Joakim Noah Is Phil Jackson’s Kind of Player

Knicks should look at Lance Stephenson for defense and scoring off the bench. He wouldn't be intimidated by this cast of characters and except KP they can all tell him to shut up. Perfect.

JN is probably a good addition to any team needing a versatile center. What the knicks need is team play and decent coaching, good trades to create that possibility

You either go all in and build up from youth or you go all-pro and aim for quick wins.
The worst you can do - which is what the Knicks seem to be doing - is try to drive through the middle of a forked road.

I think I'm gonna watch some NYC basketball this year!

"How long has it been since the Garden housed that kind of player night in, night out?" This is a good question but it doesn't relate to Noah because he is NOT going to be playing night in, night out. 29 games last season and 31years old. This deal is a complete joke.

This is the Knicks being the Knicks. $72M over 4 years is another atrocious Dolan special with a side of Jackson, who also very clearly has no idea how to build a championship team from the front office. Will the Knicks be better next year? Sure. Have they once again prioritized putting together a team that will fill the Garden seats with ZERO % chance of winning a title now at the expense of their future? Yep - it happens every single time.

The better question is: why are we all Knicks fans? When management clearly prioritizing selling the illusion of hope to maximum profit over building a team with a legitimate chance to compete for a title, it's a question we should all be asking ourselves...

43 years and counting, the trend is not on their side.

I'll always root for the Knicks. I'll look forward to nice moments from Rose and Noah. They are not necessarily beyond their primes. If Kristaps can take a step up we can be pretty good. Carmelo is under rated for an over rated player. Knick fans will know what I mean by that.

Still, if you look at what Ainge has done in Boston you see true mastery from a GM. He flipped his big 3 for great picks and players, now he has Horford and is in position to land Durant today. Even if that doesn't happen, check and mate. I wish I could flip allegiances but the heart wants what it wants. GO NYK.

The money spent on over-the-hill veterans is startling. Noah has value with his high energy defense, rebounding and passing out of the post. He was never much of a scorer. Now, after many injuries plus wear and tear, he will not have the same impact though he will continue to work hard and hustle. Perhaps that alone will inspire teammates and make his signing worthwhile. The Onion has a headline that reads: "Benny the Bull signs 4 year $120 million contract." Benny is the team mascot.

After all, Lawrenceville is just a dribble and a couple of passes down Rt. 206 from Princeton and the home of the "point center." And Jackson's Knick roommate was Bill Bradley, whose ability to see the whole floor was legendary even in college. Butch vBK lives on!

Clearly, the team had to do something. Keeping the same personnel would have put hem, at best, as quick first round playoff losers. Rose is a low-risk gamble. Things don't work out, he's gone next year and his salary slot can be used to go after a big name free agent (Westbrook, Curry, Griffin, etc). Noah is very hard to evaluate. No one, including his doctors, can say how he will bounce back from his injuries. The good thing is that he's never been a player who's relied on his ability to out-jump or out-run opponents. His game is based on hustle and high basketball IQ. Those players tend to persevere better as they get older than the ones who rely purely on athleticism. Look at his ex-teammate Gasol. The length of the contract is a concern, for sure. But who else was the team going to sign? Durant? He wasn't interested. Horford, Gasol? Never showed any interest in coming to NY. Howard? He's even more expensive, and 30 with fast deteriorating skills. Mozgov and Mahinmi would have been better alternatives if they were cheaper, but they ended getting enormous contracts that I would say may be even worse than what the Knicks are giving Noah when you consider their best potential return on investment. If Noah was completely healthy and producing the way he did when he was defensive player of the year, the Knicks wouldn't be able to get him for 4 years at $72 million.

Harvey, I'm not sure that I can approve of what Phil is doing here.

I loved, LOVED Noah's game in his prime, regularly cursed Isiah Thomas for becoming at all involved in the Bulls' scorched earth contract negotiations with Eddy Curry (they wanted him to either take a DNA test that would reveal whether he had a gene associated with Hypertrophy Cardiomyopathy or retire), which led to the Knicks surrendering #1 picks that eventually became LaMarcus Aldridge and Noah. And yes, I remember that Knicks-Bulls game when Noah became a point-center. But there's an awful lot of mileage on that body, and not a lot of depth behind it.

I fear that we could be setting ourselves up for a big tease here that will leave us no closer to our ultimate goal - but at least Phil isn't mortgaging our future by including #1 picks.

At this point, that's the best that I can say about Jackson's tenure with the Knicks.

Simple question. Maybe it's just me, but does H. Araton increasingly sound more like a public relations officer for Phil Jackson than a regular sports journalist? With the Cavaliers trailing in the finals, he had to preen about how you couldn't with those former Knicks-J.R. Smith and Shumpert that Phil traded. Once Cleveland started coming back and eventually won the championship, they were barely mentioned or treated like the side note they are and have always been.

Fact: Before his injury last season, Noah was a shadow of his former self. From missed layups to poor free throw shooting to bad passes, he unfortunately displayed it all. Now, we are supposed to view his signing as a superior talent acquisition by the basketball genius?
Please...

Who knows how this will turn out but this follows an unsuccessful pattern for the Knicks, hiring players with a good past, who are in the waning years of a career in the hopes the team will benefit from past glory. I am pessimistic. It will keep fans in the seats (which is not hard to do at The Garden where fans play a premium for all the pain they endure), but this is not yet a playoff team.

I dunno what to think about this? Fellas, you got to help me out. Have the Knick gotten better or simply repeated the mistake of signing expensive players past their prime?

A decent pickup, as was Rose, but neither nor both will revive this moribund bunch.

"How long has it been since the Garden housed that kind of player night in, night out? Really, do you have to be a Knicks fan — or just an aficionado of basketball art — to root for a healthy, ball-handling Noah in New York?"

Do I hear an, "AMEN", brother?
YES! AMEN brother Harvey, AMEN!

One thing that struck me while watching the You Tube video was the purposefulness of Noah's passing. So many NBA players just pass it along without looking at the entire floor to see where opportunities may have arisen. So this is a major improvement in court intelligence for the Knicks, if nothing else.

You know which player he kind of reminds me of? Phil Jackson.