Dust Starts to Settle for New Knick Coach

Relaxing at home last week, Stu Jackson came to the realization that at 33 and with no head-coaching experience, he holds one of the most prestigious jobs in sports.

It was the first time since he was promoted from an assistant to New York Knick head coach last month that Jackson began to understand his new status and its significance.

“I said to my wife: ‘You know, every time I say it to myself, that I’m the coach of the New York Knicks, it seems a little scary,” he said. “I keep asking if they’ve hired someone else.”

Stu Jackson does not look like a frightened man. He appears more rumpled than anything else, the effects of the whirlwind his life has become. In the weeks following his appointment July 10, Jackson has spent a week in Jamaica meeting with assistants Paul Silas and Ernie Grunfeld, and returned in time to reacquaint himself with his wife, Dr. Janet Taylor, and baby daughter, Lauren, before heading west for 10 days for the Los Angeles Summer League.

When he returned, he made appearances throughout New York City with the Knicks Summer Caravan. And there are more scheduled. No wonder he sat in his windowless office at SUNY-Purchase last week in wrinkled clothes. No time to iron.

“I really haven’t had a chance to sit back and understand the shock of what’s happened,” he said. “Since the press conference, I’ve stayed pretty busy. I’ve been more in a mode of trying to attack and plan for what’s ahead. There are a lot of changes ahead that I have to get used to.”

This is how it happened: General Manager Al Bianchi called Jackson the day after Dallas Mavericks Coach John MacLeod declined an invitation for an interview. Bianchi asked Jackson if he was interested in taking over. “After a millisecond, I said yes,” Jackson said. “And I told Al why. From a continuity standpoint, from a stability standpoint, I thought my hiring would give the franchise that. I know this team. I feel very confident and comfortable from a coaching standpoint that I will be able to put this team in a position night in and night out to win games.”

Bianchi had at first said Jackson needed more experience as an assistant, but changed his mind when he looked at “the big picture.”

“I started putting up these names (of candidates) and suddenly I said, ‘What am I doing? I’ve got the guy right here.’ He knows the players, the players like him and he’s bright,” Bianchi said. “Plus, what we’re trying to do with the franchise is build it so that we can promote from within the organization.

“I mean, we’re not talking about nuclear physics here. We’re talking about basketball and people, and Stu knows them both.”

So Jackson got the job.

“It was very agonizing waiting to be named the coach here once I learned I had a shot at it,” Jackson said. “When it finally happened, it was like a relief. I literally ran outside and told as many neighbors as I could. It was like I couldn’t believe it.”

If anyone questions Jackson’s familiarity with the players, consider the astute observation he made as an assistant last season. Before a game against the Washington Bullets, Jackson noticed during pregame warmups that the Knicks were flat. He told Coach Rick Pitino and suggested Pitino use the full-court press at the outset to get the players active.

After a short period of uninspired play, Pitino went to the press, and the Knicks picked up their intensity and went on to win.