“…Last night’s Raptors game, wherein they squeezed out a win over the Atlanta Hawks, played out like an awkward date at the end of a once passionate relationship. After Bosh scored his 10,000th NBA point and became the first Raptor ever to reach that milestone, the crowd showed its love with a standing ovation. Bosh, chillingly, didn’t respond.

Basically, it went down like this:

Toronto: I love you, Chris. Maybe we should talk about spending our lives together.
Bosh [looking awkwardly at menu]: I wonder if the prix fixe comes with a drink…”

“…Sure you can,” D’Antoni added. “We have to, yeah. I don’t know how to phrase it. “Yeah, we can get up and down. I just don’t want the misconception that what Phoenix was and what they are, the best thing they do is the offense. They maximize it and they play as hard on defense as they can. And it was good enough to win 62 games when we were there.

“But people think its all offense and that’s not the case. But we’re not a defensive juggernaut and walk the ball down.”

D’Antoni is ultra-sensitive to the criticism that his teams are weak defensively. Former and current players have said that D’Antoni spends little time coaching defense, which is why there is growing sentiment in the organization that D’Antoni needs to add a defensive coach to his staff.

Last week, D’Antoni said he is opposed to adding another coach, and despite his losing record with the Knicks, he remains confident that his system works, even in the East where teams usually play a more traditional style.

“If I’m not mistaken, we set a record, nobody beat us except Philadelphia the last game, we were 14-1 on the road against the East,” D’Antoni said of coaching the Suns.

D’Antoni had superior talent in Phoenix, and if the Knicks score big in the free agent market this summer, he will have the horses next year. If not, D’Antoni may have to do what Pat Riley did when he coached the Knicks following his days with the Showtime Lakers: adjust to the talent and not try to make his talent fit in the system…”

D’Antoni has been the hot-button topic for a while here. I’m still one of those people isn’t sure if the system can ultimately win if the team doesn’t have a game changer. Then again, I don’t think any team can win a championship without a game-changer.

Again, the system SHOULD have won in 2007, but I can’t make a believer out of someone if they don’t think the Suns got hosed in San Antonio. I believe had the Suns not been cheated and beaten the Spurs they would have walked over Utah and handled Cleveland in the Finals.

But I can’t prove that. So the question is still there.

As far as the East is concerned the Suns were 14-1 on the road the year they won 62 games and starting in with the 2004-05 season, D’Antoni’s first full season, the system went 93-25 against the Eastern Conference.

He has been knocked for not “developing” young players. Wilson Chander got better this year. David Lee is having a very productive offensive season. All in all, considering it’s his first full season, something few thought would ever happen, Danilo Gallinari is having a good year.

His teams have mailed it in this year, which is completely unacceptable, and some believe D’Antoni has been too accepting. I think playing hard has most everything to do with the players and their leadership in the locker room. Someone told me once that NBA players “tune out” coaches after about game 10 and only “tune back in” come playoff time. And that person played in the NBA. If you’re out of the playoff race, your mind is thinking about anything and everything else. Is it the coach’s job to reel everyone in?

It’s not college, it’s not high school.

Like it or not, believe in it or not, D’Antoni is going to be here to prove whether his system works or not.

“…Last week the Knickerbockers were picking up the act, parlaying their potential for unmatched torrents of offense and junior high school defense into the latest hot property for a Mel Brooks comedy. They opened the week with an 18-point home win over Houston, lost by 17 to the same team in Texas the next night, followed that with a 120-116 loss at San Antonio and then returned to the supposedly friendly confines of Madison Square Garden on Saturday to put on a show of total ineptitude, losing 115-108 to the baby Milwaukee Bucks. By the end of the week the Knicks were 11-11, feuding and fussing, and their new coach, the 35-year-old former Knick superhero Willis Reed, was totally frustrated. As to where the Knicks were headed, Forward Spencer Haywood said, “You’ll be coming to visit us all in Bellevue if this stuff continues.”

