With the news that Mike Woodson and his entire staff have officially been fired by the New York Knicks, it’s natural to wonder what’s next for the team.
The best candidate to take over as the new head coach appears to be Steve Kerr, who has been rumored as the favorite ever since Phil Jackson took over the front office. Given Kerr’s knowledge of the Triangle offense and his relationship with Jackson, it’s quite understandable. Kerr wouldn’t say much about the situation during the season – likely out of his respect for Woodson – but now that the coach is gone as anticipated, here’s what he had to say, from Marc Berman of New York Post:
“I do anticipate talking with Phil Jackson at some point,” Kerr said on his weekly radio show on SiriusXM. “But when that time comes, it will come. But for now there’s really not a whole lot to talk about. This is the NBA. Coaches basically know when they go in that they are likely to be fired. It’s a brutal business, it’s a brutal profession.
“I think back to a year ago when the Knicks were one of the best stories in the league, they won 54 games, I thought Mike Woodson was one of the top coaches in the league. He did a fantastic job. And then everything fell apart this year for a number of reasons.”
“We’ve remained close over the years, since he retired from coaching,” Kerr said. “Even while he was coaching the Lakers, I would often have dinner with him on the road if I was playing for another team even, just to catch up. I went to his daughter’s wedding a few years ago in Montana. We’ve been very close. And so I’ve known for years that Phil wanted to do this — not necessarily in New York, I thought he was going to end up in Seattle last year if the Kings had moved to Seattle to become the Sonics — but I knew that he was done with coaching [and] that he was more interested in being a team president and building a franchise.
“And I think he’ll be very good at it. It’s going to be very interesting, and obviously my name is being thrown around. I do anticipate at least being part of the conversation, and we’ll see where it all goes.”
“Tyson Chandler’s injury was a major factor,” Kerr said. “I thought the J.R. Smith suspension early in the season threw the team off right from the start. And then some personnel moves that didn’t work out. They lost a lot of veteran leadership from last year’s team – guys like Jason Kidd and Kurt Thomas – and they were replaced by younger players who probably weren’t as equipped to handle the adversity that the team faced this year. So I think this was largely circumstantial, but this is the way the NBA works: The coach is usually the first one to pay.
“I feel bad for Mike, I think he’s done an excellent job in New York, but between the struggles of the team this year and the new regime with Phil Jackson I think this was – and I don’t think I’m the only one saying this – I think the writing was sort of on the wall the last couple of months. And now here we are.”
Yes, the writing was on the wall, and it became bold when Jackson came on board preaching the importance of the Triangle. As much as Kerr expects to be in the conversation, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s guaranteed to become the Knicks’ coach or even offered the job. It’s all sort of a speculation at this point, given that Jackson never actually publicly endorsed the idea. According to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, there are other candidates that Jackson may consider as well:
Steve Kerr is the early favorite, and understandably so. The TNT commentator is smart, savvy, a longtime Jackson protege and has coaching aspirations. But a Kerr hiring is far from certain.
Kerr is eying several potential openings around the league, according to sources, and he would prefer to stay on (or near) the West Coast. Kerr lives in San Diego, and he has a daughter attending college at Cal, in Berkeley. Contrary to a New York Post report, Kerr has not asked TNT for schedule flexibility in order to take the Knicks job, according to two sources with Turner Sports. (Disclosure: Turner also owns Bleacher Report.)
Would Jackson hire Kerr? Certainly. But Kerr could have more attractive options, if the Golden State Warriors fire Mark Jackson or if the Los Angeles Lakers dump Mike D’Antoni. He could also wait another year to make the leap.
The obvious names keep surfacing—Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, Derek Fisher, Scottie Pippen, Jim Cleamons—because of their ties to Jackson. It’s all educated guesswork.
While we’re educatedly guessing, here are two more names to consider: Fred Hoiberg and Kevin Ollie, who have both made quick impressions in the college ranks.
Hoiberg never played for Jackson, but did play in the triangle offense for the Bulls, under Tim Floyd. Hoiberg has made a name for himself at Iowa State and Jackson “thinks highly of him,” according to one source. Jackson also likes Ollie, who guided Connecticut to the 2014 national championship.
“He’s going to talk to a lot of people,” a league source said of Jackson.
Also of note, the Knicks should not be concerned over how Carmelo Anthony feels about the firing of Woodson. Despite his public support of his coach throughout the year, all he cares about is the opportunity to win at the end of the day, from Sean Deveney of Sporting News:
League sources told Sporting News that, though Anthony had been a supporter of Woodson, the coaching change will not have any impact on how he will go about making his decision on where to play next season. Anthony has a player option worth $23.5 million next year, but he will opt out of that contract and hit free agency.
Jackson is said to want his former player and current TNT broadcaster Steve Kerr to take the Knicks’ job. But, a source with knowledge of the situation said, the team’s decision on replacing Woodson—with Kerr or anyone else—will have little impact on how Anthony, who missed the postseason for the first time in his 11-year career, approaches his free agency.
“He wants to be in a situation where he can start winning, and he is going to look at teams based on that,” the source said. “Coaching is only a part of the equation. What they do now is not going to be as important as can they win?”
KERR VOTES LEBRON JAMES FOR DPOY:
This year, the media is being forced to reveal their votes for all the end-of-the-season awards, and we got a first glimpse of the results for Defensive Player of the Year on Monday. Joakim Noah won by a landslide, which is no surprise given the narrative of how mediocre the Chicago Bulls were supposed to be (again) and how good he helped them become. What’s surprising is that LeBron James got a couple of first place votes for the award, and one of them came from Kerr.
James has been less focused on the defensive end this season, and has never particularly taken over on that side of the floor when it mattered most – the Heat weren’t going out of their way to stick James on the opponent’s best players this season. Remember all those patented chase-down blocks of his from past years? When is the last time you saw him do that this year? He averaged 0.3 blocks this season. Miami ranked 11th on defense, and James isn’t even in the top 20 in the defensive rating category. Last year, he was 10th in the league in defensive win shares. This year, he’s not in the top 20. Is he an important part of what the Heat do on defense? Of course. Has he been spectacular for them in that regard? Absolutely not. That the potential future coach of the Knicks believed otherwise should, at the very least, have you somewhat concerned.
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