Official Knicks Coaching Search Thread

[MrDollarBills]

Lazy media trying to use Dolan now.

None of this is true. He even says he doesn't know based off the first tweet, yet runs with the whole DOLAN IS BACK TO RUINING THE KNICKS. Its stupid.

This all after the media said Thibs needed to go, now they wanna pretend its LOLKnicks for firing him.

Good perspective. It has a chance to be true but I am probably leaning that this is more just lazy narrative.

Was also reported that if Dolan was the one forcing Leon’s hand he would be out the door as well as that wasn’t the deal when he was brought on.

Do I think Dolan talked a little more in the meetings with the players that anyone would like, sure, but the decision from almost all reports was direct from Leon with support of ownership.

Which absolutely makes sense if you’re going to tell the owner of the team he has to eat 30 million to bring a new coach in after the team just made it the furthest it’s been under his ownership.

Right. Dolan literally has to pay Tom $30m to stay home. That says to me he wanted feedback from everyone before signing off on it.

Seems to me like this decision was collaborative instead of unilateral. Front office and players all providing their opinions.

[knicksstuff]

Guys Dolan was on the roommates podcast not even two months ago saying rose has full control, advice to new owners would be to stay out of the basketball people’s way, etc. stop listening to old media using 10 year old storylines cause they can’t do actual reporting. Dolan hasn’t been involved since Phil.

[Jalen Bluntson]

He was literally part of the players interviews which isn’t normal. You can’t claim he’s not involved at all.

Team owners aren't involved in the decision making process? Seems like an odd stance to take. It's NOT normal if they are? Just as weird. Does anyone think Cuban wasn't a part of everything?

The problems in the past were Dolan overriding the people he hired to run things. I don't know if that's the case here but, simply being a part of the decision making process should be considered normal when the guy writes your checks.

[F N 11]

Leon is the Don period

[Gravy]

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[The KnicksFix]

He was literally part of the players interviews which isn’t normal. You can’t claim he’s not involved at all.

Even if. He’s cutting the checks. He sat game side for game 1 and game 2 against the pacers. As much flack as we give Dolan, he’s been watching the game for years too. He’s not a total dummy. He saw Thibs gave away two big games and the fans left the arena disappointed that night, as we often did in the playoffs during the Thibs tenure.

[Enzo954]

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Dolan's let Leon run everything and I think this was a group decision by many up top. I wouldn't put this on Dolan. If it was him, then I'd like to thank him anyway because Thibs had to go.

[The KnicksFix]

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So now we hating on Dolan for doing what needed to be done?
As much as I hated his involvement with tons of things, this needed to be done

[Spot31]

What prospective coach is dying to work under Jim Dolan? You just fired a coach two wins away from the Finals for crying out loud.

[The KnicksFix]

What prospective coach is dying to work under Jim Dolan? You just fired a coach two wins away from the Finals for crying out loud.

It was the right decision no matter which way you slice it. If you lose in the ECF or the first round, it doesn’t matter. The goal is the ring. Not the ECF.

[Gravy]

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Dolan's let Leon run everything and I think this was a group decision by many up top. I wouldn't put this on Dolan. If it was him, then I'd like to thank him anyway because Thibs had to go.

The danger is that if Dolan made the decision then that means they were heading into the offseason not expecting to do a coaching search. Now they have no plan and have to scramble to pick one of the guys available who Leon may not really want. It also means Dolan might be involved in the search and have mandates like no first time head coach.

[Enzo954]

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Dolan's let Leon run everything and I think this was a group decision by many up top. I wouldn't put this on Dolan. If it was him, then I'd like to thank him anyway because Thibs had to go.

The danger is that if Dolan made the decision then that means they were heading into the offseason not expecting to do a coaching search. Now they have no plan and have to scramble to pick one of the guys available who Leon may not really want. It also means Dolan might be involved in the search and have mandates like no first time head coach.

Or it's all just BS to get the weak minded and conspiracy theorists to "Knicks for Clicks".

[Pr0nzingis]

Best press Dolan ever had. I'm laughing at the ppl that think this is an L for him.

[The KnicksFix]

Even if Dolan fired him, maybe it was a shared decision among everyone in the front office and he did it so that Rose didn’t have to fire his long time close friend???
Did people think of that????

[Knick4Real]

What prospective coach is dying to work under Jim Dolan? You just fired a coach two wins away from the Finals for crying out loud.

Here's your answer: All the coaches or perspective coaches/current assistants who are without a job and are dying to get back into the NBA (with Mark Jackson being one of them) would likely jump at the chance to work for Dolan or ANY owner willing to pay.

[Knick4Real]

Fans really need to stop falling for every rumor they hear.

If everyone has been following the news thoroughly, it would be clear that Thibs has been on thin ice for months and that his firing was not a hasty decision. The front office clashed with him over his rotations and overplaying starters, refusing to play the bench, relying too much on iso-Brunson, and more. Josh said at the beginning of the season that he was frustrated because his role was unclear. Mikal leaked that the starters were being overworked. Josh made it known that it was his idea to go to the bench. And, we all saw Rick Brunson tell Thibs 3 different times to take out his starters in the Boston series when we were up a gazillion points with only minutes to go. Getting all the way to the ECF with home court advantage only to blow the first 2 games, was the last straw in a line of conflicts.

That in and of itself would negate the theory that Dolan showed up at the 11th hour, forced Leon to fire Thibs, then left us dangling.

[Wildcat]

You Thibs defenders are ridiculous. Then somehow looking at Dolan on what the majority saw.

[HabenKG]

Leave Dolan alone. We **** on him alot but he hasn't done anything meaningful butting in basketball decisions since Phil Jackson or so. Let be Glade he's been in the shadows for all these years and STILL is willing to open the check books anytime. Have yall seen what happens to teams with cheap owners?

[MrDollarBills]

Dolan being killed for making a collaborative decision with the front office and player personnel to change course on how the team functions and performs is crazy, but at the same time I know over the years he built a bad reputation for himself. People do have every right to be skeptical or concerned.

But based on what we know, this wasn't some insane George Steinbrenner emotional decision out of spite or anger. He literally talked to his team and got their feedback, and from what is being reported, it's not good.

Also, I'll bring this up again. Michael Kay reported the other day that he spoke with a member of the front office, and he said he was told that while Tom is a great guy, which i also think he is based on how much Brunson loves him, he is a pain in the ass because he's stubborn and it's either his way or the highway.

That's not good, and it somewhat corroborates what we have seen because the starters were horrible analytically and Tom didn't bother making a change until the sh*t hit the fan.

With that in mind, the only way that i can truly judge this decision is to let the coaching search and next season play out. I expect to see improvement and a better brand of basketball with this group.

Johnnie Bryant’s philosophy sounds like it is a perfect fit for this team. That doesn't mean he will be a good in game coach. I'd take the risk if the interview goes well.

[Fat Kat]

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