Knicks Will Interview Chuck Person

As Muff209 pointed out in another thread, various sources are reporting the Knicks have asked permission to interview Kings assistant Chuck Person. From Newsday's Alan Hahn :

The wish list that Donnie Walsh is compiling will include Chuck Person, a Walsh protégé who is currently an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. An NBA executive told Newsday yesterday that Walsh is expected to contact Kings president Geoff Petrie for permission to interview Person, who spent six of his 13 seasons as a player with the Indiana Pacers. [...]

Person will interview for the head coach position, but a person with knowledge of the situation said the 43-year-old would also be open to joining the Knicks as an assistant coach. He and Jackson have a good relationship and Person's loyalties to Walsh are even stronger.

This is a double-edged sword. Person seemed almost like Head Coach 1(b) during games than a top assistant: he yelled out defensive schemes and directed quite a bit in the huddle, from my vantage point. I've heard a few times that he was the better coach in the locker room, too.

Of course, the defense sucked. The Kings gave up too many open threes and couldn't stop guard penetration on the perimeter.

It depends on your perspective. If Person was the guy responsible for some of the peaks this season, and was holding the ropes together for Theus, losing him would be bad. If Person was a bit too "sous-chef gunning for a top job" in his work with the Kings, and he made bad calls running the defense, then this could be a good thing. And hell, if it's the first scenario -- he was holding this thing together for Theus -- it's probably better we find out now, before Theus gets an extension, loses Person, and we're back at Square One.

I tend to be in the camp which thinks Person's a good coach, so again, it worries me. Of course, plenty of defensive-minded assistants should be available this summer (Larry Drew's one; Theus tried to hire him last summer). We'll see.