SU always looks forward to the NBA draft.  This year features a relatively weak field with reports of most teams looking to move down in the draft vs. trying to secure a better pick.  The Knicks have a rare first round pick as Isiah Thomas hasn’t been able to amass enough power as of yet to move it for Eddie Curry’s expiring contract.

I just stumbled across this article on Bleacherreport.com which features an interview with Phil Jackson:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2488958-phil-jackson-nbas-lord-of-the-rings-faces-ultimate-test-saving-the-knicks

It’s a long read but there were a few striking quotes from Jackson here:

• “What Jackson did talk about at length was his belief in “a structure” or “a format” that involves all five players and emphasizes ball and player movement, whether it’s the triangle or another system. He cited the Spurs and Warriors and Hawks as teams that exemplified the ideal.”
• “When I watch some of these playoff games, and I look at what’s being run out there, as what people call an offense, it’s really quite remarkable to see how far our game has fallen from a team game,” Jackson said. “Four guys stand around watching one guy dribble a basketball.”
• “The game actually has some beauty to it, and we’ve kind of taken some of that out of it to make it individualized,” Jackson said. “It’s a lot of who we are as a country, individualized stuff.”

All fine and right in line with SU’s view of team basketball.  But here is where I am perplexed: Carmelo Anthony, one of the great one-on-one scorers in NBA history, is clearly the opposite of this type of thinking.  Clearly.  Opposite.  As in 180 degrees in the other direction.  Phil Jackson came in before Melo opted out of his contract.  WHY WOULD YOU RE-SIGN HIM IF THIS IS WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN?  As long-time SU subscriber B. Levine would say, “it makes on sense.”  You sign him to a long-term deal at max money and now you are stuck.  This is not how he plays the game.  And after 12 years in the NBA, it’s hard to see how he would do that now.

If you believe in a system, you need to put players together who want to play in that system.  And by that, I mean skilled players – not the guys currently on the Knicks’ roster.  As stated before, SU is not on the Knicks’ band wagon but even the most passionate fan must be very frustrated by the inconsistency here between philosophy and personnel.

Relatively new SU subscriber Mark N. weighed in this morning: ” …sadly it is really probably Dolan who is the cause of my recent distaste for rooting for the Knicks. I can root for teams when they are down. I just can’t root for teams that are morally bankrupt.”  Lots of frustration out there in Knick Land.

SU caught the end of the US Open last night.  You have to feel for Dustin Johnson.  That was a stunning last 3 minutes.  Hard to think he will be able to mentally ever recover from that.