A brief chant rose up at Staples Center on Wednesday night during the Lakers’ loss to the Kings: “We want Phil.’’

Sorry, Los Angeles, you can’t have him. Knicks owner James Dolan won’t let go of president Phil Jackson just yet. While the Lakers’ braintrust passed on Kristaps Porzingis with the second pick to take D’Angelo Russell, Dolan is said to be so enamored with the 7-foot-3 Latvian, Jackson can do no wrong in the owner’s eyes.

Dolan has a marquee piece to market at his new Garden for the next decade who could keep the franchise’s price tag at tops in the league — currently $3 billion, according to Forbes. Considering Jackson is paid $60 million through 2019, Jackson’s contract may not turn out to be so egregious.

Through all the slings and arrows the 11-time coaching champion endured during the franchise-worst 17-65 catastrophe last season, it is time to commend the Zen Master’s presidency, bringing the Knicks back into the spotlight.

Despite his glittering résumé, Jackson never once unleashed a mean-spirited attack on his many triangle critics last season, staying classy and self-deprecating. Jackson never lost sight of his vision and principles that helped lead him to a record 11 titles as an NBA head coach, not to mention being part of the Knicks’ only two championship teams.

Jackson has hidden from the media this season since three days before training camp. Insiders suggest he has done so because of an unwillingness to pat himself on the back for the Porzingis pick. After all, he knows the Knicks are just a .500 team — 22-22 — not yet in playoff position in the revived Eastern Conference, with the L.A. Clippers ready to invade the Garden on Friday night.

As ex-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said on ESPN radio Thursday, “The easiest step is going from awful to pretty good. The hardest step is going from pretty good to really good and even harder to go from really good to a championship level.’’

Nevertheless, the Knicks are gaining respect fast around the NBA. Jackson can’t go around Manhattan without some fan congratulating him for the Porzingis selection. Jackson had enough conviction to make former Bulls scout Clarence Gaines his top adviser after he was out of the NBA for years. Gaines went to Spain and came back to Jackson and general manager Steve Mills with this advice: Take the Latvian with the No. 1 pick.

There is growing belief Jackson has the Knicks on the road to something special, needing only a standout point guard this summer to go along with Porzingis and an evolving Carmelo Anthony, playing in the triangle the way Jackson dreamed it when he took the job nearly two years ago.

Though the Porzingis pick is the highlight of his 22-month reign, Jackson also got rid of last season’s bad apples — J.R. Smith the baddest. Jackson gathered a lot of tough, hard-working, gritty guys willing to sacrifice and play around his two gems.
Modal TriggerPhil Jackson’s acquisition of Robin Lopez is paying dividends for the Knicks.Photo: Paul J. Bereswill
That is, Lance Thomas and Langston Galloway from last season. Arron Afflalo and emerging center Robin Lopez this summer.

Afflalo and Lopez were Jackson’s top two free-agent signings. The tandem is earning its keep after slow starts. Anthony trusts his former Denver playoff mate more than he has trusted any teammate, including Smith. Anthony’s cross-court bullet to Afflalo for a 3-poiner late in regulation in Wednesday’s 118-111 overtime win over Utah was a perfect illustration.

The Lopez story still is building. After early on looking lost in the low post — a key component that makes the triangle’s spacing work — Lopez now is becoming a legit force.

He establishes deep position, and his old-school hook shot is falling like he is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Lopez’s 22-point, 12-rebound, three-block performance was as big as anything Anthony did against the Jazz.

It sounded like sour grapes at the time, but Jackson was adamant in July that Lopez would be as good as, if not better than, Greg Monroe, who spurned New York for Milwaukee. Monroe has been looking up at Lopez in the standings ever since.

“I think as he’s gotten more comfortable as the season’s gone on, understanding where those opportunities will come from in this particular offense,” coach Derek Fisher said of Lopez. “I think he’s been able to find a level that he’s actually capable of sustaining.”

Fisher, a Jackson hire and a lightning rod with the Knicks’ fan base, has used a substitution pattern that often can be baffling, but the nitpicking on every move that doesn’t work out is a bit much.

The jury still is out, but Fisher is improving — getting his team to run the triangle with greater accuracy since mid-December, paring the rotation, getting Anthony to play team ball and defense, getting the most out of guys like Thomas, Galloway and another free-agent signee, Derrick Williams, also making Jackson look good.

Jackson hasn’t hit all home runs — see Cleanthony Early, Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Kevin Seraphin, Kyle O’Quinn, Jerian Grant — but he has the Knicks back in a playoff race, back in the limelight and back to Lakers fans wishing his basketball genius wasn’t being appreciated on Broadway.

