nixluva wrote:MDA actually had a 40-32 record with the Lakers last year despite coming into a HOT MESS. This year was not his fault. Who could win with that Laker team? He did a good job with the young talent they had. Marshall really improved as a PG under MDA. MDA is not the coach for guys like Kobe and Dwight Howard. Give him a team with Players that will listen and he'll be fine. A young team with a young PG talent would be a good spot for him.

You could argue he did a horrible job with that team. He had three hall of famers on the roster. Yeah, it was tenuous situation, but geez.

gunsnewing wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:I think he would make an excellent college coach but I guess NBA coaches think that is too far a step down. He will be somebody assistant or studio analyst.

MDA could be a Tex Winter type of asst. Someone who has a unique philosophy on offense that a head coach incorporates into his system. No shame in that. Doubt he does that though. Seems like that would have been a great calling for him.

I don't think so. His system is suited for overseas play. In order to win in the NBA you need to defend and maximize your bigs. His system doesn't do that. Those to things slow down his offense. Even if he was only responsible for offense the team would never never be able to play as a cohesive unit on both ends

Never mentioned defense, and a head coach wouldn't have to follow his offensive schemes to the letter. Part of the package.

He's better off going overseas where it works. Here you need physical touch defense and effective inside out game to win it all. You don't have that overseas. Bigs play a different role. Less banging and more finesse

gunsnewing wrote:Yea exactly well put. It's not a one size fits all philosophy

He's better off going overseas where it works. Here you need physical touch defense and effective inside out game to win it all. You don't have that overseas. Bigs play a different role. Less banging and more finesse

You're right he could thrive overseas, but I do believe there is also a place for MDA in the NBA. Just not where he thinks he should be.

Blame........Dolan hires Dolan to clean house to get Lebron and friends. YOu pay a price to dump players. The Owner wanted MDA and build a team to his spec's. Didn't happen did it?

Blame........Woodson for not being better coach. He had sad back court, injuries, a lame duck GM with no power and no directions.

Blame........Knicks had how many GM's in the last 10 years? Layden, Isiah, Donnie, Grunwald, Mills? Isn't that a bit messed up?

Blame........Van Gundy a quitter, Chaney was lame, Wilkens was old, Herb's a snitch, Larry was awful, Isiah a snake, MDA unflexible, Woodson incompetant....yet about each one was a former COY, a few HOFer's, and well thought of before and resurected after.

You guys keep laying blame when its organizational dysfunction that puts the wrong people in at the wrong time. We can only hope Phil creates the templet for Dolan to understand that a culture of winning starts with a process and decisions are made to achieve that process. Isiah and Larry together was ignorant! What thought process put those two together?

Nalod wrote:
Blame........MDA sucks, Knicks really didn't get much better after he left right?

Blame........Dolan hires Dolan to clean house to get Lebron and friends. YOu pay a price to dump players. The Owner wanted MDA and build a team to his spec's. Didn't happen did it?

Blame........Woodson for not being better coach. He had sad back court, injuries, a lame duck GM with no power and no directions.

Blame........Knicks had how many GM's in the last 10 years? Layden, Isiah, Donnie, Grunwald, Mills? Isn't that a bit messed up?

Blame........Van Gundy a quitter, Chaney was lame, Wilkens was old, Herb's a snitch, Larry was awful, Isiah a snake, MDA unflexible, Woodson incompetant....yet about each one was a former COY, a few HOFer's, and well thought of before and resurected after.

You guys keep laying blame when its organizational dysfunction that puts the wrong people in at the wrong time. We can only hope Phil creates the templet for Dolan to understand that a culture of winning starts with a process and decisions are made to achieve that process. Isiah and Larry together was ignorant! What thought process put those two together?

gunsnewing wrote:We wasted a lot of precious years trying to recreate the suns instead of developing a winning culture. Walsh is just as much to blame

that is not true.. we had young kids, and just signed amare.... they were starting to build that culture.. remember we were 28-26 before the carmelo trade... walsh worked on shaping the front office, changing the way the knicks dealt with players(see what he did for david lee) and how the league perceived the knicks... on the court, the knicks had a product that was fun to watch, with plenty of room for growth.. I am not sure how you feel they were not trying to develop a winning culture? what did we do that showed we weren't trying?

tkf wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:We wasted a lot of precious years trying to recreate the suns instead of developing a winning culture. Walsh is just as much to blame

that is not true.. we had young kids, and just signed amare.... they were starting to build that culture.. remember we were 28-26 before the carmelo trade... walsh worked on shaping the front office, changing the way the knicks dealt with players(see what he did for david lee) and how the league perceived the knicks... on the court, the knicks had a product that was fun to watch, with plenty of room for growth.. I am not sure how you feel they were not trying to develop a winning culture? what did we do that showed we weren't trying?

Dolan wanted Lebron. When that didn't happen he had to get Amare. When Melo was available, he broke the bank. Donnie's culture and decision making process was ruptured by Dolans desire to get Melo and keep him away from the russian.

