fishmike wrote:I am just too jaded. Its like looking in a toilet after a night of streetmeat and heavy drinking and trying to find art in the bomb I just dropped. I just cant get past the smell.

i think you better drift out to 3-point territory before you attempt this.

Marv wrote:bip does sound like jerry, yet i picture him like george.

See this is why nobody likes you

Crawford was incredibly skilled on the offensive end, and actually made sense of the offense much more than what Duhon has. If we hadn't had terrible defenders around him, Craw would have been able to do OK.

Bippity10 wrote:Overall...I really do think this team is infected. The losers of the past have passed the loser mentality(where it's okay to quit when the chips are down. Nobody gets upset at a lack of passion) from generation to generation. There is no leader that steps up and gets in the faces of others when they aren't performing. It's just half the team staring straight ahead like a deer in headlights and the other half trying to win the game singlehandedly and jacking up 3's. This is why you gut teams like this and do not try to build on top of them with mediocre players you can obtain with the MLE

Great post, Bip. I think part of the loser mentality is based on guys knowing they are here today, gone tomorrow. Until we get a solid core and add some marquis FAs (i.e., next year and the year after) those who are goners or fence-sitters will not work hard enough to win.

CrushAlot wrote:

Andrew wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:How is it that we've had four professional, experienced coaches, and 3 top tier coaches and they all seem to be clueless here.

Maybe its not the coaches?

I am getting really tired of D'Antoni just getting a pass while his team performs poorly and fans are told to wait for the guys that will fit his system. When your team plays as poorly as the Knicks did last night maybe there is a problem with preperation or the 'system' in place. No defense, no post presence, no passion, the list goes on and on. It was the first game of a new season. Someone needs to care and it should start with the coach.

I would agree with you, but it's been this way for a few years now. CAn't keep blaming the coaches. And again, who is your post presence on this team?

CrushAlot wrote:If I agreed with you that D'Antoni's job isn't to try and improve his team, prepare them for their opponents, teach them how to win etc until next year etc. What motivation would any player that is a free agent have in coming to a place where the coach and team are so apathetic?

You're right, there isn't one good FA that will take all the Knicks money that they offer them and the Knicks will sign no one ever.

Chan seemed to relax and just play aggressive in the 2nd half. That's the guy I want see. He'll be fine if he keeps that aggression!

We need Nate to get his offensive game in gear! He's all we've got at guard that can give us a scoring threat and break down defenses.

Duhon played 2 good posessions all night!!! A great pick n roll w Lee and a dribble penetration a la Nash that eventually led to a lay up by Lee. If he actually played like that all game we'd be a lock for .500! I'm convinced that the biggest weakness isn't shooting but PG play.

CrushAlot wrote:The Knicks brought in D'Antoni because he was a presence, a winner. He wasn't Don Chaney or John McCloud. He is supposed to be a superior coach. Getting your players to play hard, work for a goal, and essentially be all about winning is what a superior coach is supposed to do. If the talent isn't there the team achieves at the highest level that it is capable of, works as hard as possible to win and that superior coach is constantly trying to find any little edge that will get his team to beat its opponent. I don't see that at all with D'Antoni. Instead I hear about a system that will work if the right guys are in place. It shouldn't be about the system, it should be about team goals and winning.

See I do think this is an overreaction to one game considering that last year effort was not our problem.

I think Knick fans are affected by movies like Hoosiers. They think a great coach can go to a bad team and magically turn them into winners, when in reality if you take all the bad teams in the world this has really happened like maybe one time, and that was in the movie Hoosiers. No coach, no matter how good wins without great players. That's why Phil Jackson only signs on with the teams with the best players.

Bippity10 wrote:By the way read the article about Lee being frustrated on the front page. A lot of "we need to do" and "we just gotta". That's part of that infection I talked about. That was what Jamal Crawford and Zach and Marbs used to always do. They would quit during the game, not play d, show no fire, no frustration. Then after the game they would give the media a ton of "we just gotta do x more consistently.........."

Lee's defense is terrible, and I don't understand it because he is a very athletic PF. O'Neal is bigger than him, but it is not like O'Neal is Shaq. We really need to get Darko on the court more. Although Lee is one of our best players, I would limit Lee to 30 minutes until he improves on defense.

nyk4ever wrote:Dude, D'Antoni wasn't brought here to coach these guys, he was brought here to coach the guys 2010 and after. Say whatever you want, you can think it's really dumb, you can get really mad, but like it or not that's why he was brought here and I'm completely fine with that.

Again, if that's the case, just close the Garden doors and send all the ticketholders their money back.

The coach and the players need to put out a better effort than this.

If you have players with a -25 +/- (Duhon) then that player can't get sent out there the next game. There needs to be some accountability.