Hour 3: Knicks HC Options

Summary

Podcast Summary: Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Knicks HC Options

Podcast Information:

• Title: Don, Hahn & Rosenberg
• Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
• Episode: Hour 3: Knicks HC Options
• Release Date: June 3, 2025
• Description: The first voice of ESPN New York and New Jersey legend Don La Greca, long-time sportswriter and broadcaster Alan Hahn, and highly opinionated Hip Hop vet and WWE personality Peter Rosenberg discuss New York sports and beyond.

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1. Introduction to the Episode

The episode launches with the hosts diving straight into the tumultuous developments surrounding the New York Knicks' head coaching position, bypassing the usual advertisements and intros to focus on the pressing topic at hand.

2. Tom Thibodeau's Firing

Alan Hahn opens the discussion by expressing his shock over the Knicks' decision to part ways with Coach Tom Thibodeau, especially given the team's unexpected exit in the playoffs.

"What a ride this whole Nick thing has been... it was kind of a thing, but we really felt that going to the conference final beating Boston was going to be enough to kind of tamp down all that."
— Alan Hahn [00:47]

He highlights the sudden shift from high expectations to the abrupt coaching change, emphasizing the heartbreak of losing to the Indiana Pacers.

3. Potential Coaching Candidates

The conversation shifts to potential replacements for Thibodeau, with Peter Rosenberg expressing skepticism about the favored candidate, Johnny Bryant, due to his lack of head coaching experience.

"He has no experience. How could you do that?"
— Alan Hahn [02:19]

"I personally don't believe you can bring in somebody that has zero head coaching experience."
— Peter Rosenberg [02:21]

Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg debate the viability of Johnny Bryant taking on the role, questioning whether an inexperienced coach can meet the high stakes demands of a New York franchise.

4. Players' Role in the Decision

A pivotal moment in the discussion is when Alan Hahn references a report by Ian Begley, indicating that Knicks players were involved in the season-end review which led to Thibodeau's dismissal. This raises questions about the extent of player influence in coaching decisions.

"If I'm listening to the players say we don't want Tom Thibodeau as our coach, they're probably going to have suggestions on who should coach them."
— Alan Hahn [02:49]

Peter Rosenberg argues that while player feedback is valuable, it doesn't necessarily translate to effective coaching leadership, emphasizing that players excel in their roles but may not possess the expertise to select a championship-winning coach.

"Do they know how to build a champion?... Does that make them great coaches?"
— Alan Hahn [04:44]

5. Comparisons with Other Franchises

The hosts draw parallels with other sports teams that have undergone similar coaching changes, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers replacing David Blatt with Ty Lue, ultimately leading to success.

"Sometimes you recognize it. Sometimes you just look around and think... it was the right thing to do."
— Peter Rosenberg [07:03]

They caution that the Knicks' situation might be different given Thibodeau's longer tenure and significant role in revitalizing the franchise.

6. Pressure and Expectations in New York Sports

Alan Hahn delves into the immense pressure that comes with coaching in New York, noting that the city's high expectations can lead to swift changes in leadership.

"This is the last year you could end the season and say, you know what, Final Four, that's a success... Next year is the first time that if you don't do more than that, it'll feel like a step back, a failure."
— Peter Rosenberg [16:03]

7. Discussion on Coaching Standards

The dialogue includes discussions about the high standards set for coaches in major New York franchises, referencing the Yankees' Aaron Boone and the Chicago Bulls' Doug Collins as examples of how even successful coaches are not immune to dismissal if they fail to meet championship expectations.

"If you take this job, it is not like it's... the bar is insanely high."
— Peter Rosenberg [11:02]

8. Listener Interactions and Final Thoughts

Throughout the episode, Don La Greca takes calls from listeners, further exploring opinions on potential coaching candidates and the implications of the Knicks' decision. Notable interactions include debates over figures like Jason Kidd and Jeff Van Gundy, with the hosts expressing doubts about finding a universally acclaimed successor.

"I need to be told no. And Jeff Van Gundy, it might be. He might not even answer the phone."
— Peter Rosenberg [35:26]

In closing, the hosts reflect on the future of the Knicks, emphasizing the critical need for the next head coach to elevate the team to championship contention amidst New York's unforgiving sports landscape.

"They just realized that the window is now... they did not want to wait any longer on a coach that they felt like was no longer okay."
— Peter Rosenberg [49:14]

Notable Quotes:

• Alan Hahn [00:47]: "What a ride this whole Nick thing has been... going to the conference final beating Boston was going to be enough to kind of tamp down all that."

• Peter Rosenberg [02:21]: "I personally don't believe you can bring in somebody that has zero head coaching experience."

• Peter Rosenberg [35:26]: "I need to be told no. And Jeff Van Gundy, it might be. He might not even answer the phone."

• Peter Rosenberg [49:14]: "They just realized that the window is now... they did not want to wait any longer on a coach that they felt like was no longer okay."

Conclusion

In this episode of "Don, Hahn & Rosenberg," the hosts provide an in-depth analysis of the New York Knicks' sudden coaching change, exploring the complexities of selecting a suitable replacement amidst player influence and high organizational expectations. They offer comparisons with other franchises, highlight the pressures unique to New York sports, and engage with listeners to present a multifaceted view of the situation. The discussion underscores the critical nature of the upcoming offseason for the Knicks as they seek to find a head coach capable of leading them to the championship "promised land."

Transcript

[Alan Hahn]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

This is the Don Han at Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

[Alan Hahn]

501 of the big city don on in Rosenberg with you on a pretty crazy day.

[Unknown]

What.

[Alan Hahn]

What a ride this whole Nick thing has been. We went from street names after players. A real feeling this team was going to go to the NBA finals, which by the way begins on Thursday on abc. But instead it's Indiana there. And then you have the heartbreak on Saturday. And now Tom Thibodeau is out of a job and they're looking for another coach. And it's just. I'm flabbergasted. I guess I can't be overly surprised because as Alan's been saying, as we've been saying on this show, that it was kind of a thing, but we really felt that going to the conference final beating Boston was going to be enough to kind of tamp down all that. Peter, after they won the first two games in Boston in the second round, said he should be buying a penthouse. He's not going anywhere.

