There could be a plethora of reasons to point to why Phil Jackson has failed miserably so far as New York Knicks boss, but one rises above the rest.
Hardened fans of the New York Knicks have become painfully familiar with it.
Unfortunately.
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National Basketball Association inner workings have taken center stage in New York City since Donnie Walsh excitingly took the helm back in 2008.
These inner workings and details of the association have created hot-words such as “stripping,” “clearing,” and of course “tanking” to be spit out by so many New Yorkers as they greet the hot dog guy or the next doorman en route to their destination.
The Knicks fan is well educated on how a team needs to rebuild in this league. Although it’s a terrible reality in itself for the NBA, tanking is the only way to come out with a possible future championship contender.
It’s exactly what Phil Jackson is executing right now as his team sports the worst record in the league, 14-60.
He’s doing the right thing, and regardless of your feelings about his reign up to this point, he should come out on the other side with a sparkling roster by the time 2015-16 kicks off.
Although, the overall feel on this franchise would’ve been warmer if Jackson passed his first test as Knicks boss.
Last summer, franchise player Carmelo Anthony opted out of his contract. No doubt this is ancient history, I won’t argue with that. However, it looms large moving forward.
What that time represented for Phil, however, was a brand-spanking new era of Knicks basketball. Sadly, he let us down in a major way.
Instead of Jackson being able to draft his franchise player this spring with a clean slate (hello Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns), he now has to draft a guy based on the premise of “fitting in” with Melo.
Jackson, being the master manipulator that he is, decided to make the proclamation that he’d only bring Melo back if he decided to take “less money.” He of course used the media to get his message across.
Long story short, Melo came back on a mega-deal worth $124 million over five-years — $5 million less than the max he could have received.
Should that $5 million mean anything to anybody? Absolutely not, as it was a transparent way for both sides to save face. Phil could tell the world he signed Anthony for less than the max; and Melo could claim to the Mecca he was willing to go with the hometown discount.
What means the world to New York basketball is the fact that Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony both went against their previous words.
We thought Jackson represented the new guard — one that wouldn’t give into anybody under any circumstances. The Anthony contract directly opposes that thought.
I mean, listen to Anthony stumble upon his own words on ESPN prior to becoming a free agent a season ago. Really, you want to become a free agent to attract other free agents to come to New York? What?
OK, so the fact that the deal was signed to that amount of money is not the real issue here. While it’s a little annoying that both sides are trying to pull the wool over our eyes, we can get over it very quickly.
Quickly, as long as Melo produces that is.
Check out an interview Phil did on HBO’s Real Sports in 2012, speaking about the roster at that time:
Jackson was 100 percent correct. Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony were the absolute worst fit. Neither guy could play a lick of defense, and both don’t make anybody around them better.
The pair are iso players who can score while doing very little else.
Daily Knicks
Once 2014-15 went sour, which Jackson knew was going to happen in his heart of hearts, he cut the garbage, which included Stoudemire.
The all-important question I have for Jackson is this: why sign Anthony to a max deal when you already know it’s very difficult to fit pieces around him? Sorry, (almost) max deal.
Melo is what he is. He’s a superb offensive talent who could score on just about anybody. He’s too quick for 4s to guard him and too powerful for 3s to check him. His shot is lethal and first-step is wicked.
However, he’s not the easiest guy to mold a team around. His play is stubborn, controlling, and inflexible.
Furthermore, when discussing defense and intangibles, Anthony rivals the worst forwards in the game on that end of the floor.
Defense and the little things it takes to win championships is something Jackson is so familiar with, yet he still decided to use that huge chunk of his precious salary-cap on Anthony.
Now the Knicks are stuck with a 30-year old rapidly aging shooter with a damaged body.
Instead, they could’ve started completely fresh with a new identity fans could have wrapped their heads around.
New York houses very simple fans. It’s not talent that wows them. Rather their hearts are captured when hard work, dedication and gritty attitudes are showcased. Turn your attention to the 1990s Knicks for all the evidence you need.
This is what Phil failed to grasp last summer during the Anthony negotiations. Wilting under the pressure of making sure a big name stayed in town was not what fans wanted.
We know Carmelo is a volume shooter. That is a terrible thing for a championship caliber team right off the bat. For his career he’s averaged 3.1 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game. For such a dominant on-ball scorer, how has he only averaged 3.1 assists per game for his career?
His career field goal percentage is .455. OK, so it’s not the best in the world. It’s more Kobe-like. It’s forgivable if he’s scoring in droves.
What’s not forgivable is the fact that his career playoff field goal percentage dips to a terrible .417. In fact, he’s only averaging 2.8 assists per game in the playoffs. His entire stat line takes a hit when discussing playoff numbers.
How about the good old eye test? Forget about it, Melo fails miserably in the “New York type” of fashion — no defense, grittiness, and a lack of hustle that is sometimes unforgivable.
So what we have is a guy who performs better in the regular season; doesn’t make anybody around him better; is a volume shooter; is now 30-years old; has a bum knee and a myriad of other injury concerns; and still has four-years left on a mega contract.
Not good.
Additionally, the absolute worst part about the contract has more to do with age and timing. When the Knicks will be ready to move forward with contending, Melo will be nearing his last hurrah.
There will come a time (very soon in fact), where Anthony will perhaps be asked to be the sixth-man of the team as sort of a “scoring-specialist.” I can envision it now. He’ll come into the game and chuck up shots while the starters are off the floor in the late-first quarter, early-second, limited to 24-minutes a game.
This will be the Knicks version of Carmelo Anthony very soon.
Anthony will still be looked upon as the lead man entering 2015-16 with whoever else is drafted and/or picked up during the summer. Will he stay healthy? Can he even be a functioning member of a top-notch team?
He’s had some moments both with the Nuggets and Knicks, but over the long haul of a 10-year career he’s already proven he’s a man that cannot win a title unless he decides to fit in around other guys (instead of guys fitting in around him).
Aside from this disaster of a season, Jackson has put the Knicks in a position to be relevant again next season. The problem here is that the difference between a championship caliber squad in 2016-17 could be the Carmelo contract that was signed last summer.
Three years from now Jackson will be stuck with a broken-down Melo instead of searching for the perfect fit for Towns or Okafor.
Next: Are We Destined For A Cavs-Heat First-Round?
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