There have been rumors that Phil Jackson would be hired to coach the Knicks before the team made Mike Woodson his permanent coach last month, but man who led the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to 11 NBA titles says he wasn't interested in taking the helm of Jim Dolan's "clumsy" club.

In an "HBO Real Sports" interview that premieres on Tuesday, Jackson tells correspondent Andrea Kremer that Dolan never called - and he was glad.

"I wasn't gonna take that job, that's for sure," said Jackson, who played with the Knicks from 1967 to 1978.

Jackson suggests he has given a good deal of thought to coaching the Knicks - "New York is special," he says - but he dismissed the possibility of returning to Madison Square Garden because the current team is "clumsy."

"What's clumsy mean?" Kremer asked.

"Well, they don't fit together well. (Amare) Stoudemire doesn't fit well with Carmelo. Stoudemire's a really good player. But he's gotta play in a certain system and a way.

"Carmelo has to be a better passer. And the ball can't stop every time it hits his hands," Jackson continued. "They need to have someone come in that can kinda blend that group together."

"But wouldn't you have been the perfect person to come in and blend all that talent together?" Kremer said. "You sort of have a good history of that."

"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "Well, it never happened."

Jackson retired from coaching last year after the Dallas Mavericks, the eventual NBA champs, swept his Lakers were swept in a playoff series Several of his players acted boorishly in the Lakers' final game of that season. Center Andrew Bynum clothes-lined the Mavs' JJ Berea.

"It was humbling," Jackson told Kremer. "Not the way I wanna see my players behave on the court. Andrew particularly took his jersey off and walked off the court in a way that was, you know, sense of arrogance. The game itself was bad enough as it went. So it-- it was kinda like-- so this is how it's gonna end, huh? This is an interesting closure to chapter of basketball."

Jackson is recuperating from knee replacement surgery he had in March, and people close to him have said his improved health has got him thinking about returning to coaching.

Jackson acknowledges that he no longer suffers from arthritic pain, but he declined to comment about returning to the NBA.

"No, I'm not gonna answer that," he told Kremer. "I don't have an answer for that question."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/phil-jackson-tells-hbo-ny-knicks-clumsy-carmelo-anthony-amar-e-stoudemire-fit-article-1.1096639#ixzz1xubmWym6

Sour grapes over not getting the call or telling it like it is?

OasisBU wrote:

There have been rumors that Phil Jackson would be hired to coach the Knicks before the team made Mike Woodson his permanent coach last month, but man who led the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to 11 NBA titles says he wasn't interested in taking the helm of Jim Dolan's "clumsy" club.

In an "HBO Real Sports" interview that premieres on Tuesday, Jackson tells correspondent Andrea Kremer that Dolan never called - and he was glad.

"I wasn't gonna take that job, that's for sure," said Jackson, who played with the Knicks from 1967 to 1978.

Jackson suggests he has given a good deal of thought to coaching the Knicks - "New York is special," he says - but he dismissed the possibility of returning to Madison Square Garden because the current team is "clumsy."

"What's clumsy mean?" Kremer asked.

"Well, they don't fit together well. (Amare) Stoudemire doesn't fit well with Carmelo. Stoudemire's a really good player. But he's gotta play in a certain system and a way.

"Carmelo has to be a better passer. And the ball can't stop every time it hits his hands," Jackson continued. "They need to have someone come in that can kinda blend that group together."

"But wouldn't you have been the perfect person to come in and blend all that talent together?" Kremer said. "You sort of have a good history of that."

"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "Well, it never happened."

Jackson retired from coaching last year after the Dallas Mavericks, the eventual NBA champs, swept his Lakers were swept in a playoff series Several of his players acted boorishly in the Lakers' final game of that season. Center Andrew Bynum clothes-lined the Mavs' JJ Berea.

"It was humbling," Jackson told Kremer. "Not the way I wanna see my players behave on the court. Andrew particularly took his jersey off and walked off the court in a way that was, you know, sense of arrogance. The game itself was bad enough as it went. So it-- it was kinda like-- so this is how it's gonna end, huh? This is an interesting closure to chapter of basketball."

