Ex-Knick Mark Jackson, an unsigned free agent, would like to wait another year before pursuing his NBA coaching and GM dreams.
But he proved to some reporters he will make a good personnel man in the final stages of the 2002 season.

Jackson, then the Knicks' starting point guard, seemed to know his stuff better than most GMs who didn't consider power forward Amare Stoudemire a high lottery pick.

After watching Stoudemire play the Garden in a high-school All-Star contest, Jackson began whispering in the locker room that, if Stoudemire were available for them at No. 7, the Knicks would be crazy not to grab him.

The Knicks passed on the eventual Rookie of the Year and traded the pick along with Jackson and Marcus Camby in the failed Antonio McDyess blockbuster.

But Jackson thinks Knick GM Scott Layden may have gotten it right in showing "guts" two weeks ago when he dealt fan favorite Latrell Sprewell for Keith Van Horn - a deal ripped by fans and media.