[Unknown]

I was sure it was a wrap.

[Alan Hahn]

But obviously facing Indiana was a problem because that set the expectations through the roof. And the way they lost game one and also, guys, let's be honest, the way they lost game six. Because the one thing we all said was, well, we know one thing's gonna happen. They're not gonna get blown out. And guess what? They got blown out. And that was not the way you wanted to see it end. But who's out there? Who is out there that is gonna get this team to the promised land? Is it Jason Kidd? Is it, you know, Malone?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is it? You know, I mean, those are.

[Alan Hahn]

Johnny Bryant. That's a name that keeps coming up. Matter of fact, some places have him as the odds on favorite.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He has no experience.

[Alan Hahn]

How do you do that? How could you do that?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I personally don't believe you can bring in somebody that has zero head coaching experience. I think I, I would be very concerned about that. I think where you are and where you're trying to get to, you need someone with experience. This is just where they are right now. This is not something that you, you do with an inexperienced coach.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, here's the Pandora's box that gets opened up with this report from friend of the show Ian Begley, where the way the Knicks conducted their season end review of the organization was different than normal as top players on the roster were called in to the meeting that owner James Doan was also present at, says Ian Bagley. Eventually those reviews led to the Knicks deciding to move on from Tom Thibodeau as head coach. So what I mean by Pandora's box is if I'm listening to the players say we don't want Tom Thibodeau as our coach, they're probably going to have suggestions on who should coach them. So are you going to listen to that and then not listen to the other? Like if you're going to listen to the players and say, okay, we're going to take it to heart, you don't want Tibbs to be your guy. Are you going to ignore the suggestions they make? Like, how does that work? You get the guy fired, but now you're going to make suggestions.

[Peter Rosenberg]

How do players know?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, how do players, quite honestly, how do players know that Tibbs isn't the guy? Well, because they're all, they could all act like they're, they know because they're players, but most of them are looking at themselves and, and how they personally felt about him or how their role was under him. Do they know what a coach is supposed to look like to win a championship? As you said, Tucker won a championship. He's not a part of this team. And OG who was hurt for the, for Toronto, like so again, the players know more than we do, I would guess. But at the end of the day, guys do. They know how to build a champion. I know they all love to play general manager now they're going to play coach. So if they're going to suggest, I don't think Tom Thibodeau is a guy, are they suggesting people and are you going to listen to their suggestions? Because you listen to the firing, aren't you going to listen to the hiring? So how do these players feel about Brian? How do they feel about Kid?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you certainly are going to come up with an idea of what are they looking for. And I would sounds like communication is, might be at the top of the list. A coach that is maybe a better communicator than Tibbs was. That's when it comes to.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a fun one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What's expected, what's. What's demanded of you, what your role is. Listening.

[Unknown]

Listening is part of communicating.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course it is. It's, you know, all those things that I would imagine. What if players are complaining? Are players complaining about the system and style? Are players complaining about minutes? Are they complaining about that or are they complaining about, well, you know, we wanted to play this way, or, you know, I played one game and then I didn't play the next five games. Like, I never knew my role. I never knew my sis. Like, generally, those are the types of feed. That's the type of feedback you get when it comes to players talking about a coach. It's rarely like, I hated our system.

[Alan Hahn]

No, but, but the communication thing, that's too vague for me because what I think sometimes communication transform.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Players all want to know where. Where do I stand?

[Alan Hahn]

No, but you. Okay. And when they don't like where they stand, that could be part of the lack of communication because they don't like what they hear.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not. You're not telling me anything. It's like, you're not telling me what I want to hear. I want more minutes. You're not giving it to me. It's a lack of communication. I want less minutes. You're playing me more minutes. We're not communicating. Is that the lack of communication or it's, hey, it's my way or the highway, you know better than me. Is Tibbs that kind of guy? You listen to me. You. You do what you're told or is it just, hey, they're not hearing what they want to hear. And now I'm going to bring in a guy that's going to give them what they want. I'm telling you, that's a recipe for disaster, man. Do ne. Never let the players have the ultimate say because they're all going to think for themselves what's best for me. How do they know how to run a team and win a championship? They can play to the greatest level, but does that make them great coaches? Does that make them guys that can run systems? Who are they to know who's their best coach? Right? Because you got to think for yourself. If you're a basketball player, Alan, you'll be like, what coach do I want? Not what coach is going to help us win?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You, you bring. You know that you're. Because you're bringing up a lot of great points, and you're bringing it up because you have a ton of experience with this and that's why, like, your perspective is one that I'm valuing right now, because you. I know what you see, and. And it's something that is you. You can't overlook any of this stuff. It's not. I won't go as far as you never let the inmates run the asylum, but there are times where you do get concerned. Now, David Blatt was the coach in Cleveland before LeBron came back to Cleveland. He was there. They already named him head coach. And then LeBron made this decision to go back to Cleveland. Didn't have a chance. He lasted, I think, what, two months into that season before LeBron made it clear like, this ain't the guy. And then Ty Luke got the job, and the rest is history. And Ty Lou's become a great coach. So there are times where when the players just, you know, they. They just reach a point where this is not. He's not. This is not the guy. Like, we know what we have here. This isn't the guy. The thing is, is that those players, a lot of the players spoke highly of tips, and it wasn't like that hostage video spoke highly of him. There were a lot of guys that really like, the guys that you could tell weren't in love with him were the guys that didn't play much.

