Hire a new president 1st and then let that person with full autonomy pick their GM/HC.
Hiring a HC now in middle of the season means nobody worth a damn is going to come here with a coach forced on them and dolan still meddling. The incompetence is just unreal .
But a few things about that - at the time, he said he'd been thinking about resigning since the summer, i.e., before 9/11. The season didn't start until almost two months after 9/11 - if he was so emotionally unable to do his job, he had ample time before the season to tell the team.
The only reason he even made the finals is because Spreewell started ignoring his 1950s style set offense and began pushing the ball to get fastbreaks
Spreewell, clearly the Knicks best player at that point, was not even starting.
The guy is an awful coach. After quitting on the Knicks, he went down to Houston and drove that franchise into the ground, despite having elite players like McGrady and Yao Ming. He only made the playoffs twice with that talent and was knocked out both times in the first round. Then ludicrously blamed Mark Cuban for having coerced the officials into targeting Yao Ming with foul calls.
If the Knicks were to sign him, would they owe compensation in the form of draft picks or players?
Also, I understand Mark Jackson is a fan favorite, i like him. But, what has he done as a coach to think he could turn this mess around? To me, we need a new front office more than anything and why saddle them with a coach? That would be a classic Dolan move.
Last, who is Shams?
Shams is Shams Charania. NBA writer for Yahoo Sports Â
The only reason he even made the finals is because Spreewell started ignoring his 1950s style set offense and began pushing the ball to get fastbreaks
Spreewell, clearly the Knicks best player at that point, was not even starting.
The guy is an awful coach. After quitting on the Knicks, he went down to Houston and drove that franchise into the ground, despite having elite players like McGrady and Yao Ming. He only made the playoffs twice with that talent and was knocked out both times in the first round. Then ludicrously blamed Mark Cuban for having coerced the officials into targeting Yao Ming with foul calls.
Drove Houston into the ground? Wtf are you talking about? The Rockets win totals under JVG were 45, 51, 34, and 52. The one bad season when they only won 34 Yao and TMac missed 25 and 35 games respectively.
Van Gundy may not be an exciting hire, but he has one losing season to his name in his career. Saying he’s an awful coach is a joke.
is 100% correct. Latrell and Marcus took The Von Gundermeister to the finals not the other way around. That was outside the purview of his coaching abilities. He was a defensive oriented dump it in dump it out coach. Not a run it all day type like they played...he didn't have the ability to coach to the talent, you had to play his style or else.
Makes no sense to hire a coach in this scenario mid season. Which means the Knicks will be hiring a coach ASAP. If Dolan doesn’t learn after this dumpster fire- he never will.
Why not let Miller coach out the season? They have nothing to lose.
He left because of the dysfunction we've been bitching about for the decades since
I'm not saying he handled it right either. But the 'bad coach' stuff, no idea where that comes from
Since he had repeatedly voiced regret for not finishing a better way within the franchise, I think most commonly referencing working better with JD
There's no easy answer. Yet somehow I feel someone with direct experience, this perspective and intent could be a solid option, if the rest were to line up of course... In which case JVG isn't a bad option to consider
Stefan Bondy
@SBondyNYDN
People close to Sam Presti believe his relationship with Thunder owner Clay Bennett is such that if he wants to leave for the Knicks or another organization he’ll be allowed to even while under contract. Bennett and Presti have worked together for 12 years.
Stefan Bondy
@SBondyNYDN
People close to Sam Presti believe his relationship with Thunder owner Clay Bennett is such that if he wants to leave for the Knicks or another organization he’ll be allowed to even while under contract. Bennett and Presti have worked together for 12 years.
Great news. Probably best case scenario is firing Mills now; have Perry be the interim prez and then bring in Presti in the summer.
I obviously would prefer Ujiri over Presti, but I heard we may have to give up a first rounder for Ujiri? Yeah, no thanks.
RE: Van Quitter left them in the lurch two weeks into the season Â
You have posted this repeatedly over the years, and each time I see it I'll respond that it's pretty lousy to so harshly judge a man who was grieved enough at the loss of one of his closest friends on 9-11 the he needed to take a break from the intensity of being an NBA coach.
RE: Not saying he's the answer but the JVG hate surprises me Â
He left because of the dysfunction we've been bitching about for the decades since
I'm not saying he handled it right either. But the 'bad coach' stuff, no idea where that comes from
Since he had repeatedly voiced regret for not finishing a better way within the franchise, I think most commonly referencing working better with JD
There's no easy answer. Yet somehow I feel someone with direct experience, this perspective and intent could be a solid option, if the rest were to line up of course... In which case JVG isn't a bad option to consider
Agreed re: JVG
I don’t want him as coach now, but he coached the hell out of his Knicks teams back in his day.
