Knicks · We suck as a franchise because of the owner (page 1)

I don't blame anyone else-- Jim Dolan is the schmuk. Listening to mark cuban on radio he was blatant about the second the Mavs were out of the playoffs they straight tried to tank-- finished right behind us despite being in it through 70. We had pole position 4 with 2.5 weeks left-- we woul likely have pick 3 or 4 with a great player sitting there. But this franchise as it has always done with Dolan-- does the stupid thing. This isn't Phil's fault or isiah Thomas or anyone else-- there is one constant-- our Duufy owner

Even Dolan admitted he's an idiot and screwed the Knicks up. He's backed off... no need to keep kicking the guy while he's down. We just have to move forward

The structure of Knicks, inside MSG ownership inside Cablevisoin, has lacked leadership since Dolans took over. Ewing era had Checkouts but outside of that its been a disaster.
Owners usually have some form of skills that made them billionaires. Dolan when he took over was an alcoholic who inherited his kingdom.

That itself is the core of our problems. Phil is part of a process of leadership. To insinuate Dolan "step in and fire phil" is backward thinking.
The nature of Layden being weak, Isiah being empowered, Walsh being neutered, Grunwald dismissed was all part of the dysfunction.

Hiring Phil with a depleted asset base was the best thing he ever has done.

BRIGGS wrote:I don't blame anyone else-- Jim Dolan is the schmuk. Listening to mark cuban on radio he was blatant about the second the Mavs were out of the playoffs they straight tried to tank-- finished right behind us despite being in it through 70. We had pole position 4 with 2.5 weeks left-- we woul likely have pick 3 or 4 with a great player sitting there. But this franchise as it has always done with Dolan-- does the stupid thing. This isn't Phil's fault or isiah Thomas or anyone else-- there is one constant-- our Duufy owner

We put a team together last year that had more than enough talent to at least make the playoffs especially in the garbage ass east and that's on Dolan how??

BRIGGS wrote:I don't blame anyone else-- Jim Dolan is the schmuk. Listening to mark cuban on radio he was blatant about the second the Mavs were out of the playoffs they straight tried to tank-- finished right behind us despite being in it through 70. We had pole position 4 with 2.5 weeks left-- we woul likely have pick 3 or 4 with a great player sitting there. But this franchise as it has always done with Dolan-- does the stupid thing. This isn't Phil's fault or isiah Thomas or anyone else-- there is one constant-- our Duufy owner

You really should rinse this before you keep repeating it ad nausea.

Dolan if off the radar, Phil is in charge and you don't like that - tell us again because we're deaf.

newyorker4ever wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:I don't blame anyone else-- Jim Dolan is the schmuk. Listening to mark cuban on radio he was blatant about the second the Mavs were out of the playoffs they straight tried to tank-- finished right behind us despite being in it through 70. We had pole position 4 with 2.5 weeks left-- we woul likely have pick 3 or 4 with a great player sitting there. But this franchise as it has always done with Dolan-- does the stupid thing. This isn't Phil's fault or isiah Thomas or anyone else-- there is one constant-- our Duufy owner

We put a team together last year that had more than enough talent to at least make the playoffs especially in the garbage ass east and that's on Dolan how??

If the team was good enough for the playoffs--we wouldnt have been out of it after 50 games. BUT once we realized we were out of it and in position 4 for the draft--he shouldve as the owner did what Mark Cuban said--order a tank out. Hes not a good owner --he makes yearly mistakes--not just once in awhile. When you spend more than any other franchise over the last 16 yeras and have as many L's as we have--you dont have to really readin to it to much.. Its on the owner--the buck stops there. Anyone saying otherwise is paid by him

If you want to blame anyone for stupid wins at the end of the season its on Hornacek.

Vmart wrote:If you want to blame anyone for stupid wins at the end of the season its on Hornacek.

And his boss.

IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

newyorker4ever wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:I don't blame anyone else-- Jim Dolan is the schmuk. Listening to mark cuban on radio he was blatant about the second the Mavs were out of the playoffs they straight tried to tank-- finished right behind us despite being in it through 70. We had pole position 4 with 2.5 weeks left-- we woul likely have pick 3 or 4 with a great player sitting there. But this franchise as it has always done with Dolan-- does the stupid thing. This isn't Phil's fault or isiah Thomas or anyone else-- there is one constant-- our Duufy owner

We put a team together last year that had more than enough talent to at least make the playoffs especially in the garbage ass east and that's on Dolan how??

