Kurt Rambis’ half-season audition with the New York Knicks is apparently about to pay off.
According to ESPN.com’s Ian Begley and Marc Stein, Knicks president Phil Jackson is strongly in favor of hiring Rambis to indefinitely succeed the fired Derek Fisher:
The New York Knicks are giving strong consideration to making Kurt Rambis their full-time head coach, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that Rambis, who has served as the Knicks’ interim coach since Derek Fisher was fired Feb. 8, is the preferred choice of team president ?Phil Jackson, who sources say is pushing for a new multiyear deal for Rambis despite New York’s 8-16 record since the coaching change.
Um, okay.
Rambis hasn’t done anything obvious enough to make him the favorite. He hasn’t improved the Knicks. He was coaching to win games, and the team still lost. It took veteran players, like Carmelo Anthony, telling him to play the youngsters for him to, well, start playing youngsters.
All Rambis’ surging candidacy proves is that Jackson remains married to the triangle, for better or worse. Rambis is familiar, and Jackson can be sure that he’ll preach the triangle’s core tenets, subsequently giving the Zen Master complete and utter control over the cosmetic and functional look of this team.
In the end, that may be a good thing, even if Rambis isn’t a good fit for the Knicks or any other NBA team. This puts the onus of success squarely on Jackson more than ever before. Failure to turn the Knicks around now, after doing whatever he’s wanted for two-plus years, can result in a justifiable dismissal or, less likely, prompt Jackson to admit his faults and reverse course.
