Okay, so credit to anyone who catches my corny play on words with an underrated hip-hop group and song from the mid/late 90's...

but, as I and others have been saying...

Check this quote below from a comment about what this person thinks is a cause for change, off of Knickerblogger's latest blog...

In social work, we call this a "strengths based" approach to counseling (D'Antoni), which is interestingly different than traditional "problem focused" approaches where a counselor might point out what's "wrong" with you (Larry Brown).

Much of what he is saying here -- including the comment about arguing with the refs for Nate -- which I also noticed and stated in comments made after the last pre-season game -- is everything I and others have been iterating about D'Antoni since he was hired, and ever more so during training camp:

The second big difference is D’antoni. I have wanted to talk about this for a while, but his management of the players has been the polar opposite of what Thomas did. Coach D is active on the sidelines, he commands energy and effort where Thomas only asked for it. I really like what Coach D has done with Nate Robinson.

Coach knows what he has in Nate and he has worked with him to get the best out of him. Mike K. wrote about Nate’ habit of foolishly trying to block shots. Coach D sees that nate simply wants to make an impact, so rather than telling him “stop trying to block shots,” Caoch tells him to go out and “get three steals a night.” The result? N8 is amoung the lead leaders in steals with 3.18 per game (I think).That is an example of putting a person in the place they need to be in order to be successful. That is waht great leaders do. Coach also knows that N8 likes to jaw with the other team and the refs. Caoch steps in by arguing with the ref for him and by distracting him from the other team with instructions. N8 has played very well as a result.

jon abbey and I disagreed on the impact of the coach, he says the coach’s influence is about 5% (jon sees this a players league). I argue that the coach’s impact is closer to 20%. There is some merit to jon’s position especially when you ahve a team of superstars. With an All-Star line up the coach becomes-if I may borrow a line of Martin Prince’s in the Simpsons episode “Saturdays of Thunder”, “essentially ballast.” But when you have a team like the Knicks, the coach makes a world of difference.

Coach D has this team ready to play. He talks in the huddle. He works the sidelines. It is joy to see/hear him exciting his guys and getting them to play through rough patches. No doubt the Knicks of the past 3 years would have lost that game in Washington after losing the lead late. The knicks would have folded under the oncoming pressure that Utah brought to bear on Sunday. But this team fought back in each game and held on to the win. It is essentially the same cast, but the director is giving great instructions.

Nate is actually averaging 2.8, but there is little doubt that without this new rudder our ship might still be sinkin'...

[Edited by - PresIke on 11-11-2008 11:48 AM]

[Edited by - PresIke on 11-11-2008 11:49 AM]

[Edited by - PresIke on 11-11-2008 11:54 AM]

Interesting take. Give Nate a new shiney thing to distract him is better than Larry's methoed that its a mans league. Im sure reducing Nates sugar intake might also help him.

The ship sunk last season. This is resurrection. MDA is doing a great job! this will take some time.

Posted by BlueSeats:

I've always considered D' one the premier coaches in the league and a good choice for us. But I still think when you need to go thru 5-6 coaches to find one your team will listen to your problems lie deeper than the coach.

Regarding Nate, it's worth remembering that D' was really the guy who drafted him, so he should have some insight into what he can get out of him.

Which coaches did we go through? The issue wasn't the coaches, it was management (Isiah & Dolan).

Chaney, Wilkins, & LB weren't the problem. Wilkins was actually doing ok, as did Chaney, before Isiah started to meddle.

LB we can debate- I did not think he was a good fit.

Posted by Nalod:

Interesting take. Give Nate a new shiney thing to distract him is better than Larry's methoed that its a mans league. Im sure reducing Nates sugar intake might also help him.

The ship sunk last season. This is resurrection. MDA is doing a great job! this will take some time.

Haha...

Well, I think it isn't just about distracting Nate, in terms of D'Antoni arguing with the refs.

It also comes down to building social capital with those you manage.

For example, as a manager of young people, around Nate's age -- some younger -- my manager and I strategically would discuss how I could blame him for problems we had to build a stronger bond of trust between my staff and myself. In fact, at one point, I had a moment where I argued for my staff in public because we were being treated unfairly (I thought), which wasn't even so much of a strategic thing but the fact that I cared about standing up for them being treated justly, and as the person in charge I felt that I should say something to use whatever power I had to help make known that I wasn't just going to stand there and do nothing.

