Recap: Wizards 106 Knicks 96

Strt selling … No reasonable offer refused

Time to trade Jeffries and whoever else we can for cap space and draft picks.

Not saying give up on the season because there is no benefit for tanking but we should not pass up on any trade offers that frees up cap space or gives us draft picks.

Tommy, don’t talk only about players because it’s time to start to debate about the coach;

The Washington announcers couldn’t say enough good things about JJ. Time to send him back.

He doesn’t seem to be able to motivate them during halftime as other coaches do their teams.

I often dread the start of the third quarter..

The playoff run is over. This team is awful – no effort, no creativity, no team concept, no defense… nothing.

My plan :

1. Trade Jared Jeffries – with David Lee if necessary.

2. Set 10 screens per possession for Gallo and force him to attack the rim.

3. Tell Jordan Hill to dunk everything around the basket.

4. Chinese Red Bull torture for Wilson Chandler.

5. A trip to Cancun for Jonathan Bender.

Thoughts?

Send the coach to Siberia ?

Everything must go. Complete rebuild

I hear all the D’Antoni bashing and his rotation, allocution of minutes, and inability to run plays for his best players is frustrating and at times infuriating.

But it is hard to judge a coach with such an imbalanced roster. Duhon and Jeffries are absolutely useless on offense but we don’t have many other options on the bench so we play 3 on 5 most of the game. Gallo also disappears on the road.

Duhon, Nate and Lee (at times Chandler too) are absolutely useless on defense for large stretches of the game. But again not many other options on the bench.

We just have too many one way players and Duhon (a non player). D’Antoni is no Chuck Daly, but I’m not sure if any coach would be .500 with this roster.

Now what I do blame D’Antoni for is his refusal to play Hill and Douglas. There is no reason with a roster as flawed as ours, we should be only using a seven man rotation. That is all on the coach.

2010.

I am willing to give Mike D’Antoni a chance – but if this team sucks in 2010-2011 then I’ll jump on the “No D’Antoni” bandwagon.

It’s not the coaches fault. Jesus would have a tough time winning with this squad.

We have 1 very good player (Lee) that’s paying out of position, 2 average players (Gallo and Chandler) that are prospects to improve, and everyone else is below average or worse. Most good teams are at least 3 deep with very good players, some are 3 deep with with a great player leading the pack, and the other two are at least good. Some even go 8-9 deep with players that are better than 2 of our starters.

It’s going to take time to develop Chandler, Hill, Gallo, and Douglas and then add a piece here or there over the next 2 years.

the ticket to sucess is getting rid of curry an jeff
so in order to do that they gotta trade lee chandler or gallo to get that done

Co-sign.

Mike D’Antoni is obviously not doing a “great” job but he definitely coaches one of the worst rosters in the NBA talent-wise.

The players have shown 0 energy/motivation lately. Jordan Hill needs to see more minutes but Knicks fans should criticize the players first. The lack of effort is incredible.

So…. Who can I complainto about JJ playing 48 mins on a bad wheel on the first nite of back to backs?

And bender even taking off his warm ups b4 hill?
An Toney Douglas not anywhere to be seen? An the ostracizing of Larry Hughes ? And this insistence on allowing Duhon to launch 35 footer ?

Please let me know and illredirect my ire

It’s time to raise the white flag, throw in the towel and start playing Douglas and Hill major minutes. We have to start developing them for next year.

Also time to line up all our expiring contracts, Nate, and Jeffries and do anything before the deadline that might help us long term .

First of all, the coach is going nowhere so you may as well save your breath. Count to 10 and drink some vino. He’s not all that infuriating.

secondly they are rebuilding. so you’re saying rebuild the rebuild?

Lee is “playing out of position” because the coach put him there. Milicic was requested by this coach and is now not even on the bench

lack of effort after a hard loss is why stars are needed. and why Lee isn’t one.

Hill and Douglas are very raw. Coach “D” has been under the impression that this team could make the playoffs. So he’s been going with more seasoned guys. Now that that pipe dream is just about over, Hill and Douglas should get some minutes.

I’m not really a big fan of his quirky handling of players that are either totally in or totally out. I think a coach should use players selectively because some match ups are better than others. Hughes has a good stretch, but he opened his yap and dug his own grave. He was playing like shit when he cam back anyway.

Just becUse he isn’t “going Anywhere” anytime soon doesn’t mean he is immune to criticism

It was a free look at Milcic because Q Rich sucks.

I knew Milcic sucked, but as a free look, what’s the big deal. Lee plays “C” because we need him on the court, but we also need Gallo and Chandler. There’s no one else to put in at C. Jeffries sucks on “O”, but at least he gives us above average “D” and some length.

I think most here admit that it is mis-matched roster, but, yo me, it is his seeming inability to get them to play with each and maximize what each can do, along with his, as I said, seeming inability to get them motivated coming out for the third quarter.

What starts slipping away before the end of the half becomes totally unwound in the third, and sometimes we get to watch a futile catch-up in the fourth. Can’t seem to see any meaningful adjustments, motivation, or increased focus coming out after the break.

since when are Stars the only players to show pride and professionalism?

Let’s talk about the coach not calling a timeout until we are sown by at least 20.

Shhh..he isn’t going anywhere. Why waste the bits.. It’s the players fault.

no one has a problem with fair criticism.

It just seems you flat hate the guy and it’s not even 2010 yet.

Exactly.

The biggest need is LEADERSHIP.

And David Lee does not LEAD by EXAMPLE.

He’s a very good player, but he’s not a “star” and he’s definitely not a franchise player.

Kidd would have been such a GREAT addition. Man.

haha awesome Mucha. Couldn’t of said any of that better myself.

Big, believe it or not, YOU couldn’t coach them better…

I thought JJ guards all five positions

That’s a cop out answer.. You’d think a “world class” Olympic coach could get more from a group some thought would compete for the 6 seed..

Lee is not a Kevin Garnett type.

We don’t have a Batman. Lee is a Robin. We are hoping to sign or trade for a Batman type either next year or the year after that.

The biggest problem still remains…why on earth is Chris Duhon still playing? Not only would this guy not be starting if I was the coach, but I would have given him the Larry Hughes treatment 2 months ago. Its ridiculous…this guy has no place in our future, can’t possibly be any better than Douglas or Nate, and is in my opinion the worst and least effective player in the league right now, yet he still plays an absurd amount of minutes while a first round pick who will be a part of the future and who has been somewhat effective can’t get off the bench. Its just insanity at this point. If Dantoni can not realize that Douglas and Hill is 2x greater at least than Duhon and Bender, this guy needs to be fired. I do think he has done an ok job coaching this year..this team is just miserable from a talent perspective and a chemistry perspective. This team is right where I expected them to be right now…but Damn!!!, we suck and we need to be rebuilding, play the young guys who are already leagues better than half the bums we trot out there every night.

So you don’t want to address any of my specific complaints about his in game strategy?

Yeah… I got something personal against the guy.. That must be it

Seriously, no one thought this team could compete for a 6 seed. I thought they would be lucky to win 25-30 games with his squad. If it wasn’t for the Bucks being hurt and a few other hings that broke our way, we would be buried even worse. They are performing in line with their talent.

I’m not saying the coach is beyond critcism, I criticize him enough myself. I just think Donnie has not given him much to work with.

The blame for me starts with Dolan and we has done to our franchise.

Then Donnie for this imbalanced roster with no SG or starting PG.

Then D’Antoni for all I said above.

Then the players. Who is the leader on this team?

I have watched Knicks teams give up after the first quarter. This team doesn’t do that which is why I put them at the bottom. Yes they let the lead get out of hand but they fight back. It is sad that my expectations have become so low I just want the players to show some pride and fight and with the exclusion of the 50 pt embarrasment they have done that this year.

The team just is not good. And David Lee is not an allstar.

Lee is more like an Alfred.

I think Mike D’Antoni has “maximized” Jeffries, Chandler and Lee’s talent. There’s nothing to maximize with Chris Duhon though, 0×0=0 lol.

But he definitely doesn’t run enough plays for Gallinari who should be treated as a potential franchise player (aka put him in the best position to improve his game). And Jordan Hill is still raw but he definitely deserves to get more minutes.

I criticize Mike D’Antoni’s reluctance to call time-outs, his inability to draw plays for his best shooter, the XXS rotation and the fact that Jordan Hill doesn’t get enough PT. But regarding the lack of motivation… I blame the players.

blaming the coach is the cop out. I’m not just blaming the players, I’ve always managed expectations.

