Nalod wrote:
Im sure recruiting talent to come work under these circumstances and cultivating a culture of winning is not important.

Perhaps not as important as you want to make it seem. "NBA Coach" is not a lifetime job. As soon as a coach leaves, another will be immediately available to come in and prove his skills. Creating a culture of winning........means very little if you are not winning. The Knicks were not a winning team with Atkinson, so why do you consider this a move counter to creating a winning culture?

gunsnewing wrote:Go back a few months ago and Kenny was getting high praise here now its hit the road. Figures

The only praise he received is for working with Lin. Didn't hear the praise when he was working with Toney Douglas shytting the bed.

Nalod wrote:

"Kenny was great for us," said Knicks center Tyson Chandler. "He did an excellent job with the guards, getting them ready for the games. He's a hard worker. We're going to miss him and we're going to have to find someone to bring that type of energy to our team."

NBA teams are investing more resources into player development as a way to lower payroll. The San Antonio Spurs have been at the forefront of player development for years and it is not surprising that Hawks GM Danny Ferry, who worked in the Spurs organization, reached out to Atkinson. Losing Atkinson is big blow to the Knicks and leaves Mike Woodson with a vacancy on his staff. It is unclear as to whom Woodson will hire. Former Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez worked with the team as an unpaid player development coach during last month's rookie/free agent summer league in Las Vegas.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/kenny-atkinson-hiring-atlanta-hawks-a-coup-ex-ny-knicks-coach-mike-antoni-article-1.1130522#ixzz22s2Px7YT

Two seasons Shawne Williams rose form obcurity to contribute. Mozgov and Landry last year and Novak this year. Of course Lin was the big story.

We have been pretty good in developing players the last few years. I hope we have the personel going forward to continue this. If you have a petty owner who makes decsions outside of basketball then it effects.

Its freaking August. IF we were going to "good riddence" to all things MDA then it should have been done in weeks ago and new people already in place.

Wait, didn't you say like 5 posts ago that "Atkinson leaving wasn't the issue" and that this thread is about Dolan. Now you are saying Atkinson leaving is the issue. Please explain why Atkinson was so important other then naming a couple of deep bench guys and Landry Fields who took a step back in year two with Atkinson still here. Or do you feel player development coaching responsibility stops after year 1 with the Knicks?

If Atkinson is not important, than it does not really matter much who replaces him and when. Nor does it matter much how Dolan factors in.

If Atkinson is important in your opinion, then I'm asking you how so? What did he do to make him such a big loss? How is losing him a detriment to creating a winning culture?

loweyecue wrote:Whatever remnants were left from the Walsh/Mda era are now gone. Should we take bets on how long it is before Woody meets Guilotine? Same shyt different coach. The circus must go on!

So the Walsh/MDA era was so successful that we are now mourning them?

ChuckBuck wrote:This is basically another "I hate Dolan" thread in disguise. Repetitive.

And the same few people who seem intent on subverting critique's on Dolan. Also repetitive.

We will always loose good people because Dolan is a poison. Sure people come here because it's New York and there is money, but Dolan will always poison the well. This is what this thread is about.

jrodmc wrote:

nixluva wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

nixluva wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Kenny Who? Seems like a nice guy, but don't we have enough assistant coaches already? Herb's still around I think. Is that the guy that catches the rebounds of the shooters then passes it back to them? Irrelevant, we won't even hear a peep about Kenny Atkinson until we face Atlanta.

This is a pretty lame response.

He was a smart and well liked assistant coach.

The Garden continually proves itself to be a joke.

Give me a break. Assistants come and go. This guy is not the next Van Gundy or Thibodeau. He will not impact us one way or not by leaving or staying. Dolan did him wrong, so be it, best of luck in ATL.

How do you know he's not the next Van Gundy or Thibodeau?

Did you think Van Gundy was gonna be good? Did you know anything about Thibodeau?

Giving away coaches you've developed is just as dumb as giving away draft picks or players you've developed.

When this team is 43-39 and an underachieving, aging 7th seed in two years and you look around and wonder where the young players are and what happened I will feel sorry for you. jk.

