04-20-2005, 10:18 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Knighty Night
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Nightmare Bvld
Age: 26
Posts: 14,348
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Knicks expected to court Jackson, Brown
Quote:
NEW YORK - (KRT) - Sometime within the next 10 days, the Knicks formally will reach out to Phil Jackson to gauge his interest about becoming their next coach. And when the Detroit Pistons' season ends, quite possibly in mid-June, Isiah Thomas will make a run at Larry Brown.
Three months after Lenny Wilkens was fired, Jackson and Brown remain the two leading candidates to take over one of the league's marquee jobs. Whether the Knicks can land either one is something of a longshot.
Jackson's credentials are unmatched: he owns nine championship rings, he would bring instant credibility and he's currently unemployed. But unlike the teams Jackson inherited in Chicago and Los Angeles, the Knicks are devoid of a superstar player and are not on the verge of competing for a championship.
Former Garden president Dave Checketts, who six years ago tried to hire Jackson, said recently he believes that Jackson would rather take over a team like Cleveland, which has LeBron James and enough salary cap room to sign a free agent like Ray Allen or Michael Redd.
"I do not think he wants to coach again unless he can step into a ready-made situation and be very competitive," Checketts said three weeks ago. ". . . I promise you he is all about his legacy now and why spoil it by coaching a team that might not make the playoffs."
Depending on whom you listen to, Jackson might go to the Knicks or Cleveland, return to the Lakers or just sit out another season. One scenario that shouldn't be discounted is Jackson negotiating with the Knicks to run the team from the front office. After all, the Knicks went behind Scott Layden's back to hire Thomas and Thomas is too shrewd not to know that he could be ousted in similar fashion.
Because Jackson could be seen as overly ambitious, Brown would be a safer choice for Thomas. Of course, it helps that Brown and Thomas have a close relationship. The one major stumbling block is that Brown is under contract with Detroit and has said that his last job will be with the Pistons.
If and when Jackson and Brown are eliminated from contention, Thomas will have an interesting decision on his hands. Flip Saunders is a viable candidate but likely would end up in Portland or Orlando before he joins the Knicks. And as recently as two days ago, Thomas told people close to him that he has no intentions of becoming coach.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/11430580.htm
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Knicks expected to court Jackson, Brown
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