I’m not even talking about pre season.. Though there were a lot of 40 game plus projections..

As few as three weeks ago some were targeting the 6 seed as reasonable

well done mucha.

Motivation? this is the NBA. Lang whitaker told me the other day that he hung with the Hawks on a recent road trip and Woodson doesn’t give rah rah speeches.

ever hear Phil Jackson? ZZZzzzzzzz

that’s what fans don’t understand.

Forget it Tommy.. I’m sure once we sign the best player in the universe the coach will go back to being a revolutionary genius

LMAO

More like commissioner Gordon

Like phil jackson?

that triangle offense is doing wonders in Minnesota…

i respect Rambis, and D’antoni at least they are not afraid to rebuild without a star. Unlike Riley or Jax.

give me a break…

Did you just read Muchas last sentence and ignore the rest of his very good post?

How about his failure to use time outs and give fouls when the team is not in the penalty ?

Disagree and you are selling Knick fans, the most intelligent out there short. A great coach does motivate players to better than they are and it doesn’t have to be with ra ra speeches.

It can be with Zen like mind games and books (Phil Jackson), grueling tough practices and good pregame speeches (Pat Riley), or creating an atmosphere where you instill confidence in the players and then they police themselves (Doc Rivers).

When a team comes out of halftime unmotivated or can’t run a play out of a timeout that shows a lack of leadership, and leadership comes from the top. I don’t think D’Antoni should be fired like I said above but putting this on the players and not holding the coach accountable in any way is also unacceptable.

The personnel sucks.

That was delusional.

The players suck as a group.

It convenient that lee is a star when it comes to deciding the all star game roster but not when it comes to evaluating whether this coach has any thoroughbred. horses in his barn or a bunch of donkeys

Give fouls that ended up working out for them? From what I gathered it’s all dependent on the situation. You think to much about the van gundy/riley glory days knicks.

time outs?

Dean smith never took time outs…EVER.

and i just got on him the other night about the selection down the stretch…

so….

Lol. Yep I noticed that too but decided not to call everyone out here on that. I’ve always said Lee isn’t an all-star but people were crying that he should be and Gallo is Dirk and shouldn’t be traded for anyone in the league and Chandler is Clyde and Duhon is a “suitable” NBA PG. Now they are saying our roster sucks don’t blame the coach.

are we seriously blaming the coach. come on, the coach can only do so much. please. this is crap stop blaming mike. he has the worst pg in the league and jeffries starting. this is a joke.

You mean the Riley days where a player went from bagging groceries to the all star game?

Guess Coach Riley had nothing to do with that.

well, not all “All-stars” are “star NBA players”

so it’s really not all that convenient. What you both are suggesting is misleading.

Al Horford isn’t a “star” …everyone on this site doesn’t find Bosh to be a “star” etc, etc.

THE ROCKETS DON’T HAVE ANY STARS AND THEY PLAY GOOD BALL. WE NEED TO SEND THE KNICKS TO SEE THE WIZARD OF OZ SO THEY CAN GET A HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dean Smith coached in the NBA?

If not, then college and pro basketball are two completely different animals and we shouldn’t be trying to compare them to defend or criticize an NBA coach.

Especially when you consider an NBA game is 48 minutes and 4 qtrs and more timeouts at your disposal. Not to mention older players and a longer schedule and back to back games where using timeouts is much more valuable.

AND EDDY CURRY IS GONNA HAVE A STARRING ROLE AS THE TIN MAN. LMFAO

and D’Antoni gets no credit, as Mucha pointed out, for Jeffries, Gallinari or Wil chandler?

all are playing better.

as far as starks, he credits Larry brown for getting him the invite to Golden state.

Yes, riley had plenty to do with it. but starks NEVER needed to be motivated. He needed to be harnessed.

and if he played on this team in his prime by himself, he wouldn’t take this team to the playoffs.

more misleading “glorification”

JJ is doing exactly what he did in DC to get the contract

I haven’t seen gallo and will play 4 anyone else so I’ve no way to gauge their development seperate from the coach .. Chandler last year was chucking waaaaay too many 3s presumably at the instruction of the Coach.. Gallo was a top draft pick… We don’t know if he is “playing better” because this is essentailly his first year… Though I would say he is shooting too many threes for my taste

regarding the all “star” game we can debate at the margins but it is clearly a stars game. Should Antwan Jamison have been there? Is he a “star”?

Josh smith? Too many hawks??

Regardless, If you make the AS game or at least are in the conversatio for getting there you have Talent. Period. So it is a bit misleading to say this coach has no “talent” if one player is on the cusp of top 25 in the league selection and others are in the conversation for best second year player or rookie or have been talenteed enough o be considered.

he has less “talent” than 75% of the NBA. and yes, talent wins when there is a lot of it, it’s prepared and works hard. These guys have played hard for the coach more often than not. they just have a slight margin for error.

I think this team (and its coach) have made it abundantly clear throughout january that the playoffs are, regrettably, a pipe dream. It has become obvious that its’ time to move pieces. My hopes that DW would shed JJ’s contract is at its all time low, but it’s there, and although he inexplicably played throughout the game hurt and still did a better job than expected shows that if packaged properly, he can be traded. If necessary, shedding of extra players should be done.
IMO, gathering picks should be a priority, since pulling young talent may be the Knicks best hope if the 2010 FAgency goes south, or if they’re only able to get a Rudy Gay type player.
Does this team have anyone worthy of picks? Definitely, but I don’t think Walsh has the stones to use them. the question of who’s expendable and who’s not is the issue here. If DW wants to pull something, he’s gonna have to get creative, and he may very well have to be ready to blow this team up.
Let Hill take more burn, give Toney D (as unprepared as he is) the reigns (assuming Mike D wants him there, it’s hard to tell just what exactly goes through his head). It’s time to let the young ones take it from here to get the PT needed to get accustomed to the NBA. Let the “rebuilding process” really happen once and for all,

Yikes Tommy! You are losing it dude! It’s the coach dude. Accountability starts with the coach!
JJ had the 2nd most 2 pt attempts tonite and you find that reasonable?

My God, I sometimes think some of ya know certian basics of this game. It’s doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when your team doesn’t play with effort, doesn’t know who are the threat on the floor, allows players to miss defensive assignments time and time again without any loss of PT, IT’S THE COACH!

It’s a shame you keep trying to divert accountability from this coach! I know Mark Jackson could get more out of this bunch than this coach.

This team keeps making the same errors game after game. Now here is Tommy Dee talking about not putting out effort after a hard loss.

A hard loss is the problem now huh? Yikes!

Tommy you have lost your mind! for your sake, I hope it’s not a hard lose!

75% of the league?

they are in the bottom half but there are (as you’ve said before) some useful parts here that should be able to be pieced together into a group that can compete against a team in utter turmoil in an empty building on the road.

Bottom line,

I just havent seen the team as a whole work hard on the defensive end,

they seem less than prepared going into the game,

they routinely come out of the half and get pasted in the 3rd quarter.

The end of game decisions and play calling has been troubling too — as we saw the other nite..

not to mention the crazy rotations and substitutions.

and the record on the second nite of back to backs reflects the lack of forsight that we saw evidenced tonight when an injured Jared Jeffries played 48 minutes and is now getting on a plane (hopefully with the weather) to go to Minny to play tomorrow.

I dont think it is” wasting breathe” to discuss these issues as they seem to be part and parcel of this coach’s philosophy… A philosophy that you point out isnt going anywhere anytime soon.

nite bro…

I have to agree with BiggieSmalls. This coach is so overrated. There is no excuse for the team constantly lacking “energy” and “focus” in these games. Since when is having a bonafide “star” a prerequisite for beating the Wizards? To compund matters, the guy continues to make ridiculous decisions. He refuses to even look at Hughes, while his starting point guard continues to play terribly, and when one of his lead scorers is out with an injury. He plays a guy who hyperextended his knee two days ago for 48 minutes, when he knows that it is imperative that this same player remain healthy in order to give the team a reasonable chance to trade him. There’s no doubt that D’Antoni is coming back next year-I’m starting to believe that is part of the problem. Really, what has this guy ever done to give fans any reason to believe that a team can win something significant with him in charge?

Until we upgrade the center position defensively the Knicks will always be a losing ball club.

