My Thoughts

Jury is still out. There way too many things wrong with this team to lay it all on D’antoni. He’s just the easiest target.

That said, I also don’t think he’s getting the most out of this team.

When the Knicks got Camby he was considered injury prone and had missed large chunks of his first few seasons.. He was a third pick but was considered a bit of an enigma.

You also have to remember that the team has an aging but legendary center a tthe time — Patrick Ewing. AND Camby was traded for a coach and fan favorite (though he was pretty much past his time at that point)

Camby was just scratching the surface of his game back then.. The Marcus Camby of today is not the immature cocky kid from Hartford via U Mass

DA’s offense is predicated ball movement. Good ball movement comes with chemistry and trust in your teammates. It is difficult to develop chemistry and trust when you build guys up just to trade them (see Crawford, Z-bo, and JJ, who were all very good teammates).

The crappiness or this current roster is a result of the plan. The coach should not be immune from criticism, but i will reserve real judgment on the coach and GM for next year when we see the results of the plan.

2 things bother me about DA:

1) The every recent NBA title winner has played solid defense. We do not, not only do we not play solid defense we have a roster full of players that have weak defensive skills. I think DA proved on the Suns that playing explosive offense with limited defense only gets you so far.

2) I do not like how he makes his mind up about someone before they get a chance, and does so to a fault for the future of this team. Example one being Marbury, I understand it makes you sick to your stomach to hand Marbury the keys to the team, but you have to understand letting him start last year and be productive could have helped our number one goal of clearing cap space, instead we completely diminished his value and got zero return on him. Same goes for nate, he should have featured nate this year before trade deadline instead of benching him and limiting his value and takers.

Im not sure what the Camby part of the piece has to do with this coach.. And i dont think anyone is “annointing” this coach a failure today.

But there are signs to be worried about beyond the players and the record.

The short rotation,
the failure to adapt his system immediately,
the isolation of players in the dighouse,
the grudges,
the end of game management,
the play calling
the regression on defensive fundamentals

these have nothign to do with the coach having “his players” .. which i think is a fallacy .. Lets go back and read what was writtin in the past regarding this group and them being either “perfect for this system” or “D’Antoni kind of players” .. Should ANY coach really not be judged until he has a 100% turnover in the roster? or after he gets the max cap room to add two super stars? Really?

The only players in the rotation from the Thomas days is David Lee and Wilson Chander.

Jury is still out I can understand-we have been clearing cap room at the expense of winnign. Granted we weren’t going to win anything fantastic with the players we traded but first rd playoff birth was attainable. If that is what fans wanted then I guess you hate D’Antoni…

OF COURSE the knicks are on the right track with D’Antoni and Walsh. I keep reading at how players don’t develop but how about how Lee? Chandler has continued to improve. Jared Jeffries played his best ball under MD. For those who think he never thinks Defense…i can’t really take you seriously when I hear this. He is a coach in the NBA do you really think he never thinks/teaches defense? Essentially Coach has been playing with cards that he never drew.

He will have the cards next year. He has been the coach the past 2 years and has been given a task that no one could have done w/o getting killed by media and fans. i think overall he has kept teaching his brand of ball and kept us trying to win even though we all know its not about the present…its about the future.

remember “its a stars league”

the coach is “handing the keys” over to whoever signs here as a max player.. That player will have more “skin in the organization” than the coach.

IF DOnnie gives a player 80-100 mil the coach becomes expendable and it becomes that players team.

It’s obvious you’ve been inhaling D’Antoni’s fumes from the beginning Tommy and I think you are in major denial. The coach is the one who leads–first. If they are fortunate enough to have players who can lead on and off the court, that’s gravy. But leadership starts with MD. And he’s doing a terrible job as far as I’m concerned. A good coach gets 5 extra wins by knowing x’s and o’s, and knowing how to adjust on the fly. He also has to teach defense and work on defensive plays like “The foul to give”.

Years from now, when we look back on the MD era, he’ll probably go down as the worst coach in Knick history.

The coach leads first? not in this league.

look at all the top teams in the league. they have superstars. The 04 Pistons was the only exception of a championship team in the last 30 years without a star. And they had one of the best coaches of all time, great chemistry and great leadership from the players.

name one coach in the league other than maybe LB who “leads first”.

As I have tried to make clear, I don’t think Mike D’Antoni can win with his style of ball in the East. In the East it is more defense orientated with the slow down offense. The West is high octane on both sides of the ball. L.A. Lakers play excellent defense and I don’t see that changing. I have no problem with the system that Mike D’Antoni uses. But Iike the email you sent me with the comparison of players who made their coaches. Coaches also make players. Top contenders have legit centers and play all five positions. Mike play two small forwards one power forward and the guards. I don’t see how you can win playing trading baskets without a true center. 55+ points in the paint is to high a percentage of points to give up every night. Mike did the same thing in Phoenix. I still would like to see a coach that plays traditional ball. I am ready for a new coach. I don’t see him getting a Lebron James or Wade so whats the point to ruining another season with this experiment.

Larry brown was known to have a short rotation and he is one of the best coaches of all time. The rotation is short because there are no options after 8 or 9 players.

the grudges? against who
Larry H. is a headache everywhere he goes.
Nate did not do what the coach asked of him (and I love Nate)
Curry sucks. Darko sucks. What grudges?

regression of DF? Don’t you have to be good at one point to regress?

End of game management, i have a problem with that on the surface, but maybe the players arent executing. Either way DA has to take a hit for that.

so your saying”if they suck,its OK to hold a grudge?

No. my point is that is no grudge. If they were productive and helped the team win, they would play. End of story. Duhon was an exception because there was no other option. As we have seen, Sergio comes in, plays better than Duhon and gets the minutes.

