“…And yet, D’Antoni has received an inordinate number of hits this season, his reputation in the process of being sullied because of too many meaningless losses in a year that will be best remembered for untangling the ugly web spun by Isiah Thomas.
“New York is New York, first of all. That explains a lot right there,” D’Antoni said of the criticism. “They expect certain things. When you come out and you are all hyped up and the season starts, and I am trying to paint a glowing picture, and we don’t meet what we set our goals to be, then there is going to be a natural criticism.
“When it gets down to little stuff, then it gets into banter. I don’t follow it that much. We have a plan where we want to develop our young guys and open cap space, and we’ve done that. When I signed on with Donnie [Walsh, the Knicks' president], I think we are in lockstep with where we thought we’d be…”
D’Antoni also said he didn’t apologize for setting the standards too high. He truly felt that this could be a playoff team.
“…“I don’t think there is a line [between raising expectations and lowering expectations]. I think you are always going to set them up above. That is who I am. Because I truly believe we are better than every team in the league and are going to win every game. I’m not saying that is smart, but that is my personality. And that is just the way it is. If you talk to these guys in [this locker room], they will tell you that I think we are going to win eight straight and still make the playoffs. That is probably not realistic…”
What isn’t realistic is the idea of being positive in the midst of really terrible basketball. I think you can choose to look at D’Antoni is a few ways. He has held players accountable but hasn’t held everyone accountable for a lack of defense and effort, especially Al Harrington and David Lee. But, come on, is he really supposed to SIT Lee? Lee has to play 35 plus minutes. And he’s moved Harrington to the bench. I definitely agree Duhon played too long.
To me, it’s pretty simple. Leadership can’t just come from the coach. There needs to be an extension of him on the floor and in the locker who demands respect. Every winning situation has that. Kevin Garnett comes to Boston and takes over the locker room and supports Doc Rivers. Chauncey Billups and Larry Brown where on the same page in Detroit. Tim Duncan and Pop…and obviously you know the others.
No exceptions. The team obviously doesn’t have that…
Is that the picture of the big orange egg they laid together? A proud papa and momma.
What about not getting the most out of what was provided for him ? What about the personal vendettas against guys like Marbury and Robinson that devalued their worth as trade options?These guys could have helped the team to some more wins while upping their trade values in the process. What about not using Milicic and Hill enough on a team that was so undersized? What about the lack of any type of defensive system? This guy is a delusional ego maniac who is a blind devotee of the cult of Euroball.
I have to admit, I thought this team had enough talent to make the playoffs. After watching this season, I dont know if any coach could have gotten this team 41 wins.
Personal vendettas? You are saying that Marbury isn’t a cancer? There is no way in hell anyone gives up anything for him. The league learned their lesson.
And I love Nate, but we were never getting anything for him. I’m actually happy we got a couple of young guys for him. MD actually did “hold him accountable”, by benching him.
Milicic is garbage. Hill wasn’t ready to play consistent minute early in the season.
Take off the blinders man. D’Antoni did a terrible job this season, bottom line.
And this is coming from someone who still believes D’Antoni is a good coach.
I wouldn’t say terrible, but he certainly did a bad job.
Some bad in game decisions. Douglas should have been starting instead of Duhon since Feb. 1. Knicks had too many games where they didn’t give enough effort. All that falls on the coach.
Yikes! How about get us to 30 wins first! Besides, it’s not the wins with this team. It’s about positioning for next year and beyond. This coach sucks and the young players are not further along as they should be.
For you diehards, you’ll probably get another year to see this team be a bust under this coach. So get your next round of excuses ready! Also, next year Donnie boy will be under the fire with this coach too.
I think MD has done a pretty good job developing the young guys.
Chandler has gotten much better these last 2 years. 50% from the field for a SF who averages 15 is really good.
TD looks very confident out there. I think bringing him along slowly was the right move, though i would liked to have seen him start all of Feb.
Gallo is pretty much a rookie. He still needs to work on his shot selection, but his D and overall attitude is a positive. he has had his ups and downs this year, but that is to be expected from a young guy.
“. But, come on, is he really supposed to SIT Lee? Lee has to play 35 plus minutes.”
One aspect of Lee’s missing D is the realization by Coach that he must be on the floor. Hence, he has been told that his offense is more needed than is his defense in the paint. Sometimes, players have to be told, “Play as if you have five fouls. We need you on the floor.”
It is a trade-off that a coach sometimes has to make. I do think that Coach could have worked harder at being able to slide Gallo into the Pick and Roll High Post offense when Lee was on the bench. At least the position could have maintained the requisite scoring and passing , and maybe even a little more defense. Certainly better than plugging Harrington in at the five.
