Nothing wrong with the way Jackson was hired. He was Dolan's a,b,and c choice. he didn't believe he needed a second choice after Kerr. he had an agreement, which Kerr confirms. He is not roster building. Once the initial team didn't click, they went into tank mode. Anybody thinking or expecting different is nuts. They got what they could for Shumpert. Coming off last season and injuries this season, his value in trades was little. JR was considered poison by most of the leagues GM. Any reading during the last couple of seasons will confirm this. Most figured he would cost the Knicks just to ditch him. As far as Melo's surgery. Everybody knew he was getting it after the All Star game. If was in NY and he was going to be there no matter what. No complaint from me. He'll be ready in plenty of time for next season. Don't want him coming back earlier and helping to win games. The triangle stuff is so damned laughable. Its a motion offense similar to what the Spurs run. Idiots can't function in it, and neither can selfish or undisciplined players. NY had no strengths. I admire the patience and long range vision Jackson has. I know it will take years but that's the only way unless you're lucky. Melo, Towns plus a max FA, and a mid level FA could make them contenders.
Jackson's record says he understands that everything has to change and it wont be quick. That's how they got where they are.
First, there is everything wrong with the way he was hired, but thats on Dolan. If CD had set out to hire the best person he could to run/build his team, and had conducted a real process towards that end, and after doing his due diligence had come up with Jax as the answer, then great. Instead, it sorta went down like:
Dolan: please come be my coach
Jax: I won't/can't
Dolan: so please come be my GM
Just more of the same terrible star 'er approach that brought us Isiah Thomas.
True, he though he had Kerr (who would have been a great choice based on his record this year. does he play the triangle exclusively?) but that obviously didn't happen. Most managers in lesser positions with lesser stakes routinely have back up plans. For Jax to think he didn't need one, or not realize that he did, is negligence.
Agreed that no one, including Jax, expected this to be a pure dump season. That said, it was his roster that under performed so terribly that it became what it is. I may have not expected it, but I'm just a fan. He's the pro that put together this roster. What does that say about his ability to correctly evaluate?
Dumping Shump for basically nothing was the cost of getting rid of JR. I think the ability to actually get rid of that head case is probably the biggest exec plus I can give Jax so far. It wasn't an easy task. However, Shump himself could have brought back a 1st the year before when he was hurt and playing worse.
As for what everyone knew about Melo's timetable, so what. That was the perfect opportunity for Jax to assert himself as a real leader and dictate what's best for the team, which included not having his high paid superstar play 30 mins in a 100% meaningless game.
Lastly, the triangle stuff may be way overblown, but its Jax that perpetuates it and appears stubbornly resistant to any but it. From his own statement following the Shump/JR trade:
“As our journey moves through this season, we will search for the type of players that fit the style we hope to exhibit for our fans,” Phil Jackson said in a statement. “Our desire is to improve our ability to compete. In addition, these transactions improve our flexibility to the current roster and the salary cap for future seasons.”
To me his statement reads: We need people to fit my system, and we also got some cap room.
So he was supposed to have acquired building blocks by Feb. of his first year? They cleared cap space and will have a a high pick. Beyond thatit's way too early to call.
I'm puzzled at how he was supposed to have acquired building blocks by this point.
Not saying he should be building a world beater right away. He was supposed to build a decent roster for year 1, and be able to correctly assess what that roster can/would do. Once it went to tank mode, he should be doing everything possible to increase the team's position for the future. With the Melo situation he definately didn't. With some of the moves he did make, he probably may have been able to get a better return. I wish we could have gotten the OKC 1st we were rumored to get in Shump/JR dump but of course we didn't.
I do give him a half star for embracing the dump and not trying to tread water but still don't see yet the player(s) he had the vision to acquire for us. The first of those will probably come in the draft but that won't be as a direct result of his planning but rather as a fall in your lap bonus for the implosion of a season which wasn't his plan.
Again, I ask you to show me anything he has done with the Knicks that you can look at and say, wow, that was a 100% great move!
