Oak: Knicks Need to Define Roles
“I think it’s all about how you view your team and everybody knowing what their roles are,” Oakley told The Post. “You look at Miami, the first year together, they made the Finals, but the second year they won it. They had a better understanding of their roles together. I think that’s what the Knicks need to do and players need to understand if they’re the first option, second option or third option. When a team is paying you $100 million you shouldn’t be arguing over who is first.”
Tommy Dee, theKnicksBlog.com
People can take Oakley’s thoughts as him being bitter that the Knicks haven’t brought him back in any capacity. Me? Oak was the epitome of team. He always had his teammates back’s and he didn’t care about the crowd or public opinion. There was a time when the Garden faithful used to groan whenever he took a jump shot- one that he eventually perfected. Seriously. Fickle fans would beg him not to shoot. Oak didn’t care. Soon after Oak would be a fan favorite on the court and in the community. You could find him all over town in White Plains from the local deli to his car washes to MapleMoor Golf Course. The same could be said for John Starks, Anthony Mason and eventually Allan Houston and Larry Johnson. Fans could associate with those Knicks teams. This team, led by Melo and Amar’e, needs to establish itself early to fans. They have a lot they need to prove and it starts day 1 of training camp. I completely agree with Oak that Woodson needs his star players to know their roles from day 1.
comments: