In the (I think) latest New York Magazine,
Will Leitch has an article outlining how Carmelo Anthony has essentially hijacked the Knickerbockers franchise by pushing out one coach (Mike D'Antoni- TRUE), insisting on the hiring of another coach (Mike Woodson- PROBABLE) and then forcing the latter to drop his agent and join CAA to further kill any leverage the new coach might have (SEEMS LIKE HIM). I agree with the gist of the article in that Melo has too much power on the Knicks and it is going to be a problem for the franchise going forward. I especially agree that the isolation (ISO) sets on offense favored by Carmelo Anthony and Mike Woodson
(i.e., why he was hired) are not how one wins a championship. All four teams playing right now move the ball until they find the open shot with the two favorites, San Antonio and OKC (yes, I think whoever comes out of the west wins the title), currently being the best at it. In fact, when the Thunder ran much more Iso sets in the first two games San Antonio slapped em around like petulant school boys.
My quibbles come with his
almost throw away Phil Jackson point and his blame falling solely on Melo. While, admittedly, Mr. Leitch may have access to sources that I do not, nothing I've read indicated that Jackson had any real interest in coming to NY. There was that brief period where there was one report that he'd do it for $40-50 million, but, any time the Knicks have had a coaching opening, there was always a rumor that Jackson was coming for some ludicrous amount of money (that I would GLADLY pay). I wasn't holding my breathe waiting for Jackson to come riding on his zen-like steed as a white knight version of Tywin Lannister to save the day at
Basketball Mecca. Further, and more importantly pour moi, Melo and his newfound power, if anything, are a symptom of the ultimately problem rather than the actual disease... James Dolan.
I do not care what Bill Simmons or anyone else say, the Knicks gave up too much for Melo in the first place. Despite the argument that one has to do that trade for who the Knicks gave up, they were only bidding against themselves because Jimmy Dolan got involved. What the Knicks gave up was unnecessary. In the same vein, the problem of Melo's coup d'etat came not because of his genius strategy
of not playing to his ability, but because Dolan exacerbated the issue by making it clear that it was Melo's franchise and that D'Antoni had no real support. Then, as the final rabbit poop of a cherry on top of the frozen hobo piss sundae, Dolan removed the interim tag from Woodson and required, as a condition precedent for a contract signing, that Woodson switch representation. I firmly believe Woodson deserved the extension for the stretch run, but did Dolan really have to cut him down at the knees before he even has had a chance to actually coach Melo full time? JD, who appropriately makes me
need a shot of something, is a facilitator for everything bad Melo brings to the team. It's depressingly Isiah-like all over again. And, because there is no getting out from under the roster we now have because of the unmovable contract, Knicks fans are stuck with what they have. It's not enough.
Welcome back futility; that brief interlude of excitement and hope during that now distant Linsanity thing made me miss you all the more. Time to go back to realizing the Knicks are, as always, not a contender with no hope in sight for the immediate future. Can't wait until the next time I fool myself into thinking the Knickerbockers have a shot
and then realize that the team is still owned James Dolan longsigh.
Image: NY Daily News
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