Here's Ron Baker's reaction to Phil Jackson's firing: "Obviously I really enjoyed Phil Jackson. He's taught me a lot this past year. He wasn't only a mentor of mine. He was a really good friend. A couple of weeks ago we were playing catch in the training room before my first pitch. I wish Phil the best. I'm going to miss him and that's just kind of how the business goes sometimes."

When I read it, my reaction is
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!

Ron please don't say it. I beg you. You should have said triangle is dog-**** even though you played well inside it. You should have said Phil is very evil and every player hated him because he was bad blood or something. I don't get it. Yeah, he chose you. Yeah, he gave you a chance. But you know, it doesn't mean anything. Look at KP. Phil drafted him and gave him everything but he were still wise to skip his exit meeting to protest.......huh...something.

Now you are doomed. You are doomed!! According to Berman

http://nypost.com/2017/06/29/carmelo-anthony-not-off-trade-block-despite-phil-jacksons-exit/

Very soon, this powerful wife-loving family man will chew you, lit into you.

Please don't. You don't know the politics. Melo will not like you, and because of that KP will not like you too.

I really don't get it. I am soooo confused. You are a player, but Phil is supposed to be very bad at player relations and no player liked him. I am very confused. I have to ask Isola and Bondy and Ian Begley what happened....

Wait, Ian Begley wrote it! Please don't tell me you media guys always criticized Phil just because you guys wanted to laugh on Knicks. So Phil is gone, again you want to prove Knicks is **** so now Phil is the good guy??

Nooo, please nooo, so at the end Phil is not important at all but just a way for media to troll us?? But we killed him! We celebrated! We thought we won! and all best FA are coming to Knicks now because Phil is gone!

And you show me that we knicks fan are actually a bunch of brainless pawns? It is not possible!!

I hate you.

And this is from Berman.

Baker tweeted his signing at midnight Friday and immediately heard from Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee – two veterans who he said took him under their wing. No word from Carmelo Anthony.

Please, Ron. Your are just a role player. Your pay grade is too low for the most powerful family man to respond. And I am sorry you will be gone very soon.

mlby1215 wrote:http://nypost.com/2017/07/01/ron-baker-sounds-really-broken-up-about-phil-jackson/

And this is from Berman.

Baker tweeted his signing at midnight Friday and immediately heard from Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee – two veterans who he said took him under their wing. No word from Carmelo Anthony.

Please, Ron. Your are just a role player. Your pay grade is too low for the most powerful family man to respond. And I am sorry you will be gone very soon.

fwk00 wrote:

mlby1215 wrote:http://nypost.com/2017/07/01/ron-baker-sounds-really-broken-up-about-phil-jackson/

And this is from Berman.

Baker tweeted his signing at midnight Friday and immediately heard from Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee – two veterans who he said took him under their wing. No word from Carmelo Anthony.

Please, Ron. Your are just a role player. Your pay grade is too low for the most powerful family man to respond. And I am sorry you will be gone very soon.

Ron ain't going anywhere. This is a great signing. Barring injuries he's going to be a mainstay in this league for a long time - likely future announcer for the Knicks - great camera personna.

I am not so sure. It is Knicks. It is Dolan. It is Melo. I don't bet on that he will got traded, but I would not be surprised if it happened.

Too much drama between Phil, Melo and Kristaps.

nyknickzingis wrote:I don't think or ever thought the problem in NY was Phil.
However he wasn't exactly finding the solution, quick enough.

Too much drama between Phil, Melo and Kristaps.

I think it is very interesting to examine why Phil lost his job. Later I probably want to write a very simple and rough analysis on this topic...when the dust is a little bit more settled.

But the main idea is that the most critical mistake he has made is he DIDN'T trade away any first pick. Yes I said it and I mean it. If there was a school for would-be GM then Phil has to be the textbook example why you should always try to trade away your first pick especially you are in NY market and you are with a aging superstar who hasn't won anything in his life a.k.a Melo.

