Top 3 Knicks Head Coach Candiates
TrueFan
Top New York Knicks Head Coach Choices
Written
By Kyle Crabbe
Follow
on Twitter: @KthetruestKnick
With
another season in which the New York Knicks didn't qualify for the
NBA's postseason play, the Knicks organization lead by President
Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry has made the decision to
make changes to the team's leadership. After a mixed bag season that
ended in a 29-53 record, the NY Knicks' dismissed their Head Coach of
the previous two seasons in Jeff Hornacek prior to completing his
final year under the signed 3-Year contract. Hornacek was hired under
the previous President Phil Jackson, thus seems to be more a casualty
of a change in philosophy at the top than in terms of his
performance, basketball knowledge or his actual talent for coaching
basketball.
I
believe Hornacek is a good basketball coach and excellent innovative
basketball mind. In Hornacek's time as Head Coach of the Knicks I
believe he did a lot of good things in terms of player development
that will help the Knicks current core in the long run. During
Hornacek's tenure almost all of his players experienced career years
and achieved statistical career highs playing under Hornacek's
creative offensive in which he molds rather nicely around his
players. I believe Hornacek's philosophy and coaching for these two
years created a nice foundation for the next coach the
Knicks brass is to bring in to continue the development of this
current Knicks youthful team. Through statements made during the
Steve Mills/Scott Perry Press Conference that followed the Hornacek's
dismissal and just looking at the Knicks roster we can make a sharp
opinion/prediction as to whom the Knicks will most likley hired as
the next head coach. Here we will outline the TrueFan Top 3 Coaching
Candidates and breakdown why they are.
 |
| Steve Mills Scott Perry April 12 Press Conference |
In
the Press Conference that President Steve Mills and General Manager
Scott Perry held after the dismissal of Jeff Hornacek, the two
outlined what they would be looking for in the next Head Coach of the
Knicks. Perry and Mills pointed to about 3 major aspects that the
next candidate must posses and showcase that they believe could be
the right Basketball fit to lead this Knicks team to a future
Championship. Those points broken down were:
A)
The Coach Must be able to hold his players and his coaching staff
accountable. To make sure his players and coaches are doing
everything they can and are suppose to be doing to ensure the success
of the team.
B)
Coach Must be a skilled communicator who can reach and
communicate effectively with the modern NBA player as well as the
young International talent the Knicks currently are developing. In
addition to being able to get his message across to his players,
Mills and Perry want that coach to be essentially an effective
leader. A coach that wouldn't be questioned as the accepted leader
and main voice of the team and locker room. And as part of being the
main voice of the team, this said coach has to be able to handle the New York City Pressure, New York City Media, and New York City tough fanatical atmosphere of critics as the leader of the New York Knicks Basketball team.
C)
Lastly but possibly most importantly stated, the Next New York
Knicks Head Coach Must be a defensive-minded Coach. Mills and
Perry have emphasized that they want this Knicks team to be a
Defensive First team; a team that is Defensive-minded and competes to
win every night because of their defensive play. As for the Knicks
current roster, they are well in front of creating that
defensive-minded team. With their two most prized young talents being
PF Kristaps Porzingis, who lead the league in Blocks before he got
hurt and is already a Premier Rim Protector along with young French
PG Frank Ntilikina, who has the potential to win Defensive Player of
the Year in his career and as a Rookie lead the league this year in pick-n-roll defensive metrics( Pick-N-Roll being the most ran offense play and most pivotal to defend in today's NBA). The Knicks are well on their
way to creating a strong defensive team for years to come but now
their focus has to be bringing in the right coach to implement the
best system for Ntilikina and Porzingis to grow and flourish for
years as well as the other many talents the Knicks roster has. With
Hornacek out mainly due to his coaching skills centered around being a brillant offensive mind and
now defense the Knicks calling card, we can hope fallen
star and former Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah might be
able to rejoin this team and act as a great foundation and mentor for
building a great defensive-minded team.
