It finally looks like the saddest chapter in New York Knick history is about to close. The Isiah Thomas Reign of Error has produced the two worst seasons in Knick history (with the second one still in progress), and left a pile of destruction and devastation in its wake, in the process sullying the reputation of a hall of fame coach (Larry Brown) and turning a former hometown hero (Stephon Marbury) into a pariah. Although it looks like Isaiah finally will be fired, I am not at all enamored with his rumored replacement, Donnie Walsh (Editor’s note: neither is Monnie D.). While Walsh represents an upgrade over Thomas— and pretty much anyone would be at this point, so that’s not saying much— I do not know if he is the best candidate for job. The thing that makes me leery is the fact that good ole Jimmy Boy took the lazy-sluggard, silver-spoon-so-far-down-my-throat-I-have-to-gag-just-to-breathe approach again, eschewing interviews of other possible candidates such as Jerry west, Jerry Colangelo or Brian Colangelo, and instead focused his attention solely on Mr. Walsh from the get-go. And it’s no mystery that Walsh’s recent history with the Pacers suggests he may not be up to the task of turning around the Knicks.
What I’m saying is, we basically need someone with a flawless resume because this isn’t your typical “oh we’ve had a few off years, so we’ll trade a few guys, make a couple draft picks and things will be on the up-and-up in no time” rebuilding job. This is your “the Knicks are a complete train wreck, they’re a few trillion dollars over the salary cap, lack a franchise talent, and have a roster made up entirely of flawed, selfish players (David Lee aside)” type of rebuilding job. This won’t be a one-year fix or even a two-year process. And while Donnie Walsh has built some great teams, he has never constructed a championship team. Jerry West, the architect of many championship rosters over his career, has reportedly not even received a phone call from Dolan. Same goes for the Colangelos, who are the two brightest minds in the NBA today. This imprudent hastiness is just another example of why Dolan is perhaps the worst owner in New York sports history (not to mention world history) because he always falls in love with one guy and never gives himself the opportunity to hear different ideas or viewpoints from a wider pool of candidates. He got lucky with Glen Sather but even Sather was on the verge of failing in New York until the NHL lockout bailed him out.
Again, don’t get me wrong— I know Donnie Walsh represents a huge upgrade over Zeke (like I said, I think a pile of horse manure would be an upgrade at this point), but I’m just not sold on him being the best man for job. But if Isiah holds true to his apparent promise to lose as many games as possible, and we end up with the first pick in the draft, and then Walsh introduces a new point guard tandem of Mark Jackson at head coach and Derrick Rose as the floor general, then we can all start to forget about the Isiah Thomas and Starbury debacle and I’ll be the first one to give Walsh his props.
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