The Garden '95
Benchwarmer
10 Years...10 years....10.....10.......10
Alot has happened in 10 years, the World Trade Center went down, the first african american president was elected, Patrick Swayze passing away, and Justin Bieber.
But in those 10 years the Knicks have never been relevant, atleast in a good way. When was the last time you cheered for the knicks with championship aspirations? Yea i thought so.
Our current situation is a pickle.We have 2 so called superstars and an offensive minded coach, we have given that coach every thing he has asked and waited for in the past 3 years, but still he needs MORE time. Well as knicks fans we dont have TIME, infact we've waited 10 years and time is running out for Dantoni.
So what can the solution be for our Playground defense, Soft play, lack of spirit and accountability, and most of all...lack of a coach? Theres a guy i know of who is dying to get his paws on the team again, not for the money, not for the chance to reek revenge on our upper management or to get under the bright lights again, but to win!
That is the picture of a coach who doesnt just talk the talk but fight the fight! He demands the most out of his players and will never let them under achieve. He coaches championship quality basketball and wants his teams to be gritty and tough.
7 of Van Gundy's 11 season as a coach his teams finished with 40+ wins. 4 years his teams finished with 50+ wins. 3 of those years he wasnt even coaching the whole season and we forget that he coached the constantly banged up rockets and the miracle knicks team of 1998-1999.
Its obvious that this guy knows how to maximize the most out of his players and he understands the basic concept for winning basketball.
DEFENSE:
Van Gundy's teams are notoriously great, tough defensive teams always finishing around the top 8 and are also average offensive teams as well. The offense with Amare and Melo wont be a problem. But if we add the defensive mentality that Jeff can bring and we can be DOMINANT. Dominant and contenders are 2 different things, the 60's lakers with Wilt Chamberlain were contenders, but the 60's Celtics were Dominant.
Now obviously we wont win as much as the 60's Celtics did in a 10 year span but in a 10 year span with Jeff, we have the potential to win 4 chips. Those are more than enough to get Hall Of Fame recognition.
Jeff Also brings something that Mike Dantoni is to soft to ever bring.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Jeff Van Gundy will not let any folly on the court last for long, you will get benched for not hustling or not playing hard on defense. Amar'e will then have no choice but to play hard in order to be rewarded with more PT as well as Melo'. He wont let Charlotte and Milwaukee score 110+ on us and he wont let our super stars get by because of their names. In other words, if they don't want to play defense than they wont play at all.
LEADERSHIP:
Van Gundy Has a phil jackson esque way of getting his team to follow his techniques to precision. Not because he will yell at you but because he teaches you along the way how to get better in a certain department.
He is a presence instead of just a voice, when he speaks the players listen they will listen and listen closely, because nothing but winning basketball games comes out of his mouth and also making you a better player in the process.
WORKING WITH WHAT HES GOT:
Van gundy has never had a team in their full strength and thats whats so fascinating about his achievements, the '99 knicks went to the finals with an old and banged up Ewing, the rockets always missing T-MAC or YAO. He doesnt use what players on the team as an excuse for failure, but he uses it as motivation to the rest of the players that now we have to play as a complete unit and he has always been able to get his teams to do that.
Jeff also is an excellent X'S AND O'S coach, he has a straight forward plan thats simple and effective.Pick and Roll basketball. HA you guys didn't know he pretty much runs the same base offense as MDA did you? He is a pick and roll heavy coach that understands how to stop it as well which to me is funny because MDA is the genius Pick N Roll coach but has no idea how to contain it. So if we fire him theres not a new offensive system they would have to pick up but more so just concepts and terminology. So our teams will have the opportunity to pick up where we left off, while picking up defensive mindset in the process.
Van Gundy is not Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, or Gregg popovich but the bottom line is he knows how to win games plain and simple. He doesnt have a fancy offense or special plays but he gets it, something that Dantoni doesnt and thats DEFENSE!
