Marv wrote:

WindsorPl wrote:Patience with who?
I will be patient with the players. The current team has potential, it may need a year to reach its full potential.
I will not be patient with the coach if he starts playing mind games with these guys. D'antoni is on the hook if the team does not make the playoffs. One of the reasons for his hiring, we were told, is to help FA acquisition. He delivered squat. Put up or shut up and get the hell out of dodge time for

how is amar'e "squat?"

Amar'e Stoudemire still comes here without Mike D'Antoni imo.

D'Antoni had no impact on free agency.

iSergio wrote:

Marv wrote:

WindsorPl wrote:Patience with who?
I will be patient with the players. The current team has potential, it may need a year to reach its full potential.
I will not be patient with the coach if he starts playing mind games with these guys. D'antoni is on the hook if the team does not make the playoffs. One of the reasons for his hiring, we were told, is to help FA acquisition. He delivered squat. Put up or shut up and get the hell out of dodge time for

how is amar'e "squat?"

Amar'e Stoudemire still comes here without Mike D'Antoni imo.

D'Antoni had no impact on free agency.

And you know this how?
He could have easily gone to Chicago.

Panos wrote:

iSergio wrote:

Marv wrote:

WindsorPl wrote:Patience with who?
I will be patient with the players. The current team has potential, it may need a year to reach its full potential.
I will not be patient with the coach if he starts playing mind games with these guys. D'antoni is on the hook if the team does not make the playoffs. One of the reasons for his hiring, we were told, is to help FA acquisition. He delivered squat. Put up or shut up and get the hell out of dodge time for

how is amar'e "squat?"

Amar'e Stoudemire still comes here without Mike D'Antoni imo.

D'Antoni had no impact on free agency.

And you know this how?
He could have easily gone to Chicago.

I think he went with the only team that offered him guaranteed max dollars.

What we don't know is if the Russian would have offered him similar money- I suspect not.

(that being said i think this team will make the playoffs and advance a round)

Panos wrote:

BigSm00th wrote:agreed. this squad is good enough to be a playoff team this year. then fat eddy comes off the books and they add another impact player. that is the dream we were sold. if d'antoni can't get this squad in the playoffs THIS YEAR then he needed nash more than nash needed him and he needs to hit the road.

(that being said i think this team will make the playoffs and advance a round)

Advancing a round implies they should finish at least 5th or 6th in the conference so as not to play the number 1 and 2 teams in the first round.

i know the implications of advancing a round. i don't see why this team can't be a 6 seed and beat the hawks or bucks in round 1.

Marv wrote:

WindsorPl wrote:Patience with who?
I will be patient with the players. The current team has potential, it may need a year to reach its full potential.
I will not be patient with the coach if he starts playing mind games with these guys. D'antoni is on the hook if the team does not make the playoffs. One of the reasons for his hiring, we were told, is to help FA acquisition. He delivered squat. Put up or shut up and get the hell out of dodge time for

how is amar'e "squat?"

CrushAlot wrote:

Marv wrote:

WindsorPl wrote:Patience with who?
I will be patient with the players. The current team has potential, it may need a year to reach its full potential.
I will not be patient with the coach if he starts playing mind games with these guys. D'antoni is on the hook if the team does not make the playoffs. One of the reasons for his hiring, we were told, is to help FA acquisition. He delivered squat. Put up or shut up and get the hell out of dodge time for

how is amar'e "squat?"

Amare isn't squat but I don't think he is in NY because of D'Antoni. While reports of problems between Amare and D'Antoni were probably exagerated, Amare has spoken openly about communication/relationship problems with D'Antoni and issues with D'Antoni not emphasizing defense. I don't think playing for D'Antoni was a draw. I think Walsh, NY City, and feeling loved after all of the trade rumors had more to do with his signing here.

