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New York Knicks Rumors: Players Meetings To Be Held By Phil Jackson, Kurt Rambis

By Kenneth Teape

Dec 16, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks general manager Phil Jackson looks on during a stop in play against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 16, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks general manager Phil Jackson looks on during a stop in play against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Knicks Rumors: Phil Jackson will be holding meetings with players regarding the triangle offense, and rumor has it Kurt Rambis will be joining him.

New York Knicks rumors will be picking up as the head coaching search will really get underway. With the Brooklyn Nets hiring Kenny Atkinson to be their head coach, there is only three teams with vacancies; the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards. The Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns have interim coaches like the Knicks do, but we may have gotten a look into the inner workings of the Knicks head coaching search.

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It is no secret that Phil Jackson wants Kurt Rambis to be the head coach permanently. There have been a number of rumors recently about Jackson’s willingness to give Rambis the job despite his lack of success on the sidelines. Rambis had a record of 9-19 as the Knicks’ interim head coach this season, and compiled a 32-132 record as the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach.

Despite that, there is a strong possibility that Rambis is given the head coaching job. Despite Carmelo Anthony‘s supposed pushing for a real coaching search to happen, and Tom Thibodeau being his top choice, it seems more and more likely that Rambis will have the interim tag removed and become the head coach full time.

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According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, Jackson is expected to have meetings with players about the triangle offense this week, and Rambis is expected to join him. There are a number of things that can be taken from this with two things being the biggest takeaways.

The first being that Jackson will insist that the triangle offense still be used. There are teams that use triangle offense principles, but none are quite as persistent with it as Jackson is making the Knicks out to be about it. These meetings should be able to help speed the process up, as the Knicks have a core group of players that will be on the team next season, so getting them to know the offense like the back of their hand will only help the other players that are brought in.

The other takeaway is that Rambis has probably the best chance of being the head coach of anyone. Interim coaches are rarely, if ever, used in any way during the offseason. But, Rambis seems to be unlike any other interim head coach. This will probably make some Knicks fans sick to their stomach seeing more evidence to Rambis being the head coach, but that seems to the direction they are heading.

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If it wasn’t clear enough last week when Jackson said, “People I probably know will be in the interview process. I will reach out to make connections to some people,” that Rambis has a good shot, these rumors about him being present at meetings to discuss the triangle offense with players makes it crystal clear.

Despite the results not being overly positive with Rambis as the head coach, Jackson heaps praise on him at any opportunity he has. Jackson was happy with how the offense looked under Rambis those last 28 games, saying, “They had an immersion in the triangle. When Kurt started coaching the team they started executing it with more structure. We saw some progress. But we have to make the next step.”

While adding talent via free agency is important, who the Knicks nab as head coach is just as, if not more important. No matter the players on the court, if there is not a leader on the sidelines even the most talented of teams will fail.

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This is as important as an offseason as any in recent Knicks history, as the direction of the franchise will be determined with the head coaching pick, and a domino effect will follow.

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