We were JUST discussing this very recently.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/sports/basketball/26oakley.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

July 26, 2009
Oakley Wants to Make Knicks His Next Project
By JOE BRESCIA

Since he retired from the N.B.A. in 2004, Charles Oakley has been enjoying the good life.

Oakley, a former Knick, takes regular trips to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, where he plays golf with his buddy Michael Jordan; preparing his own cooking show, “Oak in the Kitchen,” where he makes meals with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Chris Tucker; has recently opened Red, the Steakhouse, in Miami’s South Beach; and he oversees Oakley’s Car Wash in Yonkers, where even during a down economy, “I still have my 48-hour guarantee,” he said.

If your car gets dirty within 48 hours, drive back for another wash, if you can afford the gas.

But Oakley is willing to give it all up — at least for nine months a year — to return to the hard life of the hardwood as an N.B.A. assistant and help a team with player development.

“I think I have a lot to teach these young guys,” Oakley, 46, said. “Especially on the defensive end.”

Oakley said his former teammate Patrick Ewing did a great job this season as an assistant with the Orlando Magic. He said he could have similar success with the Knicks, and told the team’s president, Donnie Walsh, just that.

“Nowadays, you may have better athletes,” he said. “But unless they’re taught, they aren’t going to do anything in the league. I talked with Donnie after the last home game and told him that I think I have a lot to offer this team. You can’t just score more points than last year without playing defense.”

Oakley was considered one of the best defensive players in the league when he played, often guarding the other team’s best offensive players. Although he was a power forward, Oakley also covered guards and centers.

“Your offense might not be great every game,” Oakley said. “But defense is just about working hard and outworking your opponents. This team needs a lot of work defensively, and I think I can get the job done.”

The Knicks’ top draft picks — forward Jordan Hill and guard Toney Douglas — were on the all-defensive teams in their college conferences and could be capable students for Oakley to work with.

“Knicks fans are the smartest in the world and they know you can’t just play one end of the court,” Oakley said.

Oakley said he could also teach the players how to win. He played for the Knicks from 1988 to 1998. The Knicks made the playoffs every year. The team has not made the postseason since 2004, but Oakley said the team was on the right track.

“Donnie has done an unbelievable job getting the Knicks under the cap,” he said.

“Some fans don’t understand that to win in the N.B.A., you have to have a basketball person who can evaluate talent and understand how the cap works.”

Oakley said that because of Walsh’s maneuvering, the team would be in a position to go after LeBron James and other potential free agents.

“If they get LeBron, that’s great,” he said. “But you need to build a solid team for the long term, and Donnie is just the guy to get it done.”

Oakley said he believed a main reason the Magic got it done, reaching the N.B.A. finals, was Ewing’s work with the players, especially Dwight Howard.

“Patrick’s doing a good job with Dwight,” he said. “But he can only do so much. Dwight’s got to want to take his game to the next level.”

Just as Ewing preaches extra work, Oakley said that he would want his players to put in long hours to hone their game.

“Some guys get by on natural athletic ability,” Oakley said. “And then when they reach a certain point, they got to put in the time before and after practice and in the off-season. That’s what made Michael Jordan so great and that’s what made Kobe Bryant the great player that he is now.”

I'm all for bringing Oakley back... the defense and everything else would be nice, but even nicer would be the attitude adjustment he'd bring. No way in hell do these knuckleheads clown on the bench if he's around

Posted by CrushAlot:

Herb Williams is in charge of the defense.

Nuff said, bring Oak back

Herb Williams is and always has been USELESS. I don't know what he did for Dolan to be so loyal to him - insisting he stay on the bench as an assistant coach no matter who is running things - but here he is with an endless open end contract.

Oakley? Hey, he was a tough player, he knows what it means to be that, but I doubt he knows how to be a coach. All that is going to happen with Oakley is those who are soft will be curled up in corners of the gym rocking themselves to sleep sucking on their thumbs. They won't learn anything. Oakley will walk into practice with a bat and start swinging and these soft players will run for their lives. Nothing would be learned.

You don't take a soft player, give him to a tough coach, and end up with a tough player. That never happens. You end up with a soft and now scared player. Less than what you had to begin with.

