NBA / May 12, 2008 / 12:16 pm
Grade the Knicks
Now that the hoop world has had a little while to digest the coaching move the Knicks made, more well-thought-out opinions are everywhere.
Some say the hiring of Mike D’Antoni was a great move.
Peter Vecsey thinks that Donnie Walsh blew it by taking D’Antoni over Mark Jackson.
And in Chicago, they’re not exactly broken up over losing Mike to the Knicks, but they at least wish they had a shot.
Was there a better option out there for the Knicks?
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May 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
IGP says:
I think he will do well there. I’ve heard that players love playing for him. New York is a mess right now, but I think they will be really good in like 3 years (cap space, lose players, draft, etc.). He’s a good coach and despite what people say I think he’s a winner. I mean he’s never won a championship but it’s like when the Jazz couldn’t win cuz MJ was winning all the time.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Myrie says:
I never often agree with Peter Vecsey, but I too believe the Knicks blew it. I do not see how Mike D’Antoni is a better fit for the NY Knicks than Mark Jackson.
Mark has the NY pedigree to handle the media. Shit…they’ve known him since he was 17yrs old. He already has the respect of the current NBA players. And I don’t buy that garbage about no nba head coaching experience. Shit…no one has experience until you let them coach.
Mark Jackson player about 1300 NBA games, and each and every time on the floor, he was the coach/leader. I think he was even considering player/coach for Indy in 1999-2000 seasons.
Mike D’Antoni is not a bad coach; but he jus isn’t a sensible head coach. He doesn’t know anything about defense, nothing about big men and players don’t get better under him—and please don’t try to sell me on Leandro Barbosa or Boris Diaw; if thats the best you got, go kick rocks.
Chicago would have been the best fit for D’Antoni. This clown is not ready to coach in this city.
Bad move by Donnie.
Mark Jackson would have been the best move.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
funny how this has two ny writers from the SAME paper on opposite ends. hahaha. ny’ers can never get their shit right together.
ny post sucks. nobody even reads these tabloid papers anymore.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Kobeef says:
The Knicks need to turn this team around.
In order to do that your coach needs to be a proven leader and a guy who can change the culture of the team.
Mark was a great PG but Walsh had to be nervous to stick a guy who has never been an NBA head coach in with the likes of Steph, Z-Bo, Nate and E-city.
The claim that D’Antoni can’t coach big guys is BS. Amare has been put in a position to be a perennial all-star and D’Antoni integrated Shaq into a fast paced system….which is nothing short of a miracle.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
GEE...This thing is bigger than Nino Brown. This is big business. says:
I am glad Mark didn’t get that job persay. A player should never start coaching for a team they played with to me. He should start somewhere else.
I think for what they are hoping for D’Anthony’s style will attract fans and players possibly. I think this was a good fit right now for the Knicks after some thought.
I think they paid to much to get him though.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
French Touch says:
D’Antoni is the new Nellie. He turned Diaw from the worst player on the worst team to a starter on a contending team by shifting him from guard to forward. He created Raja Bell. He turned Nash into an MVP (when he originally signed in Phx, the media were destroying the move Rashard-Lewis-style).
+ he can coach much more than run and gun (cf. what he did in Italy)
He’ll turn David Lee into Kevin Mc Hale and Balkman into Shawn Marion
May 12th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
doc says:
I like the move.The dude can coach and its not like they trying to contend next year anyway.They getting ready for the future.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
hahns says:
balkman is nowhere near as talented or athletic as marion.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
subrock says:
if david lee -> kevin mchale
then eddy curry -> shaq
and zach randolph ->charles barkley
haha in your wildest dream buddy. new york will be slightly better, maybe +10 more wins? but that’s the best they’re gonna do with that roster, good luck trying to dump the ridiculous contracts of curry,randolph, and richardson on somebody else.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
E$ says:
Knicks are trash & for Mike D. to get that much $$ is crazy. His resume is not impressive at all, but if he can coach the Knicks out of the cellar it will help. I want to know how long before Knick fans stop showing up for “L’s”
May 12th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
BxBaller says:
I’m mad that the job didn’t go to Avery Johnson. He would been a great fit. He could have made them a lot tougher and play some damn defense. Mark would have been a terrible choice. I don’t think that NYC is a good place to start a coaching career, especially in the state that the Knicks are in now. I personally don’t like D’Antoni as coach, but I’m still optimistic that they can make a run for the playoffs next season. They have some pieces that can run the type of offense that he ran in Phx. Starbury, Crawford, Nate, DLee, Chandler, Balkman, & Q are all guys that can run in the open court. Nate, Q, & Jamal are decent enough shooters for Steph to kick it out to. If they use their top 5 pick on a big man that can get up & down the court, I think that they will be fine. Especially in the eastern conference where a 2 teams got into the playoffs under .500.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
fallinup says:
Jamal Crawford will see a big bump in production if he stays. D’Antoni will have to change up his style considerably if Zach and Eddy stay. We might even have a Steph sighting (who knows, I’m sure Mike and Steph worked with each other in PHX). All in all though, NY will see a major roster overhaul and expect them to make a run at Derrick Rose, no matter the cost.
This is a big gamble for Donnie Walsh and D’Antoni. The NY press is going to be looking for instant results, and I just don’t see it happening unless a ton of roster changes are made.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Mike says:
D’Antoni has only been successful when he’s used the “seven seconds or less” gameplan (i.e. get a good shot up with in 7 seconds on offense). Looking at NYK’s line-up, they have a few players that would rock this style of game (Jamal Crawford, Balkman, and maybe David Lee), but they have too many players that just don’t fit the style (Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are the obvious examples).
If the Knicks can adjust their line-up to fit D’Antoni’s style, it is a great pick up. But chances are they won’t be able to change too much up and they’ll do pretty poorly next year.
Signing D’Antoni just put a bunch of pressure on Donnie Walsh to rework the Knicks team into something useable. I don’t think Donnie Walsh has the GM chops to deliver (this is the same dude behind the Steve Jackson/Al Harrington for Troy Murphy/Mike Dunleavy trade).
May 12th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Stiletto says:
all u haters out there think one moment of another point guard who went to be coach to save the knicks. mike was the save choice and a good one, can’t u all remember the hype thomas got first when he went to the knicks no hard feelings for jackson but they are to messed up for another expirament
May 12th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
PALakerFan says:
Mark Jackson is the Answer! The question of course is what former pass-only, no defense PG would have failed miserably as a first time coach in NYC. Jackson’s a dip-shit who wouldn’t have improved anything there. If Walsh thinks he’s such a commodity, force D’Antoni to take him on as an assistant.
D’Antoni was the best available.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Big V says:
Not sure why there was basically no mention of trying to go after Avery Johnson. He would have been perfect, IMO and not to mention, cheaper than D’Antoni seeing as how there wasn’t another team that was looking to make him an offer at the time. Regardless, rather than bash the move, as a Knick fan, I’m going to try and stay positive and hope that this pans out. But I must say that this will definitely be a test for Mike, not having Nash as his extension on the court. Good luck Mike, for all our sakes…..