Now
that we looked over the qualifications for the Next New York Knicks
Head Coach, here are the candidates I feel are the best fits :
Jerry
Stackhouse
points to hire:
-Defensive-Minded
Coach
-Excelled
At Coaching Great Defense
-Excellent
Communicator/Adaptability to Players
TrueFan
Take:
Jerry
Stackhouse is a excellent candidate and checks all the boxes that the
New York Knicks' brass has outlined for their next coach. I believe
Stackhouse is a great choice and maybe the best choice due to his
youth versus the other candidates, as he is closer to the younger
generation in age and as he has already proven to be able to connect
and communicate with the younger generation players. Stackhouse has
been the Head Coach of the D/G-League Raptors 905( Toronto Raptos
Affilate) over the past 2 seasons. As the Head Coach there he has
garnered great success, leading the Raptors to a championship in 2017
and back to the G-League Finals this year while posting the League
best Team Defensive Rating both seasons. In addition to those resume points, Stackhouse also is a former 18-year NBA Veteran and two-time NBA all-star. Stackhouse
undoubtedly has the credibility and a proven history that allows him
to gain respect in most locker rooms whether of said younger players
or even today's veteran NBA ballers. Although offensively, Stackhouse
hasn't shown the greatest results in his brief Head Coaching
experience, his notable dedication to film study and to pushing a
team game philosophy I believe will allow Stackhouse to still manage
a very balanced team attack, offensively and defensively as a Head
Coach in the NBA. Lastly I believe Stackhouse has a great chance of
becoming the next head coach of the New York Knicks due to his
connection to current Knicks General Manger Scott Perry. During
Stackhouse best 3-year period in the NBA, which included back to back
all-star years with the Detroit Pistons, Knicks current General
Manager Scott Perry was part of that team's front office showcasing a successful history between Perry and Stackhouse in the NBA. I
believe Stackhouse is more than a great fit for the Knicks, but we'll
see if his NBA Head Coaching inexperience holds him back from these
other two candidates we at TrueFan are viewing as potential Knicks
Head Coach.
David
Blatt
points
to hire:
-Experience
Leading Great Teams
-Championship
Caliber Coach
-International
Connection/ European Adaptability
-Close
Relationship/Connection/Ties to Knicks President Steve Mills and
Knicks VP of Player Development Craig Robinson
TrueFan
Take:
I
believe David Blatt stands as the safest and surest selection of the
Head Coaching Candidates for the New York Knicks. Blatt has as much
reasons as any candidate to be a great choice for the next Knicks
coach. The first reason is his proven track record. Blatt is a
International Coaching Legend and widely considered the best European
Basketball Head Coach right now. Blatt in just 1 and half seasons
with LeBron James and the Cavaliers was able to lead them to a Finals
appearance and the top record in the East before he was relieved of
his duties. Blatt's familiarity with the International game and his
success there make him an extremely excellent choice to develop
Knicks star international players Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, French
Frank Ntilikina, Turkish Enes Kanter, African Emmanuel Mudiay. His
adaptability and Motion Offensive genius would be a great fit for
Porzingis' and Ntilikina's development which for this Knicks Era is
of most importance. Blatt I believe might be the quiet favorite to be
the next Knicks head choice with his close ties to former college
roommate President Steve Mills and Blatt's familiarity with
International players and the European style game he has meshed so
well with the vaunted Princeton Offensive.