[Alan Hahn]

Right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Bench guys. But, you know, the starters. I mean, Bridges was the only one, one time made the suggestion that, hey, you know, we got good players on the bench, we should play them. He just said that publicly, which sounded like he was complaining about him playing too much, but that's not the case. He was making was we got good players on the bench. He was trying to make a case for guys like Campaign and. And Shamet, who he got close to. And he was like, I want to see these guys play. They good. Like, we have practice. We run scrimmages. These guys can play. They can help us. He said that, right? But, you know, you never heard an ill word from Brunson.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Josh Hart is a. He's unfiltered. Hart, like, speaks his mind. He's off the cuff. Like, he doesn't fake it. And he made it clear with Tibbs. But he also said, why do I have success? Why did I break a record, franchise record that was over 50 years old with triple doubles in a season? Why did I do that? And he said the main reason is Thomas Thibodeau. He said, because sometimes you need a coach who matches your crazy. It's a great line. So there's another guy, a vocal Guy in that room, you know, Carlin, Finney.

[Alan Hahn]

Towns, maybe they're all full of bs.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's. Nah, it can't be that.

[Alan Hahn]

But then who, like, if you're telling me Hart, who was a guy, that's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Got to be that. They just all kind of came to that collective of. We reached a point this year in the playoffs where we all kind of looked around going, I don't know if he can do anymore with us. And maybe that's just simply what is. We love him, but I don't know if he can do any more with us. Right? Like, maybe it's just simply that. Look, I was a host on a show, the first show I ever had with Rick and with Chris Canney. And I reached a point where I looked left and right and I go, I can't do anymore. I can't make this show better. And I walked away because I recognized it. I can't make this better. Dave stepped in and they have been a wonderful success. Sometimes you recognize it. Sometimes you just look around and think.

[Unknown]

This isn't exactly right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This should be better. And I can't say that it's them. I think it's me. And no one argued with me when I said it. So that told me all I needed to know. So I walked away knowing that while that probably was career suicide at the time, it was the right thing to do.

[Alan Hahn]

I get it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And maybe, just maybe, the players are like, you know what? I love him, but I don't know if he can take us any further than this.

[Alan Hahn]

Paul Maurice resigned from the Winnipeg Jetset. I can't do anything left for this team. And both ended up being better for it. But we're not talking about a team that got bounced in the first round. We're talking about a team that went to the conference finals, you know, and no offense to your situation, but, you know, if you're walking away from five years of the success that Thibodeau has had, it's a lot different. You know what I'm saying?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know.

[Alan Hahn]

This is. You're one of the. You were literally one of the three teams left in the NBA again.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, you knew you had somebody to replace me. I don't know if you know what you have to replace. Tips and whoever it is. I'll say it again, the bar is insanely high. You take this job, it is not like it's. It's. Again. Doug Collins took the Bulls as far as they could. And Michael Jordan loved Doug Collins, took him as far as they could. But the feeling was, I think it might have been Jerry Krause, that it was, we need something more. And Phil Jackson had.

[Alan Hahn]

And Phil Jackson wasn't Phil Jackson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, he hadn't. He hadn't.

[Alan Hahn]

He was Phil Jackson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He had coached in the minors and he was an assistant coach, but he had said enough and shown enough that this is what we can do to take him to the next level. And they, they gave him the job and they couldn't take a step back.

[Unknown]

It's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They had to be taking the steps up.

[Alan Hahn]

But analogy that you're giving, like, like the Chicago one, they didn't lose in the conference finals, you know.

[Unknown]

No, they weren't that close.

[Alan Hahn]

They weren't. We are. Why are we making this. It's almost as if, if you didn't know that the Knicks were supposed to win the title.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Like.

[Unknown]

Or they lost to Detroit just because.

[Alan Hahn]

Indiana presented itself and people pivoted the expectations. Did. Did he underachieve this year? Did the Knicks underachieve?

[Peter Rosenberg]

There's a. There must be that the players in this meeting that Begley's talking about, that the players individually all had a sense of we should have done more this year. And you could argue that there's no injury to say, oh, well, that's why, like last year the injuries were your easy reason why this year the medical team won medical team of the year in the NBA because they had remarkable health.

[Alan Hahn]

I understand that. But I could also tell you that without Mitch, that kind of changed how many wins they might have finished a 60 win team.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

All right. That's number one. Number two, when you start asking the players what the problem is pointing at the coach is not pointing the finger at you. I'm sorry. As great as Brunson was, he stunk in game six. Cat stunk in game six. The players are just as responsible for that failure against the Pacers as Tibbs is. And they seem to get off scot free because that's what ends up happening, is we should have won. Tibs cost us. Did he or did the players not live up to their expectations?

[Peter Rosenberg]

We're going to find out, aren't we?

[Alan Hahn]

Can't not live up to the expectations. Because you talk about pressure on the coach. There's also pressure on the players.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Absolutely.

[Alan Hahn]

Because now you've got to have to play better. It can't always be, get me another coach. Because that's what's happening with the Rangers. Get me another coach. Well, eventually we're going to have to say we're going to have to get you different players.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Now, Cat is new. I get that. And with the. With the Rangers, J.T. miller is new, so that there have been changes to the roster, but ultimately the players got to go out there and they got to get the job done. Especially in all of sports, the NBA, in the NFL. It's a lot about coaching. But listen, the Thunder are going to win a title this year, and they're probably going to win it in spectacular fashion.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Is their head coach going to the hall of Fame? Is their head coach even great? Do we know?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, we don't know yet. If they go on a run like they look like they could, he would be a Hall of Fame coach.

[Unknown]

But we don't know yet.

