Still Going in the Right Direction

my problem with this coaching style of letting the players provide their own motivation is that not all players are the same.

Some can motivate themselves .. some need a kick in the pants..

you bring up hall of fame super stars in Jordan, Ewing and lebron as examples.. they are super stars and hall of famers becausee the CAN basically run a team by themselves.. just get them the ball.. they have super hyped internal motivation.. to treat Larry Hughes, Al harrington and the rest of this group with the same level of self policing is just silly beyond belief..

it is up to the coach to learn what buttons to press to get each of his players to perform at his highest level..

To say.. “these are professional basketball players.. they should be able to motivate themselves.. ” is highly simplistic and misses the point that they are in the end individuals.

I always thought good coaches got the best of players no matter the talent or the situation. Are Battier, Brooks & Scola superstars? no, but Adelman puts them in a position to win. He is not trying to score 110+ points because he doesn’t have that type of talent.

The coach knew he had a PG that cannot run or the shooters, but yet tried to force the team to adjust to him and not the other way around.

If LeBron doesn’t need a coach to motivate or tell him what to do, then why should it matter if D’antoni is the coacht? LeBron is not going to come here because of the coach, he’s going to come here for reasons outside of basketball.

i agree that Lebron is coming here for reasons outside of basketball..

One only needs to look at Lebron’s situation in Cleveland to see that a coach is not necessary.. Mike Brown has said More than once that he just coaches the defense and lets the players (read Lebron) deal with the offense.

his only offensive play is give the ball to Lebron and let him either create his shot or find someone else.

Nice piece, I more or less agree with everything written except for the fact that Al Chucketts is our best player. Or that he could be a useful player for a good team if surrounded by talent. I disagree completely with that. He is a team killer who cares more about scoring than doing anything else, and he’s been that way for several years now after coming into the league as a good defensive player. Whats worse is that he has a tendency to disappear in the end of games after carrying the Knicks for the 1st half or so, which ends up killing the teams chance at winning because when he is scoring hes the only one touching the ball and he doesn’t make anyone better around. My point being…CHUCKETTS SUCKS.

I still think that we can’t really judge D’Antoni under these conditions. He has made some strange decisions about how to deal with players on a personal level and does not seem to love making in-game adjustments or holding players accountable for not playing D (really, this is the biggest problem, but I’m willing to give him a temporary pass for personnel reasons), but this team is indeed a “mishmash collection” of losers — people who have never been successful under any coach (for whatever reason). I could see him having had to swallow some of his principles.

There have been some bright spots. He clearly got Wilson Chandler to stop just shooting threes. For a while, he got Gallo to stop just shooting threes (although now he is back to it). And for about 6-8 weeks, he had the team convinced they could play better team defense (although they have largely stopped — right around the time he took Jonathan Bender, the team’s only enforcer other than Darko, out of the rotation).

We can’t blame him for the poor play/decision-making of Harrington, Nate, and Hughes: those guys have always sucked. Duhon is simply untalented. As for playing the rookies, let’s wait until the trade deadline has passed before we pass judgement.

I think someone hypnotized Harrington as a young child, and convinced him that the basketball is some type of hot potato that must be thrown toward the basket immediately, teammates be damned.

Most of these guys will be gone next year. D’Antoni will get his horses over the next year or so. No matter how bad it looks now, It is an exciting time to be a Knicks fan, Donnie has put the team in position to improve dramatically. I would love to get LeBron, but its not “LeBron or bust”.

Yeah, hopefully Harrington and Duhon will not be resigned and the other contracts that expire this summer wont be back either.
Realistically this team is not making the playoffs this year – as someone else mentioned in the blog – play guys like Jeffries and try to give them trade value. If there’s no takers by the deadline then its time to move on and give significant minutes to Hill, Douglas, Gallinari and Chandler.

yo what up knicksblog, i read knicks blog everyday and am a huge knicks fan…Saverio (the dude who wrote the article) happens to be a really good friend of mine…

we have long arguments about dantoni (i mainly bash him and he is all over his D”"CK!!!

anyway i cant believe he went this far to send a F”"King essay about how people are being to hard on a guy who had success with players like nash, diaw, amare, bell, marion, tim thomas…hahahaha anyone can have success with a roster like that and nash at the point…

SMH

*opens Microsoft Word*

I am still pro coach, but my leash is shortening. I question his rotations, the roles he puts guys in and how he rarely adapts to his talent. I gave him a bit of credit for trying to become more defensive, but using JJ to cover opposing PGs is not new (actually Isiah started that). What has this genius done that is innovatve? people might disagree, but I would like Bender to play more. I just wouldn’t play him at SG or SF, I would play him at center. He has better post moves then anyone else on the knicks but coach puts him on the wings to much. Gaining weight has given him the size to help defend opposing centers. Let’s be serious, he can’t do any worse than Lee. To top it off, when given the chance, he has proven to be our toughest player.

tell coach to work on putting players in the best position to help the team win, instead of forcing them into roles that they can’t handle. Good coaches do that…… Notice I said good and not great..

