holfresh wrote:I can go either way with this..I think mike is good at one thing, his system..It would help if he wasn't so rigid and opposed to some defensive help but it is what it is...We won't have a full team next year, we should give Mike the benefit of a doubt and see what he can do next year...After that, Doc or Phil Jackson may want to look at coaching again...It's a win win situation...Maybe Mike blows us away coaching, if not, we go hard for Doc ,Phil and one of the big name PG..By the way, people still thinking DWill is better than Chris Paul..CP3 is having his way with Kobe..

you and i don't see eye to eye often but we definitely do here. i think mike should get one training camp with this team and see what he can do. if we have a rough year next year then he goes and we see what's available but i do think he should be afforded that luxury since there's been an incredible amount of turnover in his time coaching here.

and i definitely agree with about cp3. i've always thought cp3 was better than dwill. cp3 has literally carried that team on his back the past few years, he hasn't much surrounding him and he still gets them in the playoffs and throws up triple-doubles. i know his knee is a bit worrisome but he's shown that his knee isn't a problem when he's beating the lakers on his own.

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:I can go either way with this..I think mike is good at one thing, his system..It would help if he wasn't so rigid and opposed to some defensive help but it is what it is...We won't have a full team next year, we should give Mike the benefit of a doubt and see what he can do next year...After that, Doc or Phil Jackson may want to look at coaching again...It's a win win situation...Maybe Mike blows us away coaching, if not, we go hard for Doc ,Phil and one of the big name PG..By the way, people still thinking DWill is better than Chris Paul..CP3 is having his way with Kobe..

you and i don't see eye to eye often but we definitely do here. i think mike should get one training camp with this team and see what he can do. if we have a rough year next year then he goes and we see what's available but i do think he should be afforded that luxury since there's been an incredible amount of turnover in his time coaching here.

and i definitely agree with about cp3. i've always thought cp3 was better than dwill. cp3 has literally carried that team on his back the past few years, he hasn't much surrounding him and he still gets them in the playoffs and throws up triple-doubles. i know his knee is a bit worrisome but he's shown that his knee isn't a problem when he's beating the lakers on his own.

I agree with both of you guys. I don't think D'Antoni has been given a fair shake here, considering he started out with a nonsense roster and then we changed it every 3 months. That being said, I think I've seen enough to not think he's the guy to take us to the next level. I'm okay with giving him one more shot, but also okay with letting him go.

FistOfOakley wrote:i still don't get the argument that d'antoni doesn't care about defense yet jared jeffries got consistent minutes this series.. hell look at turiaf...

jeffries was obviously on the floor for his ability in the post on offense

FistOfOakley wrote:i still don't get the argument that d'antoni doesn't care about defense yet jared jeffries got consistent minutes this series.. hell look at turiaf...

It's a cliche that people use.

It's like when they say "once in D'Antoni's doghouse you never get out". Yet pretty much everyone that we've seen go into the doghouse has eventually gotten another shot. They are simply cliche's.

If his contract were expiring I'd probably say lets go in another direction, but firing someone suggests negligence or incompetence and I don't think he's sunk to that kind of level. I think he's been average, and I have trouble firing someone for that, especially after all the turnover and turmoil we've been thru the last 10 years. Give him next season to finish his contract and see if he can get Amare and Melo humming together and playing playoff caliber defense year round.

OTOH, the thing with coaches is you kinda have to fit their style to the tenor of the city for them to really find acceptance. There are plenty of places where a free wheeling style may be desirable, but in spite of all the money and celebrity of NY, it's still a gritty, blue collar sports town. We like our teams to have a mean streak and D's style is a little too fuzzy. It's hard to see it working long term unless he's really racking up the wins.

eViL wrote:

Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire raised some eyebrows after Sunday's season-ending loss to the Celtics with seemingly lukewarm support for Mike D'Antoni.

Monday, each spoke to reporters and expressed strong backing for the coach.

"Mike is a phenomenal coach," Stoudemire said. "He’s been great my whole career. He’s been great in New York so far this year. I have high confidence in his coaching style and what he can bring to the team.

