Standing On Shaky Ground
chad

I only included the Knicks part.



Here's Insider's look at a number of coaches with the job security of Ashlee Simpson's voice coach.

SKATING ON THIN ICE

Lenny Wilkens, Knicks

Isiah Thomas' decision to hire Wilkens last year got its share of raised eyebrows. Wilkens was coming off a disastrous stint in Toronto where he clearly lost control of his team. To make matters worse, he was essentially the same coach as the guy who just got fired, Don Chaney. Both Chaney and Wilkens are affable, laid-back coaches who rely – in part – on their cordial relationship with players to get results on the floor.

Stephon Marbury and Lenny Wilkens
How long will Marbury (left), remain a supporter of Wilkens?
Wilkens did a good job last year, helping a team that looked destined for the lottery into the last playoff spot in the East. But there are already numerous signs of fracture this season.

After an embarrassing home opener blowout loss to the Celtics, Thomas stepped in and suggested that Wilkens let go long-time lead assistant Dick Helm. According to various reports, when Wilkens refused Thomas did more than insist. Helm left the team the next day, citing personal issues.

Thomas then replaced Helm with his right hand man, Brendan Suhr, who was serving as the Knicks director of player personnel. Wilkens has said all the right things about Thomas, Helm and Suhr, but it's obvious that there's increasing tension there.

To make matters worse, his players are starting to complain. Stephon Marbury, who was Wilken's biggest supporter when he was hired, blew his stack after Tuesday night's loss to the Spurs. He accused his teammates of breaking plays. That in and of itself isn't an indictment of Wilkens, who calls the plays but can't execute them. But it's the same type of stuff we heard in Toronto before things fell apart. If players are no longer listening to the coach and if the coach isn't disciplining players who ignore him, we're not that far from disaster.

Thomas doesn't want to get there. He's promised Knicks fans a contender and a 2-4 start isn't exactly what he had in mind. Factor in brutal road games against the Rockets and Mavs and then a home game against the surging Cavs and it's conceivable that the team is going to start 2-7 before getting some relief in the form of a four-game stretch against the Hawks and Raptors.

If the Knicks keep stumbling over that stretch … Wilkens will be gone. Who will replace him? The speculation has been intense since Thomas took the front office job that he'd ultimately also would coach the Knicks. He has publicly denied that he'll take over on the bench on several occasions this year.

Phil Jackson's name comes up as a candidate because he's available and he's said he'd always like to coach the Knicks. However, we don't think he's specifically talking about Isiah's version of the Knicks when he mentioned his interest. The truth is that Phil likes control and wouldn't get it from Isiah.

Without any other big names out there, the duties could fall on Suhr, a Thomas loyalist who would allow Thomas to have a major say on who plays and how they play without physically sitting on the bench.

everything we know already... thats Chad. By the way we didnt get the last playoff spot, the Celtics got that. Also Isiah said before the season started he expected the Knicks to struggle with the early schedule, and that there would be an ajustment period.

When Phil Jackson was talking about being coach Isiah stuck by Wilkins. And also said that this team would be lucky to be at 500. after the first month. But that all seems to be forgotten. I guess without the drama ny media wouldn't be ny media.

Posted by martin:

Insider subscription is something like $40 per year.

I am beginning to feel ripped off.

For some reason ESPN has been send me their Magazine for free.

Well I did have insider for awhile, but yeah it got old pretty quick. You want to read it, but it pretty much lacks substance. I do really like all the draft content though.

The only future I truly liked were the site lines(or whatever they're called now), news every day, searchable in categories, updated constantly.

The thing I hate now though, is that they have all the chat wraps on insider, which I used to read frequently, sigh.