For real, you're really arguing the merits of an assistant coach that catches shooters rebounds???

What does this have to do with the Knicks success? I don't see the point, I really don't.

I was dying to get Tom Thibodeau, when the Knicks signed D'Antoni instead, based on Tom being the defensive architect of the Boston title team, and also because of Tom's past ties with NY. I don't think a rebound catcher had that much input into the Knicks huddle at all the past couple years.

You have to start somewhere. Identifying Coaching talent starts early too you know. Thibs wasn't always as widely known as he eventually became. You knew who Thibs was because he had gotten notoriety. You don't know that Atkinson won't also eventually get to be a hot prospect like that. He's off to a good start so far.

Further you underestimate just what Atkinson does to say that he "catches Shooters rebounds". What kind of ignorant statement is that?

Kenny was brought in because of his resume as a player development guy that knew the style that fit MDA's approach:

“I would say my formation as a coach is more from an international standpoint,” says Kenny. “That’s where I learned to coach, and there’s a big emphasis on skill work and shooting; an up-tempo and open style that’s predicated on good skills.”

Atkinson, 43, joined the Knicks staff on Aug. 6, 2008 and brought a strong background in the international game, player development and scouting to New York. The Long Island native is in his fourth overall NBA season. In 2007-08, he served as Director of Player Development for the Houston Rockets.

Atkinson’s NBA career follows an overseas odyssey in which he became a student of the international game. Kenny joined the Rockets in 2007 following three years as Director of Player Development/assistant coach for the Paris Basket Racing Club in France (2004-06). He has served as a Reebok EuroCamp Coach in Treviso, Italy during the summers of 2005 through 2010. He spent the summer of 2006 as Director of Player Development/assistant coach for the national team of the Republic of Georgia. In summer 2009, he participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders trip to Mexico City.

So for those that wonder why he was singled out for this article as a D'Antoni guy there you go. He was a coach that could teach the Euro style which fit right into what MDA wanted his players to learn. It would seem that he has no real role with Woodson's team given the style he will emphasize.

So obviously we will not be making the playoffs due to this and the Hawks are on their way to their first chip. Book it!
Hurry and get a seat on the new UK negativity bandwagon: tracking ex-assitant coach careers!

Teaching the "Euro style", "good skills", "Republic of Georgia"....hmmmm...no defense, shoot alot, really really high pick and rolls, shoot alot.

Sorry, but that sounds like a shot-catcher to me.

Man WTF are you talking about? I made no judgements on Atkinsons leaving having any impact whatsoever. Simply stated why he was here and how he would have no role here based on the new direction of the team. He's a young assistant that has some talent which others appreciate:

Atkinson was integral in the development of several young Knicks, most notably departed point guard Jeremy Lin, so his move leaves a large void on the Knicks staff.

Lin credited Atkinson with helping him develop while he was stuck on the end of the Knicks' bench during the first six weeks of the 2011-12 season. Atkinson continued to tutor Lin throughout his meteoric rise.

"I mean this guy wakes up at 6 a.m. every morning,” Lin said last February. “I’ll text after a game at midnight, 1 o’clock when I go home and I’ll say, ‘Hey can I look at those turnovers. Can I look at the upcoming team? How they run pick-and-rolls?’ And he’ll have the film ready when I walk into the facility the next morning.

“When I wasn’t playing much, we were working out before practice, and after practice he was picking apart my game, teaching me what it’s like to play in Coach D’Antoni’s system.”

Atkinson is highly regarded around the league.

You're arguing the case that the Knicks just might be letting next coming of Thibs walk, and you're asking me WTF?

So on top of catching rebounds,
1) he wakes up early
2) gets film ready
3) coaches the bench players.

Great points. Sounds like he's only a few minutes away from being the next Pat Riley.

nixluva wrote:
As for your other comments about not coaching D and your lame jokes about Euro ball, PnR and shooting a lot, you do realize that that is exactly what the Olympic team has been winning with for years with MDA running the offense. The Spurs and Heat both made use of the small lineup and spread floor uptempo principles that MDA made popular. So all of you guys that hate on MDA really don't understand that he wasn't wrong as other teams with more success than the Knicks have found his concepts useful for their teams.

