Charles Barkley is never shy about sharing his opinion on the Knicks. Usually, this results in Sir Charles saying something critical about the team. But that wasn’t the case on Monday.

Barkley told reporters in Manhattan that he thinks the Knicks will be successful under team president Phil Jackson and that owner James Dolan will allow Jackson to work unimpeded.

Phil Jackson will succeed without incessant meddling by James Dolan, says Sir Charles. Doug Benc/Getty Images

"You have to respect and admire what Phil Jackson has accomplished," the TNT analyst said. "You have to give him a chance. This is the first time in a long time that I think Mr. Dolan is probably going to stay out of it. He's been too hands-on.

"They're going to be better ... because they don't have that chaos about all the noise. Last year, every week it was, 'Is Mike Woodson going to get fired?' It's tough. You read the paper every day, 'Is Mike Woodson going to get fired today or tomorrow?' You can't play under that. You at least have a window where that's not going to happen. Derek Fisher probably has a two- or three-year window, maybe four years, before you'll want him fired."

Dolan has a history of meddling with his executives’ basketball decisions. But, according to Jackson, Dolan has given him full autonomy to run the team.

Calderon likely to play vs. CHI: Jose Calderon is “trending” toward playing on Wednesday against Chicago, according to coach Derek Fisher.

Calderon missed the Knicks’ last two preseason games due to a hamstring injury. He participated in most of practice on Monday. If he can’t play against Chicago, Fisher may be forced to play second-year guard Shane Larkin.

He could also opt to use Iman Shumpert as his lead guard and play J.R. Smith off the ball. This was one lineup being used in a drill during Monday’s practice.

Fisher has yet to commit to a starting lineup for Wednesday’s opener against Chicago. He said on Monday that he may have to go with different lineups early in the season due to injuries.

“We may need to be open to maybe moving some things around based on our opponent right now. We didn’t get a chance to consistently start the same group of five and look at what that would mean,” Fisher said. “I think going into Wednesday night we need to just be open to putting five guys out there that help us to play against the Chicago Bulls and then we’ll kind of go from there.”

Aloe Blacc to appear on ESPN before Knicks game: ESPN's coverage kicks off on Wednesday with a doubleheader, including Knicks-Bulls on Wednesday. Aloe Blacc will perform on ESPN in Los Angeles before the game to celebrate the season tipoff. ... There's an interesting new documentary out about NY-based NBA trainer Jay Hernandez. Hernandez, a former Hofstra standout, has trained many NBA players, including Bronx-born Kemba Walker. Here is a trailer of the documentary.

Dreamin': After practice Monday, Carmelo Anthony and several of his teammates hosted 150 kids from the Garden of Dreams Foundation for a Halloween-themed season tip-off event on the Knicks practice court. The Knicks also had several children from the foundation sitting courtside at Sunday’s open practice.

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