That “this stuff” probably will continue should not be surprising to anyone who has followed the Knicks through the past two seasons of discontent. The team really has been preparing for its current dismal act ever since the end of the 1974 season, when Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas retired, leaving New York titillated by two NBA championships in four years and hungry for more.

No one is hungrier than Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., which owns the Knicks and Madison Square Garden and wants every one of the 19,694 seats filled on every one of the season’s 41 home dates and again in the playoffs. Especially the playoffs, which make the difference between a profitable year and a fabulous one. And when Gulf & Western wants something, G & W buys it. G & W means No Nonsense (which happens to be a brand of panty hose G & W owns) and you can roll that up, NBA, and smoke it (G & W also owns the Consolidated Cigar Corp., Paramount Pictures Corp. and several zillion dollars worth of other properties).

So what did G & W do for the Knicks? Easy. Made ‘em what they are today, which is a team thrown together put of panic, without regard for the basketball verities.

Consider the Knicks‘ offensive potential. It is downright awesome. No other team has five starters whose best-season records can match the aggregate of the Knicks. Earl Monroe, the herky-jerky, ever-so-classy guard, averaged 25.8 when he starred for Baltimore in 1968-69. Bob McAdoo, three times the NBA scoring leader in his five previous seasons, hit a high of 34.5 in 1974-75 with Buffalo. Haywood, once Seattle’s only star, was an All-Star scoring 29.2 in 1972-73. Lonnie Shelton, the blazing-quick second-year man, is currently scoring 14.0, and even Jim Cleamons, the gritty playmaker and defensive guard, averaged 12.2 in 1975-76 with Cleveland. Throw in reserves Jim McMillian (18.9), Butch Beard (15.4) and Phil Jackson (11.1) and an extraordinary trio of rookies—Guard Ray Williams and Forwards Glen Gondrezick and Toby Knight—and you have the kind of team that looked so promising when it swamped Washington the second night of the season 141-115.

But, alas, today’s Knick team is a two-headed monster. On one hand, you have Haywood and McAdoo, two players who through all of their pro lives have had to do little more than shoot and block shots, and who more truly represent G & W’s desperate desire to keep the Garden’s seats filled than any sort of patient and intelligent formula for developing a championship team. After watching these two try to play together last season, it did not take long for Red Holzman, one of the game’s great coaches, to decide to take up his pipe and slippers and retire to his wife’s cooking…more.“

Really great piece talking about a period of Knicks lure that no one ever talks about.

Wow, what an amazing play call by Jay Triano, huh? Amazing coaching.

“…Big game last night, and the whole Isenberg Fam was in the building for it.  Shout to my pops, Jimmy I, for coming through with the tickets.  We’d been talking about going to a Knicks game for a while, and I told him the Oklahoma City Thunder was the team to check for right now.  Durant is a scoring machine, and Westbrook is a problem.  Turns out with Tracy McGrady and the rest of the new Knicks making their debut last night after some hyped up trades, we picked the right game to attend.

The Garden was definitely rocking and filled to capacity.  I saw John Starks as we were walking to our seats in the hallway (ironic because McGrady is sporting his #3 now see below), and all I could think to do was yell right in his face “LEGEND”.  He appreciated it.  My wife, who supposedly “loved John Starks” as a teenage girl because she felt bad that he had to wear that mask on his face when he broke his nose back in the day, missed the Starks sighting.  She was too busy talking to my sister about baby furniture or some shit…view entire article.”

From jump the Knicks were out worked, out hustled and outclassed.

Everyone.

This reached extreme garbage time in the third quarter.

The thing that doomed the Knicks from the opening tap was the lack of ball movement and obvious lack of defense. Too much standing around and negative attacking the basket. Too many second shots. No effort.

Defensively, they had no answers up front for Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins, who had their way all night.

Conversely, the Celtics moved the ball all night led by Rajon Rondo’s 1X assists.

How easy was it for Paul Pierce? 29 points in 24 minutes.

The Knicks head into Boston on a two-game winning streak and Toney Douglas has played very well. Wilson Chandler will be out and may be for a while, and Eddie House will also sit.

