Phil Jackson calls Andrea Bargnani a 'big tease,' criticizes Shane Larkin
ESPN released its latest edition of the Phil Files, a series in which Jackson's friend and former assistant, Charley Rosen, has published a series of interviews with the Knicks president on delay. Monday was another piece, a conversation from April 23 on a series of scouting reports regarding the Knicks end-of-year roster.
Jackson was particularly aggressive about now former Knick and current Net Andrea Bargnani. Bargs was one of the most disliked Knicks by the fans in recent years, in part because of his play and in part because the team gave up three draft picks (including a first rounders) to acquire him from the Raptors. Here were Jackson's words:
Jackson has been brutally honest during this series, maybe to a fault. I'm not quite sure how any of these comments help the Knicks at all. For example, here's what he said about another at-the-time Knick who eventually signed with the Nets this offseason, Shane Larkin:
It's a strange series, but if Jackson is willing to do it, why criticize a man on the inside willing to give us a glimpse of his mind. It's not a transparency we witness in most organizations, especially not the Knicks, who are a notoriously closed off organization.
(h/t ESPN)
AB was and still is a big tease. When he was injured he refused to do simple non-contact activities like dummy our offense in practice. He seemed to be a malingerer and this had a bad effect on the team, and also on the way the Knicks fans reacted to him. When he was on the court, he had a hard time staying intense, didn't hustle back in offense-to-defense transition, wasn't active enough in defending screen-rolls. Still, his offense is perfectly suited to the triangle because he really doesn't have to work very hard to get shots. He's another guy we renounced, but whether we can agree on financial terms for his return, or he winds up someplace else, AB will always be somewhat of an enigma.
His play did improve, but he's still a long shot to be back with us. He's incredibly quick but he doesn't use his speed the way he should. Shane mainly wants to get his shot off a high screen-roll situation when he should be pushing the ball and getting his shots in an open floor. Another problem is that he can't control the ball because he has such tiny hands. For sure, every team needs a small, quick guard, but there are a lot of guys like that available.
