I think that you have to consider this:
Has Amare ever been this bad in his entire career ?
Has Melo ever been this bad in his entire career?
The answer to these tow questions is no. Amare and Melo are fantastically talented, veteran NBA superstars, regular all-stars and before this season lots of other NBA teams would give their right arms to have.
So, given that, why are these two players playing so badly?
IT IS THE COMPLETE LACK OF ANY KIND OF STRATEGY !!! A COMPLETE LACK OF ANY COHERENT COACHING !!
These two players that last season we were incredibly excited about having have not suddenly become bad players. Players who can`t score, can`t perform. They have slumped because WE HAVE THE WORST COACH IN THE NBA
Of course other players are an issue but I am using `Melo and Stat. to showcase the arguement. Both these players are great players and great players do not become mediocre overnight. I have no doubt that both players can co-exist, no doubt at all if only we had a coach who actually ran some plays.
Amare Stoudemire is one of the most devestating scorers in the paint. One of the greatest proponents of the pick and roll. What kind of moron coach runs no pick and roll plays when you have that kind of a player?
`Melo is a great post up player. Not just scoring form that position but drawing double teams in so as to play some inside-out game. When was the last time you saw `Melo in the post.
The arguement that the problem is that we haven`t had time to gel is now a completely redundant one, for two reasons.
1. Every team in the NBA had the same. The lockout, the short pre-season, no training camp. therefore, if everyone has had the same then one team can`t use it as an excuse.
2. If it is indeed the case that we are playing so badly because we haven`t had time to gel then things would be gradually improving. With every game that passes we should see little improvements, defensively, offensively, chemistry, etc. As the games come things should gradually get better and we should be seeing the green shoots of recovery as the minutes of the games tick by. That is not happening, if anything, we are actually getting worse.
The reason that D`Antoni is terrible and must go are far too many for me to list, we all know them. He must go and go now before our season is a complete waste. Right now I can`t think of a single team in the NBA that we look like beating.
Our stars have not become bad players, certainly not as bad as they are playing right now. They have no coaching, no motivation. Can you imagine what it would be like as a player of any sporting team if you are losing night in, night out and the coach just tells you to keep doing what you are doing? All D`Antoni does is clap his hands and say "Lets go . . . Lets go" What use is that?
My fear is that Baron Davis will return and we will improve and that will actually mask the complete idiocy and incompetence of no D`Antoni. My fear is that we will have this moron of a coach all season long and come the end of the season we will still be seeing this idiot sitting in his chair, arms crossed doing nothing whilst we continue to brick threes and Amare continues to drive to the basket like a fat woman in a cake shop whose just been told that every cake is free.
Sack the coach, bring in someone who realises that we have, potentially, a completely dominant front court and let`s see the Knicks play some real basketball.
