Game 2 - Unforgivable Coaching Errors

nixon7

Benchwarmer
I have often defended D'Antoni in the past.

However, in my view he committed two unforgivable coaching errors in Game 2, squandering one of the most incredible individual playoff efforts ever (Carmelo) and a solid team effort as well.

Error #1: 13 seconds to play, down 1, Knicks have the ball coming off a timeout. You know they will double Carmelo, Carmelo is doubled and makes the right play (pass to the open man). However, D'Antoni has failed to make the traditional offense-defense switches and you do not have your best offensive players on the floor. Predictably, they fail to execute. Unbelievable.

Error #2: 6 seconds to play, down 1, Celtics in-bounding, you need to foul. If you foul immediately, you may get a chance to tie and go into overtime. Carmelo at that point has four fouls and is tired (played the whole 2nd half). You make the same error again, fail to switch to your best defensive players, to fresh players who can stay sharp and who can afford to give up a foul (because you will need Carmelo in the full overtime - so you don't want him to commit the foul); and you can bring Carmelo back in after the foul (during the shots at the line) for the final attempt to tie the game (and in the process give him a minute of rest - so that he has a better chance of hitting the three you will probably need to tie the game after the foul shots).

These are both really unforgivable basic 101 coaching errors that most high school coaches would not make. I just don't understand. It is mind-blowing.

How can D'Antoni be so bad at this part of the game? I mean, he has them playing well, so he is not completely incompetent, maybe even a good coach overall, except he has this huge hole in how he handles the last minute of games.

It seems like a mental weakness in the coach which has infected his players. And the difference between a talented team which falls short, and a championship team. I really have to question if they can ever win a championship no matter what players they acquire over the summer or next year, with this coach. I mean you cannot win a championship winning by twenty every night. You are going to actually have to coach the final two minutes of the game at some point along the way.
 

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
I was going ape shit for the same reason. That, and the open man shouldn't have been Jefferies off Melo's double team.

Bitter Pill.
 

The Garden '95

Benchwarmer
everything you said was right but hey maybe he thought since that squad got us back in the game then maybe they can finish but sometimes guts and basic coaching have to be realized and he gambled and we lost,idk if we can rebound from this one, another heart breaker that we had in our hands and let it slip.

dantoni obviously needs to use DOC's way and have a defensive assistant who can remind you of certain things and give you tips here and there cause the assistants we have now are just a bunch of head nodders who listen to what ever dantoni says and agrees with it.
 

nixon7

Benchwarmer
My point exactly

Jeffries trying to pass there was predictable, he is not a good foul shooter so he is not going up strong to draw a foul.

If you bring in Turiaf, and Carmelo makes the same pass, is there not a much better chance that he:

1) goes up strong, and
2) either makes the basket or gets fouled (or both), and
3) makes at least one of two at the line

Just that one switch. Of course, I would have made more switches to put your best offensive players and best foul shooters in the game (as Rivers did on the play before that).
 

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
Jeffries trying to pass there was predictable, he is not a good foul shooter so he is not going up strong to draw a foul.

If you bring in Turiaf, and Carmelo makes the same pass, is there not a much better chance that he:

1) goes up strong, and
2) either makes the basket or gets fouled (or both), and
3) makes at least one of two at the line

Just that one switch. Of course, I would have made more switches to put your best offensive players and best foul shooters in the game (as Rivers did on the play before that).

MD

"I'm comfortable having Melo on the team and letting Melo decide what he needs to do," D'Antoni said. "I'm not going to nit-pick him. He's the best finisher of games in the last 10 years, if I'm not mistaken, in the NBA. So I'm going to all of a sudden (say) I didn't like the one choice he made? I don't think that's fair to him.

"We talk about end-of-game situations all the time. He knew we needed the two. He knew if he gets doubled he can pass it to somebody. I'm comfortable with him making that play."


Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...melos_Late_Game_Decision_Making#ixzz1K1s6ySru


thought_balloon_hmmmm_hg_clr_answer_2_xlarge.gif
 

ronoranina

Fundamentally Sound
Crazy⑧s;175977 said:
MD

"I'm comfortable having Melo on the team and letting Melo decide what he needs to do," D'Antoni said. "I'm not going to nit-pick him. He's the best finisher of games in the last 10 years, if I'm not mistaken, in the NBA. So I'm going to all of a sudden (say) I didn't like the one choice he made? I don't think that's fair to him.

"We talk about end-of-game situations all the time. He knew we needed the two. He knew if he gets doubled he can pass it to somebody. I'm comfortable with him making that play."


Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...melos_Late_Game_Decision_Making#ixzz1K1s6ySru


thought_balloon_hmmmm_hg_clr_answer_2_xlarge.gif

I've gone on at length w you about how MDA trusts his players..

This is just another example of his philosophy.
 

YungMelo15

Benchwarmer
I still want somebody to explain that CRAP that douglas did when he picked up his 3rd foul on rondo. (Probably should of been 3 shots). He looked over at the bench and then fouled for no damn reason. WTF? There was 3 minutes on the game clock and 15 seconds on the play clock. I dont understand that 1.
 

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
Trust or bust. Trusting Melo isn't exactly the trait of a clever coach. Especially when he's sizzling.

As long as the philosophy is adroit, I don't have a problem with it. How could I? Tonight, it wasn't.

Wrong players at the wrong times in the wrong spots.

This is what I saw. I'm sure you saw it too, Ron.
 

ronoranina

Fundamentally Sound
I have no problem w the pass from Melo..

I just wish there was somebody underneath who could do something w it.
 

StreetDreams21

I got Soul
This is from a blog.

We all watched. We all get it. Not a lot I can add for you, not at this point in the season. But if you are a person who looks at a game where the Knicks fought and fought and damn near beat the Celtics without Amar?e ****ing Stoudemire (not to mention Chauncey Billups) and goes looking for a scapegoat, I don?t have anything for you. Go write your own blog. You want to blame Jared Jeffries? How did you feel when he shut Rondo down? How did you feel when he scored the would be game winning bucket? What do you think Timo Mozgov would have done when he caught that ball?

Think about life for a second. Take a minute. Ever fail a test? Ever lose the girl you love? Was there something wrong with you? Did you suck?

No, you didn?t. That was a tremendous Knicks performance. Carmelo Anthony and a bunch of no luck pound puppies doing the best they could. Appreciate that shit.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
:agreed:
I never been a fan of Dantoni's coaching (past or present),
My agreeing with the poster of the thread might be consider .......,
but there are to many FLAWS in Dantoni's coaching.

Injuries to Amare & Billups.....during the playoffs
I wonder while I wander MSG
 

tiger0330

Legend
D'Antoni is just not a good in game manager. Reminds me of our former NY Giant head coach Jim Fassel who couldn't manage a game also, caught up with Fassel who hasn't been able to find a job in the NFL despite coaching a team to the Superbowl. I could see the same thing happening to D'Antoni as well where he gets fired and never finds another NBA head coaching job.
 

PaPZ187

Benchwarmer
D'Antoni is just not a good in game manager. Reminds me of our former NY Giant head coach Jim Fassel who couldn't manage a game also, caught up with Fassel who hasn't been able to find a job in the NFL despite coaching a team to the Superbowl. I could see the same thing happening to D'Antoni as well where he gets fired and never finds another NBA head coaching job.

Yeah, its actually a shame that he has these mental lapses here and there with the game on the line because personally I have wanted to get rid of him for a while but even I must admit the team has been playing their a**es off under him in the 1st 2 games on the playoffs on both sides of the court given circumstances (i.e. injuries, opponent, on the road, etc).
 
I have often defended D'Antoni in the past.

However, in my view he committed two unforgivable coaching errors in Game 2, squandering one of the most incredible individual playoff efforts ever (Carmelo) and a solid team effort as well.

Error #1: 13 seconds to play, down 1, Knicks have the ball coming off a timeout. You know they will double Carmelo, Carmelo is doubled and makes the right play (pass to the open man). However, D'Antoni has failed to make the traditional offense-defense switches and you do not have your best offensive players on the floor. Predictably, they fail to execute. Unbelievable.

Error #2: 6 seconds to play, down 1, Celtics in-bounding, you need to foul. If you foul immediately, you may get a chance to tie and go into overtime. Carmelo at that point has four fouls and is tired (played the whole 2nd half). You make the same error again, fail to switch to your best defensive players, to fresh players who can stay sharp and who can afford to give up a foul (because you will need Carmelo in the full overtime - so you don't want him to commit the foul); and you can bring Carmelo back in after the foul (during the shots at the line) for the final attempt to tie the game (and in the process give him a minute of rest - so that he has a better chance of hitting the three you will probably need to tie the game after the foul shots).

These are both really unforgivable basic 101 coaching errors that most high school coaches would not make. I just don't understand. It is mind-blowing.

How can D'Antoni be so bad at this part of the game? I mean, he has them playing well, so he is not completely incompetent, maybe even a good coach overall, except he has this huge hole in how he handles the last minute of games.

It seems like a mental weakness in the coach which has infected his players. And the difference between a talented team which falls short, and a championship team. I really have to question if they can ever win a championship no matter what players they acquire over the summer or next year, with this coach. I mean you cannot win a championship winning by twenty every night. You are going to actually have to coach the final two minutes of the game at some point along the way.

