ESPN rates Dantoni's first 2 seasons as coach

nyk_nyk

All Star
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=oconnor_ian&id=5079972

Knicks' D'Antoni has failed to do the job

Coach was hired to make New York respectable again; simply put, he hasn't


Mike D'Antoni was going to improve the product, at least that was the plan. He was going to entertain the fans with his helter-skelter approach, make the Knicks watchable and credible until they signed some real talent in the summer of the city's wildest hoop dreams.


[+] Enlarge <CITE>AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</CITE>It's been a frustrating two years, for Mike D'Antoni and for Knicks fans.


Donnie Walsh said so when he hired him. At the introductory news conference, Walsh maintained D'Antoni was the guy "to get our team playing the right way," a prerequisite to seducing free agents who otherwise might be turned off by a franchise showing an alarming lack of hustle and heart on the floor.



And guess what? Two seasons later, D'Antoni has managed the next-to-impossible: He's done nothing to better a job battered beyond recognition by his predecessors, Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown.


The winning Western Conference coach who was supposed to make the Knicks a relevant Eastern Conference presence hasn't honored his responsibilities any more than Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry honored theirs.

To say D'Antoni's been a D'Isappointment is to say his employer would kind of like to sign LeBron James. When the Knicks were busy tanking these last two seasons in perfect Andre Agassi form, the focus remained on the players, and the fact they've been underskilled and overpaid. But with a $24 million contract, D'Antoni has been his own spectacular bust, and one that could cost the Knicks in the very free-agent derby that inspired them to tank these two seasons in the first place.



Start with the chief reason D'Antoni was hired: He'd averaged 58 victories over four freewheeling seasons with the Suns, while the athletically challenged Knicks averaged 28 victories over the same span. Walsh thought he was the best available candidate, and I was among the many who agreed.


Never mind that D'Antoni's boss in Phoenix, Steve Kerr, drove him to the airport with a one-way ticket in hand. Never mind that D'Antoni practiced defense about as much as Tiger Woods practiced Buddhism, or that he burped and diapered Amare Stoudemire, or that he was regularly outfoxed by Gregg Popovich of the Spurs.



The man knew how to win a ton of regular-season games, and the Knicks had gone seven straight years of winning fewer than 40.


So by osmosis, D'Antoni's Knicks surely would compete, occasionally outscore the opposing team, and even throw a few alley-oops.



But beyond that, D'Antoni would be a recruiter the likes of Barry Switzer and Jerry Tarkanian. The free agents would kill to shoot 'em up in his wild west system, and as a Team USA aide, D'Antoni had already hardened his bond with James, who would call the Knicks coach "an offensive mastermind."


Only in the next breath, LeBron would fire a warning shot above D'Antoni's chalkboard. "You have to want to play defense first," James said, "and it has to be stressed in the locker room. It has to be stressed on the court. It has to be stressed during the games in order for you to be successful in the playoffs."



In other words, Mike, you've got two seasons to prove that you don't stop thinking about defense in seven seconds or less.


In response to that challenge, D'Antoni's Knicks made like the '85 Bears, right? Not exactly.



Listen, neither Red Holzman nor Red Auerbach could've won 45 or more games with either of the last two Knicks teams. The job was open for a reason. Thomas, Brown and Scott Layden made so many dreadful choices in chasing the bygone Patrick Ewing trade that Walsh had to do to the Knicks what a ton of dynamite just did to Texas Stadium.

But during the painful rebuilding, it wasn't too much to ask D'Antoni to earn his $6 million wage and inspire his team to play hard. To contest shots. To grind out enough blood-and-guts victories to challenge for the eighth playoff seed in Year 2 of the program.


"I think the only thing we're disappointed in," D'Antoni said Monday night, before the Knicks beat Washington in their 2010 Garden goodbye, "is not fighting right down to the wire for the playoffs." The only thing? "We were able to clear some cap space and set up for this summer," the coach continued. "That was our strategy in doing it."



That and developing a few young prospects. On that front, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler have hopeful NBA futures, and Toney Douglas has a shot at one. David Lee grew into an All-Star, and in fairness, D'Antoni deserves his share of credit for that.



