By: Dustin Chapman
Recent reports circulating around the sports world suggest that Mike D?Antoni has left the Phoenix Suns with the intention of becoming the newest head coach of your New York Knicks. The reported contract agreement is said to hover around the four-year, $24 million vicinity.
In his six years of head coaching experience in the NBA, D?Antoni has held a respectable 267-172 (.608) regular season record, and has reached back-to-back Conference Finals series? (2005, 2006). Along with those credentials, however, comes questions regarding his ability (or inability, depending on which way you look at it) to make adjustments and lead a team to the next level. With his new surroundings, he?ll have even more to prove.
The latest inquiry about Mike D?Antoni is whether or not he is the right fit for the New York Knicks. Before the ink has even made its way to the league office, I?m here to tell you why he is not, from multiple angles.
Team Direction/Personnel: D?Antoni is evidently a coach that has adopted the run n? gun style, and has yet to show that he is able of adjust to a contrasting setting. He is a coach that requires the proper personnel to operate his system.
The New York Knicks defy everything D?Antoni is known for. One thing D?Antoni needs is a reliable point guard to set the tone. Stephon Marbury certainly has the talent to do so, but his mental antics and me-first mentality contradict the type of initiator D?Antoni needs. Moving down the roster, a Mike D?Antoni system needs a collective group of athletes willing to get out in the open floor and push the tempo at all times. Looking at New York?s top options, it?s clear that they do not have that. Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph have absolutely no desire to get in shape, and might even be unable to run unless they are racing for a whopper. Even then, they might stop halfway and wind up splitting the burger.
Some of New York?s athletic role players, such as Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler, David Lee, and Nate Robinson are hustle players that will provide the energy and effort that D?Antoni is asking for, but those aren?t the guys that will be demanding touches.
Overall, this roster lacks the mental and physical needs to suit D?Antoni?s body of work. The players may enjoy the ?shoot within seven seconds? memo, especially Jamal Crawford, but they do not have the wheels or will power to get the job done as a group.
Defense has been one the biggest issues in New York for a plethora of consecutive years. Logically, it makes sense to bring in a defensive-minded coach to ameliorate the problem. Unfortunately, Knicks General Manager Donnie Walsh appears to disagree. Throughout his career, Mike D?Antoni has not shown the ability or desire to teach defensive basketball, and it is now definitively convincing that the Knicks will continue their struggles in that area.
Financially, this does nothing more or less than dig a deeper hole for the franchise with the league?s largest payroll. In addition to their cast of overpaid scoundrels in uniform, the Knicks are now paying a one-dimensional head coach roughly $24 million to coach a team lacking direction or the necessary pieces to adapt to his methods.
If you?re going to spend this kind of money on a coach, why not wait until the team?s direction is defined with light at the end of the tunnel? The Knicks are in a dark tunnel with instability poisoning the organization across the board. This is a match made in hell that will not benefit either party any time soon.
