Final proof that D`Antoni has to go

Scipio

Benchwarmer
Jeremy Lin, a point guard, plays some nice minutes. Driving to the basket, kicking out, dishing to team mates. Something we haven`t had all season long.

What happens? The moron coach benches him for the rest of the game and let`s Toney Douglas come in and do his usual trick of shooting at air.

This is final proof that this coach is the biggest moron in the NBA. I`d love to know the reasons D`Antoni could give for making such a move. He has to go now.

If anyone on this board still supports D`Antoni then they have also lost their mind. There are no more excuses.
 

skisloper

Starter
Jeremy Lin, a point guard, plays some nice minutes. Driving to the basket, kicking out, dishing to team mates. Something we haven`t had all season long.

What happens? The moron coach benches him for the rest of the game and let`s Toney Douglas come in and do his usual trick of shooting at air.

This is final proof that this coach is the biggest moron in the NBA. I`d love to know the reasons D`Antoni could give for making such a move. He has to go now.

If anyone on this board still supports D`Antoni then they have also lost their mind. There are no more excuses.

The team has played better in these 2 games then they have all season.
I fear him being fired now will make us worse...
I say if we win tonight he stays for another 5 games.....we lose tonight he is gone....
without a PG no coach will make us better,,,,
YES LIN should see 20 minutes tonight or Dantonio goes....
TD PLAYS MORE THEN 10 MINUTES DANTONIO GOES
 

Scipio

Benchwarmer
I have to humbly disagree with you Ski.

We keep giving this guy a chance. For years it`s been, we haven`t had this, we haven`t had that. Enough is enough. It`s not even about the players that we have or don`t have. It`s all about him and his terrible decisions.

When I watched the game this morning on my int. league pass I said that we would lose as soon as Toney Douglas came in, it was obvious. As soon as Toney came in out whole offense died.

Think about the message that D`Antoni is giving out to players, particularly Lin. Lin plays well, he gives us something that we haven`t had all season. His confidence will have been growing. Then, Dumbphoney dumps him on the bench and he has to watch TD who has been terrible all season play in his place. His confidence must have hit the ground. And that isn`t all about Lin, it`s the same message he sends out to all players.

He must go now. Why give him another five games? He has played the same way and made the same pathetic decisions his entire career. Does anybody think that he is suddenly going to change his approach in the next five games?
 

skisloper

Starter
I have to humbly disagree with you Ski.

We keep giving this guy a chance. For years it`s been, we haven`t had this, we haven`t had that. Enough is enough. It`s not even about the players that we have or don`t have. It`s all about him and his terrible decisions.

When I watched the game this morning on my int. league pass I said that we would lose as soon as Toney Douglas came in, it was obvious. As soon as Toney came in out whole offense died.

Think about the message that D`Antoni is giving out to players, particularly Lin. Lin plays well, he gives us something that we haven`t had all season. His confidence will have been growing. Then, Dumbphoney dumps him on the bench and he has to watch TD who has been terrible all season play in his place. His confidence must have hit the ground. And that isn`t all about Lin, it`s the same message he sends out to all players.

He must go now. Why give him another five games? He has played the same way and made the same pathetic decisions his entire career. Does anybody think that he is suddenly going to change his approach in the next five games?


As soon as TD came in I was stunned....I could not believe he did not go with LIN........I suppose you are correct .......My fear is the team slipping into further disarray but I guess how much worse can it be.

and I am when I am at the game tonight and I see Dantonio call out to TD I will again be ready to puke.
 

Oldtimer

Rotation player
Jeff Van gundy

iIt is very likely that I am making too much of it, but during a give and take between Van Gundy and Mike Breen in last night's game and in the context of "coaching," Breen said -- "and you want to go back to this?" Van Gundy did not respond. Is it possible that at some "private" moment, Van Gundy indicated a willingness to get back in the fray as a coach in the not too distant future?
 

