How a consulting firm's influence led to confusion and paranoia on the Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks
During the 2013-14 season, a firm led to head-scratching decisions like not having coaches watch film with players for a while, says a former assistant coach
By Ian Begley | 11:32AM
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Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |
For Dave Hopla, coaching with the Knicks was a dream come true. The assistant coach, who focused on shooting and player development for New York from 2012-2014, used to arrive at Madison Square Garden early every day to shoot.
"As a kid from New Jersey, I always dreamed of playing at the Garden. And I had it as my own personal playground," he said after an appearance at the NBPA/Five Star camp earlier this week.
Hopla was on staff under Mike Woodson when the Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks won 54 games and a first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.
He recalls that veteran group -- and the atmosphere they created at the Garden that season -- fondly.
"There was nothing like it. You had goosebumps going in there. Melo was playing so well. J.R. (Smith) was Sixth Man of the Year," Hopla said.
"We had all veterans. We had Kurt Thomas, Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby, Jason Kidd?. They all knew how to play. We had an unselfish group. The ball moved. The guys liked one another."
The Knicks took a step back the next season. The Andrea Bargnani trade didn't work out. Chandler, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, missed nearly 30 games due to injury. And the 2013-14 Knicks didn't have Kidd and the other veterans that they'd leaned on at times the prior season.
"We brought in some young guys that we weren't really on board with," Hopla said.
There were probably a dozen other reasons the Knicks struggled that year. But when Hopla talked to SNY about his time with the Knicks and that frustrating 2013-14 season, he pointed to another factor in the Knicks' shortcomings: He said McKinsey & Company, a worldwide management consulting firm hired by Madison Square Garden to work with the Knicks and Rangers, had a negative impact on the coaching staff and was the source of confusion and paranoia among some players. The firm's influence led to decisions like not having coaches watch film with players and filling out seemingly endless amounts of paperwork, according to Hopla.
"We got so fed up with them," Hopla said of McKinsey & Company, which declined comment for this story when asked about their work with the Knicks in 2013-14.
Knicks owner James Dolan said in a Q&A in the New York Post in 2013 that he hired the firm to "reprocess" the Knicks and Rangers. The firm was hired before Dolan decided to fire GM Glen Grunwald, which suggests they may have had at least some influence on the decision. Grunwald was let go days before training camp opened in 2013-14. Current team president Steve Mills replaced him general manager.
The timing of the move stunned Hopla and other coaches: "(The season) just started out in a tailspin."
McKinsey & Company's influence continued throughout the season. Hopla said the consulting agency advised coaches to stop watching film with players at one point during the year.
"The players were like, 'Why aren't we watching film?' (We said), 'the McKinsey group told us,' " Hopla recalled.
Hopla said the consultants also told members of the coaching staff to fill out paperwork documenting how players performed in all workouts, a process Hopla felt was time-consuming (a second source confirms that coaches were asked to fill out the paperwork).
"I told them if we took all that time writing reports and we actually worked the players out, we would have made the playoffs," Hopla said.
Members of the consulting firm attended practices and games at home and on the road, which, according to Hopla, led to concerns from the players.
"The players started asking who they were," Hopla said. "?. They were worried about maybe they were writing reports about them. They were paranoid."
Hopla questioned why a firm without significant experience in pro basketball was allowed to influence how Knicks coaches approached aspects of their jobs.
"If the McKinsey group came in and it was Hubie Brown, Bob Knight and John Thompson, you'd listen to them," he said.
Woodson's staff, including Hopla, was fired by Phil Jackson at the end of the 2013-14 season. New York has lost at least 50 games in each season since that one. They haven't made the playoffs since 2012-13.
"I just feel bad because they deserve to have a good team in New York. And the league needs it," Hopla said. "?. I feel sorry for the fans. You keep selling hope but you're zig-zagging. You're on one plan, then you ditch that plan. Now you're on Plan E, you know?"
After missing out on top free agent targets like Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard this summer, Mills and general manager Scott Perry added Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Marcus Morris, Elfrid Payton and other free agents on short deals. They hope that the free-agent additions will help the young core of RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Allonzo Trier take a step forward and, most importantly, will lead to the Knicks winning some games this season.
Hopla also touched on a couple other topics when he was asked by SNY:
On Carmelo Anthony: "I love Carmelo. He's unbelievable. He worked hard. He's a great person. I loved everything about him."
On if he's surprised Anthony hasn't signed with a team since being released by the Houston Rockets: "He should be playing. But, you know, he's got to also accept a lesser role. He's not going to the go-to guy with a team at this point. Unless he went to Charlotte, he could be the go-to guy. But he should still be in the league, the same with J.R. (Smith)."
On attending camps such as the NBPA/Five-Star camp to teach young players about shooting: "When I was a kid growing up, basketball camp was a huge part of my life. When I went to my first basketball camp, I realized how little I really knew about the game. And how many different things you can do on your own to get better. Because it's really a sport that you can get better on your own at if you know." how to practice and want to practice?. So if I can influence one camper (here with that message), I'll feel happy about it."