Say What? Gallo could be so much better with a good coach! Are you watching the games dude? really?

JJ was a defensive specialist when Isiah brought him in. He got hurt and never materialize with all of Isiah b.s. What JJ is doing is what he ws doing in Wash before we signed him

As for Chandler, he’s playing better lately but this dude has been very inconsistent he used to disappear in games.

Players haven’t developed under this coach other than Lee becoming more of an offensive weapon at the expense of playing very little or no defense at center.

Get real Tommy! It’s the coach dude, it’s really is the coach! I see the same alarms in this coach that I saw in Isiah and that’s quite scary!

Yep Biggie and you have nailed it! I ask you this, Can you tell me what is our team trying to do on the offensive end of the court usually game in and game out?

Do you see a method or approach to the offense that makes sense since this suppose to D’Antoni’s forte?

Is Gallo used wisely? Is Harrington used wisely? Is N8 used wisely?

Do you see an approach in critical moments of game that make you believe there is a strategy for certain guys to get the ball in location where they can succeed?

If you can answer these questions in honest favorably for this coach, you should seek medical assistance right away! lol

They definitely need to upgrade defensively, but their problems are deeper than that. The coach is not exactly known for being a defensive genius either.

Rah rah Speeches? Phil Jackson has many rings and if players are playing defense, they get put on the bench period!

It’s not about Rah Rah, it’s about having a strategy on the floor that benefits the players. The players need to know what is expected of them and the coach has to hold them accountable to this.

Our defense is sucks or is non-existence too many times and I still don’t see the players being put on the bench or called out for this during games.

This coach can rah rah, sing a song or whatever it takes but he needs to be held accountable and so does his players by him.

Stop making excuses and comparing this coach to Phil Jackson! We know he no Phil and we don’t expect to make the playoffs this year. But we do expect to have a team that plays hard and get smarter and not do the same dumb things night after night!

The Trade No ones talking about

Amare

for

David Lee
Chris Duhon
Jared Jefferies

True, but his trademark as being a good offensive mind is in question here in NY too! Poor Gallo, he could be so much better with a good coach!

So what can the coach do? Really? Who makes this coach keeps playing Duhon when he himself has stated that Duhon lacks any confidence?

Why does Duhon not have any good chemistry with Gallo on the court? Gallo is ignored by Duhon game after game!

JJ is the one thing this coach has going for him and yet JJ is shooting 3s! Yikes!

Turn the TV on Dino and watch the games!

So we should not criticized Isiah until he was going some where correct? Your argument about where the coach is going is bogus to deflect serious concerns about this coach!

I can’t believe you are confusing your own self. Many of us have been saying we are rebuilding so lets play the youths and wqtch them develop while the coach holds them accountable for things like
– playing hard each night.
– knowing their assignments
– learning how to play thru key situations and etc.

Then it’s those like you that then come here and talk about the youths need to earn their PT as though this team is a bonafide contender. It’s those like you that are not consistent.

I want a coach that can take these young players and teach them how to smarter at this game. We might not win many games this year but we will have a better idea about who are the keepers and whoa re not.

A lot of these posts are going back and forth, but let’s face reality, this team sucks. We had a good run in December (against favorable matchups) sandwiched in between some bad months. At this point I think everyone on this team is untouchable (if any team in the league is even interested), and I hope DW didn’t need to meet with everyone this week to decide that. I can’t see any franchise player seriously looking in the direction of NY as a place to play. And people talking about Curry getting traded for the cap, don’t even waste your time thinking or typing. We don’t want the guy on this team, so that doesn’t mean the rest of the league would be interested.

BTW I love Gallo, but I haven’t seen someone make more awkward layup attempts since JJ.

Anyone see collison tonight?

18 assists subbing 4 injured chris paul

Don’t even know where to start on that

Donnie and his scouts weren’t familiar with his game.

D’Antoni would never give any minutes to a guy like that anyway. Duhon’s too valuable.

And to think nOLa went on the road after a bad loss and beat Memphis without their “star” chris Paul

Sorry guys, i abandoned the conversation because i needed to sleep a little; Ahh, how many nights awake to see Mike lead his team so poorly. Btw Biggie, i saw a little of collison, amazing, just like……Duhon!!!!!

you know what guys, i think i developed a real passion for the knicks, believe it or not. The worst is, i can’t support toronto anymore, even with the others two italian guys! How many wasted nights in front of pc watching knicks while everybody sleeps here in france. Yes, i’m italian but i live half of my time in france.
Mucha, biggie,xman, circle, ds and all the others, listen:
we are in the same shit!!!

OK the party is over and the kool aid has warn off.

Part One:

D’Antoni is an overrated and egotistical in an Isiah sort of way by thinking he can take any 5 guys and teach them to be great players at any position.

From the start of the season you could see dissension and that was D’Antoni’s fault, lack of leadership from his end first. Lack of discipline. He does not discipline his players, he does not demand things from his players. That’s why they all love the guy and say such nice things about him.

With his last team he was blessed with a talented roster who didn’t really even need a coach. They knew how to play and Nash ran the show. Do you really think LeBron or Kobe need a coach….LOL….or Jordan, Ewing or any other true great player of any era. By the time they were great they had literally out grown needing to be coached. That’s what made them great. That’s what makes Kobe and Lebron and KG great. They don’t really NEED to be coached.

Yes you need a coach, but having one to help the team and needing one are two different things. Jordan and Kobe needed Jackson’s help, not needed him to coach them, that’s the way it works in the NBA. It’s not like other sports in that respect. But does Peyton Manning need to be coached…no….but the team needs a coach. Other players need to be coached and the star and coach work together. The star picks the coach in the NBA we all now that. If the star does not like the coach he’s gone.

So now you have a situation were this team needs to be coached, everybody needs coaching. His First duty is to instill discipline and that means shot selection, passing the ball and defense. These three things are the weakness of this team. How could any coach let players like Harrington and Nate get away with their lack of passing and poor shot selection. And with Duhon’s lack of getting the ball to Gallo. The unwillingness for a coach to call specific plays for players is unheard of. And the lack of demanding defense from his players. There’s is much more to this list of things D’Ant lacks.

These players have turned a deaf ear to this coach and have zero respect for him. Players like Hughes have a legitimate grip, Hughes is right but honestly a good coach would have just sent Hughes home until they either cut him or traded him and told the GM get rid of this guy. Harrington and Nate have no clue how to play basketball so how exactly has this coach made these players better? Did sitting Nate work? No. So this coach did what exactly in terms of instilling discipline? It was all a facade, Nate should have OKed a trade and gotten out of here, he’s not the brightest bulb in the lamp.

I think you have this team all wrong people. They do play hard and give effort. They just lack leadership and that comes from the head coach down. This started off as a fractured club house, who was the leader. It took too long for D’Antoni to put his foot down and lay it all out for these imbeciles. This is a dumb team. Some of these players are not smart and it shows on the court, they don’t play smart.

Nobody talks about that…..WHY??????……didn’t anybody see this? It was so obvious that there were two factions in the club house one lead by Harrington the other by DLee and Duhon. The fact is this team does not like each other.

Am I the only person that sees this?

Harrington even said he wanted to lead this team and become more of a leader. Be here next year and be the star of the Knicks. Yet it was Duhon and DLee who were voted as Captains by the team NOT Harrington. Can anybody spell out Dissension in the ranks?

Did D’Antoni do anything about it? NO…not until we lost how many games? The ship was sinking and he was desperate so he was forced to instill some discipline and get this team to start working together. What took him so long? It should have been done from the first day.

Am I the only one who sees this?

But the real bottom line here is this; Are we rebuilding or are we trying to make a run at the playoffs? You cannot do BOTH!!!!!!

The idea of the playoffs was realistic if D’Antoni had made it clear that was his goal. He should have had clear cut roles for each player from jump street, he didn’t. he should have said to Walsh I know we are trying to rebuild but I want to at least try to make the playoffs, get me another PG at least and someone who can play the 2 guard once they found out Mobely was unable to play.

Part 2 next.

right now i would blame Walsh more than Dantoni.WE have played almost 2 seasons without a back up point.(or a starting point)whatever way you look at it.You would think after last season we would have at least 2 point guards and a legit center this year.His plan is stupid and an absolute Fan RIP OFF.And his draft was ,to be fair,EH

Part II…….