Scipio

Benchwarmer
He also asked why Lin wasn`t playing. Echoing every Knicks fan who was too busy throwing up to say it for themselves.
 

nuckles2k2

Superstar
iIt is very likely that I am making too much of it, but during a give and take between Van Gundy and Mike Breen in last night's game and in the context of "coaching," Breen said -- "and you want to go back to this?" Van Gundy did not respond. Is it possible that at some "private" moment, Van Gundy indicated a willingness to get back in the fray as a coach in the not too distant future?

I didn't watch the game on ESPN, I wish I had heard this. I'm pretty convinced that we'll see JVG as a coach again, I'm not saying for us, be he'll have a clipboard again in the near future.
 

nixon7

Benchwarmer
D'Antoni absurdly still in denial

It is hard to argue with Scipio.

Shumpert may not be a true PG. However, make that ten-fold for Toney Douglas. It is not clear if Douglas is even a worthwhile player at all (with the lowest PER on the team) but if he is anything, he is an occasionally streaky-shooting undersized SG, frankly something that Shumpert and Walker already do better.

Bibby may not have anything left, and Lin may not be ready or may never be more than a backup PG, but they are both better than Toney Douglas at PG, and neither has yet been given a legitimate chance to play real minutes (and maybe fail, but I doubt either would fail as spectacularly as Douglas has). The Knicks are better with no PG at all than with Toney Douglas at PG.

And D'Antoni keeps making the same mistake over and over again, and getting the same result over and over again, and praising and rewarding what is not praiseworthy and not worthy of reward - bad selfish play showing a total lack of understanding of the position. Douglas cannot even see the floor and keep his dribble - a basic high-school point guard skill. He stops dribbling, then looks around, usually just for one man (Carmelo), then telegraphs bad passes. It is frankly pathetic.

The garbage in several papers about Lin being ineffective in the first half (against the Celtics) is just that: garbage. And the garbage is clearly coming from D'Antoni and his apologists. Lin was much more effective than Douglas in everything that matters: penetrating, defending, and distributing. Granted his shot was off, but no more so than Douglas; and at least (unlike Douglas) they were better shot-selections, in terms of giving the Knicks a chance for an offensive rebound and a defensive recovery, not bad shots taken at a bad moment (which Douglas regularly does).

In addition, the "guy who will try anything" still has refused to give Balkman and Novak the minutes they deserve, has refused to give Jerome Jordan a legitimate try (even when the Knicks couldn't get a defensive rebound for four straight Celtics shots, even when the Knicks were getting carved up inside by Derrick Rose in the Bulls game). And the Knicks have failed to make a move for a Jamal Tinsley or an Aaron Miles or a Ramon Sessions early in the season, when it would have mattered (theoretically not the coach's decision - but failing to make the case that "Toney Douglas is not a PG so please go get me one" is his fault).

Dolan may be an idiot. Grunwald maybe has been asleep at the wheel during all this. I still think the Chandler deal was a master-stroke, but not lining up better PG options after that was frankly incompetent. However, in the end, the garbage notion to try Douglas as the starting or even backing PG rests with D'Antoni and should result in his firing. That is simply an unforgivable lapse of judgment. It would be bad for the coaching profession in general for Toney Douglas at PG [and Jeffries first sub off the bench - any bench] to not be universally recognized as a coach-killing decision.

For one game, let alone 23 games.
 

nuckles2k2

Superstar
It is hard to argue with Scipio.

Shumpert may not be a true PG. However, make that ten-fold for Toney Douglas. It is not clear if Douglas is even a worthwhile player at all (with the lowest PER on the team) but if he is anything, he is an occasionally streaky-shooting undersized SG, frankly something that Shumpert and Walker already do better.

Bibby may not have anything left, and Lin may not be ready or may never be more than a backup PG, but they are both better than Toney Douglas at PG, and neither has yet been given a legitimate chance to play real minutes (and maybe fail, but I doubt either would fail as spectacularly as Douglas has). The Knicks are better with no PG at all than with Toney Douglas at PG.

And D'Antoni keeps making the same mistake over and over again, and getting the same result over and over again, and praising and rewarding what is not praiseworthy and not worthy of reward - bad selfish play showing a total lack of understanding of the position. Douglas cannot even see the floor and keep his dribble - a basic high-school point guard skill. He stops dribbling, then looks around, usually just for one man (Carmelo), then telegraphs bad passes. It is frankly pathetic.

