The Greatest Common Factor: James Dolan

[Mecca]

Owning an NBA franchise is no different than owning a large business. And in the field of business, nothing is more important than a strong foundation. An owner with a cerebral attitude and bright mind that understands the importance of leadership x planning x goal setting. Trusted minds at General Manager and Head Coach that provide stability and intellect. Instead, our Owner is the product of eating out of a platinum bowl with a silver spoon.

Being born into his riches, he never went out on his own to the working world, strategically developed relationships with others and building an image. His resume includes a modest Bachelor's in Communications from a middling college. His first relevant job experience was CEO of Cablevision. Think about that. Without truly owning a dollar of his own, he became Owner of the Knicks.
It's evident he lacks communication skills or has the ability to take criticism. His circle is packed with yes-men and he has no clue how to run a business. Thus he goes out and hires brand names without understanding their plan, and just like that our foundation is corrupted.

As long as our Owner is James Dolan, we'll most likely make conspicuous decisions as an organization. From the Oakley incident, to the departure of Marv Albert, to Marbury, to IT, to now Jackson, there's a sense of clueless packed into the organization.. and there's only one greatest common factor. James Silver Spoon Dolan.

[SARGO127]

He MUST go.

[SelbyCobra]

James Dolan is a sh*theel and the source - directly or indirectly - of almost every bit of disfunction and discord perpetually draped over this organization. I'm confident in saying that outside of maybe 2 or 3 posters, basic contempt of the man is the most unanimous Knicks related opinion you'll find on this board.

[Mecca]

James Dolan is a sh*theel and the source - directly or indirectly - of almost every bit of disfunction and discord perpetually draped over this organization. I'm confident in saying that outside of maybe 2 or 3 posters, basic contempt of the man is the most unanimous Knicks related opinion you'll find on this board.

I figured we don't have a Dolan thread yet, and this is the one position we all share similar opinions with.

[NBA Fan 1234]

Professionalism starts at the top and trickles down. Great post.

[sol537]

Worst owner in the NBA over the course of the last 15+ years. The Sac owner blows but he's only been around a few years. Dolan has him on longevity and no one else comes close. Proki stinks too but, again, he's only been around the last 5 years or so.

Our best chance is if everyone turns on Dolan from a PR perspective, like they did with Sterling in Los Angeles. The league has to force his azz out.

[Bill Pidto]

[King of Canada]

The Common Dolaninator

[King of Canada]

[vallen]

the greatest common factor : the fan


everyone he gets the fans gobble up. the fan is always on-board with the new plans season after season until it doesnt work out. and then they do it again, and the fan eats it up again. its the fan that likes the shiny things. and then their Knick loyalty, definitely to a fault, over-rating our players, standing by them no matter what, sinking with the ship, while no doubt complaining the whole trip.

James Dolan only cares about selling seats, and the fans have that covered.

[MP4LIFE]

567-783

Winning % since Dolan assumed ownership (factoring in our record as of today).

[JXL]

#FKDOLAN
#BANHIM
#DISREPECTINGLEGENDS
#WORSETHANSTERLING

[Rotten Apple]

Watch on YouTube

[Yankeeknickfan]

No it's Melo!!

Spoiler:

/green

[Sark]

No it's Melo!!

True

[Phish Tank]

567-783

Winning % since Dolan assumed ownership (factoring in our record as of today).

The only % he looks at is his increase in net worth after owning the Knicks

[Manhattan Project]

The good/bad problem with Dolan is that he's loyal to a fault. He's attracted to the big names and has blind faith that they can turn a franchise around. Let's take the Rangers for example, he hired Glen Sather. Now understand, Sather was the engineer of the great Oilers team that won four Stanley Cups. The Rangers often splashed on big names, most of them being busts. He ran through coaches, he replaced coaches himself on a few occasions. Fans even had a protest to have him step down from office, but Dolan stayed away and let him handle the hockey side. Dolan spoke about hockey once in about a decade and was effectively told to shut the hell up by the head coach. The point of all this? Eventually Sather was able to draft enough guys and they built a stable of home grown young players that are growing with each other as the Rangers became one of the premier franchises again in hockey.

Now in basketball... we see a similar pattern. From the moment Scott Layden was hired, the franchise was already set back for years. Now remember Layden and his father were basketball guys, they had the minds for this. Yet Layden and Isiah managed to turn this team into a laughing stock. Layden and his trading really damaged this team for damn near a decade and it all started with the Ewing trade. He traded a first round pick for Othella Harrington, hell that pick turned into Jamaal Tinsley. Hell they even traded a first round pick for Mark Jackson and Mugsy Bogues. Oh... the kicker... those two first's were from the Ewing trade. The Allan Houston contract... not much more is really needed to be said. The Eisley/Anderson contracts... six and seven year contracts... He lost Jeff Van Gundy. And last but not least the Camby/Nene/Jackson for McDyess/Williams trade. Jesus Christ... that team had like a 14.3 Billion dollar pay roll. But Layden was a basketball guy and he knew what he was doing, Dolan was going to let him run the franchise until enough was enough.