So now we have this roster put together with the idea of this. We want to try and make the playoffs but we are also going to rebuild. We want people to play hard but there is no guarantee that anybody will be here except for some of the young players, maybe, unless we trade them. We want to sign two max players next season, but wait there is not enough cap space…..WTF…..and nobody else will probably be here unless they want to resign for minimum wage……or prove they are super stars. And we must somehow get rid of Jefferies and Curry’s contracts too.

Talk about confusion and lack of direction, that was a joke. How could any team play together to the point of being a playoff caliber team under those circumstances. It’s impossible!!!!

No direction, no exact plan of action, a team of forwards with one PG on the roster, no real SG and two centers one of which is a huge question mark. That’s how we went into the season. That is NOT a very good roster and to think you can even sniff the playoffs is so delusional. Only the ego of a D’Antoni would even think playoffs with this group.

A starting lineup of Duhon, Chandler, Gallo, Jefferies and DLee…LMAO, that’s going to take you to the playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then to top it all off he goes to a short rotation because he cannot figure out how to make this mismatched group play together. He then goes on runs winning a few games to get the heat off his back. In doing so he wears these guys out and risks injury to them. Have you noticed DLee’s knee brace. So now we are back to losing game after game but the heat came off so it’s all good again…….

Back to the roster: A career backup PG at best, 2 young players who are a year or two away from completing their game. A backup defensive specialist who should never see the court for more than 10-15 minutes a game and a smallish power forward at center, that’s what you call a playoff caliber team?

Now if you had said to me this is the roster before the season I would have said maybe: Curry at center with Milicic as a backup, DLee and Harrington(backup) as PFs, Chandler and Gallo(backup) as SFs, Mobley and Hughes(backup) at the SG and Duhon/Nate(backup) as PGs, Jefferies as the defensive specialist off the bench.

That sounds much better on paper then reality but that’s what D’Antoni should have been trying to put together. He had to slow his offense down, run plays and go into more half court sets. No that was not his style but that’s what the roster dictated until he could change the makeup of his team. Walsh screwed that all up even more by not drafting a PG and added another PF to the roster in Jordan Hill and a combo guard in Douglas both of which were not needed.

But what did DAntoni actually do?

Sent Curry into exile, whether warranted or not. Milicic into exile, not even giving this guy a chance and moving DLee into the starting center position. That’s going to give you a shot at the playoffs…….delusional.

Moved Harrington to the 6th man role because he needed his scoring off the bench, that was BS. It was to send a message to Harrington you are NOT a super star and NOT the leader of this team.

Moved JJ to the starting team because he was desperate for some defense. The Knicks are the only team in the NBA that would allow such a poor player to even sniff that many minutes let alone start. Another brilliant D’Ant move.

Use Nate as his personal whipping boy when Nate was doing the same things other players were doing yet Nate was the only player to receive grief for it. Nice……

So when you take a step back and look at what Walsh and D’Antoni have done for 2 years you start to see reality. These guys are two faced and have no clue whatsoever as to what they are doing, what they are trying to truly accomplish and how to go about it.

How would this team look if they had drafted the right guys and had a coach like Mark Jackson or Patrick Ewing or an established traditional NBA coach.

Drafted Brooke Lopez, a true all star caliber 7 foot center and Brandon Jennings a PG with unlimited upside. But Gallo was the the Italian connection….LMAO and Walsh didn’t have a feel for Jennings after he destroyed Tyreke Evans in front of his face….give me a break…what BS.

How about this season’s starting 5 of Lopez, DLee, Chandler, Jennings and someone to play SG, he would not have to be great just competent. Now maybe there is a rebuilding team who would also be able to compete for a playoff spot. With Milicic, Harrington, Hughes, Nate, Jefferies off the bench.

I know it’s 20/20 hindsight if not for the fact that’s who I really wanted the Knicks to draft, NOT the players they did.

So what we have here is a lost team. Nobody but a few core players to be here next season and the hope that someone will come here take Dolan’s money and save the Knicks. Guess what, that person does not exist because the only person who could do that is LeBron and he’s not coming. And the hope upon hope we can dump the contracts of Jefferies and Curry.

So we are going to suffer through another season of crap like we have for how many years now? With no end in sight, because 2011 will be just as bad.

Wake me up in 2013 when Walsh retires and D’Antoni has gone back to Europe with the book “7 seconds or less” under his arm. Don’t let the door hit you in the arse.

What’s next Jimmy Boy? Who’s going to save the Knicks next?

Bang on Tommy .

KNICKS , barrig a miracle trade and comeback , are done and …….

at the mercy of luck this summer . Really makes you wonder ..

Duhon has been horrible all year. At what point do you do whats right for your team and start finding a better solution? When its to late ? Mike D’Antoni has this man crush on the kid OR the rest just cant get the jist of the system . I dunno

I really hope Donnie wises up and starts using his leverage. Right now he has players that title contenders could really use off the bench ( even Darko ) . And he has Nate , Lee and Chandler .

IF something from all those expiring , a rook or Chandler cant get you a decent PG , I dunno man

Trade deadline is here. This is my plan: JJ and Curry to Washington for Arenas and McGee. Robinson and Lee to Utah for Boozer. We try to sign Boozer long term for a reasonable number or he walks. We go to July 2010 with 27 million plus to sign Lebron or Dwayne. Your thoughts?

@ BDBM, It just goes to show to those who took the time to read your post that it takes more than sitting in Donnie’s lap watching the Knicks practice, or having your nose so far up the rear of Walsh and MD you can tell what they’re about to eat to have a perspective worth being expressed and heard, it takes having your senses attuned to reality and not subjugating yourself to those who want to maintain a level of BS in their persona and their reason, and also sometimes it takes knowing the game because you have played the game. I maybe wrong Tommy but it looks like you have never touched a basketball in your life-at any level-and believe me coaching, competing, hard work, skills, heart, all of these traits you recognize with a better perspective by having engaged in the competition (hands on experience) than just going to the Knicks practices, or cuddling up to Walsh and MD so you can get a softball question in! That’s just another reason the Knicks are in their predicament, cause of beat writers not holding the Knicks brass to the fire, but going to knicks practices, swallowing Walsh’s and MD BS, and then telling us that what they are saying makes sense and what they are doing and have done were the right things to do, all while the Knicks keep going down the toilet! Tommy with all due respect i think you should copy “BigDaddybluesman” post and document it in your computer so you’ll have true sense of reality and perspective realitive to the Knicks, the Knicks brass, and the Knicks brass pathetic decision making!!!

I read both of your posts and it was a really good read! Amazing that some Knicks writers that we rely on for information can see many of the tings that you wrote. After Isiah, you would think these writers would be more apt to see the same bulls-h-i-t offered under his tenure and hold mgmt accountable for the conflicting and confusing goals and implementation plans on the floor.

If the goals and implementation methods are conflicting from the start, then it’s easier to use Isiah type diversions from addressing the real issues.

We already knew from the start that we don’t have the players to be serious contender for the playoffs or in the playoffs. Why even go down this road b.s.ing the fans? Why would writers even fall for this from mgmt?

You’re correct in that it starts at the top. Donnie and the coach don’t seem to be on the same page and if they are, that’s more damaging!

It’s the coach, it really is! We have white Isiah coaching this team with the same bulls-h-i-t and dishonesty!

+ 1

lol. To be fair, if 2010-2011 is suppose to be the year, then I surely could accept this roster as-is because I see this GM has a master plan and he intends to stick it at the exp of short-term crazy fixes. Yet we are hearing about playoffs as though we have the horses and coach to make that a sensible reality.

Now you hear reality that maybe 2010 might not be the year. What a farce if that’s the case. Isiah lives on and it’s possible that Isiah might just be a symptom and not the source (Dolan)!

Good read. Where do you go from here. Management has had a plan of rebuilding. D’Antoni’s optimism about the quality of his players was obviously overstated. Making the playoffs was not realistic. Next year you will see the rookies and no more Duhon, Harrington, Hughes, Mobley, Lee and Robinson. Wasn’t that the plan? I do not know why you already convinced that the Knicks money will not buy a super star or two. I think that is a real possibility. Just an opinion.

Just the other day i went to check the OC Thunder’s roster (looking to see if that would be a good destination for Dlee), I concluded that if i was GM i would take back Nick Collison and the best of Seattles two 1st rd picks for DLee-but that is just relative to the second statement i want to make. Back to the Thunder’s roster, that team is a solid 2 deep at each position, and their secon team is a better group of 5 not only potentially but presently than our own starting 5, how sad is that! About Collison, yeah i know he has around 7 mill. due to him next year but if the Knicks don’t keep Dlee they don’t have anyone who can slide into the pf/c spot on their present roster (including JHill who i don’t believe is even close to being ready at this time).