I don’t understand this whole concept of “being held accountable”… that means nothing.. its like certain people say it as a campaign slogan against d’antoni.
Nobody knows what goes on at practice or team meetings.
But i mean… just shutup. David Lee is our best player, by far, and even though he sucks at defense and all that other bad stuff you can say about him, he is still by far our best player… by far.
So the idea of sitting him is absolutely insane, no matter how much you hate his style.
So stop the “holding accountable” banter because it means nothing… its like saying “hope and change” or “stop global warming.” it’s bullshit.
And by the way, i’m not even a conservative. Nor a liberal.
The two party system is an epic failure and they are both just 1 party, 2 wings of one giant corporate party.
But this is no place for politics.
So, we should “just shut up”?
LOL
Amazing.
Trust me everyone’s “politics” are different here, let’s not even get into those discussions since this isn’t the blog for that. Politics and religion can cause an argument between friends.
I may not agree with other posters here, but I would never tell them to “just shut up”. Agree to disagree and move on. You can skip over certain people’s posts, I know it’s hard, but I do it all the time.
Just sayin’.
+1 on both points.
You can’t threaten your players with benching when there are no viable options on the bench.
We would be better off with a multiparty system. Now we pick between a giant douche and a turd sandwich.
Sad to say, but that is the smartest show on TV, especially when it comes to petty political arguements.
(talking about south park, for anyone who is lost.)
“I don’t understand this whole concept of “being held accountable”… that means nothing.. its like certain people say it as a campaign slogan against d’antoni.”
Double YIKES! Have you have played organized b-ball? YIKES!
Concept? We can see in games here for 2 years and when he coached in PHX for many years that this coach doesn’t put a priority on defense or getting stops. This should be non debatable.
However, since PHX could score well, had superior talent with a 2-time MVP, won many regular season games, many who didn’t care to see the whole picture, gave this coach a pass or gave him the benefit for the doubt. I always saw that this coach was not a good Xs and Os coach and I watched how his team failed to get stops at end of games or they operated randomly in key moments of playoffs games. Thx God they had Nash running the show to just freestyle.
Held Accountable refers to a coach making players do what they are asked to do or be put on the bench until they conform and etc. This requires communicating in practice as well on game day and sticking to it.
This should be so much easier here in NY because this coach has the power, the players are NOT real superstars and this team is not expected to win now. So with that, how can this coach not do these things unless it’s not in his coaching DNA?
Imagine real contending teams that have sensitive Superstars that coaches have to rely on? These coaches have to tread carefully because they need these players to produce or else. Yet I see coaches like Doc, Sloane, Popovich and etc that will get up in the faces of stars and tell them things they might not want to hear but needs to hear. That’s a real coach! That is why I expect Skiles to be a damn good coach in the league for many years because he isn’t afraid to tell players what he wants and demands it.
Ill explain what “holding people accountable” means since some here .. (including the “coach”) Dont understand the meaning.
Holding someone accountable means if they do something wrong either on or off the court there are consequences. The Consequences in this case are PLaying time.
I could argue that lee is not the best player on this team. Bu that isnt the point.
When a “coach” holds some accountable for poor play and others get a complete pass (Harrington/Lee/Duhon for large chunks) then it creates the exact situation we found ourselves in .. Players who wont play for the coach.
This is a 30 win team (maybe.. being generous) right now..a wise man once said when discussing the “best player” on a horrid team I can come in last place with you I can come in last without you..
If Defense was a priority on this team Darko and Hill could have received minutes in the pivot.. or at the same time. With Chuckets and Hughes providing the offense.. this “coach” had options other than to accept Lee’s absolutely putrid defense as “ok because of what he brings on the other end of the court”
Since Lee is essentially a one and done player with us the long term COULD have been prioritized by workign Hill into the game. lee, after all, is a Zeke player..
Why do people keep bringing up milicic, like he is a model of effort.
So this is keeping Lee and Harrington accountable:
MD:,”you guys need to play D, or else”
Lee and Harrington dont play D, and Darko and Hill are inserted, Darko SUCKS and Hill is not ready, the team gets blown out.
MD to Lee and Harrington: “I’m sorry guys, will you please play again so we don’t get blown out every game.”
YOu can’t threaten guys with lack of PT when there are no viable options on the bench. PERIOD.
Milicic is GARBAGE! Hill was not ready to play 20 min plus per game.