D’Antoni has brought life back to the Knicks even with this unfortunate team. He will have a team he can coach next year with Lebron and like you said the young group of talented players on the roster.

Couple disagreements thou: Re-sign Lee, Bosh is good but his acting career is better in Alien vs. Predators.

Can someone tell Harrington to dribble with his head up?

when Riley coached the Lakers they asked him what his secret was
to which he replied. I just show up and roll the balls out on the floor.

there might be 4 exceptional coaches who make a difference
but for the most part,

they manage the team, the game and begin by rolling the balls out on the floor.

D Antoni doesn’t play PG or Block shots.

LeBron is not going to leave his home state where he is comfortable and is the biggest star in town just to come to NY and play with Gallo and Will. Donnie does not have a PG or a C in place. If Hill were to get more PT and show that he could be the 5 of the future then maybe LeBron would consider it. There are too many holes on this roster for him to take that gamble. It just does not make any sense. If this team where somehow able to trade Jeffries and save 2-3 million on Curry’s deal (AINT HAPPENING) then we would def have a shot. A line up of C-Hill, PF-Bosh, SF-Gallo, SG-LeBron, PG-Jason Williams? With a bench of Nate, Chandler, Bender, Douglas would be enough to entice LeBron. This is the only way I can see LeBron leaving Cleveland.

Furthermore, it is a coaches job to help his best shooter get open if the player can’t do it by himself (see reggie miller). Gallo can’t get himself open yet so Mike needs to set screen after screens so that he can’t get that nice touch off. I don’t think that Mike has one play on the book for Gallo.

Pat Riley also had Magic, Kareem, Worthy, etc.

If you don’t have great players, you adjust to the personnel you have, i e., Duhon walking it up the court instead of trying to have him run.

As for block shots, we had the potential for it, but Hill & Darko were buried on the bench

Lebron is coming here, this I am convinced off.

Did anyone see LBJ face after he beat us??? I felt that his face said; ” I hate doing this to my future teammates but I need to win a ring before I leave town for the big apple.”

I with you on this one.

count biggie in too.

listen, when you have such little talent on a team, like mike does you have to constantly change the rotation to see if something will click. larry brown did the exact same thing. everyone destroyed brown too. the bottom line is coaching only does so much. when you have the worst starting pg in the game the bottom line is your not going to win many games. really, bring in phil jackson and we still dont make the playoffs because the talent just isnt there. thank god we have Gallo, chandler, and hill…. our future is bright.

I get the sense that most long posts these days have a very ‘political’ vibe; meaning: They seem to just be entirely designed to defend one side or the other…. we all know the sides.

I can say i agree that it is rediculous to claim (already) and coach and GM are doing a bad job. But most of all, i can heavily agree with the final sentence.

“Either way, with the ability to be flexible and this coach, the team is STILL moving in the right direction.”

+1

PS. i understand we all want Galo to be more of a factor in the offense, but the concept of even considering running the offense through him is just completely farfetched… He’s got unlimited potential guys, but he’s just not that good yet, be him my favorite knick or not.

Great thread Saverio.

I don’t think it is fair to blame Mike D’Antoni because players have to “provide their own motivation”. First, Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon and Al Harrington might not be championship caliber players but they are veterans and they should lead by example – they know what the deal is. Mike D’Antoni even benched the rookies “out of respect” for the veteran players – they have been given the opportunity to play hard in a contract year. They were just not smart enough to take advantage of it.

I criticize Mike D’Antoni for 1. His reluctance to play Jordan Hill and – to a certain extent – Toney Douglas 2. The double-standard regarding Nate Robinson – the 14-game banishment was too severe.

Al Harrington was a great 3rd option in Indiana but I just can’t stand him anymore.

Not sure LeBron is convinced though…

I saw the same expression from LeBron that I see with every star player in the league that plays the Knicks. They lick their chops knowing they are going to have a great game against the laughing stock on the NBA.

I CANNOT stand Harrington anymore.

The whole theme of this 2 year rebuild is this; End the selfish b-ball… get a pass first PG, start playing team ball. For the most part, we have been doing that and when we play well we look better than we have in years. Of course, we are too inconsistent to actually play well consistently…

But when harrington gets the ball, i feel like I’m watching marbury, and it’s getting worse.