Amare was deflecting criticism when he started all that talk about not being coached defense. He was still being hit hard on his lack of D and rightfully so. The guy was on the team with Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell and you mean to tell me he couldn't pick up a thing or two from KT? Also after MDA left they went with Terry Porter who Kerr went on record saying was brought in to instill a defensive emphasis. That was the mantra after MDA left and yet no D from Amare and that's why he made the statements he did, cuz he still wasn't playing D and fans and Media were getting on him for it, so he tried to blame MDA. It's a lame excuse to try and blame the coach when you know that there had to be some kind of discussions at practice about D. How come the team wasn't in the lower half of the league defensively despite not having gReat defensive players and a coach that supposedly doesn't coach defense. The team was never a bad defensive team under MDA and would've been better had Amar'e gave effort on D, no matter what the scheme.

As for why Amare came here, it's all about the money. I'll tell you that having a coach that he knows will make sure he succeeds was a plus. MDA wasn't a deterrent to Amare coming, that's for sure. Now that he's here i'm sure he takes comfort in the fact that this is the system that he has had all of his success in.

knicks1248 wrote:

franco12 wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

TMS wrote:

WindsorPl wrote:Patience with who?
I will be patient with the players. The current team has potential, it may need a year to reach its full potential.
I will not be patient with the coach if he starts playing mind games with these guys. D'antoni is on the hook if the team does not make the playoffs....

Put up or shut up and get the hell out of dodge time for

agreed 100000%

I've been patient with because he hasn't had the horses. He does now, that's for certain. This is a playoff team. I'd give him the season no matter what but I'd make a change after this year if he doesn't come through

Like Windsor said - it could take a year for this team to show that its a play off team.

But the key remains MDA getting his hands dirty and actually working hard, instead of mailing it in.

I think many would agree that there are two different ways for this team to get to lets say 38 wins and just missing the play offs - one where we see development and the beginning formation of a team, and the other where MDA is random with his playing time, bans guys to his bench, consistently watching opposing teams shred us on defense in spite of improved defenders.

38 wins would be a disaster, as a matter of fact, anything short of a playoff berth would be a disaster..and MDA should be fired at the end of the season..There are no more excuses..we should be a playoff contender this year, and a title contender next season.

I don't think 38 wins is a disaster, depending how we get there and how we look.

I think its a bit much to expect play offs from this group- yes, Dolan & Co sold fans on insta winner in 2010/11.

But look at the parts we added- 2 players from play off teams- Amare and Felton. Both, very good/good, and to some degree that we can debate, upgrades over their predecessors.

Then, we've added three players from GS, and without looking, their record wasn't a whole lot better in terms of wins and losses from ourselves.

So, are we really that much better/different than last year?

There is still the 'Melo' in 2011, and Chris Paul rumors to take the place of the Lebron talk that was a convenient excuse for many for the wretched performance last year.

nixluva wrote:No debate! Amare/Felton vs. Lee/Duhon is a SUPER UPGRADE!!! Just that upgrade alone is enough to make an improvement in record, but then you add AZ, Turiaf, AR and an improved Gallo, TD & Chan and I believe this is a definite playoff team. This team actually makes sense. The last 2 years we just thru parts together in order to get to 2010, but this was thoughtfully and logically put together. We've gone from hoping that everything fell just right in order to get to the final playoff spots, verses, a team with a good balance of size, speed, shooting and power. I don't think the rest of the East is strong enough to keep the Knicks out of the playoffs.

Yes it was, hats off to Walsh. If this team is coached and managed correctly, it can be a 500 team and dangerous in the playoffs.

nixluva wrote:No debate! Amare/Felton vs. Lee/Duhon is a SUPER UPGRADE!!! Just that upgrade alone is enough to make an improvement in record, but then you add AZ, Turiaf, AR and an improved Gallo, TD & Chan and I believe this is a definite playoff team. This team actually makes sense. The last 2 years we just thru parts together in order to get to 2010, but this was thoughtfully and logically put together. We've gone from hoping that everything fell just right in order to get to the final playoff spots, verses, a team with a good balance of size, speed, shooting and power. I don't think the rest of the East is strong enough to keep the Knicks out of the playoffs.

So Nix- are you willing to state that if the Knicks fail to make the playoffs, that some combination of MDA & Walsh should be fired? And it looks like you'd be saying that MDA should absolutely be fired for not making the playoffs next year?