Madison Square Garden is nicknamed the Mecca of basketball, but if you went to the Mecca over the last 4 decades, you often found yourself screaming for God to intervene on the basketball going on. That opening lede could have applied to almost every season and its a shame. New York has lived off a reputation now bordering on myth, that it creates the best basketball players on earth. Sonny Vaccaro and the shoe industry did away with that a long time ago. Now, superstars are found in different countries and in different area codes from the 718 and 212.
What should have been a haven for great basketball players to come and play, has now turned into a barren wasteland. Great players love coming to New York, but on short trips hoping to flex for the star studded front row and create their own Reggie Miller moment for themselves. Amongst players, the Garden still means something- but purely for selfish reasons. Its where you can create a legend on the same court that past greats played on.
The inhabitants of the Garden have been far less victorious on their hallowed court. The Knicks have three preseason games before the season begins, and yet it feels newer than seasons past. Phil Jackson is now the man in charge. He the great link to a past that the locals still hold fast to. Those Knicks believed in moving the ball around and getting the best shot available. Those Knicks teams also were unified in their pursuit of the team victory. Those teams also had prima donnas (google Clyde’s style back then-hell google his wardrobe now) and former first options who didn’t take kindly to subjugating their greatness no matter the prize. Eventually they all succumbed to the great Red Holzman- or as everyone outside of New York calls him “that other Red”.
Yet, there was no banjo beating, blues traveler owner who compromised most transactions before they happened sabotaging the team. There wasn’t a Great Wall put up between the team and the local media (in the media capital of the world no less) that created a bitterness by the local beat writers eventually leading to sarcastic potshots taken at the team’s leadership.
But that’s where Phil Jackson comes in. He is being paid a kingly sum ($15M per year) to act as the visible conscious of a man who desperately wants to get the credit when the Knicks get good. That future where the Knicks get good exists in James Dolan’s mind and is the only rational explanation as to why a man with limited understanding of constructing a championship team would meddle so much in his team’s affairs. The general ownership pledge is to provide the financial resources for a GM to do his job, ensure that said job is being done, and to be seen or heard from as little as possible. Jim Dolan has yet to follow the script, but that’s just what bad boys bluesmen do.
Phil Jackson was inserted to have the clout to put baby in the corner, even if no one puts baby in the corner. His recent New Yorker article also served the purpose of creating a few holes for outsiders to examine the inside parts of the Socialist regime that Dolan has put in place. Telling Spike Lee that he doesn’t know the game of basketball was ballsy. Admitting to a frothing public waiting for a Knick pun that he’s putting them through “mindfulness classes” was like throwing the steak to a Michael Vick pit bull circa 2005.
In order to build a new culture, these are the kind of wholistic changes that need to be affected upon the team. The question then turns to the moves the relatively green Jackson made in the offseason to shake up the roster, a promise he made, and to a large extent kept, when he got here. He hired a head coach, even if it wasn’t the head coach he wanted. Referring the Steve Kerr situation the Steve Kerr event was important two fold- he legitimized a failure rather than acting brashly like he got what he wanted all along, a more realists point of view on that situation. He also gave the media the first sense that this regime was his and his alone considering that he recognized ownership’s involvement in the Kerr negotiations without specifically mentioning it and not caring that the ownership implication was implicated. Get it? Got it? Good. He traded Raymond Felton and threw in Tyson Chandler to sweeten the pot, get a 2nd round pick in a loaded 2014 draft and even got an upgrade at PG in Jose Calderon. No more poundcake Felton. The only regret from that trade was the premise that somehow Tyson Chandler was a bad egg- this coming from a team that had Ray Felton, and JR Smith. Even if he wasn’t a pleasure to be around the last few months, the combined damage of empowering Raymond Felton’s out of shape ass to control your teams offense and empowering JR Smith by resigning him to a 3 year deal was like telling the guy who tried blow once that he was more guilty than the drug dealer and supplier.