Isiah Thomas ran the CBA into the ground in about two years, that should've been a warning sign. However he had success in drafting guys and coaching up younger players... plus he was Isiah Thomas, one of the best basketball players ever. We know what Isiah did, traded first round picks like Pez dispensers and just was never able to find a balance of talent on the team. Much like Layden he sacrificed first round picks and expiring contracts and brought in guys on long term contracts that never delivered. The horrific MLE signings of James and Jeffries.

In just two choices of Layden and Thomas, he set back the franchise for a decade. That's the pattern, his affinity for chasing the big name and Phil Jackson was no different. Dolan has stayed away and ironically enough it's the time for him to speak up and deal with the issue that has been brewing. However the only person that's quieter than Phil is indeed Dolan, until the fans start booing every single game to get rid of Phil and that's when we should be nervous. If Phil Jackson the Zen Master can't turn this around, who the hell is going to be the choice of Dolan?

[KnicksGadfly]

The good/bad problem with Dolan is that he's loyal to a fault. He's attracted to the big names and has blind faith that they can turn a franchise around. Let's take the Rangers for example, he hired Glen Sather. Now understand, Sather was the engineer of the great Oilers team that won four Stanley Cups. The Rangers often splashed on big names, most of them being busts. He ran through coaches, he replaced coaches himself on a few occasions. Fans even had a protest to have him step down from office, but Dolan stayed away and let him handle the hockey side. Dolan spoke about hockey once in about a decade and was effectively told to shut the hell up by the head coach. The point of all this? Eventually Sather was able to draft enough guys and they built a stable of home grown young players that are growing with each other as the Rangers became one of the premier franchises again in hockey.

Now in basketball... we see a similar pattern. From the moment Scott Layden was hired, the franchise was already set back for years. Now remember Layden and his father were basketball guys, they had the minds for this. Yet Layden and Isiah managed to turn this team into a laughing stock. Layden and his trading really damaged this team for damn near a decade and it all started with the Ewing trade. He traded a first round pick for Othella Harrington, hell that pick turned into Jamaal Tinsley. Hell they even traded a first round pick for Mark Jackson and Mugsy Bogues. Oh... the kicker... those two first's were from the Ewing trade. The Allan Houston contract... not much more is really needed to be said. The Eisley/Anderson contracts... six and seven year contracts... He lost Jeff Van Gundy. And last but not least the Camby/Nene/Jackson for McDyess/Williams trade. Jesus Christ... that team had like a 14.3 Billion dollar pay roll. But Layden was a basketball guy and he knew what he was doing, Dolan was going to let him run the franchise until enough was enough.

Isiah Thomas ran the CBA into the ground in about two years, that should've been a warning sign. However he had success in drafting guys and coaching up younger players... plus he was Isiah Thomas, one of the best basketball players ever. We know what Isiah did, traded first round picks like Pez dispensers and just was never able to find a balance of talent on the team. Much like Layden he sacrificed first round picks and expiring contracts and brought in guys on long term contracts that never delivered. The horrific MLE signings of James and Jeffries.

In just two choices of Layden and Thomas, he set back the franchise for a decade. That's the pattern, his affinity for chasing the big name and Phil Jackson was no different. Dolan has stayed away and ironically enough it's the time for him to speak up and deal with the issue that has been brewing. However the only person that's quieter than Phil is indeed Dolan, until the fans start booing every single game to get rid of Phil and that's when we should be nervous. If Phil Jackson the Zen Master can't turn this around, who the hell is going to be the choice of Dolan?

Nah, he's not loyal to a fault. He's just not trusting of anyone who doesn't follow his path, doesn't suck up, doesn't support him, isn't "loyal" to the Knicks (of course, loyalty only goes only one way).

Ironically, Phil Jackson called out Lebron James for having a "posse" but James Dolan has that same "posse" mentality...you gotta be part of his posse If he doesn't trust you or like you, you can't get hired. He'll ship you out. He'll fire you. He'll blame you in the media. But if he likes you? You're golden! Examples: Charles Oakley, Jeremy Lin, Marv Albert, that random Knick fan who emailed him a while back etc, Herb Williams, Isiah Thomas, etc. My guess? He'd rather be wrong and lose, than proven wrong/shamed and win.

Not sure if I can blame him. The media has crapped on him for years, but he's done himself no favors either.

