Got the email late last night about Mark Jackson surprising the YES Network with the on-air announcement that it was his final game as a Nets broadcaster. Jackson lives full-time in Los Angeles and the commute is rough. His gig with ABC/ESPN is still ongoing, but the timing of the sudden step-down at YES coincides with Isiah Thomas' final day as coach of the Knicks.
Jackson has been promoted in the media as one of the lead candidates to replace Thomas. Donnie Walsh yesterday was asked specifically about Jackson.
“I’m not endorsing anybody right now," Walsh said. "If it ever got to the point where I’m going to get a coach, then I’ll draw up a list at that point.”
But when pressed to offer some thoughts on Jackson's potential as a coach, Walsh replied, “Mark played here [in Indiana]; I loved him as a player. I thought he was a very, very smart player and I thought he was a guy that could be a coach someday.”
How the Knicks handle the coaching situation will be interesting. When Walsh was hired as president, the fact that Thomas had been stripped of the title was lost in the story. We may expect the same when it comes to the head coach position. Walsh may not announce anything until he is ready to hire a coach, so that the story is about the hire, not the guy who was reassigned in the organization.
Jackson may be the guy for all we know. To his credit he has remained very tight-lipped about the situation. Scott Skiles is still out there and one would think Walsh would do his due dilligence in at least talking with Skiles and the other experienced coach out there, Jeff Van Gundy.
I know, Fixers, I keep bringing up his name. JVG has never shot down the idea of coming back to coach the Knicks. And if Dolan really has given Walsh "full autonomy" then he would not step in the way of this hire.
That being said, I agree it's a longshot.
Tom Thibodeau might be screwed by the fact that his current team, the Celtics, are expected to go on a long playoff run, which will keep him from being able to interview for the Knicks job until later in the spring. Donnie might want to have someone in place before the pre-draft camp in May so the team can begin to plan for the draft and potential roster moves.
Stay tuned.....
Comments (38)
some bloggers on knicksdefense are reporting that isiah is not going to be kept on as coach.
obviously we were thinking it, but maybe there will be a formal annoucement today...
some bloggers on knicksdefense are reporting that isiah is not going to be kept on as coach.
obviously we were thinking it, but maybe there will be a formal announcement made today...
If JVG is under consideration, then why not Larry Brown. After all, he and Walsh have worked together before.
allan
as long as isiah is gone i would hire you as coach...LOL
jackson is a good choice.
he is likeable and was a cerebral point guard.
i am not a huge scott skiles fan.
he is abrasive and i don't think he will get along with the NY Media.
JVG's chance of becoming coach again is the same chance allan has of getting a date with jessica simpson...LOL
honestly if we don't get a good draft pick and make some much needed changes of the roster it does not matter who the coach is.
THIS ROSTER IS FLAWED!
donnie walsh has got some hard work to do to erase all of isiah's mistakes
1.Eddy "cheeseburger" Curry
2.Zach "Blackhole" Randolph
3.Stepan "Intern Sex" marbury
4.a Losing mentality that permeates this organization
Is there anywhere to look up Coaching stats on former players who become coaches and there records? From what I can think of is that Players that were stars in the League that became coaches didnt do very well coaching and had very bad records but players that were roll players or not star type players have done pretty good in this league. So I am very afraid if we get another star player here to coach in Marc Jackson I rather have a former roll player in Rick Carisle coach here..........Also is the a place where you can see coaches who were players by position because I dont think former PG have made very good coaches
Most bloggers on knicksdefense predicted that the Knicks would make the playoffs and Stephon Marbury would play in the All-Star game this season.
Those bloggers at knicksdefense, a really reliable group.
knicksdefense - Where old hockey writers become heroes for posting the circus dunks of point guards who brick free throws in the final ticks and do the Marbury Choke in national championship games.
