Ira wrote:Nate wasn't playing well at the time and MDA wanted a tighter rotation that could play good d.

Nate scored 22 points in the 4th quarter 2 games before MDA decided to bench him... the same game that both Al Harrington & Larry Hughes were completely invisible & Wilson Chandler wasn't having a good shooting night either... 2 games later MDA was reportedly angry with Nate for displaying too much of a casual attitude by yucking it up with Dwight Howard before the game in Orlando when they had a losing record.

MDA benched Nate so he could send a message to the rest of the team that unprofessional behavior would not be tolerated under his regime... he got the message across by making an example of Nate... it was a disciplinary act... stop trying to spin it any other way... the message was sent & MDA could have moved on after a game or 2, but instead he stretched it out over the span of 14 games... the team lost the game when Nate was benched, don't tell me this was all about winning for MDA... it was about sending a message to the team & disciplining Nate Robinson... enough with the bullsh!t.

Marv wrote:i think this question can best be answered with a picture. in this case, one of mike from his playing days:

the shot on the left is mike taking a 3-pointer - at his own basket right before the buzzer! the one on the right is mike celebrating a basket he's just made - while down 20 points in the 4th quarter!

curious, eh?

This was good...

nixluva wrote:Uh TMS, isn't the idea of sending a message to a losing team ultimately about winning? I mean wasn't the crux of the problem about not playing with discipline, which is a staple of winning BB? SO if the coach sits a guy cuz he's repeatedly playing without discipline and even his pre-game approach shows he's not serious enough and acting like a pro, isn't that about WINNING? If MDA wanted all of the guys to realize this and play with more focus and determination on DEFENSE, which Nate wasn't doing, isn't that about winning?

Man i'm so tired of your B.S.! You don't have a valid point and yet you continue to spout this nonsense that has no basis in fact. What the hell are you talking about anyway? Cuz if i'm gonna judge a guy surely someone with a resume like MDA is gonna get the benefit of the doubt over the players on this team who've never won anything. DO yourself a favor and sit this one out, cuz you're starting to embarrass yourself.

U need to calm down, family. Is D'Antoni paying your rent or something?

I dont know why you take any questioning of knick management or staff as some sort of affront to all humanity, which you must avenge like you're getting revenge for your brother's death.

The benching seemed unnecessary, especially considering Nate's talent level. Is it all because D'Antoni has a runaway ego and he wanted to desperately check Nate and prove a point? Is Nate the next Marbury? Naw, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle --- nobody is Jesus Christ here.

I just want to get past this and get the best team on the floor as humanly possible. Enough of this drama shyt. Enough he said, he said gossiping. Basketball, fam.

nixluva wrote:Uh TMS, isn't the idea of sending a message to a losing team ultimately about winning? I mean wasn't the crux of the problem about not playing with discipline, which is a staple of winning BB? SO if the coach sits a guy cuz he's repeatedly playing without discipline and even his pre-game approach shows he's not serious enough and acting like a pro, isn't that about WINNING? If MDA wanted all of the guys to realize this and play with more focus and determination on DEFENSE, which Nate wasn't doing, isn't that about winning?

Man i'm so tired of your B.S.! You don't have a valid point and yet you continue to spout this nonsense that has no basis in fact. What the hell are you talking about anyway? Cuz if i'm gonna judge a guy surely someone with a resume like MDA is gonna get the benefit of the doubt over the players on this team who've never won anything. DO yourself a favor and sit this one out, cuz you're starting to embarrass yourself.

I know what frustrated me was the way MDA's entire team came out of training camp undisciplined, unprofessional, unmotivated and unprepared to play the system they had worked on for the entire training camp. The fact that MDA is known as a loose coach who expects his veterans to police the locker room and that his uncommunicated expectation is that guys behave like professionals will not work with every player. MDA leans hard on his character guys and that is why Duhon and Jeffries get the minutes they do and have the roles they have. The fact that MDA doesn't communicate his expectations effectively but then banishes players to the point where a trade or buyout might be neccessary indicates a communication problem to me. Nate is one of the most talented players on the roster but he does not appear to be a guy that MDA can coach. Unfortunately alot of talented guys don't have perfect character or are robotic in their compliance. There is alot of speculation about guys not being on this team because the coach can't handle them despite their talent. I think it is concerning that the banished players keep reporting that nothing has been communicated to them but then in the press MDA says not giving them bit minutes is about respecting them. I also am not sure of any coaching success for MDA in the NBA other when he coached Steve Nash and Alvin Gentry is experiencing the same success right now. I think he is in a situation where he can now show that he is a winner as a coach but I am not convinced yet and I certainly question his ability to be a communicator, an authority figure, and to communicate as an authority figure.