First picks are very important for the future of an NBA team, and Phil was absolutely right that he refused to trade them away. But do people remember how Phil had been attacked? The obvious one is 80-166.

80-166, so he sucks.

But how many of us had the intelligence or dignity to say that "It is all because he didn't trade away any pick for instant help"? He could have gone 120-126 or something if he traded away every pick and did every draft day trade (to get around the rule) There is a tactical reason to do that because it would have bought him more time to do more foundation improvement.

Then it comes to his second critical mistake. He didn't understand Melo, Dolan and Knicks fans. Knicks fan actually are insecure, short sighted and divided. They secretly believe in different brand of basketball. They prefer talents over teamwork. They worship superstars and look down role players. In short they are totally opposite to spur fans, though few of us would admit it.

Triangle, in general, is an offense for role players. If you have a super team you would not need triangle. If everyone could create for himself, then why would we need ball movement or passing? Just find the biggest mismatch and ask that superstar goes 1-on-1 to death. We don't like triangle, because it would "limit" our superstars and it is true. So that is why MJ and Kobe said you have to sacrifice.

No instant success really hurt Phil's credibility in Melo's eyes, and knicks fans' eyes. We expected Phil and his method would work immediately. When his credibility was gone in that year of 17-65, everything was going to die slowly.

Melo didn't say it but he must have hated that Phil didn't trade away pick to help him. He was going old and the gap between him and his friend LBJ is wider and wider everyday. He didn't want to be a loser, but deep down he knew he was one. He is very insecure, just like his fans. That is why he was so sensitive that Phil said he hold the ball too long. He probably thought "Fck it, Rose holds the ball too long as well!! Why only me being called out??" In short, he is an aging superstar and he will not be a superstar very soon and he knows it. One guy won everything already and went back to his home team and wanted to lay down a foundation a.k.a thinking long-term, and another guy has never been to NBA final and wanted to win something badly a.k.a thinking short-term. Their relationship can't be good just because their interest are conflicted.

And Dolan, this guy is a psycho. He can do anything if he feels like it. He is very insecure. He looks like he doesn't care but actually he does. He really care how he is being looked at by the fans. NY media knew it so they kept inciting the fans. At the end, the media succeeded.

I could write probably much longer but I am still very bitter so I think I should stop for now.

mlby1215 wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:I don't think or ever thought the problem in NY was Phil.
However he wasn't exactly finding the solution, quick enough.

Too much drama between Phil, Melo and Kristaps.

I think it is very interesting to examine why Phil lost his job. Later I probably want to write a very simple and rough analysis on this topic...when the dust is a little bit more settled.

But the main idea is that the most critical mistake he has made is he DIDN'T trade away any first pick. Yes I said it and I mean it. If there was a school for would-be GM then Phil has to be the textbook example why you should always try to trade away your first pick especially you are in NY market and you are with a aging superstar who hasn't won anything in his life a.k.a Melo.

First picks are very important for the future of an NBA team, and Phil was absolutely right that he refused to trade them away. But do people remember how Phil had been attacked? The obvious one is 80-166.

80-166, so he sucks.

But how many of us had the intelligence or dignity to say that "It is all because he didn't trade away any pick for instant help"? He could have gone 120-126 or something if he traded away every pick and did every draft day trade (to get around the rule) There is a tactical reason to do that because it would have bought him more time to do more foundation improvement.

Then it comes to his second critical mistake. He didn't understand Melo, Dolan and Knicks fans. Knicks fan actually are insecure, short sighted and divided. They secretly believe in different brand of basketball. They prefer talents over teamwork. They worship superstars and look down role players. In short they are totally opposite to spur fans, though few of us would admit it.

Triangle, in general, is an offense for role players. If you have a super team you would not need triangle. If everyone could create for himself, then why would we need ball movement or passing? Just find the biggest mismatch and ask that superstar goes 1-on-1 to death. We don't like triangle, because it would "limit" our superstars and it is true. So that is why MJ and Kobe said you have to sacrifice.