The quitting part was weird, fair enough. But the Knicks were a tough matchup for anyone under JVG
Pointing to how one person dealt with something in attempt to criticize how another person dealt with it doesn't justify it.
You want to judge him, that's your prerogative but people can also point out that doing so is boorish.
IMO This article from then puts it all in pretty good perspective. It's impossible for anyone to know whether he makes the same decision had 9-11 never occurred but I choose to give him the benefit of the circumstances and show a little grace that it very likely it impacted his decision.
Quote:
CLEVELAND – While the Knicks may or may not be battling in the first round of the playoffs on April 29, Jeff Van Gundy has definite plans. Van Gundy will be hitting golf balls on Long Island to raise money for the family of his fallen friend, Farrell Lynch.
Van Gundy, who resigned as Knicks coach three weeks ago, is part of the organizing committee for what may become an annual fundraiser at the Indian Hills Golf Club for the families of Lynch and his brother Sean Lynch, both of whom perished at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
With basketball his obsession, Van Gundy did not have a lot of close friends away from the court. Farrell Lynch, his college roommate, was it.
Van Gundy downplayed the effect of Sept. 11 during his farewell press conference Dec. 8, and with his players during his goodbye meeting. However, people who know Van Gundy’s relationship with Lynch, a stockbroker at Cantor Fitzgerald, believes his lack of “laserlike focus” and his sudden quest to spend more time with his family and 6-year-old daughter, Mattie, was directly related to Lynch’s death.
Pat Cannon, a close friend of Lynch’s who is running the golf tournament with Van Gundy, believes “75 percent” of the Knicks’ coach’s decision to quit stemmed from the death of their mutual friend.
“Jeff is really a post-Sept. 11 hero figure in my eyes,” said Cannon, a Huntington Station attorney. “He’s a workaholic who took a step back and got a grip on his life. He’s taken this event and is going to spend more time with his family and change the focus in his life.
“It was a significant event in my life. I can see all [Lynch’s] friends extraordinarily effected by it,” Cannon added. “He was a beacon of light for all his friends. Jeff saw Farrell as an example of balancing family and work. He was a tremendous guy, a unique character who you looked towards as a way to lead your life.”
Lynch, a Centerport resident, left a wife, Eileen, and three grade-school aged children. Van Gundy has made many phone calls to Lynch’s wife. The charity event has already drawn 132 golfers. A black-tie affair in the Lynch’s honor is also expected to be held in Manhattan to raise money.
Cannon gets angry when he hears theories Van Gundy quit because he didn’t like the Dolans and felt he’d be fired anyway at season’s end. Van Gundy has admitted he contemplated resigning during the summer and was close to quitting before training camp after Lynch’s death.
“I think Jeff thought work will get you back into a normal feeling,” Cannon said. “But it doesn’t. I haven’t been in mood to try heavy cases. It goes deeper than that.”
Van Gundy met Lynch at Brockport State and both transferred together to Nazareth College when Jeff’s father, Bill, was fired as Brockport’s basketball coach.
I didn't know any of that, and it's easily believable something like that had a huge affect. It's funny, we can't conjecture on things like this so we just ignore them on the whole for the most part. Yet real life factors must ALWAYS play a bigger role than we'll ever fairly consider as sports fans
I mean we're just coming across how much psychological issues effect a person and their production / performance. Knowing how laser focused these guys have to be to be at the top of their game, but then assuming 'it should be fine he's a pro.' Also ignoring they are barely 18+ in many cases (yes, NOT JVG, but still)
Like the sentiment above how Pitino handled it but JVG not as well. It's blatantly obvious something as big as 9-11 would never effect people the same way, even ignoring personal connections and individual psychologies
If it's his one real non-bball friend, and one he's had since college, holy shit. Totally new perspective on the end of his NYK career (at the time, I just thought he saw the sinking ship b4 anyone else...and he was 100% right, wasn't he?). Even take 9-11 away, he decided his family was more important? Even if it was poorly handled / mid-contract, what an asshole?
If he had resigned in the off-season, I wouldn't be saying anything Â
But he didn't. He decided to duck out in early December.
