Friday, November 22, 2013

Words from the Horse's Mouth: Jimmy Dolan, Owner of the Knicks

James Dolan Breaking it Down with His Band, J.D. and the Straight Shot, via NY Daily News

No one would think they’d see the day James Dolan would speak to the media. The Knicks owner who has garnered a reputation for hiding from reporters seems to be changing his tune. Dolan recently sat down with the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro to talk the state of the Knicks, Head Coach Mike Woodson, the Isiah experiment and much more. The interview was entertaining to say the least.

The Knicks and Rangers owner feels this year’s squad is still championship worthy and even went as far as saying he feels they are better suited for a title run than last year's team. Yeah I’m still scratching my head

Last year’s team seemed to have so much more chemistry, depth and most importantly leadership. I know the owner is supposed to be optimistic about his team, but there’s and fine line between optimism and delusion. The Knicks constructed as they are right now cannot challenge Miami, Indiana or Chicago. They need more front-court depth and a legit sidekick for Melo to even get mentioned in the discussion.

He also touched on his connection with his fan base. According to Jimmy, he feels he has a deep connection with the fans and that he “watches out” for all of them. So, Mr. Dolan, is trading Shumpert what the fans want? PROB NOT. He also said he tries to put the best product on the court for the fans. Explain those Knick teams that trotted out Jerome James, Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry? Explain firing a general manager [Glen Grunwald] who constructed last year’s team and this year’s 'championship worthy' squad.

J.D. did manage to answer why Grunwald was relieved of his duties right before training camp. The hiring of Steve Mills was because Grunwald used “classical” methods and times have changed. He felt a change was needed to carry this team's management into the future and made the move right before training camp because that is ‘dead time’ for GMs. Dead time? I don’t get it.

The only good news coming from the sit down was Dolan semi-promising that Isiah Thomas would never be back working for the Knicks in an official manner:

He lost a lot of games! OK. Do I think he deserves another shot? Yeah. It just can’t be here. And I think he’s talented. I think he’s particularly talented at finding basketball talent. But I think he’s probably dismayed at this point. But I don’t see him coming back to New York. I couldn’t do that to him, and I couldn’t do that to the organization. - Dolan, NY Post


The fact that he still thinks Isiah deserves another shot is completely baffling. Isiah was an absolute embarrassment in New York and a forever stain on this franchise’s history. If there’s one thing we learned from the interview is that Jimmy D. is a stubborn man, who does not live in the same reality as most. He did however promise a return of ‘The Knicks City Dancers’ and said they will be doing more Broadway themed routines. What a relief.

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