Category Archives: Mike D’Antoni
While the defense has improved statistically, this is why numbers can often be misleading. 
When the Knicks were clicking offensively last season and the offense was a thing of beauty, they would lose games on the defensive end. This notion would often be infuriating to fans. Now, what you have is a backcourt who can’t throw the ball in the ocean, despite a relative improvement last night, and defenders collapsing on front court players.
What’s equally puzzling is the play of both Amar’e and Melo. Anthony is obviously plagued by a rash of injuries, but there are no excuses in New York. You wanted it you got it. Play hurt and if your shot isn’t falling do other things to get Ws. Stoudemire has lacked the same lift as last season. This is not the same athlete that we saw rocking the Garden last year to the chants of MVP. If your two superstars aren’t performing at a superstar level then you can’t consistently win. Period. Once again, I hear a ton of complaints for the coach’s job but no solutions from fans. My solution would be to wait to see Amar’e run a pick and roll at the 5 with Davis in stretches and Melo on the perimeter. Anyway you slice it, it’s really hard to get the team’s best 5 players on the floor at the same time. Ironically, the 99 team faced the same issue with Sprewell and Houston at the 2 and 3 positions. The roster, as Jeff Van Gundy called it, was “flawed.” Meaning it lacked balance. They managed to right the ship. If they don’t the coach will be fired. And he should be.
But that doesn’t excuse the ridiculousness of switching on EVERY freekin’ ball screen. I mean, do we have to watch Jorts guard Nash on a simple ball screen? Do we have to watch Shumpert guard Channing Frye, or Bibby try to handle Hakeem Warrick in the post? This is something that drives me absolutely nuts when the matchup is wrong. Look, Gallo could stay in front of a guard or a 4. Wilson Chandler could stay in front of a guard or a 4. Shawne Williams could guard the post if he switched. These players are GONE.
Why does Iman Shumpert switch on EVERY ball screen? Fields? Bibby? Even Douglas, who never did, is doing it.
Guards have to defend the ball and FIGHT.
Blame whomever you want to blame. The coach makes the final call so it’s on him and if this continues he may not make it to see Baron Davis in uniform. But for now, the alternatives at the top spot don’t get anyone excited. Yes, I know, how can it get worse?
It can’t, it has to get better.
Tagged knicks switching screens |
I know I said let’s hold off until the Knicks lose their first game, but the Mike D’Antoni watch is officially on, at least according to Moke.
From day one, Knicks fans have never fully embraced D’Antoni or his coaching style. He knows it as well as anyone. And until his motion based, pick-and-roll, shoot-quickly system is employed by a team that wins the ultimate prize, the brand of basketball he plays will never be respected by those that appreciate the structure and hard-nosed defensive style that Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy’s Knicks played….
For Mike’s sake, I hope Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire figure things out very soon. I hope Iman Shumpert’s poor shot selection was just a preseason thing. I hope Landry Fields’ slump is the exception and not the rule.
If all goes well, Knicks fans might be in for a memorable season.
And if not?
Woodson could become interim head coach by President’s Day.
I won’t go that far just yet. D’Antoni is a hot topic on this blog. I firmly believe D’Antoni will get this season unless things go horribly bad. Then the situation will be re-assessed come playoff time. Job one? Getting Melo and Stat on the same page offensively.
There was a report that there may be interest in MIke D’Antoni from the Toronto Raptors…Well, I guess that’s not going to happen if you believe D’Antoni’s agent.
Colangelo was D’Antoni’s boss in Phoenix and they are friends. But D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie, said D’Antoni has no interest in trying to get out of the final year of his contract.”There’s absolutely no truth to [Mike wanting to go to Toronto],” LeGarie said. “It’s amusing.”
According to a Raptors source late last night, Colangelo has no plans to ask the Knicks for permission to speak with D’Antoni.
Knicks president Donnie Walsh repeatedly has said he wants D’Antoni to return, feeling he never has coached the Knicks with a stable roster, including this season.
Some commentors need to stay clear of sharp objects…
Tagged Mike D'Antoni Toronto Raptors |I’m on record saying that, barring a deep title run next year, Phil Jackson will be the coach of 
the Knicks in 2012. The fact of the matter is, he’s already lobbying for it. That much I can assure you. A lot can happen in 12 months so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
My friend Moke Hamilton writes about the Knicks for Bleacher Report, a site that is briliantly built to help people with their writing so that they land jobs in the future. Frankly, I’m just curious as to where those jobs are. I wrote for free for years as an outlet, which is why I enjoy Moke’s work. It’s well thought and well-written.