Add to that not putting Turiaf in the game on KGs late basket. You then put Jared on Rondo and double of Rondo. Make him win it from the outside. If you lose then, fine I'll accept it.

Lets just hope he uses this philosophy for the rest of the series...
 

STAT1

Starter
Crazy⑧s;175990 said:
Trust or bust. Trusting Melo isn't exactly the trait of a clever coach. Especially when he's sizzling.

As long as the philosophy is adroit, I don't have a problem with it. How could I? Tonight, it wasn't.

Wrong players at the wrong times in the wrong spots.

This is what I saw. I'm sure you saw it too, Ron.

Agreed. The offensive/defensive substitutions at the end of the game were just mindboggling to me. Would have liked to see Shawne Williams subbed in for a struggling Bill Walker on offense & Turiaf inserted for defense on KG on that last Boston possession where they took the lead.
 

KingofNy

Starter
Agreed. The offensive/defensive substitutions at the end of the game were just mindboggling to me. Would have liked to see Shawne Williams subbed in for a struggling Bill Walker on offense & Turiaf inserted for defense on KG on that last Boston possession where they took the lead.

You are right about that... I was thinking the same thing about Walker still being in there...He's about as un-clutch as you can get...especially for how wild he was playing tonight.
 

STAT1

Starter
You are right about that... I was thinking the same thing about Walker still being in there...He's about as un-clutch as you can get...especially for how wild he was playing tonight.

Walker has had some games where he's had a big positive impact but tonight he was playing horribly I just don't get why you stick with him for so many minutes & not go to other options particularly in a playoff game that was about as close to a must win as you can get outside of now game 3 on Friday night down 2-0. Now is not the time to care about sparing feelings of role players or play favorites, it's all hands on deck, if someone's not doing the job you go to someone else.
 

mafra

Legend
It's been 3 years with this coach. Final seconds, game on the line... Our ball...Coming out of a timeout... It's almost a lock our coach doodled nothing on hos clipboard. For such a heralded offensive mind, he sure has month creativity in these situations... Attacking the opponent's weakness.

Everybody new Jordan and Kobe are getting the ball, yet Phil finds a way.

For coach not to have Shelden and Turiaf in the game... For him to have Jeffries... And for him to give Melo the ball at half court... Please.

Besides the poor officiating, the constant theme of the first 2 games boils down to Rivers running circles around Dantoni. He gets his teams good looks on offense, and knows exactly what we plan to do when we have the ball.

The Knicks struggle to find a low pct shot and we have no clue what to do... Confusion... When Boston takes the ball out of a timeout.

And plz. This coach should have forced a technical after big baby drilled his shoulder into JJ. Sure, jj didn't flop like Allen... Still... You just knew that point was be huge, and it was.

Davis shoves jj right in front of the ref, and they already called a tech on us? Scream MD!

Bos fouls on every possession, err... They play "good" defense. Douglas got two-hand shove from Pierce. Carmelo got fouled by Paul when he made it 91-88. MD doesn't say squat.

Anthony Carter should have played more down the stretch too. Walker was brutal out there.
 

KingofNy

Starter
It's been 3 years with this coach. Final seconds, game on the line... Our ball...Coming out of a timeout... It's almost a lock our coach doodled nothing on hos clipboard. For such a heralded offensive mind, he sure has month creativity in these situations... Attacking the opponent's weakness.

Everybody new Jordan and Kobe are getting the ball, yet Phil finds a way.

For coach not to have Shelden and Turiaf in the game... For him to have Jeffries... And for him to give Melo the ball at half court... Please.

Besides the poor officiating, the constant theme of the first 2 games boils down to Rivers running circles around Dantoni. He gets his teams good looks on offense, and knows exactly what we plan to do when we have the ball.

The Knicks struggle to find a low pct shot and we have no clue what to do... Confusion... When Boston takes the ball out of a timeout.

And plz. This coach should have forced a technical after big baby drilled his shoulder into JJ. Sure, jj didn't flop like Allen... Still... You just knew that point was be huge, and it was.

Davis shoves jj right in front of the ref, and they already called a tech on us? Scream MD!

Bos fouls on every possession, err... They play "good" defense. Douglas got two-hand shove from Pierce. Carmelo got fouled by Paul when he made it 91-88. MD doesn't say squat.

Anthony Carter should have played more down the stretch too. Walker was brutal out there.

Douglas and Walker killed us tonight...They were both beyond bad and are streaky bench players at best. They don't have an even keeled game, it's either all or nothing with both of them.
 
Top