Of course, Lee isn't expected back, not if the Knicks hit the jackpot they absolutely need to hit. James should choose New York because of the magnitude of the stage, because he'll win 50 games just by showing up, and because he can handpick his coach.



But what happens if LeBron and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh can't get past the Knicks' record? What happens if they ask D'Antoni why he couldn't convince Lee and friends to prevent him from becoming the first Knicks coach since Hubie Brown to lose at least 50 games in back-to-back seasons?


"I don't think that's a problem," D'Antoni said. "First of all, anybody you go after, when they come in they'll say, 'Well, yeah, you didn't have me.' ? I'm not worried about it. Maybe they do; you'd have to ask them."


The liberated megastars want to win multiple rings, and they know defense wins championships. Now that D'Antoni is more a liability than the recruiting asset he was meant to be, Walsh needs to do what Kerr wanted to do in Phoenix, and impose a defensive coordinator on his head coach.


In fact, Walsh should make his first big score before free agency kicks in July 1 and throw a busload of money at Celtics aide Tom Thibodeau, a move that would impress the savvy likes of LeBron and D-Wade.


"We have to have a great summer," D'Antoni said.


A great summer in spite of the head coach.



"If we can't do it, yeah, it was hard, it wasn't a good choice," D'Antoni said. "But that's life, and we just didn't ? I didn't get it done."


Mike D'Antoni has spent two years not getting it done. If that costs the Knicks this summer, he won't be around for two more.
 

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
If Hubie Brown was the last Knick coach to lose 50 back to back, then that sais it all about how shit the players were and are now.

History repeats itself? Don't think D'Antoni's on Hubie's level, but it can't be denied that he was both the coach of a shit team AND made some dreadful errors this season. I still lean toward our shitty ass team being the main factor for another putrid losing season
 
we have no players
literally no players
I dont get why any one still wont understand this
WE have no one

WE have no pg
no sg
young inexperienced sf's
a nondefensive pf playing out of position
because why ?
we have no Center either

we have no bench
and we have no legit go to scorer
we have no chemistry based on all of the exp contracts
we have no shot blocking
no play making
and no knock down shooters

we have no past, future or present dynamic amongst these players in terms of coming from a winning program in either college or nba, not one of our players have ever won it all at any level in their basketball careers.

I dont care who is coaching us the writing is on the wall
our roster is absolutely 29-53 material

Phil Jackson passed up the job for this reason
Larry brown got himself fired for this reason
I give Mike D all the credit in the world for actually tolerating this for 2 seasons.

how any one can sit here and base anything on the coach is ridiculous, he had nothing to work with, not once did he have even an inkling of a player who can emerge as a legit all around star comparable to the likes of any playoff team.
 

WNY_Knickfan

Benchwarmer
DFDH, sorry to nitpick man but wasn't Duhon on the 2001 Nat'l Champ Duke squad?

I hear your points though, I think coaching staff does need some blame as intelligent adjustments weren't made, things seemed to get more personal than business at times (Nate, Hughes) and in general a coach needs to motivate better, hard play was lacking on too many occasions. That said I agree our roster just wasn't up to par to expect a lot out of.
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
we have no players
literally no players
I dont get why any one still wont understand this
WE have no one

WE have no pg
no sg
young inexperienced sf's
a nondefensive pf playing out of position
because why ?
we have no Center either

we have no bench
and we have no legit go to scorer
we have no chemistry based on all of the exp contracts
we have no shot blocking
no play making
and no knock down shooters

we have no past, future or present dynamic amongst these players in terms of coming from a winning program in either college or nba, not one of our players have ever won it all at any level in their basketball careers.

I dont care who is coaching us the writing is on the wall
our roster is absolutely 29-53 material

Phil Jackson passed up the job for this reason
Larry brown got himself fired for this reason
I give Mike D all the credit in the world for actually tolerating this for 2 seasons.

how any one can sit here and base anything on the coach is ridiculous, he had nothing to work with, not once did he have even an inkling of a player who can emerge as a legit all around star comparable to the likes of any playoff team.

Maybe you should open the link and actually watch the video because there were valid reasons as to why the team should have at least performed better and competed for the 8th spot. Not get it but COMPETE for it.