Douglas will have his hands full with Rajon Rondo, but it will be a great test. The Celtics are having their own issues having lost 3 of 5 and are trying to make a last run at positioning in the Eastern Conference.

Via Celtics Blog-

“…This Knicks team has cycled more guys in and out of its rotation than almost any other team in the league this season. Injuries, trades, D’Antoni-ism, there are many causes, but basically your guess of who will be starting for the Knacks is as good as mine.

They have been playing well though of late. They’re 4-5 in the month of March and have impressive wins over Detroit, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. Probably the best moment for NY though was a decisive 30pt win over Dallas on the 13th, from which they are only 1 game removed. Since then they’ve beat Philly, so for a team that was expected to lose, this is probably the highest moral point they’ve had all season…”

“…Wilson Chandler may have played his final game of the season.Chandler will not play in Wednesday’s game against Boston due to recurring pain to his left groin. Chandler has been playing with the injury for the past six weeks and has been told that it will only improve with rest.

Mike D’Antoni did not rule out shutting down Chandler for the last 15 games.

RealGM Note: If Chandler is indeed done for 09-10, his 22-year-old season compares statistically most similarly to Jeff Green and Rudy Gay (both 08-09)…”

This would be a huge disappointment, 2 years in a row that Chandler hasn’t been able to finish the season.

Kudos to RealGM for comparing the numbers, Chandler is a player who has simply gotten better year after year. He’s shooting near 48% from the floor this year.

“…One NBA executive doesn’t believe that the Spurs will be able to sign former first-round pick Tiago Splitter away from Europe this summer.

Splitter, who was San Antonio’s first-round pick in 2007, has an opt-out clause in his contract with Tau Ceramica this summer.

Since he was drafted three years ago, the Spurs could offer the big man above and beyond a typical rookie contract, but they don’t have a large amount of cap space.

The San Antonio Express-News writes that the most they could offer will probably be mid-level cap exception, expected to be around $5 million.

With a possible lockout looming in 2011-12, that may not be enough to lure Splitter to the NBA.

“That’s why they’re probably not going to get him, even for the full mid-level,” said the executive. “If you’ve got a nice, guaranteed deal over in Europe, why would you sign over here and face a lockout? I’m telling you, the full mid-level probably isn’t going to get it done.”

San Antonio could try to work a sign-and-trade with a team that does have the cap space to give Splitter the kind of deal he’s expected to covet…”

I wonder what sort of deal Splitter would be looking for, but he is widely considered the best center in Europe.

“He’s a stud. Clear-cut NBA starter,” says DX’s Jonathan Givony.

The Knicks wouldn’t be able to add the contract if they were to obtain 2 max free agents, unless they can unload Eddy Curry’s contract, but I wonder if Splitter could be part of a secondary plan. He would be for me.

Didn’t they “honor” him by trading him there?

Video tributes are like retired jerseys, if you retire one, you’re going to get arguments why you don’t retire more.

What did Nate really do to deserve a moment that is most always reserved for greats? Yes, he played hard, yes the fans identified with him and throw in the dunk titles he was a player who could be identified as a Knick.

Call me old fashioned but I think of a weepy Mark Messier returning to the Garden with the Canucks, or Ewing coming back for the first time as a member of the Sonics.

Nate captured many fans’ hearts and admiration, but tributes are deserved of those who were accomplished on the court. And in that sense, Nate was far from great.

Help me out here. Did John Starks get a tribute, I honestly don’t remember. Some fans have said yes, some no. Oakley got one, at halftime,  so did Charlie Ward, two battle-tested core members of winning teams.

I doubt Chris Childs got one, and he was far more accomplished as a Knick than  Nate.

To be fair, Tony Rice Balls informed me that Jamal Crawford got a highlight reel during a time out, but players like Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas and Latrell Sprewell did not. Maybe the organization should move forward and by doing them for everyone from now on as a classy gesture. It could go a long way in rebuilding the image of the organization.