Some good points, Slick. I don't know of one single place, but I've read columns where the writer did reviews of that sort. On the "good-great player, bad coach" list were Bill Russell, Jerry West, and Magic Johnson. On the "decent-to-very good player, good to great coach" list were Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, Don Nelson. Other good players who were OK coaches include...wow, the list is pretty long. Lots of guys in the league now, including Mo Cheeks, Nate MacMillan, Doc Rivers, Avery Johnson, Carlisle, Skiles...hell, I'd even include Reggie Theus, who's done a fine job in Sacramento this year. The writer was Bob Ryan in Boston, so he was trying to cut Larry Bird some slack, who was mediocre at best. Then there's Isiah.
One name I've read recently as being a serious candidate to coach someday, and having the smarts and leadership to do it...is Rasheed Wallace. And I believe it.
Hopefully they'll make it official that Isiah is gone very soon.
I really believe Mark Jackson is the guy. I think we need someone young and energetic, and being a former Knick and NewYorker can only help.
I also want Billy King in the front office.
Jeff,
You are banned from talking about the Knicks for 3 years.
"I also want Billy King in the front office."
You just said you want to replace Isiah Thomas with the only GM of the past 4 years that could be put in the same boat as Isiah.
If Billy King is hired as the next GM of the Knicks, I don't know what I'll do.
Cry? Denouce my fandom of the Knicks? I don't even know. If there is ONE legitimite rumor that the Knicks are considering hiring Billy King . . . I just don't know what to say. I'm speechless.
Godot beat me to the punch. I like the out of the box thinking.
If the past could be put behind by Larry Brown and ownership why not? Putting the 2005-2006 season aside he is a great teacher and coach. He would be an excellent choice to begin the turnaround of the franchise. Plus redemption might be a terrific motivator for him. Then again it would be a page directly taken form the Steinbrenner-Martin era.
quiet down now Mark, or I'll tell your mom you've been using her phone line for the internet again.
Why is the press endorsing Jackson so much? He's never even served as an assistant. Just because he was a PG doesn't make him a smart coach. They're willing to bypass Herb Williams just to give a true "green" coach a chance? It doesn't make sense.
Maybe Jackson would be brought on as an assistant.
Sucks that Herb is gonna get shafted again. That said, in the one game when Isiah got tossed, he took over in crunch time and just fizzled. Forgot who they were playing, but they had the lead in what was actually an exciting game. They looked so discombobulated (even more so than usual), and missed key spots for a time out. I don't know if I'd trust him taking over.
It'd be great if Jax was an assistant and JVG came back as coach. Breen would call the home games, as usual. It'd be like the ABC booth running the Knicks.
anybody who wants to see larry brown here again needs to be strung up and whipped by all knicks fans in tha msg lobby. ARE Y'all CRAzY ?! we don't want to go backwards man !! we already did tha larry brown thing. him & dolan will be more of tha same all over again like 2 yentas on tha back pages goin at each other like hank steinbr. & the bosox. N sry but herb ain't ready. i'd take back riley if he wasn't head of front office for MIA. but jackson, skiles or JVG is the way to go....even tho he wanted to get outta dodge yrs back too.
we need a good luck charm now at the lottery drawing...but who?
starks, no bad game 7, houston maybe - good bounce vs. mia.
junk yard dog - nah gone for too long now. donnie walsh - maybe fresh start. mark jackson ?? ding ding ding.
where is my man knowledge? u been AWOL dawg.
Why are so many morons hell bent on this, "he's a New Yorker and former Knick" thing? guess what, everyone they bring in here was in some way "a New Yorker". Larry Brown was one, Chris Mullin another and so on and so on. Now it's Donnie Walsh. who the f--k cares that they came from here? the fact is...the Knicks are an atrocious disaster right now and it doesn't matter where anyone is from until they prove they can bring in good, hard-working players. Believe it or not, Isiah Thomas was also once a great player and you all see what he does as a front officer. He can't step on the court and play because his team has no heart, so what makes everyone think that Mark Jackson, with 0 experience btw, can come in and do it?because he was a "cerebral player"? give me a f--ing break...
it has been reproted on espn that zeke will not be back as coach.
has any1 been looking at the box score on ramon sessions?
he had a league season high 24 assist an have been playing real good for the bucks..
