ChuckBuck wrote:MinsHeartsReezy wrote:ChuckBuck wrote:FoeDiddy wrote:Goodbye..you will not be missed by me. Besides Linsanity your teams never overachieved or out worked other teams. Lets get a coach in here that practices hard and gets his team to play hard from jump for 48 minutes ala Doug Collins. That roster is the same roster that underachieved with a different coach. Coaches matter. Don't care what anyone says.
Why is it so hard for other people to see this? 
Coaches do matter, but the responsibility for the bad performance can't be placed solely on MDA. The accountability for this season needs to be shared by every single player on the team including the coaching staff.
As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Coaching can only go so far if the players are not willing to buy in and play as a team and implement the philosophy being taught. You can't make anyone do anything they are unwilling to do without the proper authority and making it known there is something to be lost. I've done quite a bit of teaching so I know how this works. MDA clearly had no authority regarding the personnel and to what extent he could reward or punish (benching) his players.
Frankly, MDA leaving will do nothing to fix this situation, but I respect both him and Donnie for leaving on their own terms. I wouldn't want to remain in a situation where it was my job lead a group of people if my efforts and authority were constantly being undermined. You end up with none of the respect and most of the blame. AND THANK YOU COACH MIKE FOR NOT AIRING OUT EVERY DAMN BIT OF DISCONTENT, AND NOT FALLING INTO THE TRAPS THE REPORTERS SET. THANK YOU FOR NOT ADDING TO THE DRAMA. Larry Brown did more than enough of that bs.
This year and last we finally had a chance to see some exciting ball in NY if only in spurts due to personnel roulette/lockouts etc. but those short streaks were fun while the lasted, if not a glimpse of what could have been if all the pieces had fallen in place.
Good luck Mike! I hope you find a position on a team that's willing to play your game, where you'll be allowed to be a Coach without the meddling.
Take a look at the first half effort tonight...where was that during the losing streak?
EXACTLY...
Day and freaking night. Most times a coach is fired/quits, the team is in disarray, confusion and uncertainty is what you would expect to see. On the Knicks, they get their ish together and do what they should have been doing this whole time and have been completely capable of doing. And this was a pretty blatant display of D'Antoni ball at it's best because Woodson's only been coach a a few hrs. So what should we conclude then? The most likely answer seems to be that the team, or a portion of the team, just wasn't playing to their ability by choice? I hope that this is not the case.
Let's see how long this new found enthusiasm lasts. Talent was never the issue w/ this team. It was always the effort that was the issue. The trend seems to be: the higher the salary the more inconsistent the effort (with the exception of Tyson of course). Fields, Shump, Lin, JJ, Novak and maybe even JR...for what it's worth at least they always tried their hardest even if their shots weren't falling. I'm hoping they do build on this win because there's nothing I can't stand than watching an incompetent team who just don't care enough. At least play like you want to win. It's not too much to ask. If it were any other occupation, you would be put on probation or fired. MDA did have his problems, like the substitution pattern was off at times and he was willing to let his players play through their mistakes almost to a flaw, but there are two things you can't coach: effort and chemistry. I want this team to be successful more than anything, I just hope the players come together and hold each other accountable for the rest of the season because you can change the coach but it won't improve anything if the players aren't willing to buy in.
