The NY Knicks are pushing to make the playoffs this season and they are just one game back of the eighth spot and they are doing this as Phil Jackson takes over and as he gets the lay of the land, reports say that Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher will be considered as coaching options for the 2014 to 2015 season if New York opts to fire Mike Woodson.
The Knicks have had a rough season by any stretch of the imagination and while Woodson has his good qualities, he likely will be the person that takes the hit for the campaign and even if it's the "wrong" move, it's justifiable. The team has not had the offensive or defensive effort every night and that's partly on the coach and on top of that, if you were Jackson, wouldn't you want to stake your own coach, someone you were comfortable with after taking over an entire franchise? It might be "wrong" to fire Woodson since so much has been out of his hands, including the shaping of the roster, but if Jackson is going to put his legacy on the line for the Knicks, he deserves to be able to select his own coach as he tries to rebuild from the ground up.
According to USA Today, there are two names that could be in the mix for the Knicks job and they both have strong connections to Jackson: Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher. Kerr is one of the top TNT analysts in the game and he previously won championships with Jackson in Chicago and he has long been considered an option for the Knicks, although his interest was only rumored and not official. The report also says that Fisher could come in as a "coach or front-office executive" and that would be another former point guard for Jackson, as he played for the coach when he was in LA.
The Knicks won 50 games last season and the Atlantic division and now they are fighting with teams like the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers for playoff position. If the team was in the west, they wouldn't be anywhere near the playoffs and while no one expects them to be able to take down Indiana or Miami, making the postseason is better than falling into the lottery and then giving that pick away, as they already traded it and won't be able to even use it in one of the deepest drafts in years. The Knicks are ranked 21st in the league in points per game and 27th in rebounding this season and Jackson will be making some major decisions this offseason, including regarding the future of Woodson.