The Knicks organization has been having problems finding a fulfilling coach that may end up coaching next season, but there are a lot of prospects on the list. Phil Jackson's name has been thrown around the most in the past weeks because Isiah had a conference with him late April.
The AP says that they talked and hit it off, but Phil is leaning towards L.A. hoping to rejoin his team and his wonder boy, Kobe Bryant. There aren't many teams in his mind except for L.A. , Cleveland, and of course New York. He says he has narrowed it down to L.A. and New York because he feels that Cleveland has too much rebuilding necessary and there is no way they can speed up the process.
Why would he even want to come to L.A. or New York? L.A. has been dramatized by the absence of star center Shaquille O'neal because of the conflicts between him and Kobe. L.A. decided to ship away Shaq and stay with Kobe and they've been hurt by it by not even making the playoffs. New York also has a lot of rebuilding to do, but there are many options for us this offseason because of draft prospects, which I will get into later. I think of course that New York is the best place because of Kobe's cocky additude and i think he would fit well with the Knicks organization.
Recently another obstacle has popped up with the Sacramento Kings. Phil says, "the Kings offer a lot of intriguing possibilities and could be the pick if I do not return to the Lakers." That gives us a problem, but Isiah always has some solution because if Phil takes that position that gives Rick Adelman no job and that's is a perfect opportunity for the Knicks to give him a proposal.
Isiah has met with many other coaches that he has kept in mind because of the situation with Phil Jackson. He has interviewed former Knick Maurice Cheeks, P.J. Carlesimo, and Flip Saunders. Isiah's obvious favorite is Larry Brown. But we are tied up with him as well because he wanted to come to New York near the beginning of this past season but now has changed his mind and said that he will either stay with his 2004 world champions or retire.
There is always a chance with the current head coach of the Knicks herb williams. Herb i hope is not the coach next year because of his terrible job and his mindless coaching. In many clutch situations where the coach is the most important piece of the puzzle and where the Knicks have been up or down by 1 or w with a few seconds left, he hasn't come up with the strategies that could have pulled us a win.
2005 NBA Draft
The New York Knics might pick Chris Taft, a sophomore from Pittsburgh for their 7th pick. He is a 6"10' power forward that could be a lot of help for the knicks. He is compared to Chirs Wilcox. He is rated the 2nd best sophomore in the draft after the number 1 pick of course, Andrew Bogut.
The scouts love his athleticism and size, but are concerned about his immature additude. He averaged 13.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg. He is an athletic, big bodied forward with great potential and a reliable go-to inside threat. He has developed a nice intermediate range jumper and shows soft touch.
They also have a chance at a high schooler named Gerald Green. He is a high flying machine. Everything this kid does is silky smooth, even hard drives to the lane capped with the dunk come natural to him. He has supreme athleticism, and gets many points off ally oop dunks as well as on drives to the hole. He as a very quick, effortless release on his jump shot and if you combine that with great elevation then you have an almost unblockable shot.
Most of the shots go in, in fact his jump shot from midrange to outside is one of his best qualities.The knicks also have a shot at Johan Petro who is the top prospect in France, and maybe in all of Europe. Athletic, can run the floor. Great body, Good wingspan, big bones, and pretty strong. Has put on a lot of weight in the past two years. Johan Petro definitely has great potential but has to change attitude on the court and play harder.
The Knicks also have the 30th pick where they might pick Julius Hodge from NCS. He is 6"7' and plays SG. The scouts say he is a solid all around player who fills in the numbers. He averaged 17 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 4.8 rpg.
For our fifth pick we mite select Uros Slokar who is a big man from Slovenia. He rebounds well, using his long hands to snatch boards, a good shot blocker, some nice post moves, very agile down there. He sinks 20 ft jumpers, can hit a occasional 3, a little skiny for PF but is as fearless as Gasol so you wont see him being pushed around a lot.