@ Matt B - Lee is locked in '08/'09 1.8M and a qulaifying offer of 2.7M for '09/10.
There's a bargain...probably the ONLY one that could be called that.
Bill Laimbeer, the next Phil Jackson!!!
Old School - Yeah, but doesn't he become a restricted free agent next year? I read that he and Nate are in line for contract extensions this summer...
From last blog:
Worst contract in Knicks history was probably Allan Houston's. J. James and Jeffries were horrible but they were only the mid-level and didn't kill our cap. It was Houston's contract which put us in the salary cap hell we never got out of. Remember we didn't even have to give him that contract; it was another James Dolan blunder, trying to reward a friend, which destroyed our future. Layden and I.T. have made it worse, but that started it all. I still boo Houston when I see him on TV.
Knicks need an XO's coach who works well with young players and can get this team to play defense for once. Mark Jackson was a terrible man-man defender, give me Skiles and trade Curry.
ACCORDING TO MSNBC
WALSH TOLD ISIAH LAST WEEK HE IS OUT AS COACH
SportsTicker
updated 12:49 p.m. ET, Thurs., April. 17, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - Isiah Thomas likely coached his final game for the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Thomas was told last week that he would not return for a third season as the team’s coach.
According to the newspaper, new Knicks president Donnie Walsh could make an announcement as early as Thursday or Friday. Despite two disastrous seasons on the bench marked by controversy on and off the court, Thomas is hoping to remain with the organization in a lesser capacity.
ACCORDING TO MSNBC
WALSH TOLD ISIAH LAST WEEK HE IS OUT AS COACH
SportsTicker
updated 12:49 p.m. ET, Thurs., April. 17, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - Isiah Thomas likely coached his final game for the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Thomas was told last week that he would not return for a third season as the team’s coach.
According to the newspaper, new Knicks president Donnie Walsh could make an announcement as early as Thursday or Friday. Despite two disastrous seasons on the bench marked by controversy on and off the court, Thomas is hoping to remain with the organization in a lesser capacity.
I would like to bring in Alan Houston as an assistant coach to teach Mardy Collins to shoot the basketball....this upcoming year will be inportant for Collins if he doesn't want to end up playing in Europe.
Knicks are packed full of players who have never won a playoff game let alone a series, and we're gonna add Jackson a dude that has never coached to pull them together...
I'm Not Feeling That...
Billy King has a good drafting track record so i'm not opposed to adding him... He will not be in charge of building a winner that will be Donnie's job... He will just be a part of the puzzle, someone who brings ideas to the table... He also got a team to the finals before, so he isnt all that bad...
I like the idea of Van Gundy, but why would he ever consider coming back to this mess of a team? Even with a high pick, the team will be the same makeshift roster. The Knicks are too capped out to make any notable roster moves and most of the players aren't desirable at all on the market.
It's going to be a long road back so the Knicks can afford to let a fresh coach like Jackson work out his own kinks.
Guys I think we will have pretty much the same team we had last year. We dont have money to spend. We need to stay that way so that we can be under the cap come 2010. If we add any player it would be thrue the draft, hopefully it will be a lottery pick. No one wants Zach he makes to much money. He is a good ofensive player and rebounder but no D and like I said too much money. Eddy burger cury no defense no heart bad heart cant jump maybe he can be moved cus he does not make to much money. But we cant bring back a bad contract and Donnie knows that. Marbury will play out his last year with the knicks he could be traded in Feb for some good yount talent and maybe some draft picks. Every team will be calling for him come Feb. Coach thats trickie i would bring in an experience coach some one that has deffense on his mind Van Gundi I cant see him here he will have no hair by the end of the year. We need some one that is strick and wont back down from any player. I personally did not like the players barking at Isiah when they were remove from the cort. I dont like Isaih I want him out of the knicks completly but a players should never be aloud to talk back at his coach. We need some strong will strong mind. Maybe Bill is the guy he was a bad boy in his days. If not him some one like him. Also i will tell Jerome James to go home eat all he wants and stay home for the rest of his contract, I would not buy him out. Go home and stay there. He has stolen from us Knick fans 3 years. I wont give the chance to go play for another team.
