Lenny Wilkens yesterday defended himself against his “Mr. Nice Guy” image, despite running a short practice that ran a little more than an hour on his first day on the job.
As practice came to a close with a group free-throw drill, Knicks players were joking around, some in hysterics. The cloud of Don Chaney had been removed, but time will tell if Isiah Thomas made the right choice, if Wilkens’ soft approach and the loosey-goosey atmosphere will lift the team out of its doldrums. The Knicks (16-24) are three games out of the eighth playoff seed in the East.
“It’s still early enough [that we have] a chance to make the playoffs,” Wilkens said.
Wilkens, out of Brooklyn’s Boys High, makes his Knicks debut tonight at the Garden when they play host to Seattle, where the Hall of Famer has made his offseason home for more than 30 years.
“I’m not a yeller, not a screamer, but you’re accountable and you know it,” Wilkens said. “I don’t have to yell to sit you down, and if you still don’t get it, you don’t play. If you take a player’s minutes away, it’s more meaningful than yelling and screaming.”
Wilkens, 66, was still exhausted yesterday after a cross-country flight from Seattle that landed in New York late Wednesday. “I wanted to go longer [at practice] but it’s been a long day already,” Wilkens said.
Stephon Marbury seemed most delighted with the coaching change, and Thomas pegged the guard’s potential relationship with Wilkens as a key factor in the hiring. Marbury broke into the formal press conference held before practice, stepped onto the podium and gave Wilkens, a fellow Brooklynite, a hug.
“Now that we know who our coach is going to be it will be a lot easier,” Marbury said. “Whatever Zeke [Thomas] does, I’m happy because he has the best interests in the team.”
Wilkens said improving the Knicks’ defense is his top priority and the easiest thing to fix promptly. In Chaney’s final game, the Knicks gave up 101 points to Dallas – in three quarters.
“Everything begins with defense,” Wilkens said. “You run the fastbreak when you play good defense, get the rebound.”
The Knicks didn’t approach Wilkens until Wednesday morning in what seemed a shotgun marriage. Preliminary talks with Mike Fratello went nowhere and Thomas’ timetable sped up because of an erroneous report Fratello had accepted the job.
So Wilkens spent yesterday learning Chaney’s playbook on the fly. He said he realizes there’s no time to install his own system.
“He got a feel for the plays, a lot of things we already had been doing,” captain Allan Houston said. “He’ll tweak some things, but he’s made it clear he’s not going to change things so much it’s going to confuse us.”
Marbury said he believes that’s the way to go.
“He’s going to elaborate on the stuff but he’s not going to come in and change everything up and make things difficult,” Marbury said. “He’s making it so much easier by having us play the same way. He has to adjust instead of having 13 guys adjusting to a brand-new system.”
Dikembe Mutombo is the lone player Wilkens has coached in his 30 years. Mutombo said practice was “relaxing,” adding, “He’s not a coach who screams a lot or gets in a player’s face. He will just be looking at you, pull you on the side.”
Said Houston, “There probably will be some growing pains.”
Mr. Fix-It
Each time Lenny Wilkens has taken over a team, its winning percentage has improved over the previous season.
Here’s a look at Wilkens first-year record compared to the season prior:
Team (Year) Record Previous Year Improvement
Sonics (1969-70) 36-46 (.439) 23-59 (.280) .159
Blazers (1974-75) 38-44 (.463) 27-55 (.329) .134
Sonics (1977-78) 42-18 (.700) * 40-42 (.488) .212
Cavs (1986-87) 31-51 (.378) 29-53 (.354) .024
Hawks (1993-94) 57-25 (.695) 43-39 (.524) .171
Raptors (2000-01) 47-35 (.573) 45-37 (.549) .024
* Took over with team at 5-17.
