Official Knicks Coaching Search Thread pt. 2 (update: poll added 6/18/25)

[Jalen Bluntson]

this is false. he changed our defense completely and out-coached mazulla. he made some mistakes vs indy but you don't need to lie about the series prior to make your argument better.

Boston shot 25% from 3 on 100 attempts in the first two games. THAT'S what won that series. They also lost their best player in game 4. NOTHING Thibs did won that series. Saying otherwise is simply not true. I watched those games. We played like shyt for the majority of those games. If Boston hits ONE more three in both of the first two games it's a wrap.

Thibs wasn't fired for the sake of firing him. His coaching was that bad.

this exchange has turned to more of a general thibs conversation and less about the search. please pivot back or continue elsewhere accordingly.

No need to continue it anywhere. We all know why Thibs was fired. Moving on.

continued derailing. -JVG

[god shammgod]

Boston shot 25% from 3 on 100 attempts in the first two games. THAT'S what won that series. They also lost their best player in game 4. NOTHING Thibs did won that series. Saying otherwise is simply not true. I watched those games. We played like shyt for the majority of those games. If Boston hits ONE more three in both of the first two games it's a wrap.

Thibs wasn't fired for the sake of firing him. His coaching was that bad.

this exchange has turned to more of a general thibs conversation and less about the search. please pivot back or continue elsewhere accordingly.

No need to continue it anywhere. We all know why Thibs was fired. Moving on.

we do. and we all know he out coached mazulla.

continued derailing. -JVG

[MrDollarBills]

Shams on the Rich Eisen Show:

Shams Charania: “Yeah, yeah, yeah—I’ll give you some examples. I’m not going to say that this was exactly what happened with Kidd, but among the five rejections, some of the scenarios I heard were: Teams would just hang up. Some would say no—and then hang up. In other situations, there was profanity involved. You know—some literal ‘F— no’ responses. In a few cases, it was the team owners calling directly and saying: ‘You’re not talking to our guy.’ So, listen—the Knicks probably expected some of these responses. Anytime you reach out to other teams for their head coaches, you’re going to be susceptible to some kind of reaction. They went through this whole exercise as an educational process, in their minds—to see which coaches they could potentially talk to.

Leon and them getting cussed out over this is funny

[WaltFrazier]

the coaching requests put the ball in the coaches corner. If they want to leave its now up to them to put pressure on there current situation,

Donovan is a interesting case. CHI really doesn't have a team that is going to compete....Billy is from Long Island, grew up a Knicks fan (Huge Clyde fan), played for the Knicks. One of his best friends is Mo Cheeks who works on our staff.

Where did Billy play H.S.?

St. Agnes, just googled it.

And very good player for Pitino when Providence made a Final Four run

[Jalen Bluntson]

this exchange has turned to more of a general thibs conversation and less about the search. please pivot back or continue elsewhere accordingly.

No need to continue it anywhere. We all know why Thibs was fired. Moving on.

we do. and we all know he out coached mazulla.

Simply not true. Move on as instructed.

continued derailing while backseat moderating. impressive. -JVG

[WaltFrazier]

You can’t hire a grown man named Billy

Bobby Knight switched to Bob Knight at a certain age, maybe it's time for Bill Donovan to emerge when he comes to NY.

[god shammgod]

william donovan esquire...attorney at law

[god shammgod]

had to get the last word but then tells me to move on lol

[3toheadmelo]

Regarding Jenkins, he had a team with a lot of young, developing pieces. We don't really know how he'd manage a more developed group, nor how he'd interact with this management group. That's what you interview for.

Jenkins is a bit of a wild card. But I’m willing to take him on over Mike brown. You already know what you’re getting with Brown.

Same same.

Speaking of wild cards, I'm dead serious about Sam Cassell. He's been on winners his whole playing and coaching career, been a part of 4 championships, players love and respect him, he played a bit like Brunson...

At least give the man an interview.

https://www.si.com/nba/celtics/top-stories/nba-general-manager-survey-sam-cassell-head-coaching-hopes-01j9q2shdn7x

One of the most eye-catching votes received was for Sam Cassell, who now serves as Boston’s lead assistant coach. Cassell was voted first for best assistant in the NBA.

Cassell, turning 55 in November, has voiced a desire to soon become a head coach. Multiple teams have shown interest in him being their head coach in recent years. That includes the Lakers meeting with him this summer. Granted, JJ Redick was always the front-runner for that job.

Yeah for years this dude has had the reputation of the best assistant in the league. If we were to hire an assistant, I would probably have Cassell as #1. Or at the very least right next to JVG. I can def get down with Cassell for sure.

[Synciere]

These threads are depressing AF lol

[Deeeez Knicks]

They def want to do due diligence, but I think the other part of trying to interview as many coaches as possible is to get as much intel as they can. Never know in the future which coaches will be available or if they need to pivot quickly without the benefit of much time for a search. Or just get data in general on coaches around the league.

[WargamesX]

One thing to note about Jenkins. It’s documented that Ja wanted him gone because the offense took the ball out of his hands and had him sacrificing minutes and stats all season long

I think we can all agree at this point that Brunson has a chip on his shoulder, can be a bit of a diva, and sometimes does too much trying to prove people wrong. I’m not sure how well he would receive someone like Jenkins or if he would end up feeling the same way Ja did. But a Jenkins offense probably unlocks more of the team at brunsons expense.

On the other hand a Mike brown offense probably unlocks the best of Brunson and towns at the expense of everyone else.