You have soft players? You get rid of them. That's what you do.

I agree about Herb and didn't know he was the coach of the defense until Hahn mentioned it in a chat. Herb is the perfect guy to put in charge of a facet of the game that you don't care about as a head coach.

Posted by Cosmic:

Posted by SupremeCommander:

Posted by Cosmic:

Herb Williams is and always has been USELESS. I don't know what he did for Dolan to be so loyal to him - insisting he stay on the bench as an assistant coach no matter who is running things - but here he is with an endless open end contract.

Oakley? Hey, he was a tough player, he knows what it means to be that, but I doubt he knows how to be a coach. All that is going to happen with Oakley is those who are soft will be curled up in corners of the gym rocking themselves to sleep sucking on their thumbs. They won't learn anything. Oakley will walk into practice with a bat and start swinging and these soft players will run for their lives. Nothing would be learned.

You don't take a soft player, give him to a tough coach, and end up with a tough player. That never happens. You end up with a soft and now scared player. Less than what you had to begin with.

You have soft players? You get rid of them. That's what you do.

Well let's say Oak was there and Lee and Nate learn from him. Maybe they're worth the contracts they want then. And Chandler, Gallo, Hill, and Douglas are still developing their attitude and approach to the game.

Learn what? Oak is abrasive. Nate doesn't even take a teammates guidance to heart. Nate isn't learning from anyone because Nate is perfect and doesn't need to hear anything from anyone. Lee? Again, you're either tough or you're not. It is not something you learn it is not something you are taught especially at 26 years of age.

You don't just take a raw player, assign a coach, and end up with a star player.

You're born with it or you're not. Those that are born with it are coachable because you take a player that has it and guide him to become a star.

You don't take a player who doesn't have it and teach him to have it and then guide him to be a star. That never happens.

You just can't assign Oakley to David Lee and wind up with a hard nosed player. Never going to happen.

Oakley was a great Knick but he would be a terrible coach. You just don't put a soft player in front of him and end up with a hard nosed player a few months later. That is just never happening.

Oh please... read what I said. Most of your response does not apply at all.

People might have a natural inclination to approach something a certain way but no one is born just knowing how to approach their job or a facet of their job. Maybe Pablo Picasso was born with the drive to create something great but he certainly benefited from traditional instruction. Perhaps Michael Jordan would have still been Michael Jordan without the benefit of instruction but maybe he learned a bit of how to approach the game by getting kicked off his high school team and playing for Dean Smith, Doug Collins, and Phil Jackson and Tex Winter.

If you don't think it's important to properly develop your human capital or that human capital cannot be developed... I guess it's not worth continuing the conversation

Bring him back, please.

I think players will be embarrassed to not show up on defense, knowing that a 46 year old watching from the bench could outwork them.

[Edited by - toddtt on 07-25-2009 3:07 PM]

How does anyone here know that Oakley coaches defense better than Williams? Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't, but is anyone here in a position to know how good either one is at coaching d?

Posted by Cosmic:

Herb Williams is and always has been USELESS. I don't know what he did for Dolan to be so loyal to him - insisting he stay on the bench as an assistant coach no matter who is running things - but here he is with an endless open end contract.

Oakley? Hey, he was a tough player, he knows what it means to be that, but I doubt he knows how to be a coach. All that is going to happen with Oakley is those who are soft will be curled up in corners of the gym rocking themselves to sleep sucking on their thumbs. They won't learn anything. Oakley will walk into practice with a bat and start swinging and these soft players will run for their lives. Nothing would be learned.

You don't take a soft player, give him to a tough coach, and end up with a tough player. That never happens. You end up with a soft and now scared player. Less than what you had to begin with.

You have soft players? You get rid of them. That's what you do.

who is not soft in the league now? i dont know more than 10 players left...

I hope Donnie brings in Oak. It's been a long time. Oakley smacking fools laughing on the bench in blowouts needs to happen.

Say what you want, but Herb Williams as a head coach got about the same amount of wins as Mike D'Antoni and Isiah. Also you have to have defensive players to play defense. Defense is not just effort, it is a skill.