Locker Room has no respect for Mike D'Antoni, Mike trying to use Melo as scapegoat

mafra

Legend
Melo is the scapegoat!!! Mike is right :peace:

Knicks are 11-20 with Carmelo in the lineup this season, inlcuding a 1-6 stretch of games & a 2-8 stretch, highlighted by a 6-game losing streak (7-4 w/out him).

They were 14-17 with him in the lineup last season, including a 1-9 stretch highlighted by a 6-game losing streak (28-27 w/out him).

I realize Carmelo is a great offensive player. OUr best player since Ewing-Spree-Houston era. Still, NYK are a combined 25-37 with Anthony in the lineup as a Knick. Not exactly what I was counting on when we made the deal.

Or this part:


"Half the team is trying to do what coach says and the other half is doing something different," one source said. "Then it spills over to the defensive end because players are (ticked) off about somebody taking a bad shot."


With Anthony sapping the energy from the offense, the players often lose their incentive to play defense. But even when he's trying to play defense, Amare Stoudemire struggles. Having spent almost his entire career in D'Antoni's non-defensive system, Stoudemire has trouble making defensive reads and rotations. Anthony knows what to do defensively, but simply refuses to do it consistently, the sources said.


Some players believe D'Antoni had the leverage to force Anthony to adjust to his system when he first returned from injury. The Knicks were rolling, showing they could win without Anthony, and their fan base was believing in D'Antoni's system. If D'Antoni had checked Anthony, perhaps even benching him, when he strayed from the offense, the players and fans would have been behind the coach and Anthony would have had no choice but to conform. But D'Antoni, ever the one to avoid confrontation with his players, would not do it, and now it's too late. That's when he lost the locker room for good.


Now, the players believe they need a coach who will hold players, especially the stars like Anthony and Stoudemire, accountable, the sources said. They do not believe D'Antoni is willing or able to do it.


On top of that, Baron Davis, who just returned from a back injury, is unhappy with his limited role as Lin's backup. Davis, averaging just 17 minutes a game, has already spoken to D'Antoni about giving him more playing time, according to the sources. While Lin wants to run D'Antoni's system, Davis is more in line with running the offense through Anthony and Stoudemire, the sources said.
"The only way this is going to work is if we have a coach that will hold Melo accountable and teach Melo, Amare and Jeremy how to play winning basketball," a source said.

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NicksKnicks

Rotation player
Get rid of Mike and Melo. Id say trade Melo and Chandler for Howard but Chandler is the only legit winner on this team. Hes our leader and he inspires guys such as Lin, Fields and Novak. Melo doesnt do anything to make anyone better. As seen in the articles above, hes a square peg in a round hole within our offense.
 

iSaYughh

Starter
What about this part:


"It is lost on no one that the Knicks' free-fall coincides precisely with the return of Anthony. While Anthony was out with a groin injury, the Knicks won 6 of 7 games, including victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and defending champion Dallas Mavericks. With Lin leading D'Antoni's offense, the Knicks played fast and free, spacing the floor, hitting the open man, and even improving defensively.
But the day Anthony returned, the Knicks lost to the struggling New Jersey Nets, starting a sorry stretch that has washed away all the feel-good emotions of Lin's emergence and left them on the verge of missing the playoffs."

So...seems like there is a simple solution:

Players buy into that winning system, and play like professionally paid NBA'ers, and don't act like punks to their teammates and the city they play for.

And is this some grand surprise that it is Anthony here, the same guy who couldn't even maintain a decent relationship with DEN and Karl?

If the system/coach doesn't win, then the coach goes.

But when a player acts like an unprofessional bitch like Anthony? You ship them out. Anthony isn't even playing well. A la Deron Williams and Sloan, and Sloan still had Deron shipped out bc he was being a bit defiant about the style of the team.

edit -- if there is a problem w/ D'antoni in this equation...it is that he has simply been to generous with Melo, and has believed in him too much and afforded him too many chances. He could have left Melo out to dry, entirely. Which would have entirely destroyed the relationship with Melo and this city and franchise, and left our franchise in an even more awkward, shitty place.
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
They aren't trying to trade Melo.

Whose in charge?



"He said he's not trading anyone," said the source, with direct contact with Dolan. "He said it's up to the coach to figure it out."

Via Frank Isola/New York Daily News


Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/219703/Dolan_Advisor_Pushing_For_Trade_Of_Anthony#ixzz1p4c2KYHG


* Talks about Melo trade are just fantasy talk. No point in discussing this seriously.

This tells me that Dolan believes more in the players than the coach. On the other hand it also tells me that he needs to keep Melo around to help justify the high ticket prices. Still, the fact that he used the words "figure it out" means he thinks its the coach's job to do so.

Antoni will not be here next season anyway, so Dolan doesn't need to make a quick decision and sign off on a trade all because a coach who won't be here couldn't make things fit.
 
The coach and Melo isn't going to work....so knowing both of their track records who do you keep and who do you let go?

The answer here will be very telling, in the least it will expose who knows a thing or two about being a winner.... or being a loser.
 

Oldtimer

Rotation player
Melo

Mafra and nuckles2k2 each make sensible observations. Melo's "strengths" are not maximized in D'Antoni's offensive system. But I am not particularly excited about Melo's ISO offense. And his defense has never been acceptable.

I am not a real fan of D'Antoni and his system. But who is out there besides Phil Jackson that is likely to make a difference? If we abandon the D'Antoni system, which appears to lessen a small forward's or a power forward's touches, what will we have? A series of Melo ISO plays?

I watched Kobe recently. He dominates the ball, but he does it which much more movement than Melo and he plays defense.

I do not see a trade of Melo this season. I expect we will have D'Antoni through the season, but not thereafter. If D'Antoni gets a new contract, I would expect Melo to be dealt

 
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