Oddly enough, that can, and did in this case, have a profound effect with the staff (I later learned), when it came to me critiquing mistakes made, or asking them to do extra work when needed.

I think D'Antoni's passion for teaching and improving the team, through more strengths based strategies, is much of what this is about.

When a manager/coach/teacher/leader stands up for someone they work with, or are in charge of, it allows for increased trust, respect, and willingness to listen to what you ask of them, even if under other conditions they might not normally like it.

My comments on the arguing in -- I think it was one of the last pre-season games -- where D'Antoni went nuts, and got a technical foul for defending Nate, saying he got fouled. I thought that was a key moment for building trust, and social capital, since he knows Nate can be wild.

So, when he asks Nate to work on steals, which also uses the notion of high expectations (another absolute must for any manager or teacher...as long as they are realistic), saying he knows he can get 3 a game, he builds on Nate's strengths, but he probably has an easier time getting Nate to listen and respond by standing up for him to the refs.

Interestingly, I also think it did send an early message to the refs that Nate should get calls, which could also lower the chance of Nate reacting negatively to a call he doesn't like, since maybe they won't happen as much with D'Antoni complaining. Coaches do that all of the time...Phil Jackson advocating for Jordan is one I always think of.

I am hugely impressed with D'Antoni thus far, as he uses all of the modern tools of effective management and teaching.

NBA players are young, and let's be real, men of color, who are mostly not coming from always the most ideal family situations. This is actually just a norm across "race" in the U.S., but I think it isn't about not being "men" it's just that experiences of young men coming into the league, in general, are different than 10 years ago.

D'Antoni is a futurist, and gets this, I suspect. To me, it's little wonder why he is successful, because almost all of the evidence points to his approach being highly effective.

[Edited by - PresIke on 11-11-2008 12:23 PM]

Posted by franco12:

Posted by BlueSeats:

I've always considered D' one the premier coaches in the league and a good choice for us. But I still think when you need to go thru 5-6 coaches to find one your team will listen to your problems lie deeper than the coach.

Regarding Nate, it's worth remembering that D' was really the guy who drafted him, so he should have some insight into what he can get out of him.

Which coaches did we go through? The issue wasn't the coaches, it was management (Isiah & Dolan).

Chaney, Wilkins, & LB weren't the problem. Wilkins was actually doing ok, as did Chaney, before Isiah started to meddle.

LB we can debate- I did not think he was a good fit.

I agree, but the "solution" was always to change coaches. If Isiah was still GM I don't think D' would fare very well here either. Nor do I think we'd have Steph AND Eddy on the bench in street towels.

I can't believe that people actually don't think MDA is making a huge diff with this team? Don't think for a second that he's not the real reason this team has looked so good. Nate was always capable of doing what he's doing now, Jamal, Lee, Zach! The difference is HOW they're going about their business. There's a cohesiveness and an order to the way they're playing. There's a better understanding of what they are doing and hopefully he'll be able to teach them how to win and the kind of mental focus that's needed to close out games.

We've seen flashes of this team doing things like this, but now it's not the exception, but the rule for how they approach the game. MDA brought professionalism and accountability to the team. Don't underestimate how special a coach MDA is. That's the vibe i'm picking up around here from a few of us. That MDA is just another coach and that's not true. When you don't have a superstar the coach has to do more and that's where his metal is tested. Riley, Jackson, Van Gundy all have shown an ability to get more out of their players even when they're not all great players. IMO MDA is one of those coaches, that knows how to get thru to players and put them in positions to succeed. He builds trust and then he can get them to run thru walls.

I can't wait til we can add the pieces he needs to really do damage. For now i'm just glad that he's here to establish our new culture and the young guys will benefit from playing under him.

Posted by Cookdcokehop:

OT: Nate looks like Ronnie from the movie "Role Models" (which is ****ing hilarious and I recommend you all go see it).

I LOL'ed. That's a good one.

[Edited by - K22 on 2008-11-11 1:14 PM]

I don't think the Knicks had a system with Isiah. I think the fact that there is structure, predictability, accountability, and roles has made a huge difference. I also think in Nate's case there are alot of personal motivators that are also contributing.