My second satatement, some of us doubt even as also the Knicks brass doubt, that Plan “A”: LBJ, DWade, even CB4 and JJ is a pipe dream that will never become a reality, that being said I hope they thought about a plan “B”, plan “C”, as well as a plan “D” because going forward another failed plan ie. drafting unnecesary players (another “F”?!?, and a undersize combo guard who never played the pg position in college) is the type of failure that could take the Knicks another decade to right itself from. That being said it is definitely time for the Knicks to “cut bait” and acquire as many draft picks as they can with no one player but maybe Gallo and IllWill being untouchable (IllWill only because the Knicks won’t get equal value for him and also he is still so young), but everyone else (i really don’t want to see N8 go ) MUST BE SHOPPED, NOW!!! Their has to be 5 worthwhile players in this upcoming draft that will be around to select at the 15-20 pick that could be a major piece in helping this franchise turn itself around: Lance stephenson (who i want), Willie Warren(who is growing on me), Renardo Sydney, Craig Brackens, or an Armon Johnson are all those type of players.

r.i.p. knicks playoff hopes

december 2009 – january 2010

“Lol. Yep I noticed that too but decided not to call everyone out here on that. I’ve always said Lee isn’t an all-star but people were crying that he should be and Gallo is Dirk and shouldn’t be traded for anyone in the league and Chandler is Clyde and Duhon is a “suitable” NBA PG. Now they are saying our roster sucks don’t blame the coach”

I don’t know what your point is Knicks4life and you don’t have to start pointing fingers again anyways – it is irritating.

The Knicks starting line-up is :

1. Duhon – The worst starting point guard in the NBA
2. Gallinari – 21-year old player
3. Chandler 22-year old player
4. Jeffries – One of the most useless players in the NBA offensively
5. Lee – A legitimate All-Star candidate who plays no defense

You can’t make the playoffs if you play 3-on-5 on both ends of the court, period. Jeffries/Duhon are useless offensively (even though JJ singlehandedly kept us in the game yesterday) – they couldn’t make a lay-up to save their lives – and Lee/Duhon are useless defensively. Will and Gallo are useful on both ends of the court but they are inconsistent.

The bench? No back-up point guard, a 22-year old rookie PF, Nate Robinson and the most egoistical, self-centered player in the NBA.

Look at the Bobcats, now they have a well-balanced roster. They have 2 legit point guards, they have an All-Star caliber shooting guard, an All-Star shooting forward, a talented (but inconsistent) power forward and a strong center.

Nobody on this blog said that Gallinari’s Nowitzki now STFU – your argument is PLAYED OUT.

I don’t mean to be overly aggressive but you constantly call people out – Nobody cried about the fact that Lee wasn’t selected and nobody called Gallinari the next Nowitzki anyways so try something different. As a matter of fact don’t.

Wow. BigDaddyBluesman this is one of the best reads I’ve seen here in a little while. Fantastic. Reminds me of an old friend from back in the day when sipping koolaid and avoiding criticism of management because they give writers info was not in vogue.

In fact, I would like to publish your comment this week as a lead post at Knicks Fanatics Blog. Let me know if that is o.k. with you by emailing me at IGMKnicks2010@aol.com. They tend to steal comments from other blogs anyway for posts, but this one is special.

Tommy knows I’ve been saying this for most of the year, it is most definitely D’Antoni’s fault that he can get these players to play well one moment and can’t the next. He and management did a f’d up job of treating these guys like a “Now” team as opposed to a group of expiring contracts and placeholders. D’Antoni has been extremely disrespectful and unfair to individuals on this team with his non-communicative style and coach by feeling method. This team reflects management and coaching as much if not more than it reflects talent level.

Hit me with a note BigDaddyBluesMan

I had to read it a second time. Nice and well thought out. Man, you’ve been paying attention to detail.

I co-sign much of VOR’s response (without some of the personal venom), but you’ve got to know a little something about real basketball that involves more than dribbling. Basketball is about character and human nature. NBA basketball is a business and players are employees. The coach is a boss. The coach carries the responsibility of getting the most that he can out of his employees/talent.

I disagree with you BigDaddy Blues on your assessment of the intelligence of the Knicks players. RIght there (and only there) you sound like Alan Hahn from mount smarter than thou high. What is clear though is that this “collection” of players has not been mentally and physically conditioned to think like winners or to feel like winners.
Basketball doesn’t require you to be a freaking genius. It requires conditioning and training of physical and mental muscles. It requires repetition towards a goal whether it is to win games in the last second or simply to become a good shooter.

D’Antoni did not treat his collection of 13-15 players like a team. He said so himslef, He was initially playing for 2010 and then he saw how bad 1-9 looked and felt. TOO LATE. You start to send your employees a message during the off-season, not 10 games into the season.

Walsh gave the wrong message and D’Antoni just reinforced it into mediocrity-minus. This team sucks and it begins at the top.

The coach sucks as the main part of the group.

Hey Whoa now.. To be fair Tommy is a knicks fan to the core. I would not lump him in with the ball sucking beat writers.

I truly believe that he speaks from the heart and says what is on his mind — not some company line or with any ulterior motives ..

That’s just not fair VOR.

His opinion differs from mine but I would never question his integrity or his ability to think on his own.

And though I’ve never seen Him play he claims to have some game.

Interesting post but I disagree with several statements.

1. “But the real bottom line here is this; Are we rebuilding or are we trying to make a run at the playoffs? You cannot do BOTH!!!!!!”

So you want Mike D’Antoni to be more respectful towards his players but tell’em that they are not good enough to make the playoffs? The coach should try to win, the fact that he doesn’t have the horses to turn things around today is not his fault. The players have to play hard REGARDLESS, God damn these guys are MILLIONAIRES! Don’t even tell that they feel DISRESPECTED!

2. “Moved Harrington to the 6th man role because he needed his scoring off the bench, that was BS. It was to send a message to Harrington you are NOT a super star and NOT the leader of this team”

Because he is NOT a leader and he is NOT a star! What Harrington thinks about himself shouldn’t even be taken into consideration. This team needs to develop Gallinari’s game and showcase his talent – Harrington is not good enough to be in the starting line-up and he does NOT lead by example.

3. “Moved JJ to the starting team because he was desperate for some defense. The Knicks are the only team in the NBA that would allow such a poor player to even sniff that many minutes let alone start. Another brilliant D’Ant move”

We need to showcase Jeffries to trade him! It’s not hard to understand!!

Cop out…

yeah, I’ve lost my mind….

effort in the NBA has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COACH.

unless the team HAS TUNED HIM OUT AND WANTS HIM FIRED.

Which isn’t the case.

Sorry X-man, you don’t have it all figured out.

Get real Tommy! It’s the coach dude, it’s really is the coach! I see the same alarms in this coach that I saw in Isiah and that’s quite scary!

so now he’s Isiah? ok thanks..,

pardon me if i never read anymore of your comments. even if you blast me and use my name 100x.

Doc Rivers?
Phil Jackson?
Pat Riley?

um, they all have or had SUPERSTARS.

so thanks for making my point.

how did scott skiles motivate in Chicago WITH talent. How’d that work out?

Phil Jackson doesn’t have the guts to come to a team without one or two of the league’s best so don’t compare anyone to him.

I respect D’Antoni for taking the challenge. I’ve actually coached at a pretty strong level x-man, and you have no idea how easy it is to question coaching when your team isn’t any good.

Had someone tell me they wanted Rick Carlyle as coach instead of D’Antoni.

How does he let Miller go for 52 and lose to the blazers without oden or Roy?

easy to find examples. and no, no one was drafting darrin collison in the lottery.

you’re hatred is really funny for someone who is such an intelligent fan.

VOR- I constantly stay away from the “where did you coach, where did you play?” argument because it gets no where. I can dribble, I can play and i’ve coached at a pretty solid level. and I scout. Am i to respect someone who has cred at their sportsclub or playground over a guy who played in Europe professionally or vice versa? No. Because many playground players don’t have respect for NBA players, so what’s the point?

While that doesn’t really mean anything, if you read the blog you would have known that.

just do little homework.

not that hard.

Wow.

