Bring Back Pat
I think that’s a terrific idea. Companies like Apple and Twitter have gone back to their early leaders to rejuvenate the company.
The Knicks have started down that path by bringing Phil Jackson back as GM. They should complete the effort by bringing back Patrick Ewing as head coach.
I arrived in NYC a couple years before Patrick showed up in 1985. And for the next fifteen years there was an energy and a winning attitude at the Garden that honestly hasn’t existed since then.
While Patrick doesn’t have a ring, he has about almost everything else on his resume that a basketball player can accomplish. And he has been one of the most respected assistant coaches in the league for years.
Patrick has the heart of a lion. The Knicks need that, badly.
I’m going to the Garden tonight to close out the season, yet another losing one. I am thinking about bringing a Bring Back Pat sign with me.
Comments (Archived):
That’s the right move. He may not have head coaching experience, but he can be the upstart the Knicks need with his vast respect and credibility. He’s also a Hoya, which must sit well with you
Yup. That is where I first fell for Pat’s heart
Phil will only bring in an active member of The Church of the Triangle.
Phil wants Rambis apparently and Dolan doesn’t. Should make for an interesting standoff
Is Standoff Dolan’s middle name?
Patrick never got the love or respect he deserved. Maybe he doesn’t have experience as a head coach, but, at the very least in NY, he deserves a shot.Given all the bad moves the Knicks have and continue to make, they could, and almost certainly will, do worse.
Patrick wasn’t loved here, and he brought that on himself. He could have owned this town, even w/ the disappointments. He was surly w/ the media and not fan friendly. I think he’s since acknowledged those shortcomings.
Knicks need a shot of something. Patrick would give them some fire. Those Bulls and Heat playoff games were classics.Maybe combine Nets and Knicks!!
Tom Labus:Many of the contributors commenting are citing nostalgia points not basketball points.The Knicks require a proven GM and a proven coach. Trade Carmelo and start from scratch. Bring in Mark Jackson and allow him to coach. Phil Jackson can coach. He has never purchased the goceries. The triangle requires a Michael Jordan or a Kobe Bryant to run and a Phil Jackson to coach it. The Knicks have neither.
Fans are not exactly logical, come on.Mark Jackson is a great idea.
Just take a look at the difference in out of bounds plays and end of quarter/low shot clock possessions for the warriors with Jackson vs w/out if you need a reminder of jackson’s basketball iq (comparative to his coaching peers, of course). No bueno.
Patrick Ewing lacks communication skills. Interviews will attest.If you hire Patrick Ewing now he will be fired when they start to improve.None of this nostalga. Let Phil (Learning on the job) Jackson return to LA with Jeanie Buss.Mark Jackson is a proven coach (whose GSW team won a title without him). Only Basketball minded people will understand. Like Tony Dungy team in Tampa won without him.
I wouldn’t necessarily equate weak interview skills with a lack of ability to communicate as a coach but I would also love to see Mark Jackson at the helm.
jackson has a schtick that would be highly combustible for the Knicks. He rallies teams by finding enemies for them and playing the ‘US v THEM’ theme song @ 11.Phil also requires a triangle disciple ( in the spread pick & roll era, that is a huge issue).
All great coach’s do. That is their job to get the best out of your team. If you desire a batmitton coach Jackson isn’t the man.Reilly Gundy(It appears history is escaping many)
Popovich? Coach K?It’s a Schtick, an unsophisticated one & a short term one.
Popo and Coach K both Academy grads. I find that interesting.
JamesHRH:You strengthened our point without realizing it. Both Pop and Coach K have established careers out of being a-hole number #1.
Think not. Both are high ego / high IQ. Both lead in a way @jlm would approve: mission, strategy & execution based.Jackson is enemy, emotion & effort based. Jackson maxes the effort, but any group leader knows that a highly effective team is more than the sum of the individual efforts.
Pop is anything but an a-hole. Players around the league unanimously love and respect him. That’s a big part of why he got the team USA job.If he was an a-hole, you’d hear it from the players. How many players leave San Antonio and disparage him or the organization?
I’d be VERY wary of hiring Mark Jackson. His tenure in GS ended very badly….
Ding ding ding ding…any dubs fan will acknowledge Jackson may have begun the process of changing the culture, but was out of his league strategically speaking, and lacked the people skills with other coaches and executives he is so fondly spoken of re: players.
Mine M:Mark Jackson sought the power that Popovich and Doc Rivers has. It didn’t work. Mark Jackson has nuts. 90% don’t. Respect any man with fortitude and guts. Aside from protecting athletes in perspective sports the non sports person which drives endorsements are promoting water down versions in major sports.
Nuts alone are not enough, my friend.
How much do you just want to buy this team? Fess up.
No kidding. Heart of a lion does not describe Knickerbocker ownership.
Good luck with it…and good luck tonight too, vs. Raptors :)Enjoy the Lowry-DeRozan show, if Casey lets them both play.
Georgetown bias.If you want to bring anybody back, bring back Donnie Walsh as GM and hire former Knick Mark Jackson as coach. Enough with the experiments.Worst managed/run team in sports.Add-on: Btw, the last time the Knicks hired a former center as HC it didn’t work out so well (Willis Reed-1 season). Sentimental biz decisions too often are just that, sentimental.
apparently you’re not familiar with the Cleveland Browns…
Ha, got me there, though there’s always a higher expectation for major market teams.