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by CrushAlot:

I think you are selling Nate short if you don't think that the fact that he is a restricted free agent after this season has made a difference in his play and attitude. Nate has to know that he is damaged goods because of his past immaturity. The coach and style of play have helped but to give all of the credit to the coach is saying Nate is such a knucklehead that he is unable to grow and mature as a player, to learn from his mistakes, and to recognize that his play and behavior this season impact his future in the NBA.

I don't think that it's a non factor, but Nate was on the rise already and I don't think he would've shown as much improvement under Isiah for another year. Many here have bashed our players as incapable of grasping a system like this and last year when Isiah tried and failed to get them to play a style similar to this, I said that they should be able to play that way, but Isiah was the problem. Now all of a sudden and to the shock of most media and analysts, the Knicks players have grasped the system and are playing team ball, which many said they couldn't do. I don't attribute that to age or incentives of a new contract. If that's all it took, we'd have a lot more success with David Lee.

Of course he's made a difference. He's a good coach. But under the prior regime that would not have mattered. A cultural change here brought on by the front office is what really has made the dfference so far. It has allowed both the players and the coach to perform. We've had spurts like this in the past. The key to Dantoni's coaching will be if he can keep it going. That's where we have fallen short in the past.

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by CrushAlot:

I think you are selling Nate short if you don't think that the fact that he is a restricted free agent after this season has made a difference in his play and attitude. Nate has to know that he is damaged goods because of his past immaturity. The coach and style of play have helped but to give all of the credit to the coach is saying Nate is such a knucklehead that he is unable to grow and mature as a player, to learn from his mistakes, and to recognize that his play and behavior this season impact his future in the NBA.

I don't think that it's a non factor, but Nate was on the rise already and I don't think he would've shown as much improvement under Isiah for another year. Many here have bashed our players as incapable of grasping a system like this and last year when Isiah tried and failed to get them to play a style similar to this, I said that they should be able to play that way, but Isiah was the problem. Now all of a sudden and to the shock of most media and analysts, the Knicks players have grasped the system and are playing team ball, which many said they couldn't do. I don't attribute that to age or incentives of a new contract. If that's all it took, we'd have a lot more success with David Lee.

Of course he's made a difference. He's a good coach. But under the prior regime that would not have mattered. A cultural change here brought on by the front office is what really has made the dfference so far. It has allowed both the players and the coach to perform. We've had spurts like this in the past. The key to Dantoni's coaching will be if he can keep it going. That's where we have fallen short in the past.

Truth. I'll even go so far as to suggest that under a Walsh administration (rather than Isiah) Lenny Wilkens, Larry Brown, and even Isiah, as coaches, would have "made a difference" relative to the circus of destruction we've seen these last few years.

One really can't underestimate how badly Isiah managed and coached this team.

I agree with you. D'Antoni is obviously good but:

1.) Donnie Walsh came in and said the players were no longer in charge
2.) D'Antoni benched two "franchise players" and the GM agreed with him
3.) A new PG and leader is brought in
4.) Players that have tried to buy in to all the coaches they've played for are now in the rotation
5.) Guys like Zach and Jamal ran out of options before the season started
6.) pretty obvious the team talked badly about Marbs in the preseason meetings and the staff was empowered to do soemthing about it
7.) The youngins are a year older
8.) D'Antoni is a good coach
9.) It's early in the season and nothing has been proven yet
10.) We've caught other teams with injuries
11.) We've made huge shots down the stretch of games and made plays that we did not make when Marbs was leading us.

You can almost go on forever with this. A lot has changed from last year. The early success can be attributed to all of it. I think Mike has done a great job so far. But I plead with the fans not to beleive in the savior principal. The reason we are playing well is because the perfect storm is happening. Mike is a big part of that storm, but let's not give him too much credit. Isiah devastated this team with his antics. This team has always had the ability to win games. The talent has always been there. They have just never been forced to perform. Our GM/Owner was too busy playing games.

Posted by Bippity10:

You can almost go on forever with this. A lot has changed from last year. The early success can be attributed to all of it. I think Mike has done a great job so far. But I plead with the fans not to beleive in the savior principal. The reason we are playing well is because the perfect storm is happening. Mike is a big part of that storm, but let's not give him too much credit. Isiah devastated this team with his antics. This team has always had the ability to win games. The talent has always been there. They have just never been forced to perform. Our GM/Owner was too busy playing games.

So you're saying that Mike D'Antoni is our savior?