And somehow that is the pertinent fact - timing of leaving your favorite team (the same toxic franchise w/ the shit owner / FO / coaching no less) - over losing a close friend, 9-11 (even if you lost no one tbf), or just focusing on family
And you can absolutely have that opinion. But no explanation will convince me of the same
If so, no thanks to any of them.
Exactly
I almost wonder whether the Knicks are threatened by the Giants trying to outdo them on the incompetence front.
It would be like the Giants asking Shurmur to make the first round pick for 2020 draft just before they can him.
If so, no thanks to any of them.
++++++++++++++1 gazillion
Didn't Van Gundy quit as a reaction to a friend of his dying in the WTC on 9/11?
I may be wrong about that, but I seem to recall that he was reevaluating his life because of 9/11 and just needed to step away.
Hire a new president 1st and then let that person with full autonomy pick their GM/HC.
Hiring a HC now in middle of the season means nobody worth a damn is going to come here with a coach forced on them and dolan still meddling. The incompetence is just unreal .
I’d like to think they’re not dumb enough to make a hire like this mid season.
But then I remembered it’s the Knicks we’re talking about...
ravings of a madman - ( New Window )
The only reason he even made the finals is because Spreewell started ignoring his 1950s style set offense and began pushing the ball to get fastbreaks
Spreewell, clearly the Knicks best player at that point, was not even starting.
The guy is an awful coach. After quitting on the Knicks, he went down to Houston and drove that franchise into the ground, despite having elite players like McGrady and Yao Ming. He only made the playoffs twice with that talent and was knocked out both times in the first round. Then ludicrously blamed Mark Cuban for having coerced the officials into targeting Yao Ming with foul calls.
Also, I understand Mark Jackson is a fan favorite, i like him. But, what has he done as a coach to think he could turn this mess around? To me, we need a new front office more than anything and why saddle them with a coach? That would be a classic Dolan move.
Last, who is Shams?
The only reason he even made the finals is because Spreewell started ignoring his 1950s style set offense and began pushing the ball to get fastbreaks
Spreewell, clearly the Knicks best player at that point, was not even starting.
The guy is an awful coach. After quitting on the Knicks, he went down to Houston and drove that franchise into the ground, despite having elite players like McGrady and Yao Ming. He only made the playoffs twice with that talent and was knocked out both times in the first round. Then ludicrously blamed Mark Cuban for having coerced the officials into targeting Yao Ming with foul calls.
Drove Houston into the ground? Wtf are you talking about? The Rockets win totals under JVG were 45, 51, 34, and 52. The one bad season when they only won 34 Yao and TMac missed 25 and 35 games respectively.
Van Gundy may not be an exciting hire, but he has one losing season to his name in his career. Saying he’s an awful coach is a joke.
Why do you think he has never been offered another HC job after Houston debacle?
Only a fellow clown, like Dolan, would hire him.
Also, I understand Mark Jackson is a fan favorite, i like him.
You wrongly understand then.
That’s the problem — get a personnel guy in here that can draft, attract FA’s, and doesn’t make stupid moves.
The head coach is mainly a figurehead in the NBA, imo.
Why not let Miller coach out the season? They have nothing to lose.
if that is the plan than you can do it midseason
I'm not saying he handled it right either. But the 'bad coach' stuff, no idea where that comes from
Since he had repeatedly voiced regret for not finishing a better way within the franchise, I think most commonly referencing working better with JD
There's no easy answer. Yet somehow I feel someone with direct experience, this perspective and intent could be a solid option, if the rest were to line up of course... In which case JVG isn't a bad option to consider
@SBondyNYDN
People close to Sam Presti believe his relationship with Thunder owner Clay Bennett is such that if he wants to leave for the Knicks or another organization he’ll be allowed to even while under contract. Bennett and Presti have worked together for 12 years.
@SBondyNYDN
People close to Sam Presti believe his relationship with Thunder owner Clay Bennett is such that if he wants to leave for the Knicks or another organization he’ll be allowed to even while under contract. Bennett and Presti have worked together for 12 years.
Great news. Probably best case scenario is firing Mills now; have Perry be the interim prez and then bring in Presti in the summer.
I obviously would prefer Ujiri over Presti, but I heard we may have to give up a first rounder for Ujiri? Yeah, no thanks.
You have posted this repeatedly over the years, and each time I see it I'll respond that it's pretty lousy to so harshly judge a man who was grieved enough at the loss of one of his closest friends on 9-11 the he needed to take a break from the intensity of being an NBA coach.