The Knicks beat a couple of top teams this year so there is no reason for them to consistently lose to bad teams.
 
ok so you are saying we are better than the heat, bulls and bob cats

its ESPN

joke
haters
and lame

I dont want to hear it
they stir controversy for paychecks

our team sucks face it
 
Im Losing It
Sorry As A Knicks Fan For 20 Years I Have Finally Lost My Shit
I Cant Take It Any More
If They Dont Win Next Year
If They Dont Sign Max Free Agents I Am Going To Burn The Garden Down Myself
I Cant Take It Any More
I Cant Take Being Made Fun Of When I Put On My Jersey
I Cant Stand Having All Of My Posters Locked Up In Storage From Previous Apartments
I Cant Stand Dolans Gotee
I Cant Stand Herb Williams Sitting There Like A Sick Puppy Dog
I Cant Stand Seeing Patrick Ewing Every Time We Play The Magic Reminding Me Of What Knick Basketball Should Be

They Suck
Coaches Suck
Gms
Suck
They All Suck

Im One Year Away From Becoming A Utah Jazz Fan.
 

Paul1355

All Star
very nice find.....people are finally seeing that Mike D is a complete bust...not because its "un fair" that he has crappy players, but the fact that he never teaches defense and Amare said he never taught defense in Phoenix.

We lost most of our games this year on poor defense and with Mike D not helping out at all, and Herb Williams farting in the wind, we were basically sunk every game when it came to any offensive minded team on the opposite end.

I agree with this guy's article saying that we should make it a #1 priority sign a defensive assistant coach, that guy for Boston is perfect.
 

knickzrulezH20

Sexy Stud
Im Losing It
Sorry As A Knicks Fan For 20 Years I Have Finally Lost My Shit
I Cant Take It Any More
If They Dont Win Next Year
If They Dont Sign Max Free Agents I Am Going To Burn The Garden Down Myself
I Cant Take It Any More
I Cant Take Being Made Fun Of When I Put On My Jersey
I Cant Stand Having All Of My Posters Locked Up In Storage From Previous Apartments
I Cant Stand Dolans Gotee
I Cant Stand Herb Williams Sitting There Like A Sick Puppy Dog
I Cant Stand Seeing Patrick Ewing Every Time We Play The Magic Reminding Me Of What Knick Basketball Should Be

They Suck
Coaches Suck
Gms
Suck
They All Suck

Im One Year Away From Becoming A Utah Jazz Fan.

Lmao good luck with that. I'll still be a Knicks fan :)
 

Paul1355

All Star
Im Losing It
Sorry As A Knicks Fan For 20 Years I Have Finally Lost My Shit
I Cant Take It Any More
If They Dont Win Next Year
If They Dont Sign Max Free Agents I Am Going To Burn The Garden Down Myself
I Cant Take It Any More
I Cant Take Being Made Fun Of When I Put On My Jersey
I Cant Stand Having All Of My Posters Locked Up In Storage From Previous Apartments
I Cant Stand Dolans Gotee
I Cant Stand Herb Williams Sitting There Like A Sick Puppy Dog
I Cant Stand Seeing Patrick Ewing Every Time We Play The Magic Reminding Me Of What Knick Basketball Should Be

They Suck
Coaches Suck
Gms
Suck
They All Suck

Im One Year Away From Becoming A Utah Jazz Fan.
this is funny...

if you are going to switch teams i suggest the Thunder or Portland because you are guaranteed to see young players getting better every year that are great already....the upside of those two teams is fantastic.
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
Im Losing It
Sorry As A Knicks Fan For 20 Years I Have Finally Lost My Shit
I Cant Take It Any More
If They Dont Win Next Year
If They Dont Sign Max Free Agents I Am Going To Burn The Garden Down Myself
I Cant Take It Any More
I Cant Take Being Made Fun Of When I Put On My Jersey
I Cant Stand Having All Of My Posters Locked Up In Storage From Previous Apartments
I Cant Stand Dolans Gotee
I Cant Stand Herb Williams Sitting There Like A Sick Puppy Dog
I Cant Stand Seeing Patrick Ewing Every Time We Play The Magic Reminding Me Of What Knick Basketball Should Be

They Suck
Coaches Suck
Gms
Suck
They All Suck

Im One Year Away From Becoming A Utah Jazz Fan.

