Chaney? I think everyone dislikes Layden. Layden is responsible for putting the mess that Chaney has to work with on the floor. Chaney is nothing but a fall guy a set up one year contract to take blame.

Layden DID not have to put Chaney in the coaches position after the season even if they signed him to a 1 year deal that ate 10@ more than that from nelson. Layden made the choice of Chaney and the cast that has 0 chance to win around him.

Whos going to get DICE the ball baby! Hes Tim Duncan of the EAST:>) no I mean SHAQ:>)

defense? During Chaney's career with the Celtics he was defensive specialist. You try to bring out the strengths of your team and when your backcourt is Houston and Jackson defense isnt going to be your strong point. Whats he supposed to say? Mark...move faster, Allen dont let him beat you off the dribble...Cmon.. Defense also starts with controlling the boards, and Spoon at pf and Thomas at c (2 backup PFs) how do you do that?

I agree fishmike - Chaney hasn't had much defensive talent to work with...No dominant board cleaner, no quick-as-lightning pg, and two shooters. This isn't the Ewing-Oakley-Mason-Harper-Starks-get-inside-your-jersey-knock-your-azz-to-the-floor-if-you-try-a-layup Knicks... This is the Allan-smooth-as-silk-jumper-Spree-racing-coast-to-coast-for-a-tomahawk-jam-Charlie-walk-it-up Knicks...

Y'know?

Sprewell: 19.4 points per game. Best total as a Knick
Houston: 20.4 points per game. Best career average.
Exactly what I wrote.

"Also Spree had his worst scoring year since his rookie year
Houston has had 2 better years shooting %-wise and scoring wise.
Please where did u even get the idea that it was their best year."

I have no idea what your talking about, but....ok.

Wow, I thought Knick fans were knowledgeable. I cant believe you look at that starting line up and think the coach is to blame for poor defense. Oh well, I tried :)

fishmike,

Before you start dissing posters for not being knowledgable, watch the games.

The Knicks did not blow so many games because they never should have been ahead in the first place. That position is patently absurd.

They blew games in the 4th quarter for two major reasons, both directly attributed to Chaney.

1. His system- Chaney picked up the pace of the team when he took over. He stopped preaching defensive, grind-it-out ball, and put the emphasis on offense. This lead to far more touches for the stars, which in turn, lead to higher scoring with lower shooting %. (Getting good opportunities on offense starts with your defense).

Now, this strategy is fine when you have young, quick scorers accompanied by a defensive rebounding force. Unforunately, the Knicks had neither. By the time the 4th quarter came around, our players were tired. They couldn't compete with the younger players, and ended up hoisting bad shots half the time. (Not only did Spree put up FAR more 3 pointers last season, a large amount of them came in that 4th quarter).

In short, as flawed as the line-up was, Chaney tried to force a system on it that just didn't work. He seems to think a pre-season camp will fix this. He is wrong.

2- Mid-game adjustments. Everyone always raves about how JVG was one of the best preparation coaches out there. Thats true. But he is also a highly underrated game-time coach. His teams didn't just play great D because of the sets he would draw up. They played great D because JVG would make adjustments. If something wasn't working, he would change it. T-Mac is going off? Try putting Camby on him. It works.

Not once last season did I see Chaney make a significant defensive adjustment over the course of a game. Other teams changed their strategy in the 4th quarter, and Chaney NEVER changed his. This is the single biggest reason why the Knicks lost so many leads last season, and it is ALL on Chaney.


You are right. More than anything, this teams flawed make-up deserves a large share of the blame for the debacle last season. But it is terribly simplistic to think that the coach deserves non of the blame. JVG worked with many of the same flaws and made a winning team.

Chaney was not the whole problem last season, but he can never be part of the solution. He is simply not that good a coach.

I dunno how many of you out there have ever been part of a team trying to accomplish a common goal that can only be surmounted with sweat and hard work.... In situations like these you don't need somone patting you on the back and telling you it's ok to fall and ask you if you feel up to the challenge of filling your role in an intensely difficult situation.. That simply put DOES NOT WORK!!! You need someone to make you understand in a 30 second or Full time out period that you MUST GUARD and by no means allow your man to get free.... YOU MUST PUSH yourself to keep up with a quicker player at your position and so on and so forth... A liad back atitude accomplishes very little in the clutch... There's a reason Riley and Van Gundy were so succesful with these guys... Cause they knew how to get production out of them in the clutch moments when everyone was tired and beat up.... The Way Van Gundy coached Camby the year we made it to the finals was a thing of pure brilliance... Every time out and after every quarter you qwould see him focus on him and make him understand he was the X factor to the game... And Camby reacted to it... A shame he was hurt so much last season or else I really feel we would have at least made it to the second round... Now we got Dice... Let's bring in a coach with Fire and Intensity and watch our guys perform in the clutch like they always have in the playoffs of the past under Van Gundy and Riley... We need Intensity, Heart, Desire, Drive... Not motivational speeches focused on the need to play and the need to win... We need Motivatinal speeches about how those bastards on the other side of the court have never seen a second half like we will give them after this Half time... I

Well I personally think the coach has a lot to do with leadership off the court, and if Chaney cant lead them off the court then they will have no sense of pride on the court either. They need a player who is a leader to step up and let this team know they CAN win and they need a coach who has the confidence and a gameplan that can back them all up. Without these pieces this team will go nowhere. Personally I dont see the knicks having a leader on the court, let alone off it.

Well I hope someone emerges as the true leader of this group or else it is going to be a long season. I have faith in the new big three but one of them has to take the reigns and show the rest of the team how to win. My money would be on McDyess or Spree - although Dyess never led Denver to the playoffs so he might be questionable. Spree's last season makes him questionable too. Even if we end up with Van Ex - he isnt a true leader. If you ask me, we need one of those right now more then we need a PG or a Center. So lets hope that someone on this team shows some heart and helps lead by example.