Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr
Yes and no. My post was directed toward Fizdale, your response is focused on the Knicks. You make some fair points regarding Dolan. From my perspective, if I were Dolan, I'd have made Fizdale stay through the year, earn his contract, and be miserable in the process. Now they have a total interim placeholder, until they can reorganize management, and let the next GM make his own coaching hire.
I actually think that Dolan forced Mills/Perry to dismiss their hire as a message to THEM that he's not convinced of their plan, and that further changes are forthcoming. Perry will be next, and Mills, by virtue of his pathologically close relation to Dolan, will likely be 'promoted' to a position in management where he can do less damage.
Supposedly, the Donnie Walsh hiring was made at the behest of David Stern, in the wake of the Anucha Brown-Sanders settlement. Walsh was supposed to enjoy significant autonomy, which lasted until the ill-fated roster-gutting to acquire Carmelo Anthony, who would've been available in the off season without having to give up Gallinari et al.
Similarly, Jackson, hired upon Mills' recommendation, was supposed to have even more latitude to operate. He wanted Kerr as his headcoach, but Dolan reportedly wanted to low-ball Kerr on salary, and Kerr had a competing offer from the Warriors. Jackson's fallback, Derek Fischer, was more of a falldown. Jackson compounded the problem by forcing Fischer to implement an outmoded and archaic offensive scheme (without the benefit of Jordan/Pippen or Shaq/Kobe).
Dolan then reportedly forced Jackson into the re-signing of Anthony, tying up their cap, when the only smart thing to do would've been to let him walk, and look for a better player in FA.
Jackson did manage to make two excellent (almost visionary) draft selections (Porzingis, Ntilikina), but then managed to get crossways with Porzingis, who didn't take to Phil's zenphuckery.
Re-enter Mills, who hired the out-of-his-depth Perry, who has recycled a losing re-build philosophy (The Process 2.0), while recycling many of his own draft mistakes from previous losing stints as GM.
For the most part, Dolan appears to've stayed back, and let Mills/Perry make their own mistakes. But Dolan has become so publicly reviled, that he's looking to hold somewhat acccountable, to deflect blame, and hopefully some of the criticism. As deserved as it was, that's what the Fizdale firing was about.
So fire Perry too, and get rid of Mills, and yes you're still stuck with Dolan. Other than hoping for his early demise, what has caught my attention recently is that the Knicks are said to be currently under-valued by about 30%, with current investors' attempts to acquire a large stake rebuffed by Dolan. Still, when you can frame the problem by quanitifying it in billions of dollars, perhaps Dolan will tire of dealing with the headaches of public enmity, and make a deal that can make him feel like a success as a businessman.
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