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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