Been saying since the start that he had a plan and he wanted to get players in who would play well off Melo and play similar to the Lakers teams around Kobe. You're starting to see that now with Lopez, Porzingis, Williams, Afflalo, Calderon, Galloway and Thomas. We're likely one more player away, or atleast Porzingis reaching an all-star level before we can put ourselves in contention for a deep playoff run, but I like that the Knicks are doing it this way.

The Lakers are in a bit of a mess. I look at them and they have some good young players but a really bad culture there and no direction on how to move up, other than wishing a superstar will sign with them. It may happen because they are a great market and a great franchise history wise, but outside of a superstar landing with them in free agency they're in a bit of a jam. It's why some fans may want Phil back there, because Phil's plans wouldn't be based on a superstar signing with them to turn the team around. He'd install a culture and want the team to play a certain way and then hope that the right players can slowly be brought in.

SupremeCommander wrote:soon the stat humpers will find numerical evidence to disagree or create a revisionist historical account

eureka! I actually meant I looooooooooved Melo! I have statistics to prove it!

stat people care about numbers not personality.

crzymdups wrote:Berman the fluffer is so much more pleasant than Berman the clumsy assassin.

hahahaahaha oh that's good

nyknickzingis wrote:Yeah a complete 180 by the media.
And they'll do it again if Phil doesn't sign Durant or some major player in the summer.

Been saying since the start that he had a plan and he wanted to get players in who would play well off Melo and play similar to the Lakers teams around Kobe. You're starting to see that now with Lopez, Porzingis, Williams, Afflalo, Calderon, Galloway and Thomas. We're likely one more player away, or atleast Porzingis reaching an all-star level before we can put ourselves in contention for a deep playoff run, but I like that the Knicks are doing it this way.

The Lakers are in a bit of a mess. I look at them and they have some good young players but a really bad culture there and no direction on how to move up, other than wishing a superstar will sign with them. It may happen because they are a great market and a great franchise history wise, but outside of a superstar landing with them in free agency they're in a bit of a jam. It's why some fans may want Phil back there, because Phil's plans wouldn't be based on a superstar signing with them to turn the team around. He'd install a culture and want the team to play a certain way and then hope that the right players can slowly be brought in.

fishmike wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:Yeah a complete 180 by the media.
And they'll do it again if Phil doesn't sign Durant or some major player in the summer.

Been saying since the start that he had a plan and he wanted to get players in who would play well off Melo and play similar to the Lakers teams around Kobe. You're starting to see that now with Lopez, Porzingis, Williams, Afflalo, Calderon, Galloway and Thomas. We're likely one more player away, or atleast Porzingis reaching an all-star level before we can put ourselves in contention for a deep playoff run, but I like that the Knicks are doing it this way.

The Lakers are in a bit of a mess. I look at them and they have some good young players but a really bad culture there and no direction on how to move up, other than wishing a superstar will sign with them. It may happen because they are a great market and a great franchise history wise, but outside of a superstar landing with them in free agency they're in a bit of a jam. It's why some fans may want Phil back there, because Phil's plans wouldn't be based on a superstar signing with them to turn the team around. He'd install a culture and want the team to play a certain way and then hope that the right players can slowly be brought in.

What the Lakers have going for them this off season for free agency attraction is for one they're still the Lakers and have a strong history which all players know about and second of all it's still LA where a lot of these players live in the off season and third is they have like $60 million in cap space so they could do what Miami did with Lebron, Wade and Bosh and get like 3 bigger name players to come together and play for them and they already have some good young talent on the team. They could go straight to K.Durant and tell him to pick out another two guys that are free agents and tell them to come join him in being Lakers.

I could see them getting Horford, Whiteside and Derozan at make money with DeAngelo.. it will be interesting

Speaking as a Knicks fan, if LA can get Horford from the Hawks, Derozan from the Raptors and Whiteside from the Heat, I'd say where can I sign up for that?

CrushAlot wrote:Someone needs to call out Sheridan. This guy let a twitter argument destroy his objectivity. Phil hater predicted 22 wins for the Knicks. http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2015/07/23/sheridan-midsummer-report-cards-for-all-30-nba-teams-atlantic-division/

Technically, they haven't won more than 22 games yet... That was a tough read over the summer. It's more fun to read now.

mreinman wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:soon the stat humpers will find numerical evidence to disagree or create a revisionist historical account

eureka! I actually meant I looooooooooved Melo! I have statistics to prove it!

stat people care about numbers not personality.

mreinman wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

mreinman wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:soon the stat humpers will find numerical evidence to disagree or create a revisionist historical account

eureka! I actually meant I looooooooooved Melo! I have statistics to prove it!

stat people care about numbers not personality.

Just last month you were reading Melo's mind again. Nothing stat related about some of the threads you were starting.

keep playing polic you shot your own credibility long ago