I'm not saying he handled it right either. But the 'bad coach' stuff, no idea where that comes from
Since he had repeatedly voiced regret for not finishing a better way within the franchise, I think most commonly referencing working better with JD
There's no easy answer. Yet somehow I feel someone with direct experience, this perspective and intent could be a solid option, if the rest were to line up of course... In which case JVG isn't a bad option to consider
Agreed re: JVG
I don’t want him as coach now, but he coached the hell out of his Knicks teams back in his day.
The quitting part was weird, fair enough. But the Knicks were a tough matchup for anyone under JVG
And, like I said earlier, he said immediately after his resignation that he had been pondering it since the offseason.
You want to judge him, that's your prerogative but people can also point out that doing so is boorish.
IMO This article from then puts it all in pretty good perspective. It's impossible for anyone to know whether he makes the same decision had 9-11 never occurred but I choose to give him the benefit of the circumstances and show a little grace that it very likely it impacted his decision.
Van Gundy, who resigned as Knicks coach three weeks ago, is part of the organizing committee for what may become an annual fundraiser at the Indian Hills Golf Club for the families of Lynch and his brother Sean Lynch, both of whom perished at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
With basketball his obsession, Van Gundy did not have a lot of close friends away from the court. Farrell Lynch, his college roommate, was it.
Van Gundy downplayed the effect of Sept. 11 during his farewell press conference Dec. 8, and with his players during his goodbye meeting. However, people who know Van Gundy’s relationship with Lynch, a stockbroker at Cantor Fitzgerald, believes his lack of “laserlike focus” and his sudden quest to spend more time with his family and 6-year-old daughter, Mattie, was directly related to Lynch’s death.
Pat Cannon, a close friend of Lynch’s who is running the golf tournament with Van Gundy, believes “75 percent” of the Knicks’ coach’s decision to quit stemmed from the death of their mutual friend.
“Jeff is really a post-Sept. 11 hero figure in my eyes,” said Cannon, a Huntington Station attorney. “He’s a workaholic who took a step back and got a grip on his life. He’s taken this event and is going to spend more time with his family and change the focus in his life.
“It was a significant event in my life. I can see all [Lynch’s] friends extraordinarily effected by it,” Cannon added. “He was a beacon of light for all his friends. Jeff saw Farrell as an example of balancing family and work. He was a tremendous guy, a unique character who you looked towards as a way to lead your life.”
Lynch, a Centerport resident, left a wife, Eileen, and three grade-school aged children. Van Gundy has made many phone calls to Lynch’s wife. The charity event has already drawn 132 golfers. A black-tie affair in the Lynch’s honor is also expected to be held in Manhattan to raise money.
Cannon gets angry when he hears theories Van Gundy quit because he didn’t like the Dolans and felt he’d be fired anyway at season’s end. Van Gundy has admitted he contemplated resigning during the summer and was close to quitting before training camp after Lynch’s death.
“I think Jeff thought work will get you back into a normal feeling,” Cannon said. “But it doesn’t. I haven’t been in mood to try heavy cases. It goes deeper than that.”
Van Gundy met Lynch at Brockport State and both transferred together to Nazareth College when Jeff’s father, Bill, was fired as Brockport’s basketball coach.
FRIEND’S DEATH LED VG TO TRANSFORM LIFE - ( New Window )
I asse Stan. Jeff hasn't coached in awhile. He got out of this mess once, why would he come back.
I mean we're just coming across how much psychological issues effect a person and their production / performance. Knowing how laser focused these guys have to be to be at the top of their game, but then assuming 'it should be fine he's a pro.' Also ignoring they are barely 18+ in many cases (yes, NOT JVG, but still)
Like the sentiment above how Pitino handled it but JVG not as well. It's blatantly obvious something as big as 9-11 would never effect people the same way, even ignoring personal connections and individual psychologies
If it's his one real non-bball friend, and one he's had since college, holy shit. Totally new perspective on the end of his NYK career (at the time, I just thought he saw the sinking ship b4 anyone else...and he was 100% right, wasn't he?). Even take 9-11 away, he decided his family was more important? Even if it was poorly handled / mid-contract, what an asshole?
And somehow that is the pertinent fact - timing of leaving your favorite team (the same toxic franchise w/ the shit owner / FO / coaching no less) - over losing a close friend, 9-11 (even if you lost no one tbf), or just focusing on family
And you can absolutely have that opinion. But no explanation will convince me of the same