Now it's my turn, WTF are you talking about???

The Olympic team has been winning for years based on the offense they run? Really? Not that the US has the best athletes on the planet at every position and are competing against what amounts to D-League competition?

Search my posts; I don't hate on MDA, I've never hated on MDA, so what the F are you talking about???

My point is Kenny Atkinson leaving is not an issue. Have a nice day.

Also, Dantoni chose not to hire thibs despite Kerr and saver urging him to. Thibs signed in Boston and one a title. Dantoni left the suns after that year.

One other thing I am confused about. In an interview with his brother dan dantoni said when asked about lin and his success, 'he is playing the way mike taught him.'. So was it Kenny or mike that was responsible for lin's success?

CrushAlot wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

nixluva wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

nixluva wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Kenny Who? Seems like a nice guy, but don't we have enough assistant coaches already? Herb's still around I think. Is that the guy that catches the rebounds of the shooters then passes it back to them? Irrelevant, we won't even hear a peep about Kenny Atkinson until we face Atlanta.

This is a pretty lame response.

He was a smart and well liked assistant coach.

The Garden continually proves itself to be a joke.

Give me a break. Assistants come and go. This guy is not the next Van Gundy or Thibodeau. He will not impact us one way or not by leaving or staying. Dolan did him wrong, so be it, best of luck in ATL.

How do you know he's not the next Van Gundy or Thibodeau?

Did you think Van Gundy was gonna be good? Did you know anything about Thibodeau?

Giving away coaches you've developed is just as dumb as giving away draft picks or players you've developed.

When this team is 43-39 and an underachieving, aging 7th seed in two years and you look around and wonder where the young players are and what happened I will feel sorry for you. jk.

For real, you're really arguing the merits of an assistant coach that catches shooters rebounds???

What does this have to do with the Knicks success? I don't see the point, I really don't.

I was dying to get Tom Thibodeau, when the Knicks signed D'Antoni instead, based on Tom being the defensive architect of the Boston title team, and also because of Tom's past ties with NY. I don't think a rebound catcher had that much input into the Knicks huddle at all the past couple years.

You have to start somewhere. Identifying Coaching talent starts early too you know. Thibs wasn't always as widely known as he eventually became. You knew who Thibs was because he had gotten notoriety. You don't know that Atkinson won't also eventually get to be a hot prospect like that. He's off to a good start so far.

Further you underestimate just what Atkinson does to say that he "catches Shooters rebounds". What kind of ignorant statement is that?

Kenny was brought in because of his resume as a player development guy that knew the style that fit MDA's approach:

“I would say my formation as a coach is more from an international standpoint,” says Kenny. “That’s where I learned to coach, and there’s a big emphasis on skill work and shooting; an up-tempo and open style that’s predicated on good skills.”

Atkinson, 43, joined the Knicks staff on Aug. 6, 2008 and brought a strong background in the international game, player development and scouting to New York. The Long Island native is in his fourth overall NBA season. In 2007-08, he served as Director of Player Development for the Houston Rockets.

Atkinson’s NBA career follows an overseas odyssey in which he became a student of the international game. Kenny joined the Rockets in 2007 following three years as Director of Player Development/assistant coach for the Paris Basket Racing Club in France (2004-06). He has served as a Reebok EuroCamp Coach in Treviso, Italy during the summers of 2005 through 2010. He spent the summer of 2006 as Director of Player Development/assistant coach for the national team of the Republic of Georgia. In summer 2009, he participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders trip to Mexico City.

So for those that wonder why he was singled out for this article as a D'Antoni guy there you go. He was a coach that could teach the Euro style which fit right into what MDA wanted his players to learn. It would seem that he has no real role with Woodson's team given the style he will emphasize.

So obviously we will not be making the playoffs due to this and the Hawks are on their way to their first chip. Book it!
Hurry and get a seat on the new UK negativity bandwagon: tracking ex-assitant coach careers!

Teaching the "Euro style", "good skills", "Republic of Georgia"....hmmmm...no defense, shoot alot, really really high pick and rolls, shoot alot.

