New York Knicks president Phil Jackson arrived in March 2014 and took on the responsibility of making the team into a contender. After a couple of poor seasons, he believes that the Knicks, led by Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose and Kristaps Porzingis, are ready to turn the corner. Or, as he put it:
"Fiscally, I've been very responsible as president," Jackson said, via the New York Post's Marc Berman. "I don't think I really had opportunity with personnel, [but] we've been successful to get in a position where we could operate as a basketball team. That's been our first goal. Eat some dung in the process. We had to do that and live with it. The proof is in the pudding in that this team will prove it is capable."
Wow! "Eat some dung." Did he really have to say "pudding" immediately after that?
Hilarious and disgusting metaphors aside, Jackson is clearly stating that expectations should be different for the Knicks this time. In his view, they've dealt with losing, come out the other side with Porzingis and improved the team in free agency and trades. Others in the organization share his view: Rose called them a super-team, Porzingis said he's focused on the postseason, Brandon Jennings said just making the playoffs isn't good enough and Courtney Lee said they're contenders.
For a team with all sorts of injury risks and a relatively thin bench, this seems a rather optimistic assessment of the situation. While New York certainly hopes that its proverbial dung-eating days are over, a major step forward isn't guaranteed. If the Knicks are banged-up and they can't function as more than the sum of their parts, then it's easy to envision a scenario where they miss the playoffs again. Let's wait and see what they look like on the court before making any bold proclamations.