[Alan Hahn]

But we don't know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But when it comes to this job, can I also say that this job in particular is unique to any other job in the NBA? This is a unique job for many reasons. And it's. When you hire somebody, they have to know the market. That's the other thing about Tibbs that I appreciated. The minute he took the job, he. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into. He had worked here before. Yeah, he had worked on the Jeff Van Gundy. He knows. He knows this market. He knows the Garden. He knows everything that comes with the job. And none of it distracted him. None of it got in his way. He had a job to do. He had to deal with the media. He knew how to handle the media, and that's just how, like, it didn't bother him. I have seen coaches come in here, and they all have that same feeling. Oh, it's new. Oh, I know the. Oh, I can handle this. And then they're overwhelmed by the demands, not only by the media, but also by the Garden and the rules with the Garden and things you have to just live with when you coach for the Garden. And that's something that some coaches about a year in, they just go, oh, my God, this place is intense. And like, yeah, now, yeah, that's what comes with this job. It's not for everyone.

[Unknown]

Now, they also, though, when you talk about risk versus reward, we understand the reward is a championship for. For this team in theory, but the risk that this team just took, yes, they. They really could have run this whole thing back. Worked on like we've talked about over the last couple of days, just picking the right little veteran players. Let's get Cat enough. Let's get Cat a full off season, and then let's run it back instead. They have heaped so much pressure onto this Organization to be better than they were this season, in which some would argue they already overachieved.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I would think going into next year, regardless, the sense would continue to be the next step. So anything less would be a failure.

[Unknown]

But then at that point you could have moved on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is the last year you could end the season and say, you know what, Final Four, that's a success. Went further than you did the year before. That's a success. Back, back to back 50 wins for the first time in 30 years. That's a success. You were the third team left standing. All the things you could say, this was not a failed season, but it was a frustrating ending, but it was a successful season. Next year is the first time that if you don't do more than that, it'll feel like a step back, a failure. But.

[Unknown]

But if they hadn't done this, then when that happened next year, they could have made the move.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, then you make the move.

[Unknown]

But now you don't want to waste any time.

[Alan Hahn]

But.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you don't want to waste time. Jalen Brunson is in his late 20s. Then they must really believe in its late 20s.

[Unknown]

So they just believe. They believe Tibbs cannot do it and they cannot waste another minute.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It has to be the prevailing belief that came out of all the meetings and the discussions is that why wait? If this feels like there's a. If there's any doubt, then just make the move now.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it felt. Must have. They must have had enough reaction that gave them enough doubt.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. But does seem like it's not taking responsibility as a player and well, they better now. I want to thank Kofi corrects me that Collins did take the Bulls to the offense and that's when he was fired. So kind of the same situation.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Remember if Jordan got his ass kicked in that series, they beat the hell out of him.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Jordan.

[Alan Hahn]

But it wasn't nobody.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, no, it was. It was the Pistons. They won their first championship.

[Alan Hahn]

I think. I think losing to the Pacers is what stings because let me ask you this. Would this have happened if they had lost in six games to Boston in the conference final?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Or would it have been, hey, we made this trade so that you win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It feels pretty clear now that this. This was. I kept using that sort of Damocles reference. It felt like late in the season, especially those three games. Remember the. Remember that last week of the season when they lost to Detroit, Cleveland and Boston all in a row? That's when it got the grumbling, got Loud. And that's when it's like, boy, they better. Better not have a bet. And then, you know, we kept saying, well, you better get out of this series. And it's.

[Alan Hahn]

I know. And I never wanted to believe it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because I'm like, they're going to beat the Pistons. They're good.

[Unknown]

Maybe. Maybe just at getting that distance was enough.

[Alan Hahn]

They were like, oh, just again, just be careful because now the players have a major say. You. If you gave the players what they want, now it's up to the players to take advantage of it. Just can't keep firing coaches. Dave, in the car. You're on espn. New York. What's up, Dave?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey, what's up, guys?

[Unknown]

Look, you know, I feel bad that the guy lost his job. I've been fired before myself. Sometimes it boils down to people just not liking you. And looks like the players maybe at the end were bitter about him. But you got to look at the way the league is now. With the apron, coaches are going to have to change their ways. The old way of doing coaching is tight rotations. That's done. The finals should show everyone that that's the direction the league's gone in. And let's keep it real. This is for you, Peter. If your Boston Celtics didn't win the NBA championship last year, they would have fired that guy right after the game, after. After they lost to the Knicks. He would not have a job right now in Boston. The Knicks were supposed to beat the Indiana Pacers. End of story. They weren't supposed to have a lead in game one, in game two and come close to losing. And do I think he deserved to be fired? If they've set the bar that high to the way. I mean, for God's sakes, you knock off the Boston, Cleveland's gone, and you. And you lose to Indiana, and you're healthy and everyone's really shocked. The best player in the NBA's head coach is fired, and people are really shocked.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm just.

[Unknown]

It rubs me a little bit the wrong way. Yeah, nobody's safe. Nobody safe. And. And, and now there's going to be pressure on. But that's New York. It's always pressure. And here's the last thing. I'll leave you with two things. I think if you take Anthony Edwards and pair them with the guys on the bench with the Knicks and random scrimmage, you might see that these guys have a lot more talent. And also they might have got rid of Tibbs because they want to bring another megastar to New York. And they don't need to talk. They don't need a coach that's not going to sit down and give this guy his ear and say, it's my way or the highway. They need you to be quiet. If we bring in Kevin Durant so he could drop 27 a night and bring us to the promised land. Let me know your thoughts.

[Alan Hahn]

All right? A 37 year old that's not going to come here for free.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm sorry, I don't, I don't see that.

[Alan Hahn]

So the players run the show then? So the players hold no responsibility. When they fail, it's the coach's fault, and when they succeed.

[Unknown]

I don't think that's what happened. I don't think that's what it was.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what he's saying.

[Unknown]

Yeah, I don't believe that it was. The players simply complained. They went, really? We hadn't thought about any of this. We should move on, shouldn't we?

[Alan Hahn]

That's what's being suggested from Ian Bagley, that the players, they got together and the players wanted to move.