Donnies failure, and MDA's failure were symptoms. What is the root cause?

Donnie wanted to hire a GM to succeed him. Dolan would not let him make the hire. If you Donnie it adds up and its time to go. You think the Grunwald fire/Mills hire was a good transition? Was last season "Mills fault" too? Or another symptom of dysfunction?

They hire MCkesson to look over MSG and looky what happend, they make a big play for a man of substance and Dolan hands him the Keys. There are guys who have discussed this for years. Briggs once said "a rotting head will decay the rest of the organization", or something to that effect.

Its not rocket science guys. Its not even "we need a new owner", because what we need is a change of thinking. Seems like Dolan tried that with Donnie but could not do it. With Phil, it is a big change of thinking. We can only hope.

In short: blame the thought process! Change that, you effect change from every decison you make.

holfresh wrote:Stop..MDA is not a coach..He is a guy that has an offensive system..As GBahler already mentioned, he should team up with a real coach and figure out how his system could fit a larger segment of players..Also implementing some defense...Nash types ain't born everyday..

Also, What would MDA have done with LeBron if he came here..He must have been terrified of that possibly happening..

Omg good point. That would've been a horror show. Poor Lebron. Lebron is a smart man though

BigDaddyG wrote:

Nalod wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

Nalod wrote:
Blame........MDA sucks, Knicks really didn't get much better after he left right?

Blame........Dolan hires Dolan to clean house to get Lebron and friends. YOu pay a price to dump players. The Owner wanted MDA and build a team to his spec's. Didn't happen did it?

Blame........Woodson for not being better coach. He had sad back court, injuries, a lame duck GM with no power and no directions.

Blame........Knicks had how many GM's in the last 10 years? Layden, Isiah, Donnie, Grunwald, Mills? Isn't that a bit messed up?

Blame........Van Gundy a quitter, Chaney was lame, Wilkens was old, Herb's a snitch, Larry was awful, Isiah a snake, MDA unflexible, Woodson incompetant....yet about each one was a former COY, a few HOFer's, and well thought of before and resurected after.

You guys keep laying blame when its organizational dysfunction that puts the wrong people in at the wrong time. We can only hope Phil creates the templet for Dolan to understand that a culture of winning starts with a process and decisions are made to achieve that process. Isiah and Larry together was ignorant! What thought process put those two together?

I agree, This franchise is poorly run and it will take years to for Phil to scrape off the dysfunction. That said, I feel that MDA did more to contribute to the dysfunction than he did to help solve it. The guy was stubborn, smug and passively aggressive during his tenure here and it led to his downfall. He didn't leave Phoenix on the best of terms and we all know how well his stint in LA went.

Being "Smug, arrgant, and passivly aggresive" can be said of Pop, Riley, Auerbach, Phil, the list goes on. He left PHX on bad terms because new owner wanted a more defensive posture and was given an out of shape Shaq with 25 games left in the season to make it work.

Ultimately the coach is always responsible for the teams performance. Most coach's unless they go out on top will leave the job under less than good terms. Even Red Holzman second stint ended badly! Larry Brown understood a coach only lasts about 4 years on the job then its time for a new voice.

MDA does not have the cred of winning except for his stint in PHX but the circumstances around NY and LA are very substantial that in my book has to be considered objectively.

The NBA is littered with good coach's that never won the big one.

Results are all that matter in the end. Many fans here would have gladly put up with Stache's attitude if he produced just a slither of the results generated by Pop, Riley, Auerbach and Phil. I think we both agree on that. Stache didn't have the same amount of success and he was unwilling to compromise. I think most people would agree that tge Suns did need to toughen up its interior defense. But what about the job he did implementing Dwight and Pau on the same team or Melo? There are plenty of coaches like Adelman and Phil who have a preferred style, but still manage to make tweaks to maximize their rosters. Those Phoenix Suns team had a huge influence on the way offensive is played in the NBA today. But teams and coaching staffs catch up. Rosters change. You can't just shrug your shoulders when adversity comes and say 'Oh well, I don't have Steve Nash.'

Can't argue with results and your not incorrect. Seems like the best coaches get their players to adhere to the system. Im not into "Compromise". I think your painting an overly simplistic scenario regarding his career. Maybe he was right all along in PHX but the new owner with Kerr in his ear thougth otherwise. We'll never know.

I think he did make adjustments in defense and offense to his players but "Compromise" is a strong word. Adelman and PHil are not in the same class. Doc has 1, spoel has2, carlisle has 1 and Pop has 4. 8 championships for for 4 active coaches and pop has half.

There are 26 teams that don't have a championshop pedigree coach. Guys that lost in finals are not seen as "winners". JVG? SVG? Adelman? Avery Johnson? Brooks? All have "stains" on them. MDA has his warts for sure. Fans will kick Brooks to the curb soon enough.