We really need someone from the Spurs tree, but I'm not sure even they can make a difference unless they're given a mandate to change the whole culture. And I guess rebuild. Right now, we can't win and ask someone to rebuild the culture unless we somehow sign a superstar. And in this league, the only player with that will to rebuild a franchise like that from scratch, the only player who has that ability is (cringe*) Lebron.

[dakomish23]

We had something going with Donnie then Grunwald. Then Dolan did what Dolan does.

[drekwins]

The good/bad problem with Dolan is that he's loyal to a fault. He's attracted to the big names and has blind faith that they can turn a franchise around. Let's take the Rangers for example, he hired Glen Sather. Now understand, Sather was the engineer of the great Oilers team that won four Stanley Cups. The Rangers often splashed on big names, most of them being busts. He ran through coaches, he replaced coaches himself on a few occasions. Fans even had a protest to have him step down from office, but Dolan stayed away and let him handle the hockey side. Dolan spoke about hockey once in about a decade and was effectively told to shut the hell up by the head coach. The point of all this? Eventually Sather was able to draft enough guys and they built a stable of home grown young players that are growing with each other as the Rangers became one of the premier franchises again in hockey.

Now in basketball... we see a similar pattern. From the moment Scott Layden was hired, the franchise was already set back for years. Now remember Layden and his father were basketball guys, they had the minds for this. Yet Layden and Isiah managed to turn this team into a laughing stock. Layden and his trading really damaged this team for damn near a decade and it all started with the Ewing trade. He traded a first round pick for Othella Harrington, hell that pick turned into Jamaal Tinsley. Hell they even traded a first round pick for Mark Jackson and Mugsy Bogues. Oh... the kicker... those two first's were from the Ewing trade. The Allan Houston contract... not much more is really needed to be said. The Eisley/Anderson contracts... six and seven year contracts... He lost Jeff Van Gundy. And last but not least the Camby/Nene/Jackson for McDyess/Williams trade. Jesus Christ... that team had like a 14.3 Billion dollar pay roll. But Layden was a basketball guy and he knew what he was doing, Dolan was going to let him run the franchise until enough was enough.

Isiah Thomas ran the CBA into the ground in about two years, that should've been a warning sign. However he had success in drafting guys and coaching up younger players... plus he was Isiah Thomas, one of the best basketball players ever. We know what Isiah did, traded first round picks like Pez dispensers and just was never able to find a balance of talent on the team. Much like Layden he sacrificed first round picks and expiring contracts and brought in guys on long term contracts that never delivered. The horrific MLE signings of James and Jeffries.

In just two choices of Layden and Thomas, he set back the franchise for a decade. That's the pattern, his affinity for chasing the big name and Phil Jackson was no different. Dolan has stayed away and ironically enough it's the time for him to speak up and deal with the issue that has been brewing. However the only person that's quieter than Phil is indeed Dolan, until the fans start booing every single game to get rid of Phil and that's when we should be nervous. If Phil Jackson the Zen Master can't turn this around, who the hell is going to be the choice of Dolan?

Nah, he's not loyal to a fault. He's just not trusting of anyone who doesn't follow his path, doesn't suck up, doesn't support him, isn't "loyal" to the Knicks (of course, loyalty only goes only one way).

Ironically, Phil Jackson called out Lebron James for having a "posse" but James Dolan has that same "posse" mentality...you gotta be part of his posse If he doesn't trust you or like you, you can't get hired. He'll ship you out. He'll fire you. He'll blame you in the media. But if he likes you? You're golden! Examples: Charles Oakley, Jeremy Lin, Marv Albert, that random Knick fan who emailed him a while back etc, Herb Williams, Isiah Thomas, etc. My guess? He'd rather be wrong and lose, than proven wrong/shamed and win.

Not sure if I can blame him. The media has crapped on him for years, but he's done himself no favors either.

We really need someone from the Spurs tree, but I'm not sure even they can make a difference unless they're given a mandate to change the whole culture. And I guess rebuild. Right now, we can't win and ask someone to rebuild the culture unless we somehow sign a superstar. And in this league, the only player with that will to rebuild a franchise like that from scratch, the only player who has that ability is (cringe*) Lebron.

The problem with Dolan is that he is loyal but doesn't give his guys the tools to do well. Look at all the big names that we've had. They all have a style and were never allowed to create a roster that fit it. The following are examples:

Larry Brown - Wanted to trade the entire roster because none of the guys fit his tough and high IQ style. He was fired for trying to "sabotage" the team.
Isiah - Great drafter but was told not to do an extended rebuild. Dolan had a plan to make quick flips using expiring contracts/picks.
D'Antoni - Melo was forced upon him. He was never given a PG that could penetrate. There was no attempt to overhaul it to his needs.
Walsh - Dolan forced him to make the Melo trade despite not being comfortable with the terms

The Knicks have this habit of trying to "make it work." The team needs to start catering to their front office/coach.