“And i dont think anyone is “annointing” this coach a failure today.”

Had me fooled.

Seriously though, those are good points and I agree with what you said one exception.

Just because the roster has been turned over doesn’t mean they’re “D’antoni’s players.” This roster has been set up almost entirely for financial purposes not winning or coaching purposes. Just because there are only 2 players from Zeke’s team doesn’t mean it’s been changed for the best. ZBo is an all-star and Ja-Craw probably has a 6th man award coming his way. The Knicks have Lee and Harrington as their 1st and 2nd options who, at best, might be 3rd options on a contending team. What teams have been completely purged like the Knicks have? The Wizards maybe, who we just beat on the road, but who else?

In all I think your gripes are more than legitimate and I share most of them. But even if they’re all amended and fixed, I can’t see the difference amounting to more than a couple of W’s. I also don’t think that any other available coach in 2008 would be doing any better with this roster, ceteris paribus. That’s strictly conjecture though.

hey man, thats the NBA. The lakers is Kobe’s team. The Bulls was Jordan’s team. The cavs are LeBron’s team. Boston is KG’s team. should I keep going? The reality is, the coach has to earn the players’ trust, not the other way around.

And yes, you are correct. Coaches are easy to replace, players are not.

“Top contenders have legit centers and play all five positions. Mike play two small forwards one power forward and the guards. I don’t see how you can win playing trading baskets without a true center”

I couldn’t agree more. This team needs a center instead of playing DLee in the center position. Even if that center only block shots and rebounds. You do not need all five positions to be a threat offensevely.
Think about Dennis Rodman in Chicago. His role was to rebound the ball and play excellent defense.

I will still give the benefit of the doubt to MDA until next year, but like others have stated here, the signs are not good. It’s a shame that Knix didn’t obtain Tyrus Thomas. I wanted to see if it was posible to have DLee playing the PF position effectively with an athletic center.

camby second pick…

I also believe that there is no room for two small forwards on a team lacking a shot blocking center and a better-than-average point guard. Either WChandler or Gallo have to go; and, in the event that the Knicks sign Lebron, I would trade both of them for pieces that fit (i.e. a better shooting point guard or an athletic center; or a high draft pick).

“To me, blaming the coach is far too convenient. Anything short of a championship is an “I told you so.’”

There is a middle ground though. You can look at this roster and say, as I do, that you can’t call for Mike D’s firing because no one would win 45+ games with this roster and the constant changes this team has gone through. I never expected this roster to make the playoffs although I hoped for it. I also agree that there wasn’t enough talent on this team to have a ten man rotation, but his rotation is/was way too short. Why can’t he have an 8/9 man rotation?

Hpwever, geat coaches get the most out of the talent on their teams. I don’t believe D’Anonti has done that either this year or last year. Additionally, this coach has made the same mistakes over and over again and hasn’t adjusted. That is something he must do if we are going to win a championship.

So yeah the jury is out, but I would like to see the team be competitive down the stretch and D’Antoni start to manage the end of games better.

And it is not championship or bust with Knicks fans. JVG is one of the most beloved Knicks coaches in history and he didn’t win the chip (although he did get us to the finals).

As for the last post, it was over the top. You can’t compare Hickson and Gallo, two different types of players even if they will eventually play a similar position. Eddie Curry is also a monumental bust that needs to be off the Knicks roster immediately. Isiah Thomas was also incapable of building a “team” although he was great at accumulating “talent”.

But the point that D’Antoni is not above criticism and defense wins championships is a valid one. I don’t really understand the D’Antoni should be fired today crowd because as I said above, there is no real talent on this squad and he was doing wonders with Jamal and Zach.

But I also don’t understand the we will win a championship next year crowd either. Until this coach does a better job coaching defense and putting his team in a better position to win (with sound late game calling) we are not going to be a championship squad. D’Antoni needs an Eddie Jordan type assistant coach to help with the defense but: (1) for some reason this organization is enamored with Herb Williams and (2) D’Antoni’s stubborness won’t allow it which is why he bolted Phx.

Since he arrived, he has not had a “team” to coach. How can you possibly grade him? Almost every player who wore a Knicks uniform is not here anymore. His stay to date has been acting like a coach during a total teardown. Once the buildup begins, he can and will be held accountable for his performance. Patience my friends.

No. he is a BAD coach. WHY?

1 This caoch always has his players playing out of position. I will take milicic over Lee starting at center. I would take VanGundy at center over Lee at least he will grab someone leg
2 He has bad clock management and Bad play calling. We lost most close games on coaching errors not execution
3 He does hold grudges like your HS girlfriend
4 Duhon was not his only option. As Bad as Duhon plays you could of put in anyone to play the 1
5 Defense- he does nto know the meaning of the word.
6 The 7 second or less offense was the reason we shot a team record high in 3 point shots in one game. It is also the reason we had a 1-9 start
7 He does not know how to communicate.

Now thats 7 reasons why he is a bad coach. He is an Asst Coach at best

What? D’antoni can still held accountable his performance, there should just be some sort of curve involved considering the massive purging of the roster. How big that curve is up to the individual fan. But to say he shouldn’t be held accountable for issues such as late game management is silly, imo.

I’m not sure how you can reconcile items #1 and #4.

Tommy Dee and CircleLimit4,

You two are really hogging the Kool-aid!

It would be so unfair to grade this coach on a level where this team should be making the playoffs or contending for a ring! Some like you 2, keeping bringing up a FALSE premise like “This coach don’t have the players to contend for the playoffs or a ring”

Well in the he-l-l- says he does and should?

You two are making total excuses for why our coach can’t get these players to play harder on defense, put them on the bench if they don’t or keep missing assignments time and time again, develop key young players such as Gallo, Chandler and Douglas and etc.