And when harrington hogs the ball or duhon takes an Ill advised 3, that is the player’s fault; not the coache’s.

Well I think Mike D’Antoni should have benched Al Harrington a la Nate Robinson a couple of games to make him understand that his selfish ways are not respected. That’s why I mentionned the “Nate Robinson double-standard”

The Nets are the laughing stock of the NBA.

The LBJ look I was talking about was after the game.

True… I mean, he does take him out in crunch time a lot, so it’s clear that he sees his ways are detrimental to the team if he’s not swishing his 3′s.

i still think (and your point agrees with my thinking) that nate’s benching was about more than just his ‘style of play.’ It had just as much, if not more to do with his behaviour off the court; stuff we won’t see. (IMO)

I mean, 14 games is a lot of games.

Cased closed…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RSByXfL4dU

I see you have tasted the Mike D’Antoni Kool Aid, Saverio.

1. Calling MD the “most popular coach in basketball” is a joke. Futhermore, after the way he’s handled Marbury, Nate, Eddy Curry and now, Larry Hughes, his reputation has taken a big hit.

2. “It takes a special breed of player, a special team, to overcome the league’s other twenty-nine franchises…”

And it also takes a special breed of coach. Coaches like Chuck Daley, Red Aubach and Red Holtzman, Greg Popovich and yes, Phil Jackson. MD only won in Phoenix because he walked into a “perfect storm”. He had the horses and one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. If you look at his record in Denver, he was WAY below 500. To me, D’Antoni lacks motivational skills, communication skills, and X’s and O’s skills.

I really understand why so many people label him “Damphony”

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Bravo.

I still think that we can’t really judge D’Antoni under these conditions

im not sure thats the case TT.. .the main issues I have with him are his lack of communications skills, his painfully short rotations and his in game management. — All those should be independent of the talent he has to work with.

A wise man once said you judge a man when he is under dire circumstances.. not when a man is under ideal conditions.

as far as the poor play.. their are very few instances where the coach held a player accountable for his actions (or lack thereof) on the defensive end. What could he do? well he sat Nate for a month for GoD knows what reason (he isnt part of the winning?? huh??) and Hughes was pulled from the rotation for some reasons.. So why Harrington has gotten a complete pass is confusing..

others have received passes.. some actually got their starting role BACK after they did nothing but met with the coach for 1/2 hour.. like that was so stunning 4 a coach to meet with a player.. stop the presses.. LMAO>

who are his “horses”? the Olympic Men’s basketball team?

It sure is easy to be a coach players like when very little coaching is required… and you arent even the one making the final PT decisions (that was Coach K)

i was with you up until Tim Thomas.

I’m right with ya, Mucha.

brown used like 65 starting rotations in 80 games.. gave players the start because they were from the city they were playing in..

Duhon may currently be the worst PG in the game.. but there was a time not two years ago when we were bidding against the Orlando Magic for his services.. Duhon has clearly regressed in his time here.

I could not agree more with this post. Our plan was to clear cap space and try for a superstar. In the meantime, our coach has been saddled with less than adequate players. The NBA is a league where very few teams actually win the title. Its because if you spend the money on the wrong people, you are stuck with the the wrong players for seemingly forever. You can’t cut anyone and trading an overpaid player with too many seasons left on his contract is next to impossible. It sucks to be a fan of an inconsistent team, but we have to take the correct steps and be patient in order to get to the top. I believe in Donnie and D’Antoni. Always have.

Yikes Jeff C, you’re gonna be the last dude standing on the boat when it goes off Niagra Falls. I do respect loyalty but delusional can that identical twin playing tricks on ya!

Check the mole on the left side of the face, it’s delusional dude!

Is that Dantoni’s fault for playing him too much or Duhon’s fault for not keeping himself in good shape? Brown’s time here was a joke..it was more about politics and a power struggle between Brown and Zeke than anything involving basketball. Obviously Dantoni hasn’t done a great job but I wonder where the line is drawn? At what point is it simply up to the player to change and do what he needs to do?

brown still constantly juggled lineups to try and make things work, but that talent was not there.

also, maybe if duhon got his butt in good shape and wasnt out of shape like he clearly is then maybe he wont “regress” yeah orldano bid for his services too, but to be their backup, not their starter, so i do not see the point. hes a career backup at best.