Six rookies, five undrafted and 8 undrafted players overall. More than half of the roster was undrafted. One third of the roster was undrafted rookies. There was a severe talent deficit. The Knicks only had 5 first round picks on their roster at the end of the season and one was hurt for most of the season.

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

Until the formula for sustainable winning is right you try and try again until it works. What Phil is doing is the right approach to success.

Knixkik wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

I agree he has definetly made errors in trades. The Chandler and Shump/Jr Smith trades were truly awful. Even Lebron couldn't belive that they got them basically for free. The fisher hiring was also terrible. As for the Melo signing I'm still not convinced that Phil wanted to do it....that seems like a Dolan move(just like the original trade with Denver). If you think about it Phil has never been a big melo fan and he wnted him to take a big paycut so why wouldhe just all of a sudden given him that kind of deal. However I still think Phil has a lot of work to do in order to be somewhat successful. If he can get another first rounder, hit on the picks, move melo, and make some better trades I think we could have some fun next year for a change

Vmart wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

Until the formula for sustainable winning is right you try and try again until it works. What Phil is doing is the right approach to success.

The team is 80-166 since he took over. It is going to take him into his fourth year to win as many games as the Knicks won two years prior. He talked about the Knicks having a clumsy roster and he created an even clumsier roster trying again 3x. Whatever he s trying snt working. What about year 4 makes you think this time he is taking the right approach to success?

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

I agree he has definetly made errors in trades. The Chandler and Shump/Jr Smith trades were truly awful. Even Lebron couldn't belive that they got them basically for free. The fisher hiring was also terrible. As for the Melo signing I'm still not convinced that Phil wanted to do it....that seems like a Dolan move(just like the original trade with Denver). If you think about it Phil has never been a big melo fan and he wnted him to take a big paycut so why wouldhe just all of a sudden given him that kind of deal. However I still think Phil has a lot of work to do in order to be somewhat successful. If he can get another first rounder, hit on the picks, move melo, and make some better trades I think we could have some fun next year for a change

Melo's contract is on Phil. So is Noah's deal. Phil got lucky that he was able to Rambis Afflalo into declining his player option. Phil hasn't been a good executive so far.

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

I agree he has definetly made errors in trades. The Chandler and Shump/Jr Smith trades were truly awful. Even Lebron couldn't belive that they got them basically for free. The fisher hiring was also terrible. As for the Melo signing I'm still not convinced that Phil wanted to do it....that seems like a Dolan move(just like the original trade with Denver). If you think about it Phil has never been a big melo fan and he wnted him to take a big paycut so why wouldhe just all of a sudden given him that kind of deal. However I still think Phil has a lot of work to do in order to be somewhat successful. If he can get another first rounder, hit on the picks, move melo, and make some better trades I think we could have some fun next year for a change

Melo's contract is on Phil. So is Noah's deal. Phil got lucky that he was able to Rambis Afflalo into declining his player option. Phil hasn't been a good executive so far.

Did I say he has been a good executive? I pretty much said he hasn't been besides the good draft selections he has made. however I not sure he gave melo that insane contract without some insistence from Dolan. I mean is already a proven fact that dolan went over Donnie Walsh's head in the original trade to begin with.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

I agree he has definetly made errors in trades. The Chandler and Shump/Jr Smith trades were truly awful. Even Lebron couldn't belive that they got them basically for free. The fisher hiring was also terrible. As for the Melo signing I'm still not convinced that Phil wanted to do it....that seems like a Dolan move(just like the original trade with Denver). If you think about it Phil has never been a big melo fan and he wnted him to take a big paycut so why wouldhe just all of a sudden given him that kind of deal. However I still think Phil has a lot of work to do in order to be somewhat successful. If he can get another first rounder, hit on the picks, move melo, and make some better trades I think we could have some fun next year for a change

Melo's contract is on Phil. So is Noah's deal. Phil got lucky that he was able to Rambis Afflalo into declining his player option. Phil hasn't been a good executive so far.

Did I say he has been a good executive? I pretty much said he hasn't been besides the good draft selections he has made. however I not sure he gave melo that insane contract without some insistence from Dolan. I mean is already a proven fact that dolan went over Donnie Walsh's head in the original trade to begin with.

Walsh was forced on Dolan by Stern. Phil didn't want the Knick job until the money was too much to pass up. Part of his deal was autonomy. Melo's deal is on Phil. Also, aside from O'quinn has Phil signed a player to a team friendly deal?

