Phil Jackson's message is clear, "patience." The New York Knicks are not good and show no signs of improving any time soon. The team is struggling on defense while failing to learn the triangle offense. Injuries are hitting the roster hard and the losses are piling up. Jackson has his sights set on the bigger picture and he hopes the fans do as well as he urges everyone to take a step back and be patient.
Jackson had to take to Twitter to defend recent moves made with the Knicks. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks, many have criticized the team president for the deal that sent Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to Dallas in exchange for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin and Samuel Dalembert along with two second-round draft picks. The move saved the Knicks salary cap space along with getting them much needed draft picks. However, Chandler and the Mavericks are 19-8 while the Knicks are 5-22.
In response to Chris Sheridan's tweet about the trade, Jackson replied, "Our season got off to a rocky start-injuries-Tyson could not have changed the outcome. Trades are judged in 4-5 year terms. Remember how Pop et al complained about the Pau trade? How does that look now? Just relax...and be patient."
The Knicks players are trying to take on the same attitude. As the team faced off against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, Carmelo Anthony told the media that while the Bulls offered him the best shot at winning and fitting into a system, he has faith in Jackson and the bigger picture in New York. Anthony re-signed as the face of the franchise, but injuries are hurting his time on the court as many people are urging him to shut things down as his knee continues to be an issue.
"I have multiple people say kind of just shut it down," Anthony said, via ESPN.com. "Or just take time off. But at the end of the day, it's hard for me to just do that right now in the midst of what's happening with the team and this season. So just trying to be smart about that."
The chances Jackson is able to pull off any trades at the deadline are slim. Right now, the only player with value is Anthony. Everyone is struggling making trades for Iman Shumpert, JR Smith or Amar'e Stoudemire difficult to work out. Free agency will be big for New York after several contracts come off the board as the team likes the looks of Greg Monroe, Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge. Jackson believes that is why patient will be repaid.