Preach!!!! :peace:
 
im not going to become a jazz fan, I said utah because they lost their legacy in malone and stockton but did things the right way and rebuilt the right way, so I look at their organization with alot more respect than most. But I am always going to be a knicks fan, Im just SICK of it.
 

abcd

KnicksonLIN.com
I hope Mike D'Antoni gets fired, but it is highly unlikely. He sucks as a coach. He's too concerned with his ego, playing favorites with his rotations, and publicly insulting other basketball players than helping the Knicks win. I don't care if D'Antoni goes elsewhere. I just don't want him on the Knicks.
 

nk11

Benchwarmer
I hope Mike D'Antoni gets fired, but it is highly unlikely. He sucks as a coach. He's too concerned with his ego, playing favorites with his rotations, and publicly insulting other basketball players than helping the Knicks win. I don't care if D'Antoni goes elsewhere. I just don't want him on the Knicks.

i dont thin k he should be fired but yea so far he does seem like a dick, that cant put his ego aside at all. if he cant get into the playoffs next season regardless of how much talent we pick up, he needs to dipset.
 

KBlack25

Starter
I hope Mike D'Antoni gets fired, but it is highly unlikely. He sucks as a coach. He's too concerned with his ego, playing favorites with his rotations, and publicly insulting other basketball players than helping the Knicks win. I don't care if D'Antoni goes elsewhere. I just don't want him on the Knicks.

The one thing I agree with you on is publicly insulting players. Jordan Hill said/did nothing to deserve that. As a public figure he has to watch his mouth. And to D's credit, he didn't come out pandering in the public against Marbury when that all went down, he hasn't publicly criticized Curry or the effort of any of the guys on the team.

But that all went to shit when he basically slammed Hill in the public eye. THAT is something I cannot forgive someone for. First of all, if he's so bad, why did you go draft him? Second of all, he's a kid (relatively), you shouldn't be out there bashing him. D'Antoni is in the public, he knows what he says to reporters is going to be thrown out there in the public. You have to be smarter than that.

All that said, I don't think he's totally inept as a coach. A lot of players rather like him from Team USA. I notice a lot of players on the other team coming over specifically to D'Antoni before the game and not just shaking hands, but giving hugs. I think many players walk a fine line with D, I don't doubt that. He's very much a guy that, if you get on his bad side, there's no getting out of it.

At the same time, I think I'd rather have a guy that my players are afraid to cross than a guy who creates a locker room where players can just do whatever the hell they want. Neither is great, but the former, in my opinion, is better. My problem is that I don't want my players afraid to go out and make a mistake. You see a lot of guys in some systems (Larry Brown) where they make one mistake and are taken out. That really doesn't help anyone, and has players playing scared. Say what you will about Mike, if you are on his good side, he will give you a chance to succeed even if you have failed previously.

I just don't see what good firing Mike D'Antoni does. It makes our situation here look a lot less stable (and less attractive for incoming FAs) and knowing Dolan we would probably cheap out on the next coach, he doesn't want to pay D'Antoni AND someone else. And for the love of Christ, NO HERB WILLIAMS.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Dedicated to Kiya - ESPN on Damntoni

This "Thread" I have to dedicate to my 2 years of bashing the celebrity coach Damntoni...

The Eastern Conference did not have one team in its conference in the 2007-8 season that had half a roster of the so-call "D'Antoni - Players".
The only team I could think of for coach Damntoni style were:
The two consecutive Finals team of coach Byron Scott and PG-Jason Kidd N.J. Nets running-offense had been dismantled which was the only team in the Eastern Conference coach Damntoni wouldve had success with.
 

Blumatic

Rotation player
People I hope you realize no matter who the coach is, this team is a 23 or 24 win team.

Hey you can hate D'antoni. I would matter to me if he got fired. Team was going no where with or without him.

I think everyone here would love to have Byron Scott b/c he preaches defense. But like D'antoni, he only one with elite point guards.

If anyone thinks that this team should have been a 40 win team. Then you know nothing about basketball and you're a moron.