CrushAlot wrote:I know what frustrated me was the way MDA's entire team came out of training camp undisciplined, unprofessional, unmotivated and unprepared to play the system they had worked on for the entire training camp. The fact that MDA is known as a loose coach who expects his veterans to police the locker room and that his uncommunicated expectation is that guys behave like professionals will not work with every player. MDA leans hard on his character guys and that is why Duhon and Jeffries get the minutes they do and have the roles they have. The fact that MDA doesn't communicate his expectations effectively but then banishes players to the point where a trade or buyout might be neccessary indicates a communication problem to me. Nate is one of the most talented players on the roster but he does not appear to be a guy that MDA can coach. Unfortunately alot of talented guys don't have perfect character or are robotic in their compliance. There is alot of speculation about guys not being on this team because the coach can't handle them despite their talent. I think it is concerning that the banished players keep reporting that nothing has been communicated to them but then in the press MDA says not giving them bit minutes is about respecting them. I also am not sure of any coaching success for MDA in the NBA other when he coached Steve Nash and Alvin Gentry is experiencing the same success right now. I think he is in a situation where he can now show that he is a winner as a coach but I am not convinced yet and I certainly question his ability to be a communicator, an authority figure, and to communicate as an authority figure.

every single point u just made i've also made in other threads, but apparently nixluva has some issues comprehending simple English.

orangeblobman wrote:

TMS wrote:

orangeblobman wrote:

DJMUSIC wrote:Most of Nate's issues is nate. But if you get exiled in MDA's system its as good as kicking you to curb
or into the sea without life support. Nate needs a bit of help. What's wrong with a coach helping on that ?
Especially a coach as great as MDA reputation and skillset knowledge.

MDA tried to help him a bunch. Before last year he said he could lead the league in steals, all types of praise. With MDA's reputation as a generally great guy, you have to wonder how stupid and ****ed up Nate is to get in his doghouse.

Nate needs to take a little responsibility. Other people can only help you as much as you want to help yourself.

MDA's a great guy as long as you're not causing any friction for him... after u get into his doghouse it's just like DJ said, u'r either kicked to the curb or thrown out to sea without a life support... MDA's a very passive aggressive type of personality... he'll sweet talk you, flash u that nice country boy smile & tell u he loves & respects u... then he'll cut your balls off with a rusty butter knife when you least expect it... k, maybe that was a bit extreme... i shoulda said a sharp butter knife.

MDA is a mastermind & very calculating... that's exactly what makes him a great coach to begin with, but it also makes him open to criticism for the bullsh!t comments he makes... he's a manipulator of people, which sometimes great coaches have to do to get results, but that still doesn't make outward lies justifiable unless you're just willing to sacrifice integrity to get wins.

Alright, though I don't agree with that assessment, let's go with it:

Even if he is what you say he is, who's side do you take on this? Nate or the coach that will lead us to great things? F' Nate, he's a scrub; MDA is a winning coach.

i take MDA's side... i've made that clear from the beginning... why do u think i said we need to trade Nate & not fire D'Antoni??? i already know these 2 will never see eye to eye, so what's the point? try to pump up Nate's value & get something back for him... that's the best outcome to all this IMO.

what i DON'T like is the bullsh!t that MDA's slinging to portray this as a move he made because he thought it would help the team win games... that's nonsense... playing scrubs like Jonathan Bender & having Nate rotting on the bench goes against all that... the fact that they won games over the past month had more to do with Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler & Larry Hughes all finally waking up & playing like they're capable of playing... u can't pin the wins on Nate's benching, that's an overly simplistic approach to take... i think MDA does deserve credit for sending the right message to the team however, but i think that message was sent after just a game or 2... stretching it out over 14 games was unnecessarily excessive & i've made that point clear from the start.

TMS wrote:MDA benched Nate so he could send a message to the rest of the team that unprofessional behavior would not be tolerated under his regime... he got the message across by making an example of Nate... it was a disciplinary act... stop trying to spin it any other way... the message was sent & MDA could have moved on after a game or 2, but instead he stretched it out over the span of 14 games... the team lost the game when Nate was benched, don't tell me this was all about winning for MDA... it was about sending a message to the team & disciplining Nate Robinson... enough with the bullsh!t.

So in response to this I wrote that trying to instill discipline and change a teams attitude IS ALL ABOUT WINNING! OH and what has happened since MDA has done all of these things... the team has won and looked better than it has in years. But this wasn't about wins. This was some kind of personal vendetta. We actually play solid D now and so I guess when he sat Nate he wasn't looking to improve the teams defensive focus and chemistry. He just wanted to show Nate who's boss.