Big Apple Sports: All New York Sports. All The Time.

I’ve taken the liberty of altering a Phil Collins song title in the hopes that New York Knicks CEO James Dolan wouldn’t know the difference. . .

One year ago, Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan was one of the hottest coaching commodities in all of the basketball ranks. After the Gators fulfillied their championship prophecy, Donovan flirted with several potential offers from collegiate and professional basketball teams, including his alma mater, the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Noting his “intrigue” of coaching in the NBA, however, he accepted a lucrative five-year offer from the Orlando Magic because he desired “to do something that would really challenge me as a person and coach and help me grow and get better.”

His period of growth and maturation did not last long apparently. In a bizarre, and potentially career-disabling move, Donovan reneged on his agreement with the Magic 24 hours later after an “emotional” press conference in Florida. Donovan legitimized his turnabout by explaining that he ultimately realized he loved “coaching Florida.”

One year later, however, there is concern whether his passion remains. After Florida was eliminated by the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first round of the SEC tournament, 80-69, effectively jeopardizing the Gators chances of making the NCAA Tournament later this month, Donovan began making statements suggesting he was rueing his previous decision. Citing “talent issues on the defensive end of the floor” and “committment issues” from his players, Donovan was abrasively critical of a team compromised almost entirely of underclassmen.

While normally one would expect that the lapses and errors committed by Donovan’s so-called “Baby Gators” were merely growing pains consistent with playing big-time college basketball, the coach was not as optomistic about their future prospects. “I don’t think just because they’re going to be another year older that all of a sudden, everything gets resolved. I don’t see that.” In fact, pessimistic and despondent might be better ways to describe Donovan’s demeanor. “[I]‘m not necessarily really that excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest. I don’t think people change a whole lot, and I don’t think you’ve seen the basketball team change at all this year. So it’s hard for me to get overly thrilled and excited.”

Uh oh. While the lovefest in Florida appears to be over for the moment, Donovan seems to be sending out strong signals that he would consider an alternate venue at which to display his coaching wares next season. Perhaps regretting his decision to coach one of the most exciting players in the NBA, Dwight Howard, and a young Orlando Magic team that presently sits in third place in the Eastern Conference under the tutelage of Stan Van Gundy, Donovan might want to take that “intrigue for the NBA” out for another spin. And seeing that a certain team in New York seems to have a particular need for new coaching blood, it seems logical that Donovan might get a call from the Knicks head office imminently.

If such speculation is accurate, and Donovan embraces this opportunity, he would be going from a youthful roster once-filled with hope to a roster with few silver linings (David Lee, Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford) and a slew of bad attitudes. He would also be trading in the rather “supportive” network of Florida for the cold, bitter and unforgiving spotlight of Broadway.

If this comes even remotely close to happening, I declare the Knicks dead for the next decade or more. I am not kidding. What the Knicks need more than ever is a coach whom the veterans will immediately respect and listen to, a proven winner whom the fans will believe in, and a person who is undeterred by the fact that the team will be, at best, mediocre in the next few years until cap space opens up to reinvigorate the bench and the starting line-up. Donovan is hardly that coach, partcularly given his willful admission that he was unable to motivate the youthful Gators to rise to the challenge of the SEC tournament, let alone the NCAA tournament. One can hardly be pleased by the prospect of Donovan bringing his “don’t blame me blame the players” attitude to New York, which has had its share of this same rhetoric all year.

The only thing that might save Dolan and the Knicks from pursuing the Gators coach, aside from his own possible desire to stay in the protective womb that is Florida, is a “non-compete clause” in the buy-out contract with the Magic required to release him from his obligations under the previously agreed to five-year contract. This “non-compete clause” prohibits Donovan from coaching any NBA team for the next five years. Of course, these clauses are neither full proof or “set in stone” and with a little imagination and negotiation, anything is possible. But it would also require the Knicks to either have to give up draft picks or money in an effort to release Donovan from the restraint of the Magic contract. Neither is an acceptable option given that what New York needs most are healthy lottery drafts that will assist in creating a reinvigorated youthful squad.

The Knicks are not in any state to concede any of these picks nor are Donovan’s skill sets sufficient enough to overcome any such deficit that could arise from his acquisition. So here’s hoping some logic actually will prevail in Madison Square Garden and that the Knicks will conveniently lose Billy Donovan’s number.