The Knicks, Timberwolves and Jazz will be search for new coaches now that the regular season has officially ended.
The Knicks announced they were relieving Mike Woodson of his coaching duties. Rick Adelman announced his retirement as head coach of the Timberwolves. And the Jazz announced they would not be renewing Tyrone Corbin’s contract. All three coaching decisions were expected.
Woodson guided the Knicks to the second overall seed in the Eastern Conference last season before falling to the Pacers in the second round. New York seemed poised to continue to grow and get even further in the Playoffs this year. Instead, the team suffered disaster as every move backfired and the team simply did not mesh well defensively.
Phil Jackson, in his second move as general manager, opted to get rid of the entire coaching staff and start from scratch:
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike Woodson and his entire staff,” Jackson said. “The coaches and players on this team had an extremely difficult 2013-14 season, and blame should not be put on one individual. But the time has come for change throughout the franchise as we start the journey to assess and build this team for next season and beyond.
“Everyone in this franchise owes a great deal of gratitude to what Mike and his staff have done. We wish him the best.”
The Knicks went from precipice of greatness to disaster in danger of losing their franchise player in a matter of a year. The coach had to be the skapegoat. Jackson will get his chance to put his mark on this team now. Steve Kerr is already rumored to be at the front of the line to become the team’s next coach.
The Timberwolves are also in danger of losing their star franchise player and will have a new coach for the final year of his contract. This one was more expected and more understandable rather than performance based.
Rick Adelman has missed time in the last few seasons to be with his wife who is dealing with a serious ailment. It clearly weighed heavily on him the last few years. It made sense for Adelman to step aside now even if it is not the best timing for the organization with so much uncertainty floating about and the success Adelman has helped guide Minnesota to the last few years despite mounting injuries and all.
The NBA will certainly miss Adelman.
Tyrone Corbin has been a puzzling NBA coach for a while now. The Jazz never really went anywhere with him at the helm and he was constant chopping block fodder. It seemed like the hammer finally fell after Utah’s disastrous season (albeit somewhat expectedly disastrous).
Utah will get a top pick in the Draft and a new coach to help groom that potential franchise player.
