Na, Donnie is talking about spygate.

Ugh, it's now been switched.. D'Antoni will now be first. I'm assuming at 2:45.

Francesa: We are/were under the assumption that Donnie was going to break it down and get under the cap. Where do you stand?
D'Antoni: I think Donnie has his plan, I trust his plan, and I know he'll do whatever he can to get this best team on the floor whether it's next week or 3 years from now. I don't want to wait, but I don't want to jeopardize the future, I want to build something great here. My job is to win with the players we have and thats what I'm going to do.

Russo: Can you deal with losing for a few years?
MD: I can deal with losing, as long as we play hard. Donnie has his plans to get this roster together and I trust him and he'll get it done, however long it takes.

I gotta be honest, this sounds pretty good...

MD: Shaq played great for him, wishes the trade was done earlier so they could work on things in their offense earlier.
- Says the Suns should have won Game 5, they held the Spurs to 38% shooting and still lost.
- Says his defense was underated, but knows they need to be a little bit better.

- Marbury trade was a financial decision, they wanted capspace. He needs to figure out how to get him to perform at a high level.

Francesa: Did the roster of the Knicks factor into your decision
MD: Comfort level was a big factor, the idea of turning it around here played a part. Roster decisions didn't really factor in. Major reason he came was Donnie Walsh.

Russo: You've played alot of different styles in your career, especially overseas, you've used some big men and the postup in Italy.
MD: Yeah, I hope I'm not so one-dimesional. When I had Q, Joe Johnson, Amare, etc etc, I looked at our roster and thought we should maximize our talent and go up and down the court. We should have won the title that year, I thought we were the best team out there.

Russo: You like Barbosa, Diaw, right?
MD: Yes, I do. I love my former players.

- MD is surprised he's not in Phoenix anymore.
- Likes the Spurs tonight against the Hornets.

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 05-13-2008 3:03 PM]

All in all a good interview. I like the answers D'Antoni gave them, it SOUNDS like there is a plan in place that focuses on more of the long term.

Walsh is coming on next after the break.

Posted by nyk4ever:

All in all a good interview. I like the answers D'Antoni gave them, it SOUNDS like there is a plan in place that focuses on more of the long term.

Walsh is coming on next after the break.

In fairness, I'm not going to get overly excited over an interview. We were all excited about Isiah too; he said most of the right things early... then repeatedly disappointed. I'm a little concerned that D'Antoni left the door open to the possibility that there could be rapid changes, although have some relief is that he also acknowledged the possibility of waiting.

-Donnie never told Mark Jax that he was going to get the job, he had 3 guys he was very interested in. There came a point where I had to choose who was the best coach and I chose MD. My heart wanted Mark Jax, but MD is the best coach.

Russo: Do you want to fight for the playoffs next year?
Donnie: You should always try to make the playoffs. I still want to make the playoffs but I'm not going to sacrifice the future, 2,3,4 years down the road, just to make the playoffs.

Walsh is losing patience with these guys.

NYK4ever-thanks for the constant updates. Now that Walsh has repeated himself and informed everyone that he is not going to compromise the cap despite MD's presence, I wonder how te nay-sayers are going to twist and mince his words and turn this into a negative.

[Edited by - uptown on 05-13-2008 3:20 PM]