[Unknown]

Well, it said that players met with coaches, with, with, with management, and that Dolan was there as well, and they ended up making this decision. But does that mean that it was the players all coming in with one thought, or was it. Could it be upper management going, hey, guys, we're thinking of going another direction here. What do you think? And they were at a point where they're like, well, we're not fighting for the guy, we like him. But also we see the problems. Maybe, maybe it's, you know, it's not always black and white the way people want it to be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, I know it's not. And no one goes in there and just demands a coach being fired either. Sometimes it's just the answers you give and how they put it all together.

[Alan Hahn]

But doesn't it kind of reek of put yourself in any situation, whether it's our show, whatever you do for a living, and there's problems and things don't end the way you want to, and then you sit down, what's wrong, guys? And it's always somebody else's fault. Everybody's pointing the finger at everybody else, right? Did anybody in that meeting say, you know, we got to play better or I got to coach better or I got to manage better? You know, you don't win to. You don't win with one person. You don't lose with one person. It's a team effort. And it just feels like what was a great, fun, successful season has now been looked upon as a failure because a coach just lost his job and it's got the feeling of, well, that's the reason why we didn't go to the Finals is because of our coach, this guy that literally put the Knicks back on the map, that for five years made this franchise that was completely irrelevant relevant again, made it a destination again. And now a bad series against the Pacers. He is now the face of that failure, and that's a shame. 1-800-919-3776 Don Han and Rosenberg Till 7, then it's Dan Grasse here on 880 ESPN.

[Unknown]

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[Alan Hahn]

If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple Shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Shopify gives you a leg up with hundreds of beautiful, ready to go templates to express your brand style and forget about the code. Tackle all those important tasks in one place, from inventory to payments to analytics and more. Spread your brand's word with built in marketing and email tools to find and keep new customers. And did I mention that iconic purple Shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify is the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at sh shopify.comnetwork go to shopify.comnetwork shopify.comnetwork.

[Unknown]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Race the sails.

[Alan Hahn]

Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Alan Hahn]

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[Unknown]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alan Hahn]

Mets fans, get ready to roll with dpa tron Rothenberg for the third annual pregame party. It only happens on Thursday, June 12th. Come join Rick and Dave Live at Publicans in Manhasset from 6 to 10am for the ultimate Pregame Party. Then ride the train with them from Manhassett Station to Citi Field. The fun keeps going in Lot e starting at 11:30 right up to first pitch when the Mets take on the Nationals. It's all brought to you by Yingling. Traditional lager legends stand the test of time. London jewelers and Tullamore do. Because when it's game time, it's Tully time. Peter, I don't know if you noticed earlier today Rick, DPH were kind of hanging on the rim about. About what you said because remember, Dave and Rick had brought up the possibility of this day coming and we, you know, disregarded it. We brought it up on our show about how ridiculous it was. And so Rick was having his moment.

[Unknown]

Well, you know, as he should probably in some ways taking a shot at his old partner Han, who is firmly believed that there's no chance.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Please share. Please share.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't get the text. John did. And then John, John, like, I guess I wasn't that wrong about. I guess we weren't that wrong about it. We talk, talking about Dave and Rick right on the morning show. But in Alan's defense.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, don't. I was wrong. Don't defend.

[Unknown]

There's nothing to defend.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Nothing to defend.

[Alan Hahn]

Almost to the moment they said it, things started to go differently like you said they went. Then Malone became available. It became a real possibility.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

It wasn't like you were fighting it. Allen, up until.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm insane. You did the same to recognize that a guy that literally has turned the franchise around and has been. Has done the most winning the franchise has seen in a quarter century. I'm crazy to think that, you know, he'd be a guy that you would want to keep around, have confidence in and just believe. No, I'm just me. Not just me. I'd be crazy to think that, you know, what I see is a guy that does a lot of winning. And to me, winning is everything and that's the only thing that matters. So I guess I just must have been crazy instead of just being in panic mode all the time. But this is because the easiest thing to do in our business is to always worry about things going wrong because guess what? They usually will. They always do, right? We're just so used to it. Pessimism is the easiest emotion because therefore you can never really be disappointed. If you expect the worst, you can never be disappointed. So I'm pie in the sky optimist and I got pie on my face. Sorry.

[Unknown]

I appreciate that. I think it's the right tact. But I do have good news though. Don.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Unknown]

And this could be useful for Alan. It could be useful for Tibbs. What would Pitbull do? The life of Mr. Worldwide is hitting bookstores soon. So I don't know, Allen, the place that you're in your life. But if you need a good quote, book Pitbull, everything you've ever wanted to ask Pitbull. We'll be right there for you on your coffee.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I've never wanted to ask Pitbull anything. Oh, what would you want to ask him?

[Alan Hahn]

How do you.

[Unknown]

How do you have. How do you keep your bald heads so shiny? It's so clean and shiny, you know?

[Alan Hahn]

Who do you like in the Stanley Cup Final? I heard he's a big Panther guy.

[Unknown]

Is that true?

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what I heard.

[Unknown]

Big Panther guy. You sure that wasn't Flo Rida?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, no, I just think he's representing the Southern Florida. I don't.

[Unknown]

He is Mr. 305, for God's sake.

[Alan Hahn]

By the way, he's a lover. Did you see the ridiculous city select jerseys the Marlins were wearing? And no one cares about the Marlins, but it just. I happened to see because they were playing the Giants over the weekend. Nancy had it on and the hat says 305.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is what we're doing.

[Alan Hahn]

This is. This is. See, this is the world we live in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. By the way, where the Saturday. What were the Dodgers wearing? Because it looked like Chargers baseball.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, again, they're city select. I mean there's nothing did not look.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like Los Angeles Chargers.

[Alan Hahn]

Can I ask you a question seriously? As if I'm just dumb. I just got dropped from this planet because the planet that I lived on thought I was the stupidest person alive and could sacrifice me by throwing me to Earth. You can't get. But you can't get more classic than Yankees, Dodgers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

So that's the game. That's the. That you decide to mess with the jerseys. Two of the best, most traditional jerseys on the planet. Let's mess with it. Not when you're playing a stupid Marlins or the Yo Yo Rockies. It's the Yankees. Dodgers on national television. That's when you go, you stupid.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Absolutely.

