D'Antoni showed it again when he finally let Nate Robinson play and he could not even muster a compliment for Robinson for rescuing D'Antoni from a blowout to the Hawks.

D'Antoni will win some games when he gets some good players but he will still be a jerk and a very poor in-game coach.

oohah

nixluva wrote:9/28/2008 11:31 PM
I was just reading the words of Mike D'Antoni again and it struck me why i've been happy with his selection. i wasn't initially as happy as I've come to be at this time, since I thought it would be better to try and get a coach who could instill a defensive approach to the game. Now however I feel he's gonna be a great coach for this organization. Part of it has to do with his sheer unflinching confidence in his philosophy on the game. The guy is committed to it and fully believes in it. I think that effects his players positively.

The next thing is his style of coaching. It's all about winning with him. He could care less about a players contract or status or feelings. This excerpt expresses that very well:

So far, D'Antoni believes the players are amped up about this new opportunity.

"Watching Chandler play, or Jeffries or Lee, they've been (working hard at the practice facility) since September, so they're working," he said, "They're foaming at the bit, and they are going. I just used three guys, but those are guys that just jumped off the page and are ready to roll, and I just think there's a lot of things we can build upon and get into there... We're going to try a lot of different combos and see what happens. That's what training camp is all about."

D'Antoni said he'll begin turning the Knicks around by committing himself to players that give him the best chance of winning, and not worry about things such as a players' contract, or making him happy.

"The guys that need to get the minutes will get the minutes," he said. "My job is that every night, we want to be competitive and win. You can't just say to wait until next year. My job is to win every night, and I'm going to play the guys that give me the best shot to win... I'm going to believe in nine or 10 guys, and that is who we are going to battle with. They'll love me, and a few of the other guys will hate me. So that's just how it's going to be."

I love that kind of approach! Regardless of the style of play, if you give playing time to those who earn it you're going to be more successful. We all know it's gonna take time to actually rebuild this team and improve the talent, but in terms of the manner in which this team and it's players go about their jobs, i'm very pleased with what MDA is going to bring to the table.

Who among us isn't confident that he's going to be able to get the most out of our best players and role players? I have no doubt about his ability to do that. In year one just changing the attitudes on this team will mean a lot.

So some can take issue with the selection of MDA and his offensive approach to the game but you can't quibble with his results and his approach to deciding who plays or not.

Pharzeone wrote:9/29/2008 2:08 AM
Nixluva is in denial. He doesn't want to address Mr. Pringles record without Steve Nash.
Nixluva, Steve Nash is not walking through this door. Probably he will but he will be too old by then.

oohah

oohah wrote:Pharezone...let's not make this about Nixluva...he's the most blindingly consistent dude ever! No matter what happens, or how things change..THEY ARE ALWAYS GREAT!!!! AND THE KNICKS ARE ALWAYS ON THE RIGHT PATH!

oohah

I understand that but he never gives up and now he is jumping on the roster as the reason why MDA hasn't been successful when from jump start I was telling him he is the type of coach that needs superstars to just win, period. He continues to deny it and now he jumps on the roster excuse. My point is that I didn't wait to jump on this guy. I knew what he was from the start.

Pharzeone wrote:

I understand that but he never gives up and now he is jumping on the roster as the reason why MDA hasn't been successful when from jump start I was telling him he is the type of coach that needs superstars to just win, period. He continues to deny it and now he jumps on the roster excuse. My point is that I didn't wait to jump on this guy. I knew what he was from the start.

Me too man...don't you recall? We both said D'Antoni is more of a numbers coach who is thin-skinned and relies on stars to make it happen for him. We were getting shredded by the whole board. This is not about: Haha I was right, but the facts eventually show themselves.

oohah

oohah wrote:

sidsanders wrote:
i was yielding the point to show that even if it was the case, how does the coach get a pass for 2 years? i cant think of when that has ever happened in any sport... get a 2 year "get outta jail free" card cuz the roster stinks (free from media/fans being mad).

To me it isn't even about the losses, not exactly, it's about not coaching to win. I feel he coaches to make a point...which he think is about winning, but then again he knows isn't.

Such as:

1) "I can use Duhon to fill Marbury's shoes!"

or

2) "Gallinari is just as good as Al Harrington, and starting Gallinari over Harrington does not make the Knicks lose offensive punch to start games, I'll prove it!"

or

3)"Nate Robinson is not a key component to this team considering how I want to play!"

It gets to be very tiresome to me.

oohah

i can accept 2010 as the target, having bad teams for 2 years as well. however, if you are gonna suck why not take the chance to get some young talent and play them. they coulda been plugging holes with young cheap guys leading up to 2010. the FO bombed the 2009 draft, the 2008 is so-so at this point. they have 2 guys to show for all this in 2010, 1 other they clearly dont want, and a complete unknown in td. if they get the HR this summer, fine...

while folks say the draft is a gamble, its a cheaper gamble then screwing up in FA, as we have seen the past 10+ years. at least by playing young guys there was a factor for the 2010 period that they **could** control somewhat as opposed to making some moves and simply **hoping** for the best later. FO/coaches have not done a good job with what they have... i sure hope (theres that word again, ARGH) they do better with what they have set the table for.

not suggesting you think the opposite of this... this absolution for the FO/coaches is kinda lame.

WindsorPl wrote:1 - What does Marbury have to do with this? smh.
2 - We do want the young players to play more than the vets, that's the whole point of the exercise.

1) I think I made the point obvious, but I will re-explain: D'Antoni too often coaches to make points instead of putting his best product on the floor. If playing the youth or "going in a new direction" (D'Antoni quote) were the point of this mysterious exercise, then D'Antoni would not have asked Marbury back and offered him a starting job in order to save his own ass last season.

2) Please don't tell me what "we want". I want a coach who tries to win every game he coaches. I would have preferred that D'Antoni develop the youth with sensible playing time and try to win as many games as possible, which by the way, are not mutually exclusive.

But by all means, if you can tell me what D'Antoni is trying to do, please explain it to me. Because I see him throwing all kinds of minutes to some youth, all kinds of minutes to Duhon and House while ignoring Toney Douglas, and a whole host of other head-scratchers.

oohah

Pharzeone wrote:Man if you support D'Antoni's accomplishments on this team so far then it is a wrong night to listen to WFAN. You would swear it was me hosting.

CrushAlot wrote:

Pharzeone wrote:Man if you support D'Antoni's accomplishments on this team so far then it is a wrong night to listen to WFAN. You would swear it was me hosting.

He lost his get out of jail free card when he went after Isola. Its amazing that he had a free pass for as long as he did with all of the losing, drama, and bizarre rotations that he has had.

Yeah, I think beat writers have been waiting to pounce on him for a lot of stuff.