No instant success really hurt Phil's credibility in Melo's eyes, and knicks fans' eyes. We expected Phil and his method would work immediately. When his credibility was gone in that year of 17-65, everything was going to die slowly.

Melo didn't say it but he must have hated that Phil didn't trade away pick to help him. He was going old and the gap between him and his friend LBJ is wider and wider everyday. He didn't want to be a loser, but deep down he knew he was one. He is very insecure, just like his fans. That is why he was so sensitive that Phil said he hold the ball too long. He probably thought "Fck it, Rose holds the ball too long as well!! Why only me being called out??" In short, he is an aging superstar and he will not be a superstar very soon and he knows it. One guy won everything already and went back to his home team and wanted to lay down a foundation a.k.a thinking long-term, and another guy has never been to NBA final and wanted to win something badly a.k.a thinking short-term. Their relationship can't be good just because their interest are conflicted.

And Dolan, this guy is a psycho. He can do anything if he feels like it. He is very insecure. He looks like he doesn't care but actually he does. He really care how he is being looked at by the fans. NY media knew it so they kept inciting the fans. At the end, the media succeeded.

I could write probably much longer but I am still very bitter so I think I should stop for now.

Well written and i agree wholeheartedly. Except I am not really that bitter, I saw this coming just not so quickly. Dolan will always protect his toy. Insecurity typically seeks out its own kind at all costs. Just look art the white house. And you are exactly right about the fans. They prefer stars to team game, they prefer glitz to accountability, they prefer drama to maturity, because deep inside that's who they are.

mlby1215 wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:I don't think or ever thought the problem in NY was Phil.
However he wasn't exactly finding the solution, quick enough.

Too much drama between Phil, Melo and Kristaps.

I think it is very interesting to examine why Phil lost his job. Later I probably want to write a very simple and rough analysis on this topic...when the dust is a little bit more settled.

But the main idea is that the most critical mistake he has made is he DIDN'T trade away any first pick. Yes I said it and I mean it. If there was a school for would-be GM then Phil has to be the textbook example why you should always try to trade away your first pick especially you are in NY market and you are with a aging superstar who hasn't won anything in his life a.k.a Melo.

First picks are very important for the future of an NBA team, and Phil was absolutely right that he refused to trade them away. But do people remember how Phil had been attacked? The obvious one is 80-166.

80-166, so he sucks.

But how many of us had the intelligence or dignity to say that "It is all because he didn't trade away any pick for instant help"? He could have gone 120-126 or something if he traded away every pick and did every draft day trade (to get around the rule) There is a tactical reason to do that because it would have bought him more time to do more foundation improvement.

Then it comes to his second critical mistake. He didn't understand Melo, Dolan and Knicks fans. Knicks fan actually are insecure, short sighted and divided. They secretly believe in different brand of basketball. They prefer talents over teamwork. They worship superstars and look down role players. In short they are totally opposite to spur fans, though few of us would admit it.

Triangle, in general, is an offense for role players. If you have a super team you would not need triangle. If everyone could create for himself, then why would we need ball movement or passing? Just find the biggest mismatch and ask that superstar goes 1-on-1 to death. We don't like triangle, because it would "limit" our superstars and it is true. So that is why MJ and Kobe said you have to sacrifice.

No instant success really hurt Phil's credibility in Melo's eyes, and knicks fans' eyes. We expected Phil and his method would work immediately. When his credibility was gone in that year of 17-65, everything was going to die slowly.

