Mike D'Antoni out, Phil Jackson in?

The news today in Knicks nation is that Coach Mike D'Antoni has resigned as the head coach.  This has been something that Knicks fans including myself have been begging for all year long.  The Knicks were giddy about the roster coming into the season, and were talking about winning a Championship in preseason interviews.  They find themselves six games under .500 and out of the playoff picture.

Why didn't D'Antoni fit?  Coach D'Antoni is a brilliant offensive coach, some consider him a genius at what he does offensively.  But for Knicks fans who only remember the winning ways of toughness, tenacity, effort, and most of all defense, led by Patrick Ewing and company years ago, the patience was not there.  D'Antoni did not hold stars Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire accountable for their efforts on the defensive end.  To D'Antoni's defense, which is ironic, he didn't want the trade for Carmelo Anthony to happen in the first place.  He got a player who was not going to fit into what D'Antoni wanted on offense which is spacing and ball movement.  At the end of the day Carmelo was a huge reason for the resignation of D'Antoni.  He never bought into what D'Antoni was teaching and D'Antoni doesn't have the personality to punish Carmelo for doing so.

Phil Jackson who retired last year is being mentioned as the replacement for the Knicks next season.  This is a guy who would not put up with anyone not doing what he says.  He would hold everyone accountable and can also coach star players.  Winning titles with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant proves that.  One more thing is that Phil Jackson seems to have a bigger ego than Carmelo Anthony, something that is hard to find.  Phil seems to be the perfect fit, the question is now does he have the desire to come back and coach.  Some say that if there is one place that he would come out of retirement for it would be New York.