D'Antoni wants Knicks top 15 in defense

DaTPRiNCE

The Knicks are Back
"Admitting that he did not properly emphasize defense last season, Mike D'Antoni told the media on Tuesday that he has set a goal for the Knicks to be in the top half of the league on defense. Last season, the Knicks were last in shot-blocking and gave up the third-most points in the league on the third-highest field goal percentage allowed."


http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/61837/20090929/dantoni_wants_knicks_top_15_in_defense/

this should be an interesting season at the garden


considering our only defensive players are


Hughes



Chandler



Douglass ( dunno what he could do he's a rookie)


Hill ( same as Douglass)


and Darko



this should be interesting i hope we could do it
 

KING~POETIQ

The One and Only
They're gonna have to bring in rex ryan to accomplish that :lol:


Seriously though, we can build a good defensive team. In my eyes I think we have two good defensive players in chandler and douglas. Guys that will shut down the opposition. Gallo also plays smart defense. What we need is a big man that can set the tone on defense. Then we'll be a force on both sides.
 

TheChosen1

Benchwarmer
Finally D'Antoni is admitting to not emphasizing DEFENSE. I really hope he keeps to his word and that him and Walsh can add some defensive Asst. Coaches to the team. The ones we have aren't cutting it. Also i hope he plays the players that play defense and makes a serious issue about this when the season starts. I really can't wait for this season to begin already. Let's go KNICKS!
 

Paul1355

All Star
"Admitting that he did not properly emphasize defense last season, Mike D'Antoni told the media on Tuesday that he has set a goal for the Knicks to be in the top half of the league on defense. Last season, the Knicks were last in shot-blocking and gave up the third-most points in the league on the third-highest field goal percentage allowed."


http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/61837/20090929/dantoni_wants_knicks_top_15_in_defense/

this should be an interesting season at the garden


considering our only defensive players are


Hughes



Chandler



Douglass ( dunno what he could do he's a rookie)


Hill ( same as Douglass)


and Darko



this should be interesting i hope we could do it

Mike D is finally telling fans what we wan to hear because scoring 100+ points a game is nice, but when you play horrible defense like the knicks did then it doesnt matter how much you score, you need to play defense.

Defense opens up the transition game on offense...example:steals create fast breaks...that is Mike D's style of basketball....Mike D should have realized that defense should be #1 ESPECIALLY with his system.
 
i think that last year though in "rebuilding" the team, he wanted them to get used to sharing the ball and adjusting to his system. he knew down deep we were not going win the championship so it was get my system first then fine tune things. Like most great coaches, which i believe Mike D is a great coach, they understand rebuilding takes steps, and in the NBA where practices are few and far between it takes seasons at a time to take each step towards becoming a winning team. Just like it takes seasons at a time for winning teams to become championship teams, unless you get hand outs like the lakers and celtics.
 

New New York

Quiet Storm
Not to be a pesimist

But isnt wanting to be a top 15 defensive club setting the bar kinda low, I mean its like hoping you kid gets an all B- report card!

I know a top 15 would be a major, major upgrade for us, but that really isnt a goal to actully strive for IMO
 

Blumatic

Rotation player
I think it fair. I think this team thinks that they are playing defense when they actually are not. So if this team in not in the top 15 within 10 games then the players know that they really aren't playing any kind of defense.
 

DaTPRiNCE

The Knicks are Back
But isnt wanting to be a top 15 defensive club setting the bar kinda low, I mean its like hoping you kid gets an all B- report card!

I know a top 15 would be a major, major upgrade for us, but that really isnt a goal to actully strive for IMO

considering the defense we played last years that would be a huge upgrade then if and when we do get there we could work on improving from there
 

CoolClyde

Moderator
No-D'Antoni

what a joke. No-D'Antoni is all about the 7-second offense, not defense;
he expects Knicks to play hard without teaching defense or having defensive
coach. Brother Dan and cousin guido are not defensive coaches and never will be.
No-D'Antoni blames losses on his players, and doesn't take responsibility for a
weak-ass defensive squad. This top-15 BS is setting the Knicks up for mediocrity.
again.
 

robert56

Benchwarmer
Just wondering if the coach recalls this or not. 3 and 13 sure shows a great improvement in defense by the team
 
We need a shot blocker if we are going to be defensive, why doesn't D'Antoni play Darko? We got him to improve our defense, not warm our bench:wtf:
 

iSaYughh

Starter
would u stop
haha you guys make me laugh
do you really think playing darko will change our record
smh
come on now
Darko is not the answer
BETTER PLAYERS ARE.

Maybe, maybe not. But we know what our record is this way, and we see Lee, our "Center", get abused game in and game out playing out of position.

Last night's game is a perfect example of how giving Darko some quality time at C could have saved us.

To say nothing of why Gallo took a nap on the bench the 4th quarter as it became all too clear that we were on a losing path....just praying that we'd leprechaun some 3's late to make up for allowing more inside penetration than an 80yr old pornstar....

Not saying Darko is some beast insta-starter, but superglueing his ass to the bench and making Lee our "Center" is a joke, especially when we are supposedly trying to figure out ways to improve defensively.
 

robert56

Benchwarmer
would u stop
haha you guys make me laugh
do you really think playing darko will change our record
smh
come on now
Darko is not the answer
BETTER PLAYERS ARE.

Darko is a defensive player, he can blocks shots and has improved his stealing ability this preseason, both are something that we need. Having played Darko in some of the games could have made a difference. What harm would it be to play him? We can't be doing much worst than we already are.

Darko is someone we have right now that can make a difference defensively, like it or not.
 

clumsy

Rotation player
LMAO did D'Antoni really make such a stupid comment to the media. How exactly did he expect this team to be good defensively....asides from Larry Hughes who is a good man defender, and Darko who has some toughness.

if anything to win more games....he should have his team only work on offense in practice. We won last year when we shot the lights out...if he is wasting time in practice on D with a buncha players with poor defensive instincts and skill....it is no wonder why we are worse this year.
 

mafra

Legend
Does D'ant even realize you can play zone in the NBA?

Hard to play defense when you refuse to double.

Douglas
Hughes
Chandler
Harrington
Darko

This is our defensive unit.

Then again, take last night.... The possession where Billups blew by Hughes and scored going baseline (and Lee never helped).... Does D'ant ever make a defensive substitution late in game? NOPE. Hence why Lee was covering the paint.
 

robert56

Benchwarmer
Right now we are 3-13, and ranked 25th defensively, great way to start the season.

Q: How we going to get in the top 15 or make it to the playoffs playing this way?

A: We're not!
 
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