Fixers,
Among the speculation here is most have Zeke dead and are making funeral arrangments! While Everyone has a vaild reason
for their opinion.....I only want what's best for the Knicks!
If that means Zeke is to be fired to make this team better then so be it! The only thing I have yet to read is a Viable replacement!
Mark Jackson? If you check his resume...he hasn't won on any level! He may be among the first players ever booed out of NY!
Van Gundy? If your refering to "STAN" bring him on!
Now Jeff is a different story! Houston showed him the door and
the team got much better! He quit on the Knicks, so why does he deserve another chance here?
Maybe the Knicks should look at Kenny Smith,or obscure rising stars like " Paul Hewitt" and other young but promising names among the NCAA ranks!
George from Scotsdale is Right!
I think Laimbeer is the inspired choice. You gotta love guys who figured out how to win while having no physical gifts whatsoever. If we are talking ex-players, those are the types that do well as coaches (Mark Jackson COULD be that type of guy too). Plus Bill has won with the Sparks as a head coach, so he's already run a team - organizational skills are important, especially in the swamp that is MSG.
Bottom line, the next coach is caretaking while the personnel gets sorted out. Whoever has the job can only hope they won't be replaced should the New Era truly begin with a big FA signing in 2010. Its actually not a bad time to try a first time coach.
David said on the last thread that the Knicks' pick would be no worse than number six.
Sorry, but that's wrong.
Up to three teams can move up from behind the Knicks for picks one, two and three.
Unlikely that the Knicks will pick any later than number seven, but history shows that usually at least one team moves into the top three.
Last year the top three spots were taken by teams that had better records than the bottom three teams.
Memphis, Boston and Milwaukee should have been the draft order, had there been no lottery. They ended up choosing fourth, fifth and sixth. Granted, in an exact repeat scenario, the Knicks would receive the number one pick.
But if, let's say the Bucks (who have a better record) jump up in the lottery to number three, and we don't get one of those three winning slots, then we move to seven.
Personally I think if we don't get the number one or two pick, we don't have to go for the sure thing. I think at that point if Rose and Beasley are gone, we should take a chance on OJ Mayo. This guy may be a bust. Or he may be the next "Kobe type superstar"". He has that fire, the swagger you see in the special players. The ability to impose his will on his team. He may never develop into that trancendant type player, but he is the only one in the draft with the potential to do so, including Rose and Beasley.
If he busts, then so what? Do you think Lopez or Love or Bayless are guys you can build a championship team around? I don't either. Are they pieces? Yes. But ultimately replaceable, interchangeable pieces. Mayo may be the type of guy you can build around for a decade or more.
7.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.3 APG, .417 FG%, in 15.5 Min/Game
Those are Kobe Bryant's rookie numbers after he was taken number THIRTEEN by the Hornets and then traded to the Lakers in '96. No I'm not saying that Mayo will become the next Kobe, just that he has the potential to be a franchise talent and you can't look at his stats or W/L record for one year in college and judge his potential.
Kobe was taken on his potential. We have nothing but time to take on a project. We do not have to and will not "win now". If we have picks one or two, by all means go with the "sure thing" in Rose, and if not available, Beasley. (my opinion). Anything after number two is a future role player except for Mayo who is a superstar or a bust. If it's me, I roll the dice.
Peaceman,
Money on your coaching view. I'm with you. You know I liked Van Gundy, but he was never a good coach offensively, and we don't have the type of naturally instinctive defensive players for a purely defensive coach. Neither did Houston with JVG.