We can live with this team not having the best talent now in the league but there is no excuse for us to be one of the dumbest team, one of the poorest defensive teams, and have players run amok with no accountability from this coach.

We are not looking for miracles, we’re just looking for a coach that has some sound principles to help these young players develop better habits and greater expectations on how the game should be played.

This coach s-u-c-ks and if you two were honest, you would admit it. To wait another year to see something that you should have picked up while this coach was in PHX, mens you really don’t understand the game or you’re just playing a game with us.

Excellent & accurate points Big !

First of all, Tommy and I are 2 different people with 2 different opinions of coach D’antoni. It may be convenient for you to lump us together in a vain attempt to pigeonhole our arguments but it only works against your points.

But I’ve given up on you. It’s evident you don’t even try to read my posts, you interpret only what you want to interpret and run it off a giant cliff of hyperbole. There’s a complete failure to address specific points and in doing so you just throw wild generalizations, insults and kool-aid references. It makes for trite and repetitive analysis. It’s really boring.

For all of you D’Antoni apologists, including Tommy, I beg of you to list the positives that the coach brings to the franchise.

All of us have listed the blatant negatives ad nauseam . . .

Is it his play-calling? His motivational skills? His ability to manage personalities (critical for any pro coach)? Is it his Nash-less system? His charm?

And if your list starts with not having “his type of players” on the roster or that everyone loved him on the Olympic team, then don’t bother.

if the coach played 9 i wouldnt have a complaint. But their is a reason this coach’s offense is nick names 7 players or less.

in a typical stretch he gives the lions share of minutes to 6 players and gives the 7th man maybe 15 minutes and the 8th 5 or less if any..And he was doing it in PHX and has defended his ultra short rotation in the press.

And bloggrs have defended it as well.. saying it really doesnt matter.. until we lose games with “no fresh legs” or we “look tired late in games” and then it is about the players not giving effort not being just plain exhausted.. Do you think that has anything to do with Gallo’s drop off in the second half?

We were told that the biggest reasons for choosing D-ant over Mark Jackson was experience & Father Mike’s ability to woo FAs once cap space was available. We were not told that these 2 years would be non-competitive &, for the most part, unexciting. D’ant started down that road by showing his flawed decision making in his 1st regular season game as coach last year by benching Marbury & only telling his brother Dan ^ Q-Rich …

Jackson would have had 2 years or experience by now & cap room to come …. plus, I’d bet his teams would have been more competitive (definitely less alienated) and THAT would have been a draw for FAs …. not Mike’s WONDERFUL personality!

I knew it was trouble once he blindsided everyone (including Walsh) by benching Steph in Game 1 after playing him in the preseason.

Not to mention mouthing off at the home crowd during the “We Want Steph!” chants.

and fully agreed on the Mark Jackson take, bockersORbriefs . . .

My list of positives about Dantoni
1. He doesn’t have “his type of players”
2. Everyone loved him on the olympics

Lol. Just joking man. You have a point and I largely agree with you, but its important to keep in mind just how crappy this roster is. We traded 6th man of the year(probably) and an allstar for Al Harrinton and Tim Thomas. OUr starting pg for most of the year was Chris Duhon, who isn’t even in the rotation now that we have acquired an actual pg. Not saying the coach is immune from criticism, he should be bashed for poor disciplined teams that collapse down the stretch in every game. But give the man a chance with a decent roster before he is “annointed a failure” or whatever.

I’m no D’Antoni apologist but when applied correctly he does run a pretty entertaining offensive system. While it does inflate stats, it also turn players like Raja Bell, Eddie House and Boris Diaw into starting quality NBA players if you can understand it.

If we get the right players in here I truly believe the Knicks could win between 55-60 games. But again, until we start playing defense we will never win a championship.

Point well taken, ds2488, BUT I’d still love to see a list of his positives.

Like bulleted list on a resume.

“So, you’d like to coach the NYK, Mike? What do you bring to the table…?

My Thoughts:

1- D’assholi just basically acknowledged gallo is a bust. So that makes 2 drafts that Walsh screwed the pooch on. We could have had Lopez and Jennings or another PG, or used the pick to make another move. So right now we got zero from 2 drafts.

2- I like Douglas but what has D’assholi done with him, nothing, so that is another wasted draft pick. I would have rather drafted Chase Budinger who is playing pretty good and has much more upside than Douglas.

3- Jordan Hill might have turned out to be a good player, we’ll find out but on another team. Maybe D’assholi could have played him more from jump street and developed him or found out real fast he was a project or a bust.

4- Walsh gave away too much talent and got back expiring contracts. Without the draft picks to go with those expiring contracts he screwed up again. You don’t give up talent for expiring contracts unless you get back draft picks also…duh.

5- D’assholi has alienated how many players now? Bender left the team for personal reasons, yeah the coach stopped playing him……LOL.

6- If you do the math you’ll find out that there is no way to fill out a full roster with the money Walsh has, simple math.

7- Walsh traded Nate for House, a complete wash. house is a back of the rotation player. Again he did not get a #1 pick so why bother?

8- Gave away Milicic for nothing, again no pick. Now Milicic is playing OK at Minny. He’s never going to be the force at center he was supposed to be but he can give you minutes of 7 foot plus defense, rebounding and some shot blocking. Again a player D’assholi alienated for no reason, Darko said he knew he wasn’t getting minutes so basically screw you D’assholi.

9- Where’s the love for D’assholi? It sure seems a lot of players actually don’t like this phony.

10-Without Nash it seems D’assholi is being shown to be a terrible coach who is clueless about game management. He does not know how to teach basketball and does not care about defense, does not hold his players accountable and plays favorites beyond what any coach should. You can play favorites on a winning team not on a losing one.