Mark Jackson is a high energy low X&O’s motivator. Personnel is the issue in NY. He would eventually cause a nuclear implosion.
Only one guy kept him from getting a ring. ; ) Agree with you, bring him back.
I thought you were going in a whole different direction based on the title…https://www.youtube.com/wat…
His recent interview on the Woj podcast was great. He takes his craft seriously. He deserves his chance whtpether with Knicks or someone else.That being said, hoping someone gives Jay Wright a call.
Great college coach doesn’t always translate into great NBA coach. It’s a different game.
True. Usually against idea. But Brad Stevens proves it can be done.
Calipari and Pitino failed.
That is correct. Some failed and some worked.There are only a handful of coaches that matter — Pops, Kerr, Thibs, Stevens, Carlisle then maybe Stotts, Budenholzer and Spoelstra.Given the way the coaching carousel works, hard to say one source of coach is better than another. College coaches who get NBA jobs have more name recognition going in so their failures are more known.
I think Jay Wright would (and will) make a great NBA head coach. I’ve had the opportunity to listen to him speak several times. He is just extremely smart. He just gets it. The way he thinks about the game, his demeanor and his relationship with players. Really reminded me of Brad Stevens in that regard.
Do it Fred. Bring the sign.
a 37 year old (and he’s 38 in 9 days) won Paris-Roubaix today at the 16th time of trying by out-sprinting a 35 year old.
Do the Knicks use Flash Seats – or tie the ticket to a credit card? Here in Minneapolis Timberwolves season ticket holders are upset with the system – or at least the ones I know. My buddy says it makes giving away his seats to friends and family a hassle – and that he’s really cut down on giving his seats to charity silent auctions. There is even a law suit brewing: http://www.startribune.com/…
Kobe is looking for a gig.
I’d be so curious to hear Fred’s take on (former Phila. 76ers GM) Sam Hinkie’s resignation letter and “The Process” generally. The letter seems relevant for this forum as it combines the NBA, references legendary investors (Buffet, Marks, Munger) and innovation (Bezos, AlphaGo, IBM Watson). It’s been fascinating to see the polarizing impact of the letter on social media & sports outlets.Link below: https://espn.go.com/pdf/201…
We could use another VC owned NBA team. The primary owner of GS Warriors is KCPB’s Joe Lacob. Joe was a regular guy when I used to block his shot back in the early 90’s playing hoop at the Decathalon Club in Santa Clara. Joe was a real “gym rat” and I’ve probably played in at least 100 pickup games with him. Look at him now, mega millionaire and big-time NBA guy.
.Big deal. I once held Bobbie Verga (Duke, ABA, NBA) to 40 in a Jersey Shore League game. When he was in the freakin’ NBA.He was averaging 80 at the time.I had his number.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…
I hate the Knicks, though I love Ewing.I’m not sure how he’d be as a head coach though. Never seemed to have worked out for Kareem either. I’m not sure why. Sometimes great players are not great X’s and O’s guys. In fact, it’s often that 2nd or 3rd tier player that has to really study the game, learn its nuisances and schemes that becomes the best coach.At least you don’t have a Hinkie situation. Oy vey.
.How does a pro team in the #1 market in the country struggle so bad?JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…
Being in a large market is much less of an advantage today than it was even 10 years ago. The NBA isn’t like MLB where you can simply spend as much as you want.I also think today’s players are more apt to join teams that give them the best chance to win in part because I think ultimately, that’s what drives endorsements – winning. Much more than in the past where it was just about the size of the TV market in which you played.Edit: meant to say that winning is what drives endorsements in today’s world.
Basketball, that’s what we are talking about here, right?Sounds silly to me:First, the players keep dropping the ball, letting it bounce on the floor. Darned clumsy. If they’d use two hands, then they wouldn’t lose it so easily!Second, that basket thingy is silly: In all this time, the whole game has yet to notice that there is no bottom in that basket. Nearly everytime they get that ball into that basket, the ball just falls out the bottom. Would think by now someone would sew the bottom shut.Third, they keep running from end to end on the floor. Could get tired doing that. Instead, just keep using the basket at one end of the floor. One end looks as good to me as the other. What difference to people see?Fourth, then, the girls, the ones dancing along the sides. Seems to me, quit messing around with that silly ball and do the obvious thing — run off with the girls! Most of them are darned pretty! The players have some manhood problem?
Hahaha
As a diehard Celtics fan, it’s hard to wish the Knicks well. However, Patrick hails from Cambridge Rindge and Latin and made the town proud so I say give him a shot!
Did you bring the sign?
I love Ewing. I just hope he doesn’t alter Porzingis’ game too much. The role of the big man has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Ewing’s style might be a bit outdated. Regardless, seeing Ewing back on the bench will be even more reason to cheer for the Knicks.
Agreed, this is quite a long time coming. Remarkable that the Knicks organization has taken care of everyone from that great team in the 90’s except Ewing. Starks, Houston, Larry Johnson all on the payroll right now while Ewing has been banished to Orlando/Charlotte.
Haven’t watched since Patrick played, I’d start watching again if he becomes the Knicks head coach.
https://youtu.be/2SYmae9FhkQ