"Coach Mike is phenomenal. He’s been doing great all year with the different changes we’ve made throughout the season. We’ve been able to maintain and still have a winning record and also have a chance to do something special in the postseason if it weren’t for injuries, so I have high confidence in Coach D’Antoni."

Said Anthony: "I think D'Antoni was very patient. I only can speak on when I got here. I think he's been very patient due to the circumstances. We came a long way, especially when I first got here, with the expectations being so high so quickly.

"For us to lose some games and take a step backward, and then to go out the regular season winning the way we did, you've got to take your hat off to Mike for being able to handle a situation like that, after almost losing damn near the whole team and start off fresh with something new. He lost four key components to his team. They had something rolling here.

"For him to take on another challenge and getting everybody on the same page when we got here, I think it took a lot and I respect that from him."

There is only counted group of coaches in NBA with enough authority to coach Melo, Stat, and Billups.
And the only one available for us from this group is Mike.
So stop bitching and accept the reality. You will need to watch this for a while....

eViL wrote:

Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire raised some eyebrows after Sunday's season-ending loss to the Celtics with seemingly lukewarm support for Mike D'Antoni.

Monday, each spoke to reporters and expressed strong backing for the coach.

"Mike is a phenomenal coach," Stoudemire said. "He’s been great my whole career. He’s been great in New York so far this year. I have high confidence in his coaching style and what he can bring to the team.

"Coach Mike is phenomenal. He’s been doing great all year with the different changes we’ve made throughout the season. We’ve been able to maintain and still have a winning record and also have a chance to do something special in the postseason if it weren’t for injuries, so I have high confidence in Coach D’Antoni."

Said Anthony: "I think D'Antoni was very patient. I only can speak on when I got here. I think he's been very patient due to the circumstances. We came a long way, especially when I first got here, with the expectations being so high so quickly.

"For us to lose some games and take a step backward, and then to go out the regular season winning the way we did, you've got to take your hat off to Mike for being able to handle a situation like that, after almost losing damn near the whole team and start off fresh with something new. He lost four key components to his team. They had something rolling here.

"For him to take on another challenge and getting everybody on the same page when we got here, I think it took a lot and I respect that from him."

trueblue will spin this away bro

If D'Antoni was expiring, I might look elsewhere, but with one year left on the deal and all the shake-ups probably being over, we'll know for sure if Mike D is the right guy or not.

As far as the changes, I expect to see more talent. Nobody can win with bad players, and Mike D has enough talent to get past the first round and make progress.

I would have expected more from a basketball town.

scoshin wrote:Question: For those who feel that D'Antoni didn't get a good shake in his 3-year stint here thus far, and should get at least a full season with this roster...

What changes are you expecting then next season?

We've had 3 years now with this coach and if you don't have a good sense of what to expect from him already, then you haven't been looking closely.

I still see us chucking up 3's. I still see an offense with very few curl plays or post-ups, and relying solely on "floor-spacing" to allow a 2-man PnR game to work. I still see us being in the bottom third of the league in defense, where we've been for the past 3 years.

I really don't see the point in wasting another season with this coach. No, he's not the sole reason we got swept by the Celtics. Injuries and lack of experience certainly played a big part. But irregardless of who was at fault, do you really expect us to ever win a championship playing this style, with this roster centered around Melo/Amar'e? I certainly don't.

If we know this summer that D'Antoni is not our long term solution, we should cut ties now. There's actually going to be a wealth of coaches on the market. Adelman and Sloan are already FA's. Jackson and Rivers are likely retiring, but who knows if a hefty paycheck by Dolan can sway them. Quality assistants like Ron Adams on the Bulls, Brian Shaw of the Lakers, and Lawrence Frank on the Celtics will be looking for a head coaching position. We could always take a flyer on Ewing or Bill Laimbeer.

it's weird to me that you would focus criticism of MDA on his offense. His team's defense sucked, but all year long his offense played 4 on 5 with one of those 4 being a rookie and having a backup PG that didn't know a PnR from a pair tree and yet his offense was rated as one of the best in the league (offensive efficiency).