smackeddog wrote:I'm still not sure how much of Grunwald's success is due to skill or good luck. If it's luck, it's scary- is he doing some voodoo or something?

A few weeks ago people were saying amnestying Billups and signing Tyson was a huge mistake, as it left us with no cap space, no PG and no prospect of adding one. Then Billups had a season ending injury (and it was likely that he would have torn his achillies if he'd stayed with us), and Lin burst on to the scene (coinciding with Melo and Amar'e being out at the same time), which no one saw coming.

Also Grunwald wanted to spend out $2.5 mil exemption on Crawford, then Shawne Williams. Both declined, then Shawne Williams went on to have a horrific season, and a season ending injury with the Nets. Not only did that mean we dodged that bullet, but it also left us with the $2.5 million, which then allowed us to sign JR Smith.

As for why he hasn't been extended- I suspect Dolan is still pondering whether to bring Phil Jackson in as coach next year- and a few articles have said that Phil would want some sort of GM control as well as coach. So I think Dolan is holding off extending Grunwald, so he can offer phil jackson as much power as he wants.

I really get the feeling that anything short of a championship this year and Dantoni is gone. Dolan will not say know to Phil Jackson. I'm sure the Knicks think Phil would get the most out of Melo and maybe Amare too

TORONTO -- During the Knicks’ rushed December training camp, interim general manager Glen Grunwald brought coach Mike D’Antoni into his office at their Greenburgh practice facility for daily meetings.

On the wall in Grunwald’s office is a greaseboard. During the frenzied free-agent period, the names of players put on waivers were listed on the board. Grunwald and D’Antoni discussed the players’ merits.

On Dec. 24, Jeremy Lin hit Grunwald’s greaseboard after he was cut by the Rockets. D’Antoni and Grunwald discussed Lin’s impressive pre-draft workout in Greenburgh on June 7, 2010, his penetration ability and knack for the pick and roll.

Grunwald had recommended bringing Lin in for training camp last season and earlier in December, but Golden State and Houston had gotten in the way.

“I remember Glen saying after Lin got waived, ‘He can run the pick and roll and be a playmaker better than anybody we had,’ ’’ D’Antoni recalled.

But the Knicks had enough point guards on the roster by then. In the season opener on Christmas Day, rookie Iman Shumpert sprained his knee and went out for at least two weeks.

The decision was made the next day when Grunwald told D’Antoni this was the Knicks’ chance to claim Lin — at least as a stopgap because his $788,000 contract wasn’t guaranteed. After 16 teams passed in waivers, Grunwald sprang.

“Lin and [Steve] Novak, they were both Glen’s calls,’’ said a person familiar with Grunwald’s daily waiver talks with D’Antoni.

Earlier that month, D’Antoni was more impressed by his new boss during the hectic period when the franchise did mathematical cartwheels — a series of maneuvers that began with Chauncey Billups’ amnesty waiver — to open enough salary cap space to sign center Tyson Chandler.

“Trying to get Tyson in those few days, his demeanor to deliver under enormous pressure was terrific,’’ D’Antoni said. “The way he went about it: calm, cool, collected through the whole thing.’’

Lin has morphed into a global sensation, suddenly a recognizable face around the world as the Knicks prepare to face the Raptors tonight in Toronto.

Grunwald? Most Knicks fans couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. He has remained invisible — despite his 6-foot-7 height — working behind the scenes in advancing former team president Donnie Walsh’s rebuilding agenda.

However, Grunwald changed Walsh’s master plan on a dime, thinking out of the box to heist Chandler from the Mavericks, being bold to claim Lin and sticking behind D’Antoni’s system during the Knicks’ slump. Even Novak, who was put on waivers Dec. 19, is looking like a find, with Grunwald seeing him as the perfect 3-point shooting ace for D’Antoni.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/invisible_grunwald_is_knicks_man_T1QtfRdUbngoBThHgNwQGJ#ixzz1nPfMZJzv

smackeddog wrote:I'm still not sure how much of Grunwald's success is due to skill or good luck. If it's luck, it's scary- is he doing some voodoo or something?

A few weeks ago people were saying amnestying Billups and signing Tyson was a huge mistake, as it left us with no cap space, no PG and no prospect of adding one. Then Billups had a season ending injury (and it was likely that he would have torn his achillies if he'd stayed with us), and Lin burst on to the scene (coinciding with Melo and Amar'e being out at the same time), which no one saw coming.

Also Grunwald wanted to spend out $2.5 mil exemption on Crawford, then Shawne Williams. Both declined, then Shawne Williams went on to have a horrific season, and a season ending injury with the Nets. Not only did that mean we dodged that bullet, but it also left us with the $2.5 million, which then allowed us to sign JR Smith.

As for why he hasn't been extended- I suspect Dolan is still pondering whether to bring Phil Jackson in as coach next year- and a few articles have said that Phil would want some sort of GM control as well as coach. So I think Dolan is holding off extending Grunwald, so he can offer phil jackson as much power as he wants.

In real life good luck is routinely rewarded with large contracts, salary increases etc. On the other hand people who often make good decisions that end up having bad outcomes get marginalized because hindsight is used to evaluate performance.

We are 16-17 with arguably the easiest schedule in the entire league. Again, if Amare play like this the rest of his career it was a huge.mistake to sign Chandler.

Nalod wrote:

TheGame wrote:I think he has earned a long-term deal, but I would wait just to let him know that he needs to continue to work. We could use another solid defensive/rebounding PF. We still need a backup PG for the future so that Lin does not have to play 40 mintues a game. We need to find our long-term solution at SG. The teams does not have many holes now, but there are still a few that Grunwald needs to work on. But I definitely think he should be given the permanent GM job.

Im not privy to the inner mind of Grunwald, but I'd say dangling of a carrot in the form of a contract extension as a reminder he has a job to do I think might be a bit unprofessional.

Not sure why u would think that is unprofessional. Knicks have no obligation to exten Grunwald. Rather than take the Isiah tack and give a guy an extension at the first sign of success, I would wait and see how this all plays out.

Nalod wrote:Why wait?

Grunwald is not a player.

He either is with Dolan or not.

He did a respectable job in Toronto as well.

THere are players, contracts and injuries to evaluate his performance.

Its not always wins and losses.

Why wait? We gonna sell more tickets with him as GM?

As long as Isiah is not here, Im good.

the entire organization should be focussing on the season and jus tthe season right now