11- Gallo is a bust, Chandler is dumb and has no BBall IQ, they both cannot play defense. Chandler is one of the worst defenders in the NBA. Gallo tries but Chandler is totally lost on the court. It’s amazing how Jefferies who is a terrible player made this team a much better defensive team.

12- We got back T-Mac for so much just to rid ourselves of an expiring contract. The guy is done, so even if he comes back next year on the cheap he’s a shell of his former self and nothing more than a rotational player with average skills now.

Do I need to continue?

Oh and Lebron is not coming here. D Wade is not coming and I would not want him, he’s always injured.

I’ll buy that, but how much do you think that was a product of Steve Nash running the show? He made that system work, or at least super entertaining . . .

star players seem to like him.

thats about all i can come up with,.

….and who’s to say that Mark doesn’t eventually get another shot at the gig if he’s patient enough.

“Thanks for coming in, Mike. We’ll let you know….”

did yall read this?

http://realgm.net/src_wiretap_archives/65028/20100227/dantoni_hints_that_gallinari_is_becoming_darko/

1. When did the coach acknowledge that Gallo was a bust? I don’t seem to remember that. I agree with you on 2 and 3.
4. Remains to be seen. If he ends up really putting together a good roster this offseason, I would say he made a great trade. If not it was a complete failure.
5. C’mon man, Bender!!!! Him and Duhon were having an ongoing challenge for worst least effective player in the league, yet to be determined who won.
7. At least the Knicks have a chance to resign House for very cheap for next year, and he seems to be a decent leader who is basically a less quick and athletic better shooting Nate Robinson.
8.C’mon man, Darko!!! He’s going back to Europe next year for a reason. He should have gotten more of a chance no doubt, but I don’t think Im gonna lose any sleep about how he could have changed our season and we would be in the playoffs now if he played.
11. I don’t even know what to say about that man.

thats a completely ridiculous comparison DaGawd. Check out this link which bashes Marc Berman for his “journalism”

http://www.knicksfan.net/?p=3306&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+knicksfan%2Ffeed+%28The+Knicks+FanBlog%29

Its completely absurd that Berman made the leap he did with Dantonis statement.

it’s typical NY Post attention-grabbing sensationalism.

i stopped reading that tabloid rag years ago…. everyone else should, too.

Read the NY Post today.

D’antoni doesnt impress me and yes it is a players league … but on top of all that, we could live with effort without results … but out of duhon, chandler, gallo, al nothington, lee, etc etc … which one of these guys is on the floor or in the 2nd row for loose balls? david lee used to be that guy.. but not since he perfected his mid range jumper and has been playing back to back seasons for a contract

So I guess it’s just a figment of our imagination that Gallo has basically sucked. That his injury could have robbed him of everything we thought we were getting when he was drafted.

It doesn’t matter the guy cannot play in the NBA unless he improves in every facet of his game. Especially his aggressiveness.

This is the guy we were supposed to build around. No way, the next Dirk..LMAO, don’t even go near Larry Bird, the kid could even carry his jock.

lol, Ok I get that that the both of ya are 2 different people. However, what good does it means to have a coach that doesn’t have the players as you say and then not be accountable in anyway for the players that he does have?

A lot of money could be saved if we just elect a theme coach each game since a coach accountability is not required.

I do read your pts and most of them seem to always find an excuse for not holding this coach accountable. Oh yeah, you surely luv to hold certain players accountable or let me be more exact, you like to hold the players as a group as a means for an excuse on why things are clicking well.

I will say this AGAIN. No fair minded person expects this team to make the playoffs or win a ring. This why many of us thought some of ya were crazy in December for suggesting such. The kool-aid had yous saying this team could be a 5th or 6th seed in the East. Now you;re saying this team has no talent and please don’t blame the coach.

That’s ree-tarded! We also expect this coach to hold players accountable and hopefully build a foundation so that when we do get better players, we still will make Defense and playing smarter, a important ingredient.

At least Tommy know better but he’s just playing the role of Chris the”Mad Dog” Russo here. If he really took those pts of view to his fellow co-workers on the beat, they would laugh him off the stage.

You see, Tommy Dee has a schtick going and you need to be hit with a stick! WAKE UP PLAYA! lol

lmao!

+1 So on Pt!

Thx for the link! I would welcome our coach lighting a fire on Gallo. However this coach has destroyed Gallo for most of the year by ingnoring him on the floor. Everyone could see that Duhon and co avoided getting the ball to Gallo at all costs.

Also, this coach never ran a play for Gallo or had this team create space for him by using picks and screens or even putting Gallo is motion.

The coach has to realize that Gallo is young and they he has to mentor this dude. Since this team wasn’t going anywhere, it was imperative that this coach made great strides to make sure Gallo, Chandler, Douglas, Hill and etc get strong leadership and direction from him.

This coach just sucks period!

lol. Who has this coach develop here under that the great intangibles JJ and Lee?

JJ has been traded and he’s requesting that his new coach allows him 7 3s or he’ll lose his intangibles.

Lee has turned into a defense snob who can’t afford to get his trigger finger damaged trying to block or alter a shot. Why game hurting it on boxing out too.

If Larry Bird played for this coach, he’s be known Dodo Bird after several years. What we do know now is that Nash took his best years trying to carry this dumb coach by scoring and playing no Defense.

That’s the Pinnacle of what this coach can do!

