Knicks center Tyson Chandler has gotten to know new Warriors coach Mark Jackson over the past few years, seeing him at restaurants and living near him in California. This offseason, Jackson tried to lure the free-agent center to Golden State — and nearly succeeded.
“He was like, ‘Well, we’ve got a relationship already, so you should just come on over and play for me,’ ” Chandler recalled yesterday. “ ‘We’re trying to do the right thing around here. You’re definitely a piece that we need.’ ”
Chandler said he believes he would be with the Warriors if the Knicks had not pushed to acquire him in a sign-and-trade with the Mavericks, agreeing to a four-year, $56 million contract.
Chandler gushed about Jackson yesterday, calling him an “incredible guy” and relaying the conversation when he told Jackson — a former Knicks player — he was New York-bound.
“I talked to Coach after I made my decision and just told him, ‘It was a tough one,’ ” Chandler said. “He did everything possible [to recruit me], and he definitely had me leaning towards their way.”
When Jackson faces his former franchise tonight in Oakland, Chandler will face the franchise he would have signed with if he did not land in New York. One major thing Chandler wants to see is the Knicks improve their rebounding as they try to start 2-0.
Last year, the Knicks had the NBA’s third-worst rebounding differential (minus-3.5 per game), and in Sunday’s season-opening victory they were out-rebounded by the Celtics, 41-31. The Knicks were the only team in the bottom eight in the league in rebounding differential last season to make the playoffs (Chandler’s title-winning Mavericks tied for 11th).
“This next game we’ve got to really concentrate on rebounding the ball,” said Chandler, who grabbed just three rebounds Sunday after averaging 9.4 last season. “We played great defense and we let them get way too many offensive rebounds. But that’s a sign we’re doing the right thing. We’re getting stops. It’s steps that we have to take. And now once we get the stops we’ve just got to cover up the ball.”
The Knicks also have to defend better against opposing guards. Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo racked up 31 points and 13 assists on Sunday, and tonight the Knicks face Golden State’s duo of Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis — among the NBA’s top backcourts.
“First game of the season, so we can’t allow what happened Sunday to happen again — for example, a guy like Rondo getting so many layups,” Chandler said. “One of the things that we wanted to concentrate on is getting two defenders back. If we can get back and we build a wall, you take that away.”
Chandler is now away from the Mavericks, who have started 0-2 and been outscored by a combined 33 points in the defeats. Chandler said he is not surprised by the early slide.
“Honestly, I kind of saw it coming because when you put a team in a situation where you say, ‘You’re the defending champions, but we’re not necessarily trying to repeat,’ and when I say that, I’m not saying that they don’t have the pieces there, I obviously think very highly of those guys, but I say that because they offered everybody one-year deals,” he said.
“So they knew nobody was going to necessarily accept that. … And when you have veteran guys in the locker room, the type of guys they got, in this time of their career, it’s tough to face that.
“I think they’re just going through a little lull right now. But I’m hoping for those guys that it turns around because there’s truly good guys in that locker room.”