[Alan Hahn]

Every single one of those jerseys are garbage. But anyway, earlier, before the world ended today, okay, Anthony had mentioned sent out the winningest franchises since 2010 in New York. This includes everybody. Soccer, WNBA and even includes the Buffalo Sabres and Bills.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, wow.

[Alan Hahn]

The top five teams.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Are not in Manhattan.

[Alan Hahn]

No. The top five winningest franchises in 2010. Rangers, Yankees, Red Bulls, NYC, FC, Islanders. Okay, but let's just take a look at what we talk about.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Alan Hahn]

Rangers, Yankees, Islanders. In that span of time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's insane.

[Alan Hahn]

What have The Islanders had? Three coaches the Rangers have had since 2010.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Since 2010. Yeah. That's at least.

[Alan Hahn]

They're going back. Tortorella, AV, Quinn, Gallant, Laviolette, and now Sullivan. But don't even count Sullivan. He hasn't coached yet. No. So the winningest franchise in New York since 2010.

[Peter Rosenberg]

5.

[Alan Hahn]

Coaching has had five coaches. Five coaches the Islanders have had at least. Well, who's before trots? So 2010, they got to be on five now, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

His name. But I'm.

[Alan Hahn]

Because it was Trots Lambert. Wa.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, so coaching, even when you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Win, you was Ted Nolan, 2010 forward.

[Alan Hahn]

Nolan was. Before 2010 he was. I'm pretty sure I lost touch for.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A little bit there.

[Alan Hahn]

But the fact is, is that even the winningest franchises go through coaches like water.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Good point.

[Alan Hahn]

So Rangers, Yankees, Islanders, Bills.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, Doug Waite, of course.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Mets, Sabres, Knicks, Nets, Giants and Jets are both at the bottom.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Since 2010, it was Jack Capuano, Doug Wade.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Barry, Trots, Lane, Lambert, Patrick was. So yeah, that's five coaches as well. Geez.

[Alan Hahn]

The jets of the worst 93 and 151 since 2010.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're the one franchise that has yet to make the playoffs since 2010.

[Alan Hahn]

And the only titles we have since 2010 are the Liberty, NYC FC and the Giants.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And the Liberty most recent last year.

[Alan Hahn]

And then NYCFC before that, two years. But I bring it up to say that even teams that win, it's such an easy, lazy thing to just change the coach because you're locked into these contracts, the players kind of run the show.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And do you get that bump the first year? Right. Because it's a fresh voice, fresh face, all that stuff.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, there's always a little bit of bump energy. But. But here's the thing. What's the bump next year for the new head coach of the Knicks? It's got to be the NBA Finals, right? What bump are you going to get? You can win 60 games. If you get bounced in the second round, it's going to look like you made a mistake.

[Unknown]

Imagine that level of pressure next year for this team.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I just. And think about it too. Because it's a fan base that doesn't overreact, right?

[Unknown]

No, never.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, think about the day to day, game to game.

[Unknown]

Tell me this, guys, who are the names out there? Oh, this is the question of the day. Give me. I challenge both of you. Tell me a realistic name that's out there that will excite this fan base. People will go, wow, I get it. Because a lot of y' all talk trash and you wanted Tibs out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Toron Lou.

[Unknown]

You think Tehran Lu will excite the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Fan base like Tehran Lu tells the Clippers, you know what? I want out.

[Unknown]

That's very unlikely.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course you're giving me. But I suppose spoiler wants. Always wants to coach in New York.

[Unknown]

Guys, guys, all right. You're asking me, I'm telling you. No, I said something realistic. You gave me one guy who has a five year contract. You gave me a Hall of Famer who's not leaving Miami. Pat Riley would sooner would kill someone before he let him go. So. So I'm going to go start again. Who is the name they could get that people in this town will be excited about being the head coach? I can't think of who. I don't think Jason Kidd is going to excite me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know what some people would react to? I think Jeff Van Gundy.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah. All right.

[Unknown]

And the role of Michael K. Is being played by Alan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, I'm saying I don't. Jeff is an assistant coach with the Clippers. He got back into coaching this past year. He's very. He was very passionate on the sidelines, did not often travel. I don't think at this point in his life this is. He wants to be a head coach. I don't think. I'm not saying he won't because I'll tell you this. I sure as hell I'm gonna call. I sure as hell I'm calling him. I would need him to tell me no because I watched him coach on the sideline with Clipper.

[Unknown]

He seemed very.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He was locked in. He was passionate and his players, the Clipper players love him. So I'm calling and I'm making him say no.

[Unknown]

All right, so you know what I'm.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Going to give that could be the two times around. Phil Jackson.

[Unknown]

Allen. Allen is done now. I think he's right. I think he's. I think he. Whether it's possible or not, I don't know. Yeah, but you are correct. People would be excited about hearing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think you get a response.

[Unknown]

Don, do you have one?

[Alan Hahn]

No, I don't think there is. I don't think there is anybody because Michael Malone, I don't think that's going to excite everybody. It might. I think it. I think it would be received favorably. But I don't think everybody will universally go, yeah, we got our guy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, you'll have detractors.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, you'll have detractors. You'll have detractors for everybody. But like Jason Kidd, you know what does he want, I mean, Patrick Ewing, you're going to give him the coaching job after years. You didn't give him a coaching job.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You can't put him in that position.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't think there's anybody.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What about Mark Jackson?

[Unknown]

That, that's appealing.

[Alan Hahn]

That. Well, probably as appealing as Jeff Van Gundy. Right. I mean, similarly, it's a similar situation.

[Unknown]

Why not make Mike Breen an assist on that team? Bring them all in.