Most overused line on this blog…..Kook Aid!!!
This team has sucked for 9 years and that includes having a hall of fame coach. The best team we put on the floor was last year but the trades dismantled that team. Barring injury, we probably make the playoffs. Regardless, our plan is not to get knocked out of the 1st roun of the playoffs last or this year. Our plan is to give us the opportunity to sign two max free agents and we have done that. Do you think coach enjoyed having his two best players removed from the team? Let’s wait until next year to judge that. I’m not necessarily pro coach but I realistic, most of this is on the GM. I do agree that he needs better end of game management, I hate not fouling with one to give. Once we have a set team after this summer (whoever we sign) it will than be up to coach to win. Hard to do that with selfish players (playing in a selfless system), that hve proven to not be winners.

before t Mac and house arrived Gallo was at the point that on a BAD shooting night he would still score 10-14 points ….. so now that he never takes 10 attempts in game he sucks?
oh thats right .. im sorry.. he has to be more agressive …
with eddie “no such thing as a bad shot” house
and Tmac, “i used to be the next jordan”
sorry if a 21 year old european player doesnt feel confident in calling for the ball with these players on his roster …
if we had Lopez he MIGHT get 4 post touches the whole game

“3 He does hold grudges like your HS girlfriend”

time to look in a mirror big guy.

That is NOT what Donnie do nothing said. Now he is saying that he never said 2 max free agents.

But he did say how important the draft of 2008 and 2009 would be to build on and that we do not have a 2010 #1 pick. That makes it even more important.

So basically he already screwed his plan up.

Go back and read the things he said and is now saying.

This guy put us 4 years back and did a worse job than Isiah. You will all see and be cursing this guy till your dying day. Donnie Walsh will make you forget about how bad Isiah screwed this team up.

No way, Lopez has a pair of balls and would tell those guys off. I like Lopez, he’s an aggressive guy who HATES, Hates to lose.

Watch the guy play before you make statements about him.

so just to be clear .. you see no difference in Gallo’s play since Tmac and house have arrived is what your saying ???
he has sucked all year?
the 14ppg and 6rpg in his first full year in the NBA were a figment of my imagination?

lol. I wonder how Lopez is doing right now man. Plus, since I do follow the Nets and do like Lopez, I can tell you that just 2 weeks ago there was a big article in the star ledger about how Lopez isn’t aggressive enough and how he seems tentative to speak up in the locker room and take more of a leadership role. Again, how is he doing right now with one of the worst teams in league history lol.

I think the PG is the most important position in that system (and most systems that don’t have a Jordan, LBJ, D Wade or Kobe). That is why the Knicks utter refusal to draft or sign a starting quality PG has left me disgusted.

and just to clarify I really like Lopez. He will be a good player for years to come, and I would say the same thing about Gallo. But you are being very unfair in how you are judging the 2 guys based on different criteria.

Why does Larry Brown get a pass ??

How many games did he win and how many starting line ups did he use that season?

Just a question playa.

Preach jgilch82!!!

No. He’s a bad coach.

Any coach can “win” with the “right players”.

He’ll be fired soon.

“Be Patient My Friends”.

in all seriousness DVJ … Gallo RIGHT NOW .. is the teams 4th or 5th offensive option on the court at times with Lee, TMac, Chandler, House, and Nothington all higher priorities on the “get shots for” list.

i knew this season was a wash with wins and losses but the one thing i feared is that all the players playing for contracts would hinder the development of Gallo and Will ….
I wasnt even taking into account the possibility of a guy like T Mac in that thought … I just hate that this coach preaches the 2nd half of the season being about the “development of the young guys”
ive seen TD play maybe 4 mins since that time
Will has been running in place
and Gallo has been running down a mountain

“and Gallo has been running down a mountain”

More like running UP a mountain with those lead legs of his.

look i think your looking at what he is going to be as a player totaly wrong.
This team (coach) is looking to develop him as a 4. Primarily bcuz his 1-1 defense is very solid … with some more weight and his long arms hes got the potential to be a very good defensive 4.
I just dont think hes going to be that quick slick elusive sharpshooting 3 that the scout draft videos sold us on.
Obviously he’s not a prototypical 4 because of his weight, but i have no doubt they will bulk him up ..

i know i know your going to go on about we should have drafted lopez instead of gallo and jennings instead of hill … if you want to go back to every draft you can sit there with the “should have drafted X instead of X” for every franchise multiple times in every season …
Was Hill instead of jennings a huge blunder .. YES , a big one.. i think Jennings should be a very good strating pg for years to come.
Was Gallo instead of Lopez a huge blunder … i dont know .. was it the optimal pick? of course not .. Lopez is a stud center already imo ..
but when we look back 5-7 years from now? i think even if lopez is a 20,10 career center, Gallo can be a 17/8/etc etc 4 that stretches defenses and is a major cog on a championship team …
and i know I KNOW.. your going to go with your .. ” ALWAYS DRAFT A FRANCHISE CENTER?!?!?!?”
how many teams have won championships over the last decade compared to past years with an elite center where u pound the ball inside ????
only the spurs ….. lakers? shaq was a freak of nature and they had the best player in the sport atm along with him …
with all the new defensive rules this game (probably for the worst) has gone the way of the athletic exciting swingman.
The 90′s knicks ??? the average NBA fan TODAY, who didnt witness that era, would fall asleep watching them

by the way LOL
here’s an LOL
the poor nets … no one wants to play there

“The end result is that the Nets, who’ve endured potentially the worst season in NBA history simply for the chance to sign a major free agent, now will have to get in line behind other teams that have more to offer. “What New York and Chicago did,” one high ranking rival executive said, “didn’t help the Nets at all.” And if the Nets don’t wind up with the No. 1 pick (a.k.a. John Wall)? “They’re screwed,” the executive said. CBSSports.com”

and if you think for a second “bigdaddysbluesman” that Lopez would “tell off” TMac or another Vet u are sadly mistaken

This is why I like D’Antoni, and maybe Ill elaborate on this another time.