I mostly agree with you (as usual). But Nate and Hughes were clearly benched for not playing seriously/making stupid turnovers. Harrington plays no D, but he does play hard, as ridiculous as that sounds. The defense issue is my biggest concern, too, but D’Antoni has few incentives in his favor. All these guys are incentivized to pad their stats on offense and save energy on D for when contract time comes around. The only ones with a vested personal interest in playing defense (Chandler, Gallo, Douglas, Hill and Bender — they will be on the team next year, not FAs) have played pretty good D. You could argue about Lee, who in my opinion is just shameless with his lack of effort. But Harrington, Nate, Duhon and even Hughes (gambles too much for me, tries to pad his steal stats), are completely lost causes. Keep them out on the floor as trade bait, even if they won’t D up for real.

The interpersonal stuff has been a little odd, but a) we never know the full story, and b) a lot of these guys are mercenaries/big jerks. Larry Hughes throws the ball into the stands twice within five minutes and wants to know why he gets benched? C’mon.

Mike D doesn’t bench Harrington because Harrington is a moron (I mean that clinically — his IQ must be about 60) and doesn’t even realize his mistakes. Nate’s problem is that he knows better but can’t control himself; he has a serious psychological “little man” issue that takes over his brain. Larry Hughes is just a jerk who once he gets the coach’s confidence says to himself “I’m Keith Hernandez” and does whatever he wants.

Mike benches people who “don’t take the game seriously” (his words, not mine). Harrington and Duhon try as hard as they can — they’re just limited (one intellectually, the other physically).

Jeff and trent – I understand what you’re trying to say and I agree with you but Harrington has been so BONEHEADED, SELF-CENTERED and EGOISTICAL – he hasn’t been more professional than Nate Robinson so far in my opinion. And I was his biggest supporter last season.

I hear you. What’s weird is that in December he was playing a little better — not shooting immediately, even getting a couple of assists here and there. Now it’s back to hot potato shooting — his last few games have been unbearable. If he is still on the Knicks after the deadline he should ride pine.

I am so tired of Al Harrington also. He thinks he is a star but he’s just a role player. The horrible shots he takes kills me. Every time he attempts a 3 pointer I cringe. Maybe he’s one of the players that harbor resentment in the locker room over David Lee’s stardom.

Good article Tommy Dee and well said BiggieSmalls. I agree with Tommy on many points he made to my suprise but also disagree on his views of the coach. I have to ask why it took him so long to understand that his seven second or less system would not work for this team? The system itself is flawed. The system only works when the players are hot and it always gives the opponent a chance to make a comeback. The system also increases the chance of injury with a short rotation and all the running and gunning. I really don’t want to see this coach renew his contract. He can develope any player on offense but he does not have defense in his blood. He tells David Lee i CANT TAKE U OUT YOUR JUST TOO GOOD, when David gives up as much points as he makes. His system is exciting with a couple of superstars but is ridiculous with average players. I just want a coach who plays the traditonal way. Give me a Shot Blocking center. I hate that he has our weakest defender playing center.

That’s the worst bunch of revisionist drivel I ever read, keep up the good work.

If you’re going to rebuild then rebuild, don’t bring in players like Bender. If you’re going to try and win then do that. Make up your mind and stick to one plan.

But there is no excuse going into a season with Duhon as your only PG. Then drafting 2 players and not playing them because you are trying to win but rebuild at the same time. See it makes no sense. That means these guys have no clue as to what they are doing. Simple logic dictates that.

Don’t use the free agents of 2010 for every excuse why you didn’t do anything.

How long did it take him to realize these guys could not run 7 seconds or less. It took me all of 7 seconds.

LMAO

Truly comical dude!

to assume that Jordan Hill and especially Toney Douglass is the “Nucleus of a good young team” is even more ludicrous than the players assessment that we dont have enough talent.You are obviously a Knick Homer of the highest order.Guys you call a good young nucleus,arent even known by 3/4 of the league.WE NEED TALENT

really?i thought his face said”Do you expect me to play with this group?We would’nt get past the first round”

i dont see how you can trash the coach and in the same breath ,let Donnie Walsh off the hook.Donnie promised D’Antoni a little more to work with than this bunch of mish mash

I really dont see Lebron coming here. Everyone laughs at the nets right now but look at what boston did. Granted they signed two free agents, but they turned it around in a year. The nets have the same cap space as the knicks and their core is better. Our core has bright talent for sure, but our big man does not play and there is no point guard option on our team or someone who we can get this summer. The nets most likely will get wall. Lebron went onto the court at a kentucky game this year. Him and wall are tight. Add brook lopez to mix as well as devin harris, and you got solid people in the right poistions. If you think objectively about it, the nets are the smart choice for Lebron. Throw their record aside, their future looks very bright.

Amen, BigDaddybluesman!