If Milicic was such “garbage” why is he contributing meaningful minutes in Minnesota?
Could he not contribute 10-18 minutes here? really? why?
because some have said he leaves practice right after its over? perish the thought.
Play Darko,.. if the team loses so what.. that’s not the point.. we were going to be a 30 something win non playoff team anyway.. why not make a point and raise the value of some guys who may bring something and light a fire under others all while treating ALL the players the same..
Nate sat for a month why again?
The Knicks allow 46.9 points in the paint per game. 3rd worst in the league courtesy of yours truly. Lee has hurt the team more than he has helped. In the 19 games Darko has played he’s averaging 1.36 Blocks per game also Hill recently had a 11 pt 7 reb 5 block game against Boston. They could have helped.
I would have been perfectly fine with getting “blown out” with players who left it all out on the floor on the defensive end and watching our young guys learn from their mistakes. “Bringing players along slowly” does not avoid the inevitable mistakes of a rookie. Darko aside, I’m sure Hill and Douglas would have given the effort needed to compete in games most nights (especially against the bottom feeders of the league) and we know we didn’t have to worry about Gallinari or Chandler showing up with effort most nights on the defensive end.
I don’t know about you, but I grew tired of watching other bad teams beat us with THEIR rookies, while ours sat on the bench collecting DNP’s like Pokemon Cards, real fast.
There were enough bigs here early where Lee didn’t HAVE TO play so many minutes at the 5 spot. Jeffries, Darko and Hill were all taller and not allergic to defending the paint the way Lee is. There were more options than people like to admit. At least the team could have been a scrappy defensive lot with energy, rather than a laughing stock giving up 60 points in the paint on countless nights with a red carpet leading to the bucket.
I have watched David Lee enough since he has been drafted. ARE YOU CHARACTERS DELUSIONAL OR DID YOU EVER PLAY OR COACH THE GAME? The Knicks coaches, other teams coaches and anyone who KNOWS how the game is played all love the way he plays. Since he was drafted he has brought hard work, great finishing skills around the hoop, great passing skills to the team. He is the only one other than Duhon who thinks about moving the ball on offense. He is hands down the smartest Knick player who understands spacing, pick and rolls, and if he had compliments on this team he would be even better. He has a great first pass to start a fast break and is amongst the few in the league who generally puts a pass in the shooters hands exactly where it should be so they can get off a quick shot and not have to reposition the ball.. So you don’t like his DEFENSE all you Bill Russell fanatics. One, no one in the NBA plays defense like they do in college. SEE BUTLER. (and if Lee played for Scott Skiles with his work ethic he would be excellent in team defense) Two, whether its Steve Nash, or with few exceptions any of these top free agents available… no on plays hard defense with a strong offensive game. Finally David is out of position guarding monsters at center every night and still held his own against Ming, Duncan and Shaq over the last few years. Also, who the hell is there to protect him in the middle. Finally, he is among the most consistent players in the NBA the last two years playing with nobody of great talent and also has gone the last half of last year and most of this year without a point guard who knows how to distribute (which Duhon does but just petered out in his ability to do so). SO FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL LAY OFF OF THIS GUY. I don’t understand your beefs but unless you played in the NBA yourself or coached why do you spend so much of your time bashing a guy who lays it on the line every game of his career. Place your bashes on the Curry’s, Marbury’s and players that don’t understand team basketball and are lost.. Since stats do matter or he wouldn’t have made the All Star team, check who is number two in the league similar to last year in rebounding. Who is 7th in scoring in the east. Who led the NBA in double doubles last year. Who leads centers in assists this year. YOU LEE HATERS ARE DELUSIONAL. Give it a rest, and pick on someone who deserves it.
Another post defending dantoni ??
Wow.
Why does he have to play Lee 35 minutes? I can’t think of one positive that would result from that for us. All its done is allow Lee to become more of a 1-way player who doesn’t give a crap on defense and therefore doesn’t contribute much or really at all to helping us win.
With Lee in a contract year..THIS WAS THE PERFECT TIME TO BENCH HIM. Maybe he then realizes that fighting his own teammates for rebounds might help his stats but it doesn’t help us win when he stands and watches on defense. I can’t believe this. Same goes for Al Chucketts. That guy should have been benched months ago. Same with Duhon, who should have been benched a month into the season.
Notice how when Nate was benched we WON. Maybe the same could have happened with Lee and Harrington on the bench, because then the players know what they have to do and what kind of effort they have to put in every minute of every game. Now they know they can just pad stats, not play team ball, not play a lick of defense, and they know they won’t get benched.