There are only a few coaches out there that stick out as having a specific system, a plan, a way of playing ball. You have Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, Jerry Sloan, Riley still runs things his way for the most part in Miami even though hes not coaching, and maybe you want to throw Rick Adelman in that discussion…They have a system, an ideal player at each position, in each role, and they try to fit those roles best they can. Mike D’Antoni is one of those coaches who has a system he believes in and that at least some players have publicly said they enjoy playing in.

There aren’t that many coaches out there that players say “wow Id love to play for that coach”. There aren’t that many coaches that have a system and a plan. I am just sick of 10 years of acquiring players without a plan. Even before Isaiah, we were just making moves to make moves, we were a lost franchise. Those other coaches aren’t going anywhere. D’Antoni didn’t get fired, Kerr asked him to stay. The only other coaches that were available at the time, and have since become available, are nobody I’d love to have. Before we got D’Antoni, I just figured he’d be a coach that never left Phoenix.

Who else could be better? What other coach has a system? If you don’t agree with his system, I can’t hate you for that. I just see D’Antoni as being a little a head of his time. This is the type of league the NBA is turning into. They want the scores to be higher, they want the games to be faster paced, the rules have been and probably will continue to make offense easier, having an offensive team like this is just in my mind the way to go. Just dont judge him before he builds his time.

“This team (coach) is looking to develop him as a 4.”

By playing him at the 3 all year?

SMH

“…with all the new defensive rules this game (probably for the worst) has gone the way of the athletic exciting swingman.”

That does not describe Gallinari.

“I just see D’Antoni as being a little a head of his time.”

So was _on Nelson. I guess he still is because he hasn’t won a championship or been to the Finals.

HaS ,, on point w that one lol

I don’t know if Don Nelson was ahead of his time as much as he was eccentric and innovative. He was willing to try creative techniques like Hack a Shaq and thought of things other teams didnt. He wanted us to trade Ewing so we could try to sign Shaq and we fired the guy and kicked his ass out of town. How many rings would he have if that trade went down? I mean, half the championships won the past decade were by Phil Jackson and Pops. Nelson had the Mavs playing top notch basketball in a tough tough western conference for a long time.

Also, taking the D out of the names of people you deem untalented on defense is still hilarious. It has not gotten old at all.

And, besides, D’Antoni doesnt neglect defense. He is an offensive minded coach, but he doesnt neglect defense. All those Suns teams that were supposedly defenseless were really usually ranked 10-15 defensively.

i always said Don Nelson was the one man who proved bill Simmons retarded “Ewing Theory” as false ….
He sat patrick in games late and ran the offense directly thru anthony mason LOL .. most people forgot about that short lived era lol
the team was horrid and nelly was buh bye after not long

I picked “jury is still out” even though I haven’t been happy with Mike D’Antoni as a coach in nearly two seasons.

Sure, a lot of the Knicks’ problems have been out of his control.

But there are lots of things that are going on with the Knicks that are alarming:

If D’Antoni was such a good coach, I feel that his teaching would have rubbed off on his players. There are four young guys that D’Antoni has had for the majority of the time he’s been with the Knicks: Chandler, Gallo, Lee and Nate (although no longer with the team). Can you say that any of them are better players now than they were before he took over? I personally don’t think so. They all still make a ton of mistakes and these are usually the types of mistakes that better coaching should have eliminated by now.

Then there is D’Antoni’s handling of players. His personal gripes keep holding this team back. He handled Marbury, Hughes and Nate pretty poorly in my opinion. And now he’s given Duhon like 3-4 DNP-CD’s in a row or something. I’m not saying I miss seeing Duhon get playing time, but you can’t take your PG (theoretically, your floor leader) who’s been playing a ton of minutes the past two seasons and eliminate him from the rotation in favor of Sergio Rodriguez (who has yet to show that he’s anything more than a marginal upgrade over Duhon). D’Antoni’s head games totally disrupt the continuity of the team and it’s bound to have an effect on the team’s results.

And then there’s the on-court stuff. This guy is supposed to be a GREAT offensive coach. He has a team full of fairly good offensive players. Why don’t the Knicks get good plays coming out of timeouts? Why do the Knicks struggle to get off a clean shot when they have the last possession of 4th quarter/OT? Well-coached teams don’t have this problem.

I don’t want D’Antoni to be kept around because I just haven’t liked his approach to things and have always believed that the Knicks (and their fans) need to have a defensive-minded coach to thrive. But clearly, it’s owed to D’Antoni to give him his superstar(s) in 2010-11 and see how he does then. And frankly, I don’t think that LeBron James + “Seven Seconds of Less” meshes well because LBJ likes to survey the court before deciding what to do with the ball. But that’s something we won’t know is true or not until LeBron signs the contract (hopefully).

Launch enough 3 pointer and you too can pad your scoring stats.

In 2 seasons as baby sitter-coach
he has not done anything to show us that he is worthy.

Of course it’s a players league and the teams with the best players
win, but there is also a lot of mediocrity and parity on all levels
except the very top rung..(LA< BOSTON, ORLANDO, CLEVELAND)

and I do believe another coach could have done more with what they
had here in NY while we wait. Aside from D Lee who has always been
a great self motivator, he has not nurtured or inspired any of the knicks
to up their games. Chandler, Nate, may have taken bigger steps,
Darko and even E Curry may have had a second life, but we'll never know it.

If D Ant is so ABOVE his collection of players then he should be coaching
elsewhere.