[Alan Hahn]

But I don't think there's anybody where they're flipping out. You put Popovich in a time machine and you get Greg Popovich from 20 years ago, that excites the fan base. Right. But who, who is out there that you're going to go. Everybody's just going to go nuts. There's going to be detractors for everybody. You know, it's. I don't think there is anybody. I get it feels like Jason Kidd might make the most sense if they can get him out of Dallas. He played for the team.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's a really good coach. He loves New York.

[Alan Hahn]

That's probably a guy that the players would want to see.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There's some whispers that he, he, he, he has like, second thoughts about staying in Dallas after all the major moves they went through and all the stuff.

[Alan Hahn]

That went on to give up a first round pick for the guy, there's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No way I'd want to trade for. No.

[Alan Hahn]

He's going to get out of a contract, that the Mavericks are going to want something, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You'd think so. You would think so.

[Alan Hahn]

So that also now, even though there might be excitement around, kid, if you got to give up too much to get him, that tempers it down. Listen, it's, it's, it'll be a very fascinating offseason. We thought the big deal was going to be, are they going to be able to get Giannis? Are they trading Mitchell Robinson? What are they going to do with Bridges? Forget that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Trump that all.

[Alan Hahn]

Everything.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that all still has to happen. All that stuff. But, but this is, I'm telling you, this is one of those things that you call everyone. I want to be told no. I don't want to assume anything about anybody. I want to be told no. And Jeff Van Gundy, it might be. He might not even answer the phone. But I have to try.

[Alan Hahn]

You have to turn over every stone. You can't afford to get this one wrong. And you're setting up to answer your question, Peter, about the pressure. Look at what Aaron Boone, the reason all the Yankee fans can't stand Aaron Boone is because he basically was win a championship or nothing. I mean, Joe Girardi took you to game seven of the league championship series. He had won a title. So what? Boone had to do that. Now he finally got to the World Series, but after all those years, go to the playoffs, win a ton of games, 100 wins, didn't matter. It was about taking the next step. And he didn't do it until like eight years later, you know. So that's what this coach is going to go through. Held to the standard. Oh, by the way, Yankee fans want the Girardi gone too. They weren't in love with Girardi, but all of a sudden Girardi became the golden child when Boone wasn't taking them to the World Series. You'll see. Whoever the coach is, if it's Jason kidding five years from now, if they don't get to the conference final, Tibbs is going to be held up as a God.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Absolutely true.

[Alan Hahn]

It's all going to change. 1-800-919-3776. Got more of your calls. Enn's coming up at 6, Dan Grass at 7 right here on 880, ESPN New York and also the ESPN app.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey everybody, Alan Hahn here to tell you about my friends at Bath Fitter. They remodeled a bath in my house. My wife Stephanie is so excited about this. So we updated his bathroom by our pool. We converted this old tub that we never used into this gorgeous shower so now we can use it for the summer guests when they use the pool and kids when they have sleepovers and everything else. Bath Fitter consultant took us through this process with a free in home consultation to pick the style, color as well as all the specifics and accessories to update the bath. Customized just the way she wanted it. Bath Fitter worked fast. This got done in two days. Delivered the highest quality work without delay. Bath Fitter is a permanent solution. It's a one piece seamless wall for a watertight fit and a lifetime guarantee. You can trust the Bath Fitter team like we did. They've been in business for 40 years with millions of happy customers. Right now you can have 0% interest for 30 months. So start designing your bath like we did. Visit bathfitter.com for more details. There's only one Batfitter. This message is brought to you by Abercrombie and Fitch. I've been ready for summer for a while and now it's finally time for summer outfits.

[Alan Hahn]

With a trip coming up, the A.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And F vacation shop has me covered. Abercrombie really knows how to do a lightweight outfit. Their tees, sweater, polos and linen blend shorts never miss.

[Alan Hahn]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Alan Hahn]

For your next trip with the A.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And F vacation shop, get their newest arrivals in store, online and in the app.

[Alan Hahn]

This episode is brought to you by Stay Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want is a great feeling. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. Hey there, travelers. Kaley Cuoco here.

[Unknown]

Sorry to interrupt your music great artist.

[Alan Hahn]

BT Dubs, but wouldn't you rather be there to hear it live? With Priceline, you can get out of your dreams and into your dream concert. They've got millions of travel deals to get you to that festival, gig, rave, sound bath or sonic experience you've been dreaming of. Download the Priceline app today and you can save up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% off flights. So don't just dream about that trip. Book it with Priceline. Got your happy price? Priceline.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alan Hahn]

Game Time is brought to you by Televardu Irish Whiskey. Because when it's Game time, guys.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, yeah, sure. Really need a shorter version of this.

[Unknown]

No, sure.

[Alan Hahn]

What is it?

[Unknown]

It's like when he holds it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I need Michael J.

[Alan Hahn]

That works too.

[Unknown]

You want Michael J.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Fox, too? I. I'd prefer Michael.

[Alan Hahn]

It's totally time. All right. You want to just moving forward. That's it.

[Unknown]

No, Both he likes. Both he likes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I like when you add it's all the time Marty McFly to it.

[Alan Hahn]

It's perfect. It makes you want to hang in for how long to see what we're going to attach to it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what I mean.

[Unknown]

And to see if at the end you're going to get McFly, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. That's like, you know, like you're getting Batgirl in the old, you know, Batman. Like you would wait. Just wait for the credits. And all of a sudden you see her jump on the motorcycle.

[Unknown]

Richard of Manhattan.

[Alan Hahn]

Hi, Richard. Young Don legreck is like, it's Going to be. It's going to be a good episode.

[Unknown]

Oh yeah baby.

[Alan Hahn]

The Mets continue their series with the Dodgers with coverage immediately following Dan Grasser right here on 880 at 9:30. And the Yankees start a series with The Guardians at 705. Telemardu the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Iris whiskey. Be sure to grab a Telemore do or try the new Telemore do honey. During today's action glasses up to enjoying Telemore do responsibly. Time. Let's get back to the busy phones. Before we go to E N N let's talk to Mustafa in Randolph. You're on ESPN New York.

