nixluva wrote:I think people have to understand that MDA isn't limited in his BB knowledge. He has plays that will work with a post up C too. His offense isn't just fastbreak and chuck 3's. He wanted to have Curry use all of his skills within the offense but the guy was never able to play in camp so they could work on the plays as a team. As we saw MDA had to dumb the offense down cuz we didn't have enough guys that could run it. The man is extremely flexible and creative but you can't expect greatness from bad unmotivated players. Curry talks well but with all the chances he's been given he wasted them all.Didn't DW show him all the patience a GM could and provided him personal help to get in shape so he could be succesful?
Curry is a huge disappointment and that cannot be dismissed. However when you reference working things in in D'Antoni's training camp I take exception. The Knicks had the same core of guys this year that they had the previous season. The expectation was that going into the second season with a training camp that they would come out and be better. The Knicks came out and went 1-9. It appeared all they prepared for was being laid back, joking around, and behaving in a non professional manner. There was no excuse for the team playing like they did coming out of a training camp where their coach was supposed to be teaching and preparing them for the season. I think there are only two conclusions you can come to when you talk about D'Antoni's tenure as Knick coach. Either you believe he has mailed it in for the last two years but is still a good coach that just chose not to do his job or you believe he is not a good coach.
Also, D'Antoni is not flexible. D'Antoni is one of the most rigid coaches I have encountered in the NBA. His rigidity appears to be based on the need to not work, adjust or teach. I am not sure when it became vogue for a coach to say the guys he has cannot play his system instead of adjusting his coaching to suit the guys he has. Adjustments are exactly what are lacking with D'Antoni. Game planning, adjusting for individual opponents on offense and defense, watching game film to prepare are all things that are lacking with D'Antoni. D'Antoni is not flexible. He wants to win but he will not change to do it. That would require him doing all of the things previously mentioned. D'Antoni wants to play the most talented player but he will not teach a young player how to maximize his talent when he doesn't have to teach a marginal grizzled vet.
Curry's health and his poor conditioning are the reason he has failed as a player in NY. However, if healthy I don't think D'Antoni plays him anyway.