And, what I meant by ahead of his time, is because of the rule changes and the way the league is changing. You dont need a 7 footer anymore definitely. Theres no Shaq, Hakeem, Admiral, to worry about. The league is changing. It is going to be dominated by this new breed of athlete. Guys like Lebron, Carmelo, Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant, Shawn Marion in his prime, these guys are going to be dominating the league. They are huge match up problems and they will operate best under a fast paced offense. The Tyrus Thomas, Michael Beasleys, theres a new type of basketball player. Its not the same league as it was. Once we can start acquiring these type of players – July, 1st – we can be a great team.

This coach was brought here to coach in the year 2010. I cant believe we were able to get a coach of his caliber to come here. Who else would you have wanted? Marc Jackson? Avery Johnson?

I asked that question once before, someone, I think biggie, said Paul Westphal – who seems to be doing a great job over there. Everyone here flips a shit about D’Antonis alleged problems with his players, three different starters complained that they were confused about there roles and it was hurting the team, then Spencer Hawes gets benched, and the whole teams a mess.

Who else would you have wanted as coach? I mean, my coach wish list would be probably Popovic, Phil Jackson, and then probably D’Antoni. The first two arent going anywhere, we have the third. I dont know who else is better. Other teams looking for coaches around the same time: Chicago got Vinny Del Negro, Sacramentos been through Reggie Theus already and is now on Wesphal…i dont know who you want. All that matters is July 1st. Who we get.

Did the Celtics win that ring because of Doc Rivers or Kevin Garnett? Does Phil Jackson have all those rings because of zen or because of Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq.

And, also, how can you knock the player development? What young guys did we have to develop except Lee and Chandler who both got much, much better. Chandler is a much more complete player and playing the best ball of his career, Lee got a jump shot, which D’Antoni probably asked him to do because he likes his big men to shoot, and it turned him from a garbage man to an All Star. Even Jeffries, despite the hate, became an extremely valuable player under D’Antoni, its a shame he had such a huge contract.

u do know he took the job cuz they offered more money than the bulls

i knew you could come up with another positive other than star players like playing for him.

so there is never going to be another dominant 7 footer in basketball?

thats ridiculous Justin.. come on..

as to who anone should have picked as coach 2 years ago its a straw man question,.. you can come up with an issue with any choice..

What about John Calipari?
Thibideau
PJ Carlesimo?>

ANYONE>> Donnie didnt talk to anyone but Jackson and D’Antoni and that is part of the problem. NO creative thought was put into the choice.

fact is Herb could have coached for 2 years.. as yous aid we need a coach for 2010.. these last 2 were throw aways.. which is fine but
…
Let Lebron name his own damn coach in July,.

I cant believe I feel the need to write this response pretty much again, but how can you see you have not seen improvements in the young guys? David Lee, rookie year, was a garbage man. He tipped in baskets and grabbed rebounds, he was a hustle man. D’Antoni got his offense to the point where he’s scoring 20 a game, and hes an All Star. Knock his defense, whatever, but the guy is putting up 20 and a 11. You think that was gonna be David Lee after his rookie season?

Chandler has become a great all around player, I mean, you’d still like to see more sometimes, but for a very late first rounder he has come around nicely. Last year was really his break out, and that was all D’Antoni. It would have been nice to see an improvement this year but he had offseason surgery.

Gallo only has a two season sample and the first year he was injured, but in the few games last season Gallo played he looked to be strictly a jump shooter and this year he has seen improvements in some areas.

What is Nate ever going to become? Hes always going to be what he is now. A short burst of energy off the bench who can sometimes go off for 40 points and sometimes shoot 2-15

in fairness i think he liked DOnnie more than the bulls mgmt and owners..

But why did DOnnie marry the first chick he met?.. should have played the field more..

D’Antoni thought he needed us more than we needed him.. Although in hindsight he would have been better off in Chicago.,

i LOVE that draft lotteryday shot when the Bulls get Rose and D’antoni looks liek he just shit his pants.

Hahaa seriously, that was a priceless look.

Donnie Walsh just wanted D’Antoni more. So he went and made a much more aggressive, convincing sales pitch (i.e. more $$$) and he got his guy. It showed the typical ineptitude/frugality/stubborness of the Bulls organization.

I was personally pissed that Walsh made it basically between D’Antoni and Mark Jackson (who never really had a chance anyway I guess). Like why these two guys?

Definitely wanted Tom Thibodeau to at least get a legit interview process. And don’t know/remember if Rick Adelman was even available but I was hoping that someone in the Knicks organization would at least inquire. Adelman, unlike D’Antoni, has shown the ability to adjust and maximize talent.

That is true, Herb could have coached for two years and then we could get a coach this season but D’Antoni is a perfect coach for Lebron, so why not snag him up if he happens to be on the market? He was a FA too, one that didnt count against the cap.

The truth is your last line is almost the truth. Lebron is a general out there. Hes gonna end up being his own coach. D’Antonis offense gives the team leader the freedom to control – like Nash in Phoenix. D’Antoni is the perfect coach for a team with Lebron or an athletic team with guys like him. Herb could have coached until 2010 but its not my money paying so I dont care, I cant think of a better coach Id want next season.

Calipari is an interesting choice but would he have left the comfort of college hoops?

Thibideau is another interesting choice because we would have a two year trial period to see if he can handle being a head coach – but I think he is very comfortable in his role of defensive mastermind.

PJ – Come on now, really? First, he was still coaching the sonics/thunder miserably and he got fired like 15 games into the season because they only won one game despite having Kevin Durant.

Like, you think these guys are that much better than D’nt? He’s that bad? Next year is his year to pick his guys and prove himself, but based on how he coached a team with some good players,you think hes worse than some of those coaches?

I was just a huge fan of the Suns because they were fun to watch when they had the Nash-Marion-Amare combo and the Knicks were horrible.

Now I enjoy watching the Knicks, even when they suck.