I’ve been in disagreement with Tommy several times but I do not question his integrity and basketball IQ. He’s just being patient, everything revolves around 2010-2011. It’s his house regardless.

just using NoLa as an example of a team that went from an overtime loss to Chi Town and the_next_day went to Memphis and competed without their superstar… AND WON.

as contrasted by your blog post that the knicks lost last nite was reason 101 why superstars are so essential.

Super stars who can put a team on their back are nice.. there are maybe what? 25 or so in the league? if that?

Houston manages to get by without one. NoLa did last nite.

you bring up portland.. where another player STEPPED UP.. when the super star (Roy) was no there and the team WOn.. Imagine that?

Superstars arent essential.. Effort is.

And the coach is blamed for that effort?

maybe in college or high school.

not for players who are playing for another contract…or their NBA lives.

THEY DON’t NEED ANY MOTIVATION. or at least they shouldn’t.

that is NOT the coach’s fault.

Tommy, I don’t think you should even respond to comments like that from VOR. I run a soccer blog and when I get attacked, I just let my readers defend the me/the site. Regardless of whether we agree with each of your opinions, you deserve respect, and don’t have to defend yourself.

ittalianStallion, how the heck are you going to defend this coach. Are you NUTS! He is just as bad as the players. Lee the worst defender on the team is playing the most important defensive position on the team. Does that make sense to you? A 6’9″ center that does not attempt to block a shot. No opposing team will respect that. DAntoni’s coaching is a joke. You and Tommy Dee can ride with this horrible coach but don’t expect everyone to go along for this long ride. You are forgetting his offense at the begining of the year that set records for taking 3 point shots in a game. Wake up dude this coach has got you believing in nothing.

Big, if you’re managing someone in the office in this economy and you tell them “hit your numbers or you may not be back next year knowing the saturated unemployment numbers, do you NEED to motivate them every day to do their jobs?

yeah, fair point and thanks. I’ve just never been one to let people yap without talking back.

i honestly, don’t care all that much.

I think that Mucha’s point here is the key to keeping things in perspective. Specifically, we start the worst PG in the league, whose backup is the most selfish, childish player in the league — such team will never be successful. We should play Larry Hughes and Douglas more (Biggie’s point), but I’m not sure they would even make the team that much better. Hughes got benched for making stupid decisions (the actual play that got him sitting for that extended period was when he threw a crosscourt pass into the stands for the second time in a game) — his problem seems to be that as soon as you let him get comfortable, he starts thinking he can do whatever he wants. And while I love. love, love Tony Douglas’s D, he has shown less ability that even Suhon to run an offense — kind of important from a PG. David Lee does not deserve big minutes if he is going to play defense like he does, but who would play for him? All Harrington? More of the same, but worse.

Biggie is right that there have been some questionable coaching decisions, but I have definitely seen some growth from a couple of guys (Chandler, especially), and NYC isn’t that easy to play in for anyone. Sadly, I think we jsut need to be patient for next year. This is a team in limbo/transition, and we can’t really, really criticize them until we see how they are comprised/play next year.

ill give you the effort point.. that is the players.. but players have been known to give effort and respond TO a coach in the past…

should they be motivated by their next paycheck ? yes.. do they think about that every day? not sure… im not in their heads.

How does Houston get max effort from a squad that is completely out matched talent wise most nights?
…

and to your point.. yes .. i do need to motivate people day to day — even in this economy,.. because if i have to fire everyone who isnt giving day to day effort at some point the gun gets pointed at MY head.

trust me.. ive managed people who think their shit dont stink. you gotta get the max outta everyone under you.. regardless of the big picture situation.

Tommy, I totally don’t understand what youyr saying, If your referencing your comment to the Brandon Jennings/Ricki Rubio fiasco, to me that’s `”stagnant” water under the bridge` made more foul by the later comments by Walsh that he “did not “have a feel for Jennings”! I’m beyond the Knicks not drafting Jennings and have detached myself from the BS that came out of Walsh mouth about it and even your alliance with Walsh and the propaganda that you bacame a party to in your continuing repitition of that nonsensable explanations for his lack of insight and right judgment in not drafting Jennings (on certain days Tommy you remind me of “Bagdad Bob”, but like Bagdad Bob i know you have a job to do so i’m not going to disparage your trying to do it), but Jennings is only 20/21 yrs old and yes still immature, maybe you can’t get over what he said but Walsh and his scouts-I certainly hope your not one of them-should have rose above his statement, then recognized his talent, and then weighted all the plus/minuses that had to do with this young man and then decide to do what was the correct thing to do and not the politically correct thing to do! Also there are a lot of worst things that have been said and done by other players not only in the NBA but right on the Knicks! Even the very player that BS artist Walsh traded for “Darko” was filmed saying the most disgusting things about not another man ie.”Rubio”, but another man’s wife and little child! This immature man-”Darko”-in a fit of rage said he wanted to rape another mans little girl, and that was the less offensive things i heard him say! But of course Walsh must not have had a feel for him either that’s why he “DID TRADE FOR HIM”! Whose missing something, because it sure is not me! This Cat Walsh have a lot stink on him and the closer you get Tommy your not gonna smell any better either!

And let me guess, you haven’t received the most out of ALL of them.

Houston wins because they have been together for a long time. that helps. Can’t compare this group with anyone based on expirings.

Successful people motivate themselves.

i hate myself for being happy that Larry brown was fired after that horrible 23 win season. I will take Larry Brown over DAntoni any day. Larry has a history for making horrible teams into contenders. That’s what he does and thats what he loves to do. We begged him to give Lee more minutes that year like we are begging DAntoni to give Hill more minutes this year. Larry is old school and he would have a true shot blocking center. DAntoni is no school he just makes it up as it goes along. if you are open and your’e on the court, Shoot!

Tommy Dee i know u are a smart guy so stop the bull. You have to be friends with the coach or married into the family. I like DAntoni also but not for this team at this time. He made Lee into a good offensive threat but like his (DAntoni’s) career all offense and no defense. I watch his show and u can’t help but like the guy but he makes horrible decisions on who should be on the floor if he wants to win.

What do you think D’Antoni’s excuse will be after tonight’s loss? I can see it now-”Tired Legs”; “3rd game in 4 nights”; “Road Weary”. This of course coming right after the Knicks lost games to both Toronto and Washington after each of these teams had to travel after playing the night before.

I guess we just have to stay tuned.

I would agree but look back at the game we made a push when J. Hill was in and Lee was on the bench I think it was J. HIll, Nate, Gallo, cant remember the line up. I think coach has to notice that and start the same line up in the 3rd and then add Lee back to the line up later on in the 3rd. Im sorry but I dont see any adjustments from coach Mike Miller should have had a trailer on his ass after he hit his 3rd 3pt shoot as you know he has a good shoot last night we should have not been in a Zone on Defense because of there 3 pt shooting. I dont care if J.Hill makes mistakes thats how you learn but the kid plays hard and does not just let people drive to the hoop I like that a lot.

Email sent…..thank you…..anybody can use anything I write about the Knicks.

LOL I dont care I think van gundy would have this roster at .500. This is a .500 team Duhon should have been benched like 20 games ago. I think its a joke Larry H. cant be that much worse than Duhon passing up shot attempts and missing the ones he does take. J. Hill should be getting more time as if this is a rebuilding year he should be out there more imo. Bring in a better big man coach (sorry Herb) Hill should be learning from Pat Ewing as they are both shooting bigs. Mikes sub patterns drive me crazy and he does not make enough adjustments on D. I.E. pressue the ball in the back court with nate and Tony D. We have a pretty fast back court with them in it. sometimes you have to disrupt the other teams offense. Just my thoughts.

LMAO

It’s pretty frustrating to read so many ridiculous comments here. I know we are all Knicks fans, and passionate ones, but I’m shocked at how many of you seem to forget or not know what the team’s PLAN is.

From the beginning, Walsh decided on a 2-year plan to rebuild. A decade of awful contracts has killed us and thankfully, they expire this summer. He hired D’Antoni as part of this 2 year plan. Don’t bother calling for his head. This season is not about winning as much as it is showcasing our guys for trades and developing SOME youth. Tommy, you know the deal.

Those of you blaming this sickening lack of effort on the coach: But a sock in it. These guys have to motivate themselves. This is the NBA, not a YMCA. The problem is most of them know they aren’t gonna be here next year. How do you balance winning and chemistry with a mostly lame-duck team?! They CAN make the playoffs (you tell me that we cant beat the Bulls, Bucks, and Heat?!), but its on them, NOT D’Antoni.