Mark
Jackson
points
to hire:
-Effective
Leader that preaches Accountability
-Experience
Establishing Defensive Culture/ Developing Young Team
-Excellent
Communicator and Respected by Players
-Former
NBA Star Level Point Guard with New York City History, Experience,
and Background
TrueFan
Take:
Mark
Jackson stands to me in my opinion as by and far the best candidate
to be the next Knicks Head Coach based solely off the remarks of
President Steve Mills/General Manager Scott Perry and a roster that
is heavy on developing young point guards. As we look at the three
main points the next Knicks head coach needed to provide, Mark
Jackson is the only candidate that can say he has not only the
ability to satisfy those 3 points but he has NBA Head Coaching
Experience at successfully doing all three. Those 3 Points being; 1)
Holding players and coaching staff accountable. In this department
Jackson showcased in his tenure with Golden State he would hold not
only staffers but veterans players to young players accountable for
bringing the same effort and intensity to the game every night. Now
players like Draymond Green, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson boast
Coach Jackson set up their foundation for how they approach the game
night after night to win consistently in the NBA. 2) Coach Must Be a
Skilled Communicator. This is another point Mark Jackson is head
above most of the other candidates for the job. Jackson is a natural
talker as proven by his history being in the media or being very
vocal on and off the court as a Star Point Guard. Mark Jackson made
point that as a Head Coach of the Warriors his job was to get his
message across to his players, which he did. In Golden State, Jackson
was able to reach both veterans in Andrew Bogut and David Lee, to
developing the young players he had in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and
Draymond Green. To the Last Major Point, C) The Next Knicks Coach
Must Be a Defensive-Minded First Coach that can establish a Defense
First Team in New York. This again Mark Jackson has over many of the
other candidates. Jackson not only played with the last great Knicks
defensive teams in the late 1980's to early 1990's in New York as a
player, but while coaching in Golden State he established a Defensive
Culture with offensively gifted young players in Steph Curry, Klay
Thompson and Harrison Barnes. Jackson can boast that he has
experience getting players to buy into committing to defense which
seems to be the Current Knicks front office biggest sticking
principle. So if we point to the major needs for the next Knicks head
coach, Mark Jackson is undoubtedly in my opinion the best candidate.
To give a couple extra points in Jackson's favor, 1) As a former
great point guard in the league, he would be able to give valuable
lessons and teaching points to Knicks Young Point Guards Trey Burke,
Frank Ntilikina, and Emmanuel Mudiay in a league right now where
Point Guard is the Dominant Position. 2) I believe that as a former New
York Knicks Point Guard that was impatiently send out of New York as
a young player, he could manage the New York City's Fan and Media
expectations of both Emmanuel Mudiay and Frank Nitilikina well, as
well as better manage their confidence against the pressure of the city.
As I felt very good about bringing in Jarret Jack to mentor Frank
Ntilikina this year, due to Jack being the primary mentor to Golden
State Superstar Steph Curry in his youthful development, I feel just
as good about having the Coach that got Curry to Star status to do
the same with Frank Ntilikina. I do believe that in Ntilikina the
Knicks have a potential star player, I believe Ntilikina's potential
floor is at New Orleans Star PG Jrue Holiday whereas I believe his
ceiling potential is of Hall Of Fame Defensive PG Gary “The Glove”
Payton. 3) To my last point for “Mark Jackson 4 Coach”, I believe
the Knicks have a opportunity like the Golden State Warriors had to
foster a resurgent in great defensive big man in Andrew Bogut. For
the Knicks, the gem is New York Native Joakim Noah. I believe Jackson
being from New York and admiring Noah's play from calling his Chicago
Bulls games on NBC Basketball telecasts, Jackson can repair the New
York Knicks relationship with Noah and Noah can be a force for the
Knicks developing a great defensive team that could potential be the
best defensive team under Mark Jackson.
I'm
excited for whomever the next Knicks Head Coach is and I want to
thank Jeff Hornacek for doing great things for the Knicks. As a great
innovative offensive coach, Hornacek got the best out of several of
our veteran players and developed the younger players patiently. I
would of loved Hornacek to stay with us as a offensive assistant
coach but If Mark Jackson is to be the next Knicks head coach, I
would like to see his coaching staff consist of Kenny “The Jet”
Smith, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Rod Strickland, Chris Brickley
and Adrian Griffin. Knicks fans reading this should also be aware
that the Knicks are looking at great other candidates such as David
Fizdale, Mike Budenholzer, Mike Woodson. I do have the trust of the
front office team of Scott Perry-Steve Mills to make a great decision
for this budding Knicks Franchise.
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