I hate to be like chirping into these conversations like this and sticking up for D’Ant, but Adelman wasnt available and, in keeping with this plan, we should be able to build a team around based on the system we want, rather than having to maximize our talent….do you see what im saying? Adjusting to maximize isnt as big of an issue when you can pick and choose your team. Although I am a fan of him as a coach.

But yeah had D’Antoni known he was getting Rose, he’d be there and they be one of the best teams in the league. D’Ant coaching Derek Rose, Ty Thomas, Deng, Noah, thats like the perfect team for him.

You’re right but I think Lopez might be a little more vocal about it.

I like watching Lopez play, he has that intensity and hates to lose. This must be killing him.

Although it must have felt great beating Boston and having a great game as far as the box score goes, I didn’t watch.

Chandler is the worst defender in the NBA at SF/SG. He’s terrible at every aspect. He also is lost on the court many times and just disappears.

Lee got better because while everybody was on vacation Lee was working on his game. Lee has average talent and made himself into a great player, he just needs to add some more defense and a 3 point shot and he will be a complete player. No he’ll never be a Kobe because he does not have the physical ability.

The funny thing is Chandler does have the physical ability but seems dumb as a rock.

To be honest, you can not blame the man, There has been at least 7 trades since he got there and he is riding two young studs; chemistry is a huge issue. How dare anyone criticize Mike D for letting Gallo take those open shots at the end of the game. so what if he missed it, its called growing pains son and rebuilding. We should be thankful to have coach willing to put up with losses and put the game in Chandler and Gallo hands. Second thing, its dw fault for giving mike an unbalanced roster and his decisions for keeping lee. I love Lee to death and want him to go back to the four, but we could have already solved our point guard situation by trading him to Memphis for the fifth pick two drafts ago; OJ mayo. DW better be hoping he got some assurances from caa agency that Lebron is coming over next year or Mike will leave , JVG status baby.,

I may be wrong, but you take Phil Jackson’s situation after Shaq left in LA. Kobe was pretty much alone and he wasn’t ready to lead a roster (being the star he is, we can agree not all star have leadership attirbutes), and Phil had to take the reigns to show Kobe what leading means. Eventually he got it and we’ve seen in it his game and how it’s evolved, he’s adjusted his game so much throughout the years.
He may be a difference maker as a coach, and yes, he always had stars, but dealing with them and showing them into the path of leadership and making them involve his teammates in the court is an integral part of coaching as well. Has Mike inspired any leadership?
You can’t see it.
Yes, we may have stars next year, but making them give all they can give in the court is a different thing.

What about the development of players? This was to have an “enticing core” which has turned into Chandler and a Gallo who has only regressed because the coach who wanted him hasn’t found a way to take advantage of the things he brings to a game. Under any other coach, Gallo would have energy and would’ve shown he’s more than a one dimensional player. Not with this one. He won’t be what expected, but Toney D isn’t given minutes for his life.
Basics are basics for any coach.
Thr defense doesn’t exist. Defensive drills must be “their 2nd lunch break of the afternoon”. We can all see his late game calls are just horrible. Not only does he has short rotations, but they make no sense (even when he had big men). This team’s offensive set is a one dimensional joke called pick & roll (without mentioning those one-man crusades toward the hoop against the whole opposing team).
What about his “communication”? Yeah, that hasn’t really been pretty throughout players.
Sure, stars win games. But they need to play with other 4 players who defend and score so his 30 or 40 points, 9 rebound, 7 assits, 4 steals won’t fade into a loss. And that happens when 5 players attack according to a playbook that gives them many options, and defend in the same manner. How many of these things have D’antoni shown so far?

A coach’s shortcomings will remain, star or no star. I think the jury’s still out, but D’antoni really has shown his true colors this season without a winning team and and both his coaching and character flaws are evident.
Yes, he will have his judgement, but my patience will be quite thin next year with this guy. I mean, 20 games will be enough for to say if this guy deserves to be the Knicks coach.

Oh yeah, he’s got the inside scoop alright. Wade with Bosh will come too at a huge discount so we can get Camby and Felton…. Get real. No assurances for anyone opening up cap space, friend. Take a look at Detroit.

“How dare anyone criticize Mike D for letting Gallo take those open shots at the end of the game. so what if he missed it, its called growing pains son and rebuilding. We should be thankful to have coach willing to put up with losses and put the game in Chandler and Gallo hands”

Really? When have you ever seen Gallo taken a clutch shot? Chandler hasn’t really gotten many chances. If anything, Gallo’s game has completely regressed and his confidence is lost, and who knows when it’ll return.
Chandler was well underway in his development. Gallo’s looks almost like a lost cause, it’s quite saddening.
He’s putting up with this mess because he’s getting quite a bit of money, simple.
And c’mon, you can’t say, with a straigh face, that he’s gotten everything out of every player in his roster throughout the season.
He’ll be judged next season, but we’ve seen what this coach does without a winning roster (in every year, remember his little group in Phoenix, it wasn’t half bad if you can remember).

You can bring in Lebron and anyone else next season-this coach still won’t get it done.

You are never going to be able to win a championship with a coach who exhibits a total lack of regard for defense-that is axiomatic in any sport.

The Camby reference is ridiculous because the issue with Van Gundy wasn’t about his basketball philosophy-he was always emphasizing the importance of defense. Camby was a young player who had to prove his worth to Van Gundy-he was, however, never “alienated” during that period of time. That situation does not even remotely compare with the disgraceful lack of communication that D’Antoni has shown with many of his players during his tenure in New York.

Pardon me for not being particularly impressed because he decided to come here. After all, this is supposedly the “mecca” of basketball, and he is getting paid 6 million a year-not bad for someone who has never won anything. We’ll see what excuses are made when he fails next year.