Derek Fisher has tools to be successful with Knicks and buffer from James Dolan in Phil Jackson

There was no greater optimist inside Madison Square Garden on Monday than Derek Fisher, who for the first time was occupying the same precious space on the Knicks bench that once belonged to Phil Jackson’s mentor, Red Holzman, and Jackson’s rival, Pat Riley.

“The Garden is a special place,” Fisher said prior to Monday’s 81-76 preseason loss to the Toronto Raptors. “Whether you come here as a visitor or now this being home and thinking about doing this hundreds of times per season... hopefully, for many years.”

It’s impossible not to root for Fisher but we all know how this works at the Garden. That seat can serve as a throne and an electric chair. It all depends on the day and James Dolan’s mood.

Once the buffer is gone, the coach soon follows. That MSG tradition under Dolan, the Garden chairman, dates back to Dave Checketts and Jeff Van Gundy, Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni and most recently Glen Grunwald and Mike Woodson. Or as Jackson said on Sunday, his boss was “forced to meddle.” Phil may be Zen but he’s not a Knicks historian. That’s for sure.

It’s like that old riddle: Which came first, the dysfunction or Dolan’s meddling?

Fisher, though, has an all-time buffer in Jackson, a team president with cache and a massive contract. For a guy who has never coached a day in his life prior to this month, Fisher has two things going for him: Jackson and Carmelo Anthony.

 

The only rookie coach who has it better is Steve Kerr. Jackson’s top choice to coach the Knicks inherited a playoff team in Golden State featuring the NBA’s best backcourt, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

It seems like only yesterday that Dolan meddled in the Kerr negotiations, resulting in Kerr landing a better job and Fisher ending up in New York. Maybe it will all work out for the best even if Jackson can’t fully explain how his second choice to coach the Knicks received a better offer from Dolan than Kerr.

Fisher has all the tools to be a fine coach. He has a presence about him, he’s been a winner and he’s played for a couple of Hall of Fame coaches in Jackson and Jerry Sloan.

He also looks good in a suit and is still at his playing weight. In fact, Fisher may be the only NBA coach who could crack the eight-man rotation on his own team.

It was during Jackson’s 90-minute conversation with New Yorker staff writer Ben McGrath on Sunday that the Knicks president mentioned he’s still on his honeymoon with the New York media.

One of the greatest myths about working in the Big Bad Apple is that the press can be brutal. Look at it this way: Unless your name is Geno Smith or perhaps Alex Rodriquez, the press tends to exercise more patience than the Knicks owner, that’s for sure.

The fans, who have witnessed one playoff series victory since 2000, are extremely patient. Just check out the Knicks attendance records if you don’t believe me.

The supporters of the orange and blue want to believe in a plan. Walsh had a vision, but once LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach Dolan went into full-meddle mode. And really, he hasn’t stopped since.

Jackson knows a playoff appearance is well within reach this season and with available cap space this summer the Knicks can make a run at Memphis center Marc Gasol. The following summer, Fisher’s former teammate at OKC, Kevin Durant, is a free agent. The future has potential.

Jackson, with Fisher’s blessing, is putting his imprint on the team. He has the Knicks on a “mindfulness training program,” which includes an instructor teaching the team a form of meditation that stresses the importance of staying in the moment. By all means, we’d all love to know how J.R. Smith’s mind works.

“There’s a mindfulness training program that’s very logical and very calm, quiet, and we’ve started the process with this team, and Derek (is) all for it. He’s a proponent of it,” Jackson said Sunday. “And yet I think that it’s kind of what I am inserting in here as part of what I think has to happen because I know what effect it (has). I think it’s very difficult sometimes for a coach to do this because it’s so anti what we are as athletes.”

The Knicks will also run Jackson’s vaunted triangle offense, an organized system that worked brilliantly when it involves guys like Jordan, Pippen, Kobe and Shaq.

When current Knicks assistant Jim Cleamons tried running it in Dallas with inferior talent, he lasted 98 games with the Mavericks and lost 70. Another Knicks assistant coach, Kurt Rambis, had the same talent issues in Minnesota and won just 32 of 164 games.

Mind games and systems are nice but the NBA is still a talent-driven league. The Knicks currently have one superstar and need more. That’s Jackson’s job and he apparently has a solid plan. And as long as Dolan stays away and Jackson remains in good health and spirits, this could work. If not, the chair Fisher used on Monday will get hot quickly. It always does at MSG.