Nju Jork: Tifozat e Knicks trainer Phil Jackson ose ndonje emer te madh tjeter

Knicks want Phil Jackson or another big name as the  their coach of the 
future
 

 
NYC : Mike D'Antoni is gone, Carmelo Anthony isn't going anywhere, and all  
that's left of Linsanity is cable-provider lawsuits. Knicks fans and 
basketball  experts would be lying if they told you they had any idea how the rest 
of this  shortened, bipolar season might go—but owner James Dolan has 
already made it  clear that the Knicks will finish the season with Mike Woodson 
as head coach.  Maybe Knicks fans can handle that, but there's only one zen 
master they're  clamoring to see try to make something of Amare Stoudemire's 
bad knees and Steve  Novak's wild threes: Phil Jackson. But is there any 
chance he'd actually join  the MSG circus?
 
Attention immediately turned toward Jackson after D'Antoni's announcement  
yesterday. Jackson, who started his career with the Knicks, won 11 NBA  
championships with the Lakers and the Bulls before retiring in 2011. According  
to ESPN, Jackson hasn't had any contact with the team since D'Antoni 
resigned,  but one source told them that Jackson would likely be "fascinated" by 
the  prospect of "how the Knicks' (current) personnel would fit in his 
system."  Jackson has long said he doesn't want to be a coach-for-life, but many 
around  the league believe that the one job that could bring him out of 
retirement would  be as Knicks head coach.
 
But because this is the Knicks we're talking about, most are hedging their  
bets about any savior swooping in: "I think Phil has too much pride to come 
back  to draw a paycheck; he'll only come back to coach a team that adds to 
his  legacy," said former MSG president Dave Checketts. "Phil would only 
return for a  team that can win it, and I just don't know if you can say that 
about this  Knicks club." The Daily News points out that another wrinkle is 
that Jackson  probably would want to have a major say in personnel matters—
and working with  Dolan, who singlehandedly made last year's Carmelo deal 
happen, that may not  happen. 
 
But it's certainly true that if Jackson wants a true professional  
challenge, there'd be no better place than NYC, molding the dysfunctional,  
perennially-disappointing Knicks. And anyway, he'd have a couple strong building  
blocks: according to ESPN's source, Jeremy Lin was on Jackson's radar last  
season when Lin was a rookie with the Golden State Warriors—he fits with  
Jackson's longstanding preference for big ballhandlers in his backcourt. Maybe  
that can cheer up Lin, who is pretty broken up about D'Antoni leaving: “What 
he  did for my career, I’m not going to forget what he did for me 
personally. It’s  very emotional. I’m sad to see him go and I owe a lot to  him.”