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

I agree he has definetly made errors in trades. The Chandler and Shump/Jr Smith trades were truly awful. Even Lebron couldn't belive that they got them basically for free. The fisher hiring was also terrible. As for the Melo signing I'm still not convinced that Phil wanted to do it....that seems like a Dolan move(just like the original trade with Denver). If you think about it Phil has never been a big melo fan and he wnted him to take a big paycut so why wouldhe just all of a sudden given him that kind of deal. However I still think Phil has a lot of work to do in order to be somewhat successful. If he can get another first rounder, hit on the picks, move melo, and make some better trades I think we could have some fun next year for a change

Melo's contract is on Phil. So is Noah's deal. Phil got lucky that he was able to Rambis Afflalo into declining his player option. Phil hasn't been a good executive so far.

Did I say he has been a good executive? I pretty much said he hasn't been besides the good draft selections he has made. however I not sure he gave melo that insane contract without some insistence from Dolan. I mean is already a proven fact that dolan went over Donnie Walsh's head in the original trade to begin with.

Walsh was forced on Dolan by Stern. Phil didn't want the Knick job until the money was too much to pass up. Part of his deal was autonomy. Melo's deal is on Phil. Also, aside from O'quinn has Phil signed a player to a team friendly deal?

Once again I'm not trying to say Phil has be a good executive so I'm not sure why you keep infering that I am.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMPATIENCE has been the biggest problem for this team. Right now Phil is basically changing the approach by abandoning the Melo Centric building. If he can successfully reload this summer with young prospects and youngish Vets then there will be PLENTY to be excited about with this franchise. Just weeks away from finding out what happens.

He is resetting again for the fourth time. The first three times he thought he had a team that would make the playoffs. He also never built around Melo. There was a formula for that and Grunwald showed how to do it and that it could work. Melo is too old at this point to build a team around but Phil has been trying to build a triangle team not a Melo centric team. Melo has just been so much better than all of the players that ave passed through since Phil took over. Phil seems to e more engaged since Magic took over the Lakers. He has been present at some events that he never bothered to attend before. Maybe an increase in his engagement helps the franchise. I am concerned that with all of his deficits as an executive, he has targeted mentoring as the area where he is going to put his greatest focus.

I know you hate Phil which is fine and I agree he has made mistakes no doubt about it but at the same time he hasn't had many resources and picks that probably made the job even tougher. Also I don't think you can build around melo. Yes I know some are hung up on the 54 win season but as we know once we got to the playoffs we got our asses handed to us as was the case with most of melo's playoff experiences. Its nothing against melo its just that he fits best as the 2nd guy on a contender. But anyway I do agree with briggs that dolan is the major reason why the past 17 years have been pretty brutal

Phil has been horrible with trades and culture-building. He has drafted well despite limited resources. You have to wonder, if he came into this with all his picks, he may have let melo walk and done a full rebuild, and been successful building a young team. But his options were limited. Can't fully rebuild with no picks. But I'm disappointed that he didn't fix the culture as he promises.

I agree he has definetly made errors in trades. The Chandler and Shump/Jr Smith trades were truly awful. Even Lebron couldn't belive that they got them basically for free. The fisher hiring was also terrible. As for the Melo signing I'm still not convinced that Phil wanted to do it....that seems like a Dolan move(just like the original trade with Denver). If you think about it Phil has never been a big melo fan and he wnted him to take a big paycut so why wouldhe just all of a sudden given him that kind of deal. However I still think Phil has a lot of work to do in order to be somewhat successful. If he can get another first rounder, hit on the picks, move melo, and make some better trades I think we could have some fun next year for a change

Melo's contract is on Phil. So is Noah's deal. Phil got lucky that he was able to Rambis Afflalo into declining his player option. Phil hasn't been a good executive so far.

Did I say he has been a good executive? I pretty much said he hasn't been besides the good draft selections he has made. however I not sure he gave melo that insane contract without some insistence from Dolan. I mean is already a proven fact that dolan went over Donnie Walsh's head in the original trade to begin with.

Walsh was forced on Dolan by Stern. Phil didn't want the Knick job until the money was too much to pass up. Part of his deal was autonomy. Melo's deal is on Phil. Also, aside from O'quinn has Phil signed a player to a team friendly deal?

Once again I'm not trying to say Phil has be a good executive so I'm not sure why you keep infering that I am.

You said you don't think Melo's deal is on Phil. I disagree and was telling why.