Idk Brunson seems like a pretty reasonable guy in general. If the style led to them winning more games I think he would be open to it.

Watch on YouTube

It’s an interesting way to use a mostly 5 out motion offense system. Especially because it creates opportunities for everyone on the court to potentially be involved and the starting players have pretty good BBIQ. We’re not a screen heavy or a pick and roll team in general either. So the fit isn’t bad, it’s a risk, but it could work.

[Gravy]

Shams on the Rich Eisen Show:

Shams Charania: “Yeah, yeah, yeah—I’ll give you some examples. I’m not going to say that this was exactly what happened with Kidd, but among the five rejections, some of the scenarios I heard were: Teams would just hang up. Some would say no—and then hang up. In other situations, there was profanity involved. You know—some literal ‘F— no’ responses. In a few cases, it was the team owners calling directly and saying: ‘You’re not talking to our guy.’ So, listen—the Knicks probably expected some of these responses. Anytime you reach out to other teams for their head coaches, you’re going to be susceptible to some kind of reaction. They went through this whole exercise as an educational process, in their minds—to see which coaches they could potentially talk to.

If Steve Mills did this we would be roasting him all day. Leon built up some credibility here to sweep this under the rug with fans, for now...

[BKlutch]

These threads are depressing AF lol

Hope you feel better soon.

The NY Times heard how bad things are and published an article on the Japanese Samurai Seppuku book, recently translated into English for us beleaguered Knicks fans. It details the most extreme way of responding to the difficult news:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/science/samurai-seppuku-manual.html

[stuporman]

Considering Thibs got paid $30mil to not be the coach of the NY Knicks anymore it's amazing he's living rent free in so many people's heads.

[ScienceOfLosing]

One thing to note about Jenkins. It’s documented that Ja wanted him gone because the offense took the ball out of his hands and had him sacrificing minutes and stats all season long

I think we can all agree at this point that Brunson has a chip on his shoulder, can be a bit of a diva, and sometimes does too much trying to prove people wrong. I’m not sure how well he would receive someone like Jenkins or if he would end up feeling the same way Ja did. But a Jenkins offense probably unlocks more of the team at brunsons expense.

On the other hand a Mike brown offense probably unlocks the best of Brunson and towns at the expense of everyone else.

I like Indiana’s team style of ball. Their talent level is lower than ours and that says a lot considering they got past us.
I like Brunson, but he needs to use his hero ball only when necessary.
I have hope Kolek and Pacom usher in more of a team style of ball and Brunson follows suit.
I’m sure the rest of the starters would appreciate Brunson being more of a distrubutor and doing his stuff more in critical spots but NOT forcing things. And Josh who I like, to the bench.

Indiana lost 1 more game than we did. Their talent level is not beneath ours. We have the top center in Towns but Hali and Jalen are close. Siakim is better than OG. Nembhard/Nesmith is on par with Hart/Bridges. Mathurin is better than Deuce. McConnell is better than Payne. Mitch and Turner kind of stalemate. It's pretty even. They just don't have sexier names than we do because nobody checks for Indiana.

Sent from my SM-S9080 using RealGM mobile app

We have better talent most would agree but they have the much better coach.
Love how he adjusts before a crisis hits.

[3toheadmelo]

If there’s a former player that the Knicks want to hire as a coach (not happening), my first choice would be Rondo

Read on Twitter

[thebuzzardman]

Honestly who really gives a **** at this point?

[Besart19]

One thing to note about Jenkins. It’s documented that Ja wanted him gone because the offense took the ball out of his hands and had him sacrificing minutes and stats all season long

I think we can all agree at this point that Brunson has a chip on his shoulder, can be a bit of a diva, and sometimes does too much trying to prove people wrong. I’m not sure how well he would receive someone like Jenkins or if he would end up feeling the same way Ja did. But a Jenkins offense probably unlocks more of the team at brunsons expense.

On the other hand a Mike brown offense probably unlocks the best of Brunson and towns at the expense of everyone else.

Idk Brunson seems like a pretty reasonable guy in general. If the style led to them winning more games I think he would be open to it.

Watch on YouTube

It’s an interesting way to use a mostly 5 out motion offense system. Especially because it creates opportunities for everyone on the court to potentially be involved and the starting players have pretty good BBIQ. We’re not a screen heavy or a pick and roll team in general either. So the fit isn’t bad, it’s a risk, but it could work.

It wont matter for Brunson... he can score without screens too... the only one who needs screen because he drives too soft is Mikal, but at least he is very good cutting to the basket

[rajajackal]

Shams on the Rich Eisen Show:

Shams Charania: “Yeah, yeah, yeah—I’ll give you some examples. I’m not going to say that this was exactly what happened with Kidd, but among the five rejections, some of the scenarios I heard were: Teams would just hang up. Some would say no—and then hang up. In other situations, there was profanity involved. You know—some literal ‘F— no’ responses. In a few cases, it was the team owners calling directly and saying: ‘You’re not talking to our guy.’ So, listen—the Knicks probably expected some of these responses. Anytime you reach out to other teams for their head coaches, you’re going to be susceptible to some kind of reaction. They went through this whole exercise as an educational process, in their minds—to see which coaches they could potentially talk to.

If Steve Mills did this we would be roasting him all day. Leon built up some credibility here to sweep this under the rug with fans, for now...

very true, but he's got a whole different context informing our view of him than leon does. we've seen this man successfully tamper for our current star player so it's a little different, i'm reserving judgment while they're still cooking. in this case i care more about the result than the process