Could they have won 33 games....Sure, but whats the difference.

This is a tired topic and for the life of me I cant understand why the blame the coach. Sure Mike is a sensitive person and I'm not a big fan of his personality. I think he's a nice guy but he doesnt scream championship to me. But I cannot stand it when the fix the whole problem on Mike.

In PHX and NY he got stuck with really bad defensive personalities (Suns still dont play D and when they tried to slow it down.....NO PLAYOFFS) So he emphasizes offense. I cant blame him. This team can only score.

You need players.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
People I hope you realize no matter who the coach is, this team is a 23 or 24 win team.

Hey you can hate D'antoni. I would matter to me if he got fired. Team was going no where with or without him.

I think everyone here would love to have Byron Scott b/c he preaches defense. But like D'antoni, he only one with elite point guards.

If anyone thinks that this team should have been a 40 win team. Then you know nothing about basketball and you're a moron.

Could they have won 33 games....Sure, but whats the difference.

This is a tired topic and for the life of me I cant understand why the blame the coach. Sure Mike is a sensitive person and I'm not a big fan of his personality. I think he's a nice guy but he doesnt scream championship to me. But I cannot stand it when the fix the whole problem on Mike.

In PHX and NY he got stuck with really bad defensive personalities (Suns still dont play D and when they tried to slow it down.....NO PLAYOFFS) So he emphasizes offense. I cant blame him. This team can only score.

You need players.

What part of this dont u understand....

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/n...ian&id=5079972

Knicks' D'Antoni has failed to do the job
ikn_peace.gif
minzdrav.gif
ikn_peace.gif
Mike <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_0_0>D'Antoni </NOBR> was going to improve the product, at least that was the plan. He was going to entertain the fans with his helter-skelter approach, make the Knicks watchable and credible until they signed some real talent in the summer of the city's wildest hoop dreams.

Donnie Walsh said so when he hired him. At the introductory news conference, Walsh maintained D'Antoni was the guy "to get our team playing the right way," a prerequisite to seducing free agents who otherwise might be turned off by a franchise showing an alarming lack of hustle and heart on the floor.

And guess what? Two seasons later, D'Antoni has managed the next-to-impossible: He's done nothing to better a job battered beyond recognition by his predecessors, Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown.


If your number one plan is to decrease cap-space within the next two seasons....and u have 6 rookie contracts on your roster and the 6th Lottery pick in the 2008 draft, u want a couple of coaches on your staff that have alot of NBA experience developing young core players into decent NBA players (Dantoni and his Phoenix staff did not have any of that experience).

Donnie Walsh number one goal and plan at the start of the 2008-9 regular season was to win 35 games weeks before the February trading deadline in 2009. This way the previous unsuccessful seasons blame goes straight to Isiah Thomas cluelessness of running an organization, and none of the players are to blame, b/c u want all your players value and trade worth to rise as high assets to help out the 2010 Plan.....so player for player trades during the deadline and offseason are in favor of the Knicks.

And what did headcoach Mike Damntoni do the last two seasons?
Damntoni DNP the highest paid player on the team at the start of each season.....decreasing the players trade value to benefit the Knicks purpose...
 

knicksin60

Starter
Mike D'antoni is a phenomenal coach who will only get better.People like to bash him because he didn't win 60 games for the Knicks this season? Why can't anyone give him credit for winning 5 more games than Isiah Thomas? The Knicks have been a better team than they were 2 years ago.Could anyone name me another coach who could lead a group of scrubs to beat the Mavericks, Nuggets, Suns, Celtics, Hawks and Trailblazers all in the same season? In the time that D'antoni has been here we have seen the Knicks draft the future Dirk Nowitzki, David Lee evolve from a third string player into an all-star and Carmelo Anthony express desires to play for the Knicks.I'm sure that if Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach or John Kundla were coaching this Knick team they would win less than 15 games.
 

KBlack25

Starter
Donnie Walsh number one goal and plan at the start of the 2008-9 regular season was to win 35 games weeks before the February trading deadline in 2009.

If that was his #1 goal, how come at his introductory press conference the very first goal Donnie Walsh listed (before being competitive) was acquiring cap flexibility?
 
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