"Offense wins games, but Defense wins Championships." -Dave Thorson
Alot has happened in 10 years, the World Trade Center went down, the first african american president was elected, Patrick Swayze passing away, and Justin Bieber.
But in those 10 years the Knicks have never been relevant, atleast in a good way. When was the last time you cheered for the knicks with championship aspirations? Yea i thought so.
Our current situation is a pickle.We have 2 so called superstars and an offensive minded coach, we have given that coach every thing he has asked and waited for in the past 3 years, but still he needs MORE time. Well as knicks fans we dont have TIME, infact we've waited 10 years and time is running out for Dantoni.
So what can the solution be for our Playground defense, Soft play, lack of spirit and accountability, and most of all...lack of a coach? Theres a guy i know of who is dying to get his paws on the team again, not for the money, not for the chance to reek revenge on our upper management or to get under the bright lights again, but to win!
That is the picture of a coach who doesnt just talk the talk but fight the fight! He demands the most out of his players and will never let them under achieve. He coaches championship quality basketball and wants his teams to be gritty and tough.
7 of Van Gundy's 11 season as a coach his teams finished with 40+ wins. 4 years his teams finished with 50+ wins. 3 of those years he wasnt even coaching the whole season and we forget that he coached the constantly banged up rockets and the miracle knicks team of 1998-1999.
Its obvious that this guy knows how to maximize the most out of his players and he understands the basic concept for winning basketball.
DEFENSE:
Van Gundy's teams are notoriously great, tough defensive teams always finishing around the top 8 and are also average offensive teams as well. The offense with Amare and Melo wont be a problem. But if we add the defensive mentality that Jeff can bring and we can be DOMINANT. Dominant and contenders are 2 different things, the 60's lakers with Wilt Chamberlain were contenders, but the 60's Celtics were Dominant.
Now obviously we wont win as much as the 60's Celtics did in a 10 year span but in a 10 year span with Jeff, we have the potential to win 4 chips. Those are more than enough to get Hall Of Fame recognition.
Jeff Also brings something that Mike Dantoni is to soft to ever bring.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Jeff Van Gundy will not let any folly on the court last for long, you will get benched for not hustling or not playing hard on defense. Amar'e will then have no choice but to play hard in order to be rewarded with more PT as well as Melo'. He wont let Charlotte and Milwaukee score 110+ on us and he wont let our super stars get by because of their names. In other words, if they don't want to play defense than they wont play at all.
LEADERSHIP:
Van Gundy Has a phil jackson esque way of getting his team to follow his techniques to precision. Not because he will yell at you but because he teaches you along the way how to get better in a certain department.
He is a presence instead of just a voice, when he speaks the players listen they will listen and listen closely, because nothing but winning basketball games comes out of his mouth and also making you a better player in the process.
WORKING WITH WHAT HES GOT:
Van gundy has never had a team in their full strength and thats whats so fascinating about his achievements, the '99 knicks went to the finals with an old and banged up Ewing, the rockets always missing T-MAC or YAO. He doesnt use what players on the team as an excuse for failure, but he uses it as motivation to the rest of the players that now we have to play as a complete unit and he has always been able to get his teams to do that.
Jeff also is an excellent X'S AND O'S coach, he has a straight forward plan thats simple and effective.Pick and Roll basketball. HA you guys didn't know he pretty much runs the same base offense as MDA did you? He is a pick and roll heavy coach that understands how to stop it as well which to me is funny because MDA is the genius Pick N Roll coach but has no idea how to contain it. So if we fire him theres not a new offensive system they would have to pick up but more so just concepts and terminology. So our teams will have the opportunity to pick up where we left off, while picking up defensive mindset in the process.
Van Gundy is not Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, or Gregg popovich but the bottom line is he knows how to win games plain and simple. He doesnt have a fancy offense or special plays but he gets it, something that Dantoni doesnt and thats DEFENSE!
"Offense wins games, but Defense wins Championships." -Dave Thorson
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