The garbage in several papers about Lin being ineffective in the first half (against the Celtics) is just that: garbage. And the garbage is clearly coming from D'Antoni and his apologists. Lin was much more effective than Douglas in everything that matters: penetrating, defending, and distributing. Granted his shot was off, but no more so than Douglas; and at least (unlike Douglas) they were better shot-selections, in terms of giving the Knicks a chance for an offensive rebound and a defensive recovery, not bad shots taken at a bad moment (which Douglas regularly does).

In addition, the "guy who will try anything" still has refused to give Balkman and Novak the minutes they deserve, has refused to give Jerome Jordan a legitimate try (even when the Knicks couldn't get a defensive rebound for four straight Celtics shots, even when the Knicks were getting carved up inside by Derrick Rose in the Bulls game). And the Knicks have failed to make a move for a Jamal Tinsley or an Aaron Miles or a Ramon Sessions early in the season, when it would have mattered (theoretically not the coach's decision - but failing to make the case that "Toney Douglas is not a PG so please go get me one" is his fault).

Dolan may be an idiot. Grunwald maybe has been asleep at the wheel during all this. I still think the Chandler deal was a master-stroke, but not lining up better PG options after that was frankly incompetent. However, in the end, the garbage notion to try Douglas as the starting or even backing PG rests with D'Antoni and should result in his firing. That is simply an unforgivable lapse of judgment. It would be bad for the coaching profession in general for Toney Douglas at PG [and Jeffries first sub off the bench - any bench] to not be universally recognized as a coach-killing decision.

For one game, let alone 23 games.


Excellent post.

The whole thing is well thought out and raises a lot of good points.
 

Scipio

Benchwarmer
Great post Nixon.

I think the really important point that you made is that D`Antoni just keeps doing the same thing over and over again with the same result : failure

I`m not saying that Lin is the answer. He might not be good enough to ever be a starting point guard, who knows. But I know that he is better than Douglas. He just keeps playing Douglas and he always stinks but he just keeps playing him. Lin plays well in limited minutes and he gets benched. It makes no sense apart from to the mind of a madman.
 

Number3

Benchwarmer
hes has to fired.. you have an ok PG that you can work on easily because he has potential... you have a Center.. you have fields playing better... you have Stat & Melo playin better ... and D'Antoni still cant gell them... thats it ..enough is enough

Plus... you want to knock down some 3s...but you are not puttin in the best 3 point shooter out there????

at least to space the floor so stat and melo doesnt get double/triple teamed !!!!
 
We lost the Bulls game because he drew up a play for an Amare 3 pointer instead of a screen and roll type play for Melo with Landry/Shumpert open as a back-up.

We lost yesterday because he played Toney Dougkas way to long. I understand he needed to give Shumpert a rest and didnt want to push his luck with Lin but that situation is exactly why we have Mike Bibby. A veteran pass first point guard who wont make mistakes and can move the ball, and take open shots. Not a PG who can only move the ball to miself on a P&R and can't make an open jumper to save his life.

Now in that final play, bringing in Steve Novak was just stupid. Did Mike D'Antoni really think Doc Rivers would go "OH NO JESUS NO NOT STEVE NOVAK!!!!!"!?! NOPE. Rivers locked us down, forced the ball into ice Cold Novak's hands, Novak panics with Pierce all over him and the shot cock down to 4, takes the jumper with a wide open Melo right next to him, and game over. Another game lost by the offensive genius Mike D'Antoni.
 

Paul1355

All Star
Jeremy Lin, a point guard, plays some nice minutes. Driving to the basket, kicking out, dishing to team mates. Something we haven`t had all season long.

What happens? The moron coach benches him for the rest of the game and let`s Toney Douglas come in and do his usual trick of shooting at air.

This is final proof that this coach is the biggest moron in the NBA. I`d love to know the reasons D`Antoni could give for making such a move. He has to go now.

If anyone on this board still supports D`Antoni then they have also lost their mind. There are no more excuses.
Douglas played for 7 minutes in that time span, the Knicks scored 5 points
 
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