Moderators: HerSports85, NoLayupRule, GONYK, Jeff Van Gully, dakomish23, Deeeez Knicks, mpharris36, j4remi
JayTWill wrote:Does anyone know why Bryant left for the same role in Cleveland?
* We have a Brunson Burner™ * ** GO NY GO NY GO NY GO! ** 
* We have a Brunson Burner™ * ** GO NY GO NY GO NY GO! ** 
DaGawd wrote:thebuzzardman wrote:JVG wasn’t anybody until he got a chance
neither was steve kerr or ime udoka
BKlutch wrote:
Yes it does !!!!!!!!!!!!!
This, or some close variation, makes the most sense. Dolan has reportedly been enjoying letting Leon fix things with the team, and certainly doesn't want the headaches and the infamy.
god shammgod wrote:He was literally part of the players interviews which isn’t normal. You can’t claim he’s not involved at all.
* We have a Brunson Burner™ * ** GO NY GO NY GO NY GO! ** BKlutch wrote:I had to look this up.
Red Holzman won 2 championships for us.
He joined the Milwaukee Hawks as a player-coach, eventually retiring as a player in 1954 but continuing as the team's head coach. During the 1956–1957 season, the Hawks (then in St. Louis, Missouri) lost 19 of their first 33 games, and Holzman was fired.
Holzman coached Leones de Ponce from 1963 to 1967, winning three consecutive championships from 1964 to 1966. This was a Puerto Rican baseball team! (MJ, anybody?)
From '57 he became a scout for the Knicks until '67,when he became Head Coach, winning a chip in '70 and '73.
He had a very unusual background and yet, over 50 years later, remains the Knicks most successful all time coach.
JayTWill wrote:Does anyone know why Bryant left for the same role in Cleveland?
Capn'O wrote:
These mfers are stealing my flow, word for word bar for bar.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2462484&start=220#p118883894
Wes has been beating this drum for a minute and started getting more steam this year.
The Knicks have the league's only current coaching vacancy now that Phoenix has hired Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott and, to this point, have moved very deliberately since Thibodeau's dismissal. They appear to have made the change with no locked-in succession plan and, to further confound many around the league, have almost exclusively been connected to candidates who have jobs elsewhere.
The Knicks, meanwhile, are said to be determined to hire an experienced coach to replace Thibodeau, who was fired after steering New York to its most successful five-season run of the 21st century but abruptly lost his job in the wake of an Eastern Conference Finals failure against Indiana when Knicks officials decided they needed a new voice and day-to-day leader to try to deliver the franchise's first championship since 1972-73. That approach would appear to rule out Cavaliers assistant coach Johnnie Bryant as a prime candidate, although Bryant previously worked on Thibodeau's Knicks staff and was a finalist for the Suns' head coaching job alongside Ott.
The Knicks have painted this as a Leon Rose-led decision, but few in league circles seem to be buying it.
Rose and Thibodeau were close long before Rose became the Knicks' lead basketball decision-maker in March 2020.
The Knicks, in fact, hired Thibs as their new coach entering the 2020-21 season at Rose's strong insistence. Dolan, meanwhile, has long been described by league observers well-acquainted with New York's organizational dynamics as a non-fan ... which some attribute to Thibodeau's connections as a staff member to what one source described as "the old Knicks." It's a reference to the Knicks' teams coached by Jeff Van Gundy in the late 1990s that, until the past five seasons with Thibs in charge, stood as the last previous successful era of Knicks basketball.
3toheadmelo wrote:The Knicks had no plan when they fired Thibs. And you guys need to let go of the Bryant dream. They only want a veteran coach.
Via Marc steinThe Knicks have the league's only current coaching vacancy now that Phoenix has hired Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott and, to this point, have moved very deliberately since Thibodeau's dismissal. They appear to have made the change with no locked-in succession plan and, to further confound many around the league, have almost exclusively been connected to candidates who have jobs elsewhere.The Knicks, meanwhile, are said to be determined to hire an experienced coach to replace Thibodeau, who was fired after steering New York to its most successful five-season run of the 21st century but abruptly lost his job in the wake of an Eastern Conference Finals failure against Indiana when Knicks officials decided they needed a new voice and day-to-day leader to try to deliver the franchise's first championship since 1972-73. That approach would appear to rule out Cavaliers assistant coach Johnnie Bryant as a prime candidate, although Bryant previously worked on Thibodeau's Knicks staff and was a finalist for the Suns' head coaching job alongside Ott.
3toheadmelo wrote:The Knicks had no plan when they fired Thibs. And you guys need to let go of the Bryant dream. They only want a veteran coach.
KnicksGadfly wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:The Knicks had no plan when they fired Thibs. And you guys need to let go of the Bryant dream. They only want a veteran coach.
Via Marc steinThe Knicks have the league's only current coaching vacancy now that Phoenix has hired Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott and, to this point, have moved very deliberately since Thibodeau's dismissal. They appear to have made the change with no locked-in succession plan and, to further confound many around the league, have almost exclusively been connected to candidates who have jobs elsewhere.The Knicks, meanwhile, are said to be determined to hire an experienced coach to replace Thibodeau, who was fired after steering New York to its most successful five-season run of the 21st century but abruptly lost his job in the wake of an Eastern Conference Finals failure against Indiana when Knicks officials decided they needed a new voice and day-to-day leader to try to deliver the franchise's first championship since 1972-73. That approach would appear to rule out Cavaliers assistant coach Johnnie Bryant as a prime candidate, although Bryant previously worked on Thibodeau's Knicks staff and was a finalist for the Suns' head coaching job alongside Ott.
That's fine with me.
I think there have been two questions the Knicks had to answer.
1) Is Thibs the right coach?
I think the answer to this has been no. Once this was determined, you had to let him go. I think some of us here wanted to keep Thibs until we identified the next coach...but that's really hard to do and I don't think that's practical. Imagine if Thibs was still under contract and rumors started leaking that the Knicks were looking to interview other coaches or shat...that's a really low move. A good coach hiring cycle takes time and energy...rumors were going to spring up regardless. The Knicks leaders thought Thibs was the wrong guy and we had to let him go...that was best for Thibs and hopefully best for the Knicks.
2) Who is the next coach?
I'm actually more encouraged by the Knicks' approach this time around. If they had identified a dude and just hired him, it would have been really alarming to me. At the very least, even if they like a guy, they need to test that guy against other candidates.
The Knicks have a weird reputation as trade partners in the NBA as people who call up their counterparts and just throw tons of scenarios at them. I would prefer that scenario in this case...create a list of qualities you need in a coach, reach out to people that are good fits, do a good search, and then select the best guy. Take their time and get it right. If it turns out to be Bryant, at least we know that he went through the process. And if it turns out to be some other dude...same (although there are some names out there that make me want to vomit right now).
ctorres wrote:3toheadmelo wrote:The Knicks had no plan when they fired Thibs. And you guys need to let go of the Bryant dream. They only want a veteran coach.
It's Bryant's time now. He has already put in 11 years of work in the NBA as an assistant. Most every team has been highly successful with the exception of his first two years in Utah (38 wins in '15, 40 wins in '16) and one year in New York (37 wins in '22). He has worked alongside Snyder, Thibs, and Atkinson. I think he is ready.
Also, it is weird to be targeting guys like Kidd and Udoka who are under contract with other teams, but not being mentioned to be targeting Mike Malone and Taylor Jenkins who were recently let go.
I don't know what veteran coaches honestly make more sense than just getting Bryant.