I know people in the comments section don’t read stuff placed in this space all that thoroughly. If they did, they’d understand I’m not a Mike D’Antoni apologist at all. The Knicks really need to improve defensively and I was encouraged by what I saw in Game 1 in Boston.Like the Bulls offensively, the Knicks have to become a better balanced basketball team and there is simply no doubt about that.
I think from a business standpoint. If I were Donnie Walsh I would feel that Mike has been put in a difficult situation and I’d honor his contract without fail. And that’s why he’ll be the coach for next season.
Since two-thirds of his tenure in New York was dedicated to trading dollars for change to feed parking meters, it is somewhat unfair to make any determinations as to whether or not Mike D’Antoni “deserves” a long-term extension and a commitment from the organization that puts him in control of the legacies of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire…Quite simply, Mike D’Antoni deserves a training camp with this roster, and at least three solid months of chemistry and team building before said decision is made. Let’s remember, the Miami Heat began the 2010-2011 NBA season with a 9-8 record, and they are now just three wins short of an NBA championship…Once next season begins—assuming there is a season—there will be no more excuses. The Knicks have two legitimate All-Stars in their primes, and the time is now for Mike D’Antoni to not only figure out how to fully utilize Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, but also to help them improve their games and develop the skills necessary to excel together. more“
Man, I can hear the swords being sharpened as we speak…and that’s hilarious.
“They tell me both guys are coming back,” he stated. “Then again, they also told me the Knicks were going to get LeBron James.”It’s unnecessary to ask who “they” are. It’s well-known they are CAA’s talent-hoarding force field, agents Leon Rose and Wes Wesley. Wide World Wes kinda “represents” Calipari in that the NBA Players Association sorta insists negotiators pick up commissions exclusively from players or coaches, not both… Because the give and take was not completed until last week, I’m informed. Late changes were made by Walsh and approved by Dolan. Once Camp Cablevision’s required “six signatures” (I don’t think my source was being facetious) are on the dotted line, apparently sometime this week, the deal will be done, if not publicized.
Clearly, the new arrangement will give Walsh the control to finish the Knicks’ renovation the way he sees fit. If there was any uncertainty about that it would have demonstrated Dolan did not want him back. That would have shoved Walsh into retirement.
Wait, there were people at CAA who were telling people that Lebron and NY was close to happening? Come on.
And last week we reported that the ball was back in ownership’s court after Walsh made changes to the original pact. No word on if those changes were signed off on as of yet, but we’ve known from the start that, despite Calipari’s obvious desperation to get out of Lexington ASAP, Dolan truly wants Walsh to return. And what about D’Antoni?
Other than Amar’e Stoudemire, whose numerous differences with D’Antoni when both worked for the Suns miraculously became non-issues once he joined New York for $99 million, not a single consequential Knicks thinks their coach can coach.
One player said Chauncey Billups, especially after he got injured, did far more coaching on the bench and in the huddle during the playoffs than D’Antoni, and “made a helluva lot more sense.”
After talking to another person about the subject this morning who is filled with information it was interesting that I heard the name Phil Jackson again so I’m going on record.
He’ll be the Knicks coach in 2012-13.
Loading ...I said the other day that right after the game is not the best time to ask players about coaches. Too much emotion.
If you hear the name John Calipari continuously surface as a possible replacement for Mike D’Antoni, my educated guess 
is that it’s because he’s getting antsy in Lexington. Why would he leave one of the top college basketball jobs in the country to risk failing again in the NBA?
If Donnie Walsh returns, which is up in the air at this point, then you’d expect Mike D’Antoni to return. With the state of today’s NBA, where agencies like CAA, which represents Calipari control things like never before, it’s easy to speculate that the former Nets coach could find his way to NY if both Walsh and D’Antoni don’t return and the Knicks find themselves with thin sideline options.
Calipari is a great recruiter, but hasn’t won anything despite constantly loading up teams with NBA talent. He also had 2 Final Four appearances stripped while the coach at UMASS and Memphis. His one effort in East Rutherford was an utter disaster.
He’s simply not the guy to lead the Knicks into the future.
← Older posts