My only gripe with Pringles is his own ego. Yeah, his communication with his players is notably bad. And he takes too long to make an adjustment to his plans. It’s easy to see certain guys are tired on this team, and I really really really want him to finally sit No-Can Duhon on the pine. But he’s working with it best he can.

Hey, you wanna know why youth sits the bench? HE IS TRYING TO DRIVE UP THE VALUE OF GUYS LIKE JEFFERIES!! You think it’s a secret to the rest of the league that we have overpaid undertalented guys? Think about this the next time you post a trade offer of your own – How does this help the OTHER team?! Why would THEY want Jefferies, or Harington or Duhon, or Curry?! And as for Lee. Yeah, his defense sucks. But how about some credit for his playing against entire frontlines of every other team and STILL putting up top-tier numbers?! Who ELSE on this team rebounds?

1. You’re putting words in my mouth. I never said anything of the sort. You’re taking what I said and making up some type of psychology behind it.

But these are people not robots. They have feelings and needs and are a spoiled bunch mostly. They are not plug and play toys, these are real men and the fans forget that all the time. This is not a video game.

Money does not buy you the basic needs of a human being. So just because you make a million dollars it doesn’t mean you don’t want to feel needed at your job, or loved or desired. Making a million dollars just means you’re temporally rich.

Are you saying that because they are making a lot of money that have no rights as to be treated with basic human decency? That it’s OK to treat them like a piece of meat without taking their basic rights as a human being into account. This is still America were that is NOT supposed to be done on any level and for any amount of money.

2. It sounds like you are agreeing with me……..I’m confused about your response.

3. Drink the kool aid, showcased…LMAO….for whom? You are telling me that the real NBA people don’t know what JJ is? Are you that naive?

Showcased? For the fans of other teams?……You’re just repeating something someone wrote trying to make up a reason to play this guy. You showcase an unknown or a player who is coming off an injury to show he is still capable of playing, not a guy who has been in the NBA for a while now.

The idea that NBA management and players don’t know what kind of player JJ is sounds just plain naive, there’s a reason we can’t trade him. Many teams would have taken him because he does do some things well and they can use that, but not with that contract.

wait a minute buddy tommy dee, i believe that dAntoni is on the same pace as isiah right now. So far he has not proven to be much better than Zeke. Isiah had a 33 win season and i dont hink we will be much better. The east is even worse this year. So why are we getting beat by 50. Zeke lost by 40 to the hornets but i there is not much difference from the production.

weren’t we talking about your lame-ass claim that I’ve “never picked up a ball before?”

as far as jennings, he was a risky pick and one that a lot of teams passed on. did Walsh make the wrong pick? I don’t know, I like Hill. Jennings could come to MSG and light them up and make everyone look bad. But he can also get Skiles fired in a year and be all about self. Can’t tell yet.

does anyone really take Darko seriously?

If I make you that mad I guess i’m doing something right.

Great coaches are able to motivate their players, and maximize their talent. This business about how it is the NBA and players should automatically be able to motivate themselves is nonsense. In today’s day and age, what makes a good coach is his ability to get the most from his players. That includes taking every step to ensure that players stay “focused”.

Furthermore, it does not help when you have a coach who seemingly goes out of his way to alienate players. We saw the foolishness last year with Marbury. This year we have seen it with Robinson and Hughes. These antics don’t command the respect of the players-it only reinforces the notion that this coach is so incessantly stubborn that he is completely unable to adjust to what is happening around him.

D’Antoniy is an overrated coach-he has never won anything anywhere. Yes the team is not championship caliber, and obviously the “plan” is geared towards next summer. That doesn’t mean that we just ignore the present-calling this coach out continually for all his ridiculous moves is hardly unjustified.

I do have to agree on that one Starks brought it everynight regardless if he was 10 for 14 or 2 for 23. But if that is the case it falls on the Coach to Pull the players that are not giving the effort. Thats why Du Duhon should have been benched a long time ago in favor of Nate or Tony D. He is not in a Slump he is a back up pg and sorry but I paid attention to the Offense and he is just looking for the pick and roll when there are so many other options this is Basketball not Pick and Roll Ball.

pat riley “alienated” Doug Christie and Tony Campbell

Jeff van gundy “Alienated” john Wallace and any rookie who ever played for him.

Most ALL coaches who come into a new situation where there is no loyalty to players push them aside. It’s really a big part of the rebuilding process.

He owes these guys NOTHING.

I guess you’ve never been a part of a company takeover.

Then you of all people Tommy should understand what some of us are saying. Look we are not winning any rings this year but it is clear coach makes A LOT of mistakes and it has cost us games. Period. Took him 10 games to notice his 7 sec offense was not going to work with this group. What the hell is the preseason for. Took him too long to reinsert Nate that cost us atleast 4 or 5 games by my count. He is still playing Duhon and imo is not playing J.Hill enough. That is all I can think about right now. Im not going to even go into him not running Gallo of more screens. Just because we have not coached does not mean we have no b ball i q. and not for nothing Look at Houston no all star in the playoffs in the west so it can be done.

1. I put words in your mouth? Maybe it’s a misunderstanding but I’ll quote you :

“The idea of the playoffs was realistic if D’Antoni had made it clear that was his goal” – He made it very clear.

“he should have said to Walsh I know we are trying to rebuild but I want to at least try to make the playoffs, get me another PG at least and someone who can play the 2 guard once they found out Mobely was unable to play” – So Donnie Walsh’s inability to sign another point guard is D’Antoni’s fault??

“We want people to play hard but there is no guarantee that anybody will be here except for some of the young players, maybe, unless we trade them” – And what’s the problem? Does it mean that it’s not legitimate to want “people to play hard” in your opinion?

3. I know JJ sucks – but the best way to trade him is to showcase his “help defense”, probably the only area of the game he excels at. I hate to say it but when he’s not playing our D sucks even more. Hopefully Nate Robinson, Al Harrington or David Lee will be enticing enough to trade him.

Tommy, some of your answers, especially those to Mucha and Biggie are more retaliatory instead of insightful.

D’Antoni is doing a horible job, period. You are suppose to get the most out of your players and he is not. If we are in rebuilding mode as you suggested – I do believe that we are in rebuilding mode but try and tell that to D’Antoni – he would start Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas every night because god knows Duhon and Larry Hughes and even Nate Robinson are not going to be here next year and do not deserve to run the point.

If we are in rebuilding mode this season would have been about developing Jordan Hill and Douglas early instead of the dumbfounded concept of trying to make the playoffs when your GM clearly isn’t thinking about winning this season.

When your GM trades Crawford and Randolph, it is rebuilding mode, but D’Antoni is trying to appease the NY crowd by making the public, probably even himself, believe that the team has a chance when they clearly do not have the horses to compete in the race.

It would be much easier on D’Antoni if Walsh would just man up and say that the Knicks are in rebuilding mode instead of having the coach suffer and try to put a mess of a team out there every night. But it is also on D’Antoni to wise up and do the right thing and start giving Hill and Douglas starters minutes for the sake of the future because this season is clearly down the tank.

As I have been saying all along, its hard to accomplish two things when management clearly has two different goals. Walsh is looking to 2010 and beyond while D’Antoni is trying to win now by playing Duhon/Harrington/etc.

None of those players will play a part in the Knicks future. But Walsh does not have the balls to admit overtly that the team is clearly giving up this season with hopes of dumping salary although all of us fans know that fact already.

This Knicks management team is exactly like the Wilpons and Omar Minaya: a complete mess.

I was talking about him a few days ago I like him not sure about great but he is fast and can move the ball gets to the rim and a good mid range shot. Smallish at under 6ft but an upgrade as far as pure PG skills.

It is funny how some thing the coach has no responsibility in the losing but want to heap all praise on him when there winning, Cant have it both ways guys he is the leader of this team so he can get criticized as much if not more then the players.

I have been saying for ever that we can lock in to thinking they we have superstar rooks and that Gallo is a young Dirk.

I said about a week ago trying to pull off a Gallo & Chandler for Love & Rubio will help that clown khan save face and look like he pulled off a great trade and for us we get a better balance with a legit center and a high upside PG which is what we have needed all along!

