson and Bulls guard
Michael Jordan were hoisting up their first of six NBA Championships
together. In 1999 Jackson went to Tinseltown and he was charged with
getting Laker stars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to co-exist. The
Lakers went on to win The NBA Title in each of Jackson’s first three
seasons in Hollywood. Prior to becoming the head coach of The Lakers,
Jackson turned down an offer to become the head coach of The Vancouver
Grizzlies who like The Knicks were not close to winning a championship.
Unlike Larry Brown who is infamous for turning water into wine, Jackson
will not put his championship hands on a team unless they are close to
reaching The Promised Land.
The Knicks are a team that currently has a zenith of the second round.
The Knicks are filled with “me” type players in the form of Anthony,
Stoudemire, and J.R. Smith. These players are more worried about their
individual statistics than the most important stat which are wins. When
you have a team like that championships are not in the balance.
When Jackson took over in Chicago he was charged with making Jordan a
better team player. Jackson was able to make Jordan see that team ball
was the only way that The Bulls would be able to make it past The
Detroit Pistons in the playoffs. In Los Angeles, Jackson made O’Neal
take his game to new heights as he became arguably the most dominant big
man that the game of basketball has ever seen while Bryant was
attempting to become the heir apparent to Jordan. Jackson knows what it
takes to win in Gotham as he was a player on both Knick championship
teams in 1970 and 1973.
Those Knick teams that Jackson played on won because they played as a
team. Walt Frazier never held the ball for the majority of the
possession and if he did Willis Reed would have knocked some sense into
him. Holding the ball for the majority of the team’s offensive
possession is an Anthony trademark which does not benefit the team.
While Anthony holds the ball, his four teammates turn into mannequins
while he makes up his mind as far as what to do with the basketball.
Smith has never seen a shot that he didn’t like while Stoudemire is at
his best when he is playing with a prolific point guard like Steve Nash
when he was a member of The Phoenix Suns.
Anthony and Stoudemire cannot play together and due to the large
contracts that both players have, The Knicks are stuck with them. The
Eastern Conference has been recently dominated by The Boston Celtics and
The Miami Heat lately as those are the two teams that The Knicks cannot
figure out. Both teams plays team basketball which has allowed them to
turn Madison Square Garden into their own personal playground. It will
continue to be that way because The Celtics and Heat play for each other
both offensively and defensively. Jackson was on the money with his
characterization and while he decides on his next vacation venture with
Jeanie Buss, he can still sit back and laugh at the futility of The
Knicks.
The Knicks have Jeremy Lin, but he cannot play with Carmelo because (he) slows down the offense too much. Something has gotta give for The Knicks or else ‘Melo will be run out of town.
As I knicks fan…I agree. Having all the talent in the world doesn’t get you a Chip. Not even Oreos. With Melo & Stat they can win. A coach like Jackson could’ve helped. Anyone who can tame Shak & The Black Mamba could help the knicks. I see them a true point guard away. Not that they have talent like Phil had in Chicago or L.A. but they have potential.