Then there was the extension of Carmelo Anthony. Phil Jackson’s presence alone made this possible. New York was going to lose the one player they had a relationship with albeit based on a faulty premise (New York’s own? please!). When a team gets bad, they have to overpay good players to convince them to come. New York brings with it, plenty of great things but also a ton of bad. Melo has seen it all. In Denver he was the most devastating scorer playing in a conference that was too tough for him. Once he got to New York he was the most overrated superstar and in fact, last year when Paul George started to emerge, Melo was no longer a superstar. He was a star, having done nothing to warrant a status that had blown right by him. Staring down the barrel of playing his peak years on Knicks teams that likely would not contend, he had to make a sensible decision regarding his future: he could believe in the plan that Phil Jackson had for the organization, OR he could take his talents elsewhere much like his 2004 classmates had done to be a cog in a machine. I thought he would go to Chicago because that’s where he fit and being a Jordan brand member, it seemed logical. When decision time came, he signed for slightly less than the max and doubled down on the Zenmaster’s long term plan for the organization. With Bargnani’s and Amar’es contracts expiring after this season and the spike in the salary cap set to take effect in two years, the Knicks will be heavy players for a ton of superstars set to cash in and willing to pay them to play with Carmelo and bring back a title to the Mecca.
The season can be looked at as two halves. The first half of the season will likely include two common story lines: Derek Fisher doesn’t know what he’s doing and the Knicks do not know what they are doing. Both will be caused by the Triangle Offense. Those who trash the system point to the all time greats that Phil Jackson had when he used the system to win 11 championships. The story goes that “you can win with any offense” when you roll out a hall of fame cast of players. Yes, the league’s best teams are full of great players, but those all time greats won a combined one championship without the Triangle and that’s when Shaq was the second banana to a young D-Wade; third banana if you count the refs who ultimately shifted the balance of that series. But Fisher’s job will be uncertain until he wins consistently. First he has to have the buy-in. Not just from Carmelo, but from Amar’e and Bargnani. Both of whom will ask for larger roles as their payday approaches. He will need buy-in from their young guys who will be under constant trade speculation till the day they get traded (and yes I think one of Tim Hardaway Jr and Iman Shumpert, and even both) will be traded for a larger contract. That likely won’t happen until the effects of the new TV deal on the salary cap become public, but both will also need to buy in to a share it system. Most point to Anthony as the biggest hard head to soften. Melo’s legacy is on the line. He has to create a winner. Whoever joins the Knicks will be joining Melo’s team and he recognizes that. Failing in the Triangle will permanently stamp him as a selfish, me-first player who will be in the really good but not great players, lost in history and dueling Bob McAdoo in basketball purgatory.
The Triangle offense, when not taught by Phil Jackson, is this paradox of offensive voodoo that can’t be explained to the rational mind. Yet when mixed with Phil’s Zen beliefs, creates a higher level of basketball wisdom that makes you better than everybody else. Its so puzzling that Spike Lee, he of the “he doesn’t know shit about basketball” commentary by Uncle Phil (he’s Uncle Phil in my book- a reference to James Avery’s character in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air- the wise old man trying to get this young basketball head (thats Carmelo for those not following along) dropped into the big rich city to learn the ins and outs of life and he’s also family by extension because basketball is life), had to make a documentary airing before the season begins. I can’t wait to see Phil’s look of disdain as he’s asked questions by a supposed super fan. To Phil, the Triangle is simple and the natural way of things on a basketball court. Yet, the combined records of all his former assistants who tried to install it, read as a who’s who of disastrous regimes in NBA history. We’re talking historically bad. So is running a system that apparently ONLY one man can teach good for a team that won’t have that one man teaching them? I suppose it depends on whats in it for Phil. If its about the paycheck, Dolan should cut the remaining $60 million now because when Phil loses interest, results suffer dramatically and quickly. When Phil is wholly invested greatness happens. By everything we’ve seen, Phil seems interested to make Derek Fisher work because Fisher will be the first coach not afraid of the shadow that Uncle Phil casts over everything he oversees.