Lee will get rid of JJ for us and Al & N8 will get us in the low first Rd. We need to be real about which way this is going and to be honest it looks like donnie does not know which way is up!! I mean his apprentice wont even show him some love lol so in the end MD deserves to be ripped apart as much as the players and donnie seems to be asleep at the wheel (alzheimer’s really is a sad thing) we need to really make 2010 the year of real blow up and rebuild!!

I haven’t been retaliatory to Mucha at all…and Big and I have had drinks and shot the shit. we have strong debates and that, for me, is really cool.

I like talking to people in person, but hey, I’m old school that way.

you are right that they want to make the playoffs but it’s about 2010…in the end, that’s when the real criticism starts.

And I’ve never said otherwise…

I agree that Phil jackson is just a lucky coach. I dont hink he is even better than DAntoni. He just got lucky with the best player of all time getting him six rings. All he did was tell them to give the ball to jordan. Then he takes over the lakers with Kobe and Shaq and sits back and watches them win 3 rings. last year kobe gasol bynum and odom. He is very lucky.

I agree with some of what you have been saying in truly well-written and well thought out posts. But I wouldn’t quite say Dantoni is doing a horrible job. He makes stupid questionable decisions all the time, some of them work out some of them don’t. Mucha has already put it well, but we essentially play wit 3/5 of a team on both ends of the court. The coach has gotten most players that many on here have said needed to be playing at a high level at the beginning of the season to play at a high level. JJ finally looks like he deserves to be on a basketball court, although he still sucks but thats not on Dantoni. Chandler is probably playing his best ball ever. Gallo’s playing very well, although again I have complained numerous times about him not getting screens enough. Sure I believe numerous times that Dantoni absolutely needs to bench Duhon and its absolutely absurd that this guy is still starting let alone still in a rotation, but DW seriosly failed his coach by not even having a backup pg on the roster. Again, I think Trent Tucker put it very well before, but give Dantoni a chance with a decent roster…which I definitely don’t even think this comes close to.

Do you know anything thats going on in the nba?

Your trade just made Phx pay $3M more in salary, and your dealing with the cheapest owner in basketball…

And why would Phx take back Jeffries?

i wouldn’t say your answers are retaliatory at all..

Dismissive maybe but we all good..

Unless Donnie makes some moves soon its over.

I say start Nate now and send Duhon to the bench. His play has killed our hopes. It sucks that this system reacts to how the PG plays.

This team also needs a 9 man rotation because this 8 man in the 1st and 7 in the 2nd doesn’t work. Look at how the guys are getting hurt now. And they seem to not have legs in the end of games.

Chandler/Gallo/Lee aren’t guys that can play 40 minutes + I know that but D’Anotni doesn’t get it.

Tommy, When you said you “liked JHill” was that in reference to JHill as a person or a player? Myself i don’t know him as a player, but as a big he’s a dime a dozen big right now. In your Post today i gave reference to a player who is in the NBDL, still young (26 yrs old), averaging 18 pts., 15 rpg., and 2+ blocks a game whho is hot only a better center prospect than JHill, but coould be had today for nothing! JHill in my opinion was an idiotic, brain dead pick by a GM who is either senile or clueless.

” Myself i don’t know him as a player”, I Meant to say as a “person” @ DogmanX23, With your post i concur. Though i like MD as a coach, I hope Walsh Senility is not to the point where he can no longer have a feel for “good coaching”!

Well you might be clueless if you had never seen him play in college.

forgot to add “lol”

It’s all good but man, J Hill was a stud in college.

and vice versa in terms of dismissive…my friend

dude this senile stuff is totally uncalled for. I talk to walsh a lot at practice, as the beat writers do.

he is, and always has been, sharp.

so i you have any respect for what I bring from an information standpoint, you need to kill that ignorant noise.

Exactly my point and I could go into more detail. But I think you summed it up very well.

Tommy I understand that as a writer covering a team you must have a rapport with that team and it’s management. Otherwise your ability to cover that team is compromised. So you walk a thin line.

I think you do a very good job of trying to be objective without constantly hammering home the short comings of the Knicks players, Management and owner. The fact is that this franchise is a joke. That the people who are running it are semi-competent and have not won anything in the past and that the owner is a total moron.

The posters here are the ones who can dish it out. You should not have to. Your job is to be objective, report what you learn, give some analysis and ideas without going over the top.

As to that you have done an excellent job. Keep up the good work.

I will do my job and bash the crap out of these idiots!!!!!

Tommy, I don’t expect anything less from you, this be your blog and you frequently being a guest at the discretion of our GM to bring us Knicks fans the latest offerings from our GM, so i’ll take no offense to you refering to what i have said about Walsh as ignorant noise, but if you believe that the moves Walsh have made are the moves of someone who is of a sharp mind then i really have no more to say!

LLOLL, here here BigDaddybluesman, here here!

Honestly, not only is that ridiculous but its just plain wrong too.

“That’s just another reason the Knicks are in their predicament, cause of beat writers not holding the Knicks brass to the fire, but going to knicks practices, swallowing Walsh’s and MD BS, and then telling us that what they are saying makes sense and what they are doing and have done were the right things to do, all while the Knicks keep going down the toilet”

Have you read any beat writer not named Alan Hahn recently? Their opinions are so borderline malevolent and consistently pessimistic that it gets tough to read at times. Have you read Marc “Starberman” Berman or Frank Isola lately?

ROTFL

Tommy, I can see that you’ve never played organized b-ball dude.

If a team doesn’t put out effort, then it’s the coach resp to make sure those who don’t sit on the bench. We have young players who would love to get PT. This is the oldest and sure trick in the book that coaches have.

Coaches are coaching millionaires and the one thing they have to control these players is PT! Since we are rebuilding, this coach should have card blanche to sit anybody period.

This is one of the reasons why we say some of you writers don’t take this coach and organization to task! Shame on ya! We know you can write but get real!

Yeah Dude, Tommy Dee maybe shouldn’t red my posts because he’s proving that he can’t and won’t see facts.

There are some many excuses made for this coach when none needs to be made. No one with any sense is expecting this team to compete for the playoffs realistically especially if the goal is to rebuild this year.

Yet, this coach makes none of his players accountable, they aren’t getting in smarter on the court, Gallo doesn’t get the help he needs and etc etc.

It’s a shame Tommy can’t see the bs that Isiah did with this team is not much difference than what we see with this coach. Maybe Dolan is funding this blog!

Thank You for that! That’s what many of us have been saying all along. No one is comparing this coach to Phil Jackson so why did Tommy even bring this dude up? lol

We have reasonable expectation from this coach with this current team! Yet, we can’t even hold him accountable for these items so why should be have a leap of faith he will take better talent and do better?

That’s totally b.s Tommy and you should know this. In the Pros, coaches have PT as their means get their pts across.

What better way to affect a person’s means to earn larger salaries than to reduce their PT if they don’t do what is expected of them.

In college, you had PT and threats of finding ways to take away their scholarships.

PT is and always has been an effective method to get player’s attention!

Just think, If the coach allows players to play when they don’t give an honest effort, then what ddoes that say about the coach and what he will put up with?

A coach surely can’t give players talent they don’t have or make them better shooters and etc. But he can tell them what they should be working on in the off season and how he intends to use them and etc.

Tommy, we joke about DVJ being Donnie Grandson but maybe you are prodigal son! lol Tell dad, the coach sucks!

That’s a better attitude Tommy, lol It’s not personal and it’s all in good fun for most of us. However, many of us expect a little more out of ya since you’re around this game a lot it seems.

Now open your eyes and watch the games will ya? lol

I couldn’t help myself! lol

Do you think D’Antoni reads from the book of Isiah?

The coach owes the organization and the paying fans to hold the players accountable!

How long do we have to see Duhon who the coach says has no confidence, int he lineup and Lee being a total hole as Center in the defense? How long must Harrington and Duhon avoid finding Gallo?

Yo Tommy, come back to us dude! Company takeover? It’s one thing to take the company over and its another to still allow the company to continue floundering! All we’ve done is change the name, D’Antonti from Isiah!

Yeah Tommy, take the check from Donnie and Co and keep your blog up and running. We appreciate your sacrifice! There’s no need to have mgmt reading this blog ans seeing that you’re out giving opinions pushing the truth!

So we’ll tell it like it is and you can’t call us insane ok? lol

“Yo Bro, I got ta’ maintain
Cause a fan like me is goin’ insane
Insane in da membrane!
Insane in da brain”