Melo didn't say it but he must have hated that Phil didn't trade away pick to help him. He was going old and the gap between him and his friend LBJ is wider and wider everyday. He didn't want to be a loser, but deep down he knew he was one. He is very insecure, just like his fans. That is why he was so sensitive that Phil said he hold the ball too long. He probably thought "Fck it, Rose holds the ball too long as well!! Why only me being called out??" In short, he is an aging superstar and he will not be a superstar very soon and he knows it. One guy won everything already and went back to his home team and wanted to lay down a foundation a.k.a thinking long-term, and another guy has never been to NBA final and wanted to win something badly a.k.a thinking short-term. Their relationship can't be good just because their interest are conflicted.

And Dolan, this guy is a psycho. He can do anything if he feels like it. He is very insecure. He looks like he doesn't care but actually he does. He really care how he is being looked at by the fans. NY media knew it so they kept inciting the fans. At the end, the media succeeded.

I could write probably much longer but I am still very bitter so I think I should stop for now.

I agree with most of this. Though I will say Phil could have made some better decisions in terms of who he acquired to try and win now with without giving up picks. Tyson Chandler for Calderon was a big blunder which he overvalued Calderon. Giving out 4 yrs 70mil to Noah.

Really thinking about it, Phil should have had 2 guys under him. Mills would be forced to be apart of the equation so he would be one. With the other being in the Ujiri, Hinkie, Morey analytical mold. The analytical studs goal should have been to collect, collect, collect assets. He should have been in charge of making these trades to acquire draft picks. Moving Tyson, Shumpert, Hardaway for draft picks. Taking on short term ugly contracts for draft picks, getting something for Melo. Phil's job with Gaines and head coach would have been the basketball minds. Turning these assets into a *team* that fits as a cohesive unit.

Today

Hornacek and I guess if he is still with us Gaines are the only real basketball minds now. So we need an analytical guy to complete the cipher. But we still need to see how good Hornaceks basketball mind is. But we need a complete front office. Strong basketball minds with strong analytical minds.

TripleThreat wrote:

mlby1215 wrote:Please don't. You don't know the politics. Melo will not like you, and because of that KP will not like you too.

Ron Baker is a guy who will hang on by fingernails every year in the league to just stay on an NBA roster. Like most guys in this situation, he wants everyone to like him, he wants to not make waves, he doesn't want to make enemies. He wants to keep his future networking opportunities open.

The Patriots just signed Andrew Hawkins, a WR, from the Bengals in free agency. He might not make the team. Guy was on a Michael Irvin reality show and was an intern for an NFL team in case he didn't make the roster. He floated on practice squads for years. Guy was just smart. You could see it in his interviews, you could see it how he carried himself. He knew he was a fringe guy, would always be a fringe guy, and simply tried to expand his network. He was very likeable. He made himself a contrast to the typical douchebag athlete. And you could see other coaches and veteran players wanted him to succeed, wanted to help him, wanted to give him a chance. Sometimes it comes down to that, you have a front office/coaches meeting, and someone in the room speaks up for you, because they like you.

Baker could just be a good solid dude. Or he's just a guy who is playing the "game", the stuff that you need to do not on the court to survive, really well.

No one is going to blame a fringe guy for being diplomatic. That Phil Jackson wanted to help him says a lot about Baker honestly. It's a real skill to be engaging and connect with people who have every reason to ignore you.

While it's unspoken, there is a lot of empathy in the league for fringe guys. Guys just trying to make it. People genuinely liked Lin (OK not Melo) and wanted him to succeed. It's not that elite players care ( most are douchebags) but because these players are partly a reflection of their own struggles that they don't and can't talk about. It's never about the other person, it's about how that person makes you feel about yourself.

Ron Baker is a pretty good reserve player. Looks like he's an even better mirror.

All I can say is that I like Baker and wish him nothing but success. This dude plays well above his talent level. He has the attitude of "I don't give a fck". He is polite and humble but fearless. I really like him.

Ron baker is a lock down defender, if he improves his outside shooting which he will, the guy works harder then the 95% of the league. I'd be shocked if he doesn't shoot around 40% from three this year.

I'd hate to break it to you doubters but Ron baker is here to stay and is a big part of this teams future .