[Unknown]

Hey, what's going on everyone? Thank you for taking my call. Alan, want to ask you, you know, I know you guys talk about Johnny Bryant a little bit in the beginning of the 5 o' clock hour and you know I know he was with the Knicks for a couple years Saturday with Cleveland, got to see an actual offense play. I mean it sounded like the players liked him. I wanted to ask you if you remember any of his mannerisms.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean if you can agree that.

[Unknown]

The players do like him, maybe that's why he's kind of looked at right.

[Alan Hahn]

Now as a coach.

[Unknown]

Please let me know. Thanks for answering my call and yeah, love listening to you guys.

[Alan Hahn]

Thank you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it's an inexperienced coach. I think it would be unfair to put him in a situation like this for his first job.

[Alan Hahn]

That kind of expectations, this kind of city.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's overwhelming for somebody that, that he does not have the experience to take on a job like this with the expectations that it comes with. I would be very surprised if that ends up being the coach. Yeah, I mean but he's up for the Phoenix job. He has interviewed for that job.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay but. And that's, you know there's expectations there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Too especially if they run, they're blowing that over.

[Alan Hahn]

They're probably going to blow it up and now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And the owner there is so overwhelmed nobody wants the job.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, that's not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm just being respectful to Johnny Bryant. I. This would be overwhelming for him to take on a job like this for his first head coach.

[Alan Hahn]

And you know what? And sometimes it's a mistake. Right. Like you hear a lot of Ranger fans say really Chris Knobloch back to back Stanley cup finals with Edmonton, that he was a Ranger coach, he was in Hartford, he filled in for Quinn when he had Covid and now he's one of the best coaches in the league. But could you afford to give somebody with zero NHL experience a job like this? It's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's.

[Alan Hahn]

And maybe.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I told you it's different here.

[Alan Hahn]

It might be. It might be a mistake because, like, who was Phil Jackson with Chicago Hired. Right. It looks like it. Easy now, the way it aged. But at the time was the picayune coach.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What was it?

[Alan Hahn]

The. What was the name of the Patroons.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Albany Patrons. Well done, Don.

[Alan Hahn]

That was. That was like. That was his coaching experience.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here's. Here's a crazy one guy right here in this city.

[Unknown]

Right here, you said right here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Rick Patino.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Insane.

[Unknown]

No, I'm good. I'm just saying I'm good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You want to. You want to give me Johnny Bryant, I'll give you Rick Patino. Like. Like there's. There are going to be a million names.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know if it'll work, but I'd love to see.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It would be.

[Alan Hahn]

Because it's like St. John's on steroids. Like, look what he was able to do for St. John.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Imagine if you can do that with college players.

[Alan Hahn]

I know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know if you can do.

[Alan Hahn]

That in the NBA, but.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you're gonna. I promise you someone will call and say, rick.

[Alan Hahn]

But if you're.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's going to have the best team in the country. They're going to win a national championship next year. He's going nowhere. Yeah, but I'm as. We are trying to have names that make sense. You're going to get names that don't. And I just figure, let's have some fun and throw.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, why not?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know his name out there. I love Rick Patino, but, you know, I. He's. He's right where he needs to be to win a national championship.

[Alan Hahn]

Jose in Connecticut, you're on. Don Han and Rosenberg.

[Unknown]

Oh, hey, my guys, man, listen, a name that came to mind to me was like Mark Jackson as far as comparison, because he took the warriors to the conference finals. The players loved him. But if we're being honest, in hindsight, like, it was the right move because a lot of similarities where he didn't have players bench, he had no offensive identity on the Warriors. Believe it. Which is crazy to believe, seeing how crazy offensive they were once Kirk came in. And I'm sorry, Don, I gotta disagree respectfully, because you're my guy. But like, that doesn't. Like, there's no story saying that the players wanted him gone, but they can give honest feedback. And this team is not full of rookies. These guys have Been coached by some of the best, right? Like Rick Carlisle, Jay Wright, Frank Vogel, championship coaches. So these guys do, do know good coaching and they can say, hey, this is what I don't see what I see. Right? And let's be honest with Tibbs. I think we all agree like most people, not a lot of fans, you know, most, not all agree tips is a good coach, but he had some awards man. And, and one team. One thing that he lacked here in New York was the offensive identity in an offensive league. When before Jay Brunson got here, we said the same thing. Oh, they need a point guard because they don't have an offense. It's just dribble, dribble. Randall, here comes Brunson. Same thing, dribble, dribble, no offensive cohesion. He's not a great offensive coach in the offensive league. And he ran into a buzzsaw offensively and, and we just saw like he had, he couldn't, he didn't play his bench. And we saw okay, once he went to the bench, right? These guys can perform, right? And I'll give you know, like I'll give you a couple examples. You said shame it Shamit 40 shooter doesn't play the least minutes all year of his career. Comes in he he best plus minus of the series. Game 1 of the Detroit series. Cameron Payne had the best shooting game of the of the season. Game two doesn't play now he loses confidence. So I do think there were a lot of things I guess may be frustrating the team and so like although I would have brought, I would have brought him back, I do think that maybe they do see, hey, there was. They were just honest in their feedback like okay, these are the things they saw.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Jose, Jose. Thank you. Just take a breath. They just realized that the windows now you heard Sham say it to us. What he has understood is that the leadership of the Knicks organization believes the window is now that it included this year to win a championship. The east is wide open. The Celtics next year are not going to be anything like they look like this year because they're going to go through Tatum injury and a reset. The east is open, the time is now. And they did not want to wait any longer on a coach that they felt like was no longer okay, what's the word I'm looking for? No longer taking the team trending up. Okay, maybe he plateaued.

[Unknown]

They had trended up as far as they could.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. And that means that the guy who takes over is going to take them to the next step because if they regress. That is going to be a lot of egg. A lot of faces.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.