Our Knicks are currently in the throes of a coaching search. Donnie Walsh is moving as quietly as he can to survey the field and get in touch with potential candidates. Our range of suitors varies from guys with real experience (Johnson, Carlisle) to guys with only second-banana experience (Herb Williams, Thibodeau, Ewing?) to guys with none at all (Jackson).
In our discussions and in the news, there's been chatter about some of the apparent front-runners, like Mark Jackson, being too green for such a messy project as the Knicks. There's no doubt that what we need here is a culture change, and I just haven't seen coaching experience work in that department. This echoes some of the sentiments in Starktastic's diary and the comments below. There's a certain amount of pretense and pomp that comes with a veteran coach, and these cowboys aren't necessarily going to cope well with the sorry state of the Knicks and the onslaught from the New York media shitting upon their egos. If you want proof, look at our last three coaching hires. Wilkens curled up in the fetal position and caved. Brown got testy and threw the whole team under the bus (good luck with that guy, Charlotte!), and Isiah was Isiah.
I guess what I'm saying is sometimes you need somebody with a clear head and something to prove- someone who doesn't have their sexy track record as a safety net. It's gonna take someone really with patience and courage to turn the Knicks around, and coaches with a history of success aren't necessarily steeped in such values. If this sounds a little like another debate in national affairs, it should.
I'm not trying to shoot down the prospects of Johnson or Carlisle or whoever. I just think that, unless your experience is in making poop into delicious sandwiches, you're experience means nothing in New York.
Anyway, the recent news is that Jackson is still Walsh's front-runner, but that Avery Johnson has rightfully been added to the list. Also from today's news, we get this gem:
Yesterday Walsh declined comment through a Knicks spokesman.
One rival executive, who asked not to be identified because he wasn't authorized to speak on the subject, said recently that the longer Walsh waits, the more it looks like he wants to see who else will become available.
Wow. That executive better keep his identity under wraps, because that kind of dirt could get him in some serious trouble. How much of an "executive" are you really when you lack the authorization to comment on the elementary concept of chronology?
Sit tight. This coaching search does appear to be a long haul, but it's worth discussing in the meantime what brand of leader we're looking for. Does experience matter? Does inexperience matter? Speak up in the comments.