New York Knicks: Phil Jackson Upset Over ‘Loser’s Mentality’
By Evan Massey
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has been upset over the teams ‘loser’s mentality’ this season.
The New York Knicks entered a brand new era of basketball this season under Phil Jackson and new head coach Derek Fisher. There were expected to be some struggles and some up-and-downs throughout the year, but with a 4-18 start so far things are beginning to boil over and collapse right in front of their eyes.
Whether it be inconsistency from players like Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, and the majority of the roster, or simply losing games to opponents that they should be beating, things haven’t gone well. Jackson is getting sick of the type of play that he has seen on the court, and talked to the media about the disappointing start of the season.
"“It’s about a loser’s mentality. It’s not about the skill or the talent level. Obviously, we’re disappointed. I think guys understand what we’re trying to do. Hopefully, they’re getting to be more compliant. There’s some resistance to discipline and order and culture change and things like that. I will call it a crucible for what we’re going through here. The process, maybe the heat, is going to refine some of the stuff so that we come out and be a pretty good team after all is said and done.”"
Jackson agreed to a five-year deal with the Knicks worth $80 million, and was hoping to get the Knicks back into playoff contention this season. He was able to re-sign Anthony, and made a big trade that brought Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert to the team while also getting rid of two major headaches in Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton.
Things just haven’t worked out the way that they were planned, and things in New York are beginning to implode. Jackson still has faith that the team can rebound and get things back on track, and he believes that he has built a team with enough talent to compete in the Eastern Conference.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
Anthony hasn’t been nearly the superstar that the Knicks need him to be, and has been dealing with some injury struggles himself. He has averaged 23.2 points on 45.3 shooting overall and 34.5 percent from behind the three-point arc. His aggressiveness scoring the ball hasn’t been nearly where it was last season, and that is something that the Knicks need him to pick up in order to win.
Amar’e Stoudemire has bounced back with a solid season this year so far, averaging 12.9 points and 7.9 rebounds. Unfortunately, the Knicks still don’t have that legitimate number two option behind Anthony that can help step up whenever their superstar has an off game.
There is still a chance that the Knicks could make a run at the postseason if they can begin turning things around immediately, but it isn’t all that likely. It appears more likely that New York will end up with a high draft pick and can look at next season as another chance to get back into postseason contention. Needless to say, this season has been a major disaster in Jackson’s first full season as team president.
Assuming things don’t turn around this year, it will be very intriguing to see what changes Jackson makes in the offseason. He has been known to get rid of players that he doesn’t like, and there are probably quite a few right now that could see an end to tenure’s in New York. That being said, there is plenty of basketball left to be played this season before all of that comes to the forefront.