Jackson is recuperating from knee replacement surgery he had in March, and people close to him have said his improved health has got him thinking about returning to coaching.

Jackson acknowledges that he no longer suffers from arthritic pain, but he declined to comment about returning to the NBA.

"No, I'm not gonna answer that," he told Kremer. "I don't have an answer for that question."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/phil-jackson-tells-hbo-ny-knicks-clumsy-carmelo-anthony-amar-e-stoudemire-fit-article-1.1096639#ixzz1xubmWym6

Sour grapes over not getting the call or telling it like it is?

Bonn1997 wrote:That's a polite way of saying the organization is dysfunctional

Either that... or it's him being pissed the Knicks didn't give him a look. Not that I think they should have. Either one is possible though, IMO.

JamesKPolk wrote:Anyone who trashes Phil right now is a homer. He didn't say anything wrong at all.

I feel that he is right and I appreciate his criticism because it's very much true. If he can't see a silver lining in that duo than neither can I. They've done nothing so far to change the popular opinion. I feel better about not getting Phil, at least, because now I know he would have never come under any circumstance. I don't feel good knowing I have a pairing that will never win a title as currently constructed.

DrAlphaeus wrote:Could Phil really begrudge the Knicks for going with their interim coach? I can't see Phil a card-carrying member of the Cablevision family after winning with a much classier version of this sad sack storied organization.

Phil is boning in a relationship with a member of the Lakers front office. That's a whole different class of organization, sorry fellow Knicks faithful. Dolan had been engineering 's ouster for awhile now. Walsh was brought in here to do exactly what he said he would do: clear the cap for that fated summer of free agency.

When Dolan got his toys, he was ready to move on with his real team of lackeys advisors. I think it's the Phantom Menace (a/k/a the Smiling One Who Shall Not Be Named) somewhere lurking in Dolan's ear along with the sounds of the Robert Randolph Band.

"But wouldn't you have been the perfect person to come in and blend all that talent together?" Kremer said. "You sort of have a good history of that."
"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "Well, it never happened."

Defitnitely sounds like sour grapes to me.

Uptown wrote:After saying that Amare and Melo dont fit, this was his response:

"But wouldn't you have been the perfect person to come in and blend all that talent together?" Kremer said. "You sort of have a good history of that."
"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "Well, it never happened."

Defitnitely sounds like sour grapes to me.

I agree.

JamesKPolk wrote:

Uptown wrote:After saying that Amare and Melo dont fit, this was his response:

"But wouldn't you have been the perfect person to come in and blend all that talent together?" Kremer said. "You sort of have a good history of that."
"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "Well, it never happened."

Defitnitely sounds like sour grapes to me.

No, he just said he doesn't like the roster and wouldn't have taken the job. That quote is him saying "yeah I'm good enough to turn them around but I have no interest in attempting to do so". In other words, he's too old for this sh!t.

Then there's the specter of Isiah and his crew behind the scenes. Yeah i'm sure that is the ideal situation for any coach to want to come into. I can't think of any other GOOD coaches that will want to work for Dolan. Sure desperate guys like Woody will come, but anyone with pride and a real resume like PJax won't come here and deal with this crap. Not after the MDA situation. Good owners don't just spend. They give their GM and coach what they needs to win in terms of support and not work against what they're brought in to do.

Now i'm seeing articles about hiring an offensive assistant for Woody!!! REALLY? They just had the guy who had years where his offense was tops in consecutive seasons and the year previous had this team at #5 before the trade. This team has habitually done things that make no sense. I'm not even a big fan of PJax, but this franchise has been a joke for a long time and just when we were starting to get some respect Dolan sticks his neck in and we're back to the old days.

I can only hope that this team can make some deep playoff runs from here on out. Hope and pray the union wins the arbitration and Grunwald can add some much needed talent. Hope and pray that Woody really is capable of not only coaching D, but has a plan for the TEAM rather than just Melo.

Contender..... Check.

Top player in the game..... Check.