I like the idea of a coach no one knows about to start fresh and really build a franchise. Do I know who that guy is? Absolutely not. I don't know enough about the CBA, NBADL, college, NBA assistant European, etc. ranks of coaches to give you a name. That is where smart knowledgeable basketball executives earn their pay, and I'm not one of them.
And hey, don't laugh when you hear CBA. Phil Jackson earned his coaching stripes with the CBA's Albany Patroons, and no one at the time thought much of his hiring. He was not a "name".
"Fixers,
Among the speculation here is most have Zeke dead and are making funeral arrangments! While Everyone has a vaild reason
for their opinion.....I only want what's best for the Knicks!
If that means Zeke is to be fired to make this team better then so be it! "
yo, you changed your garbage real fast. probably three weeks ago you came onto this here blog to tell everyone that Isiah isn't going anywhere as coach or gm, and that all the fixers should just deal with it.
be consistent, some of us don't have selective amnesia.
23 wins. again. Walsh should send Isiah to the pre-draft workouts in Orlando thinking he is still the head coach just to f with him the way Isiah did Larry Brown. Walsh can even walk by Isiah and pretend not to know him if you really want do it Isiah style.
Thanks bokonon,
Your right about the Patroons, Karl also came from them after Jackson!
KD,
Your unprovoked attacks will not make me respond with any
negative comeback! I wish nothing but the best for the knicks!
So, I stand pat that if getting rid of Zeke is the best thing
for the Knicks, so be it! If keeping him is , then so be it!
None of us have any power or say in that matter!
I will remain to believe that Walsh as Dolan's Choice is
suspect to interpretation as more of a way to keep Zeke
than let him go with along with 24 million. when in fact Walsh is making much less! It may be noted that there is only one Frank Isola, and that is not YOU, no matter how hard you try to be him!
If Mark Jackson is the new Knicks head new head coach. I can't see a lot of the same roster being the same. Mark Jackson is outspoken and has a lot of integrity. He wants to be successful and won't except 30% on game nights like Curry, Marbury, Craw, Q give. He will demand more. Nate will be afraid of him. Mardy will ask to be sent to the D League.
Anyway a shake up is needed.
Knicks need the PG we have not had since forever. Remember praying that we would get William Avery (yes its been that long). Marburry is, and always has been, more of a 2-guard.
Mark Jackson does not address the Knicks biggest need, a defensive minded coach. Why would you want a coach who is going to teach these guys more offiense, all they have to do is take one look at an old Jackson tape and watch him get burnt repeatedly by Payton or Stockton and they will never hustle on D.
If Nate Robinson wasn't scared of J. James, who tried to put ketchup on him and eat him, why would he be scared of Mark Jackson? And if I hear one more person talk about Mardy Collins I'm going to scream. He does nothing well. Nothing.
Yup, if Peaceman says the Knicks don't have a viable replacement to become head coach, well, he must be right.
After all, Peaceman picked the Knicks to win 50 and make the playoffs behind 2007-08 NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury this season.
If anyone knows the current state of the Knicks better than Peaceman and his bobble-head dolly, bok, step forward now or forever shoulder your Glock.
Isiah played good defense and coaches a bad defensive game. Jackson is a toss up. He has never coached in the NBA as an assistant of head coach so we can't rush to judgments and say how he played is what he is going to coach.
NYC Infinity 2
forgive me for saying so but you posted the following senseless statement that made me laugh out loud when i read it:
"JVG's chance of becoming coach again is the same chance allan has of getting a date with jessica simpson...LOL"
Are you for real!? Granted, he's a great commentator - Jeff Van Gundy is destined to coach. He is one of the gifted, great ones. When he misses coaching (which i expect will be another year) he will be back on the sidelines. That's if (and only if) Walsh calls him to come back home...where he belongs. Van Gundy returning as head coach of the Knicks is a real possibility. One thing, however is absolutely certain - He will coach again - so Allan better pick a restaurant for your date with Jessica"