Derek Fisher also wants to be successful in his first professional gig since his playing days were over. He’s no dummy. He wears the suits like Riley once did and speaks of defense as a higher calling that we must all strive to achieve to. That’s like Whitney singing the national anthem to a bunch of WWII veterans. Beautiful music to a New Yorker’s ears. As good as the offense can be, nothing will happen if the Knicks are giving up a 100 points per game. Even in a weak Eastern Conference consider that Cleveland will be a playoff team and a high seed. The Nets will hand the reins over to Lionel Hollins who has the pieces of a stingy defense in place to create another one in Brooklyn. The Bucks may surprise people. The Hawks got into the playoffs without Al Horford, and barring injury will have him for a full season and they have the assets to swing a major deal if need be. The Bulls get back Derrick Rose and they added Pau Gasol who will have to prove that his decline was from D’Antoni-ness and not a decline due to age. The Pacers seem like the logical choice to fall off the face of the Eastern conference picture but that still leaves no place for the Knicks to occupy. The Wizards look like they got stronger. Charlotte got better. If the Knicks want to be taken seriously the buy-in had better be quick on the Triangle.
Fisher wasn’t willing to commit to a rotation which apart from Carmelo Anthony tells every other player on the roster, that their spots are based on performance which is good if you have complete buy in from Carmelo. If you have Melo buying in for the first month of the season, and the Knicks aren’t that good, what happens next? They are liable to take a huge step backward which would be a major disappointment for Phil, Derek and for the big itch that Jim Dolan has been told not to scratch by the Zen Master. The Knicks have a healthy amount of talent to do damage but for me, it has to be under terms dictated by a strong voice. Does Fisher have the voice to get everyone’s attention? Will he be able to convince Hardaway Jr that every shot he takes isn’t good? To put it lightly, he’s trigger happy, but within context of maximizing possessions he’s going to have to make a good basketball decision which is what the Triangle is ultimately about. Ball movement, creating constant motion and having great interior depth. The Knicks seem willing to give up chunks of breakaway points, but will be more invested in offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding- creating extra possessions and limiting possessions on defense. The trend has been to go with smaller line ups that can cause match up nightmares, but that can only be done by a handful of teams. Durant gives the Thunder the ability to do so. So do the Cavs with Kevin Love and Lebron James. The Blazers can do so and so can the Hawks with LaMarcus Aldridge and Al Horford. This is due to the lack of quality big men in the league. The Knicks just signed every available tall body in the world to their team and hope that they can use them to run the triangle. Having a smart big man to control the offense will be key.
My bet is that Jason Smith will be the Knicks biggest from who to youuuuuu guy. He can knock down open 15-18 foot jump shots and in preseason games has shown the ability to pass as a big man. Dalembert may get the starter’s nod but he won’t be playing when the going gets tough. JR Smith will be integral as well. He and Hardaway Jr will be asked to be the gunners when Carmelo isn’t in the ball game. The offense will run through both of these guys and time can only tell if either of them will pick up on the offense. There were moments last season when the Knicks understood how to work without the basketball, but they were far and few between. Between injuries and too much player shuffling the season got lost and no one lineup ever got to play too many meaningful moments.
Iman Shumpert’s season will be interesting from the standpoint that he is the guy I can see the knicks trading for an extra draft pick or player with a contract the Knicks are willing to absorb. This will all depend on how the league decides to use its new found bump in TV allowance money into its salary cap. Obviously the cap will be raised but without firm numbers to go by, teams won’t be willing to swallow contracts and estimates are that we likely won’t know till around the early January which would give teams just a few weeks to put plans in motion with the trading deadline in mid February. Don’t expect big draft picks to get traded unless its from playoff teams who are looking to add a piece but then, is it worth it? Shumpert looks like he has a bit of his old self back and that will be important. Physically he has the wingspan and the athletic gifts to be a talented defender and he’s showing the offensive skill set that he may be a two way player. He’s going to have to earn it before the Knicks decide to trade him which I think is a plan that Phil has set in motion. Phil Jackson knows that to recoup good players you have to get rid of good players and one can make the argument that with an eye towards the future, having the two young studs like Hardaway and Shump won’t hamstring your long term flexibility when time comes to pay them. If 2010 taught us anything, its that the best laid plans can still result in nothing but a beat up former star. The Knicks have to know that even if they go after Marc Gasol, and Rajon Rondo this upcoming summer and then Kevin Durant in 2016 they will likely ONLY get one of the three and can still end up with 0 for 3. Keeping assets like Shump and Hardaway in tow to trade away for a contingency plan is likely your best avenue to proceed and if you keep them? You may have a core that will learn basketball under Phil Jackson the greatest winner in basketball history- this may not be Mecca to all, but it can become Mecca for the hopeful few in New York who still believe!
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