Sorry, but that sounds like a shot-catcher to me.

Man WTF are you talking about? I made no judgements on Atkinsons leaving having any impact whatsoever. Simply stated why he was here and how he would have no role here based on the new direction of the team. He's a young assistant that has some talent which others appreciate:

Atkinson was integral in the development of several young Knicks, most notably departed point guard Jeremy Lin, so his move leaves a large void on the Knicks staff.

Lin credited Atkinson with helping him develop while he was stuck on the end of the Knicks' bench during the first six weeks of the 2011-12 season. Atkinson continued to tutor Lin throughout his meteoric rise.

"I mean this guy wakes up at 6 a.m. every morning,” Lin said last February. “I’ll text after a game at midnight, 1 o’clock when I go home and I’ll say, ‘Hey can I look at those turnovers. Can I look at the upcoming team? How they run pick-and-rolls?’ And he’ll have the film ready when I walk into the facility the next morning.

“When I wasn’t playing much, we were working out before practice, and after practice he was picking apart my game, teaching me what it’s like to play in Coach D’Antoni’s system.”

Atkinson is highly regarded around the league.

You're arguing the case that the Knicks just might be letting next coming of Thibs walk, and you're asking me WTF?

So on top of catching rebounds,
1) he wakes up early
2) gets film ready
3) coaches the bench players.

Great points. Sounds like he's only a few minutes away from being the next Pat Riley.

nixluva wrote:
As for your other comments about not coaching D and your lame jokes about Euro ball, PnR and shooting a lot, you do realize that that is exactly what the Olympic team has been winning with for years with MDA running the offense. The Spurs and Heat both made use of the small lineup and spread floor uptempo principles that MDA made popular. So all of you guys that hate on MDA really don't understand that he wasn't wrong as other teams with more success than the Knicks have found his concepts useful for their teams.

Now it's my turn, WTF are you talking about???

The Olympic team has been winning for years based on the offense they run? Really? Not that the US has the best athletes on the planet at every position and are competing against what amounts to D-League competition?

Search my posts; I don't hate on MDA, I've never hated on MDA, so what the F are you talking about???

My point is Kenny Atkinson leaving is not an issue. Have a nice day.

Also, Dantoni chose not to hire thibs despite Kerr and saver urging him to. Thibs signed in Boston and one a title. Dantoni left the suns after that year.

One other thing I am confused about. In an interview with his brother dan dantoni said when asked about lin and his success, 'he is playing the way mike taught him.'. So was it Kenny or mike that was responsible for lin's success?

jrodmc, Stop talking nonsense. NO ONE ever said the olympic team wins BECAUSE of MDA's offense, but you in your infinite wisdom fail to recognize the fact that he's been chosen to run that offense for a reason. If there was someone better, Oh say Woody for instance, they'd have chosen him. The best players in the NBA LOVE playing in his system. The fact is that in NY we never really gave the coach a shot with a real PG that fit what he wants to do. Whenever we did the team looked good. Go choke on that.

CrushAlot you kill me with your constant need to jump in and take shots at MDA in any thread his name comes up like he stole your lunch. You wanna bring up YEARS ago about some supposed story where MDA refused to take on an assistant coach? You don't even know for sure if that story is even true and in the end MDA wasn't the GM of that team. Here's an idea, how about Kerr actually brought in some defensive talent rather than looking to add a defensive assistant. DEFENSIVE TALENT is what makes teams get better defensively. If you just look at how the much of a difference it made to this team when Tyson was on the floor or not then you would know that it was about having defensive talent more than the defensive coach you have on your bench. A great coach can only be as good as the talent you give them and that goes for offense or defense. I've argued for years that MDA never had a defensive anchor and in fact he had one of the WORST defensive bigs, Amare, for much of his time in the NBA.

The Knicks didn't change from MDA's defensive system this year, they simply upgraded the defensive talent. SAME SYSTEM. Better talent. You give any coach a great defensive anchor and his team has a fighting chance on D. What team can be great on D without talented defenders?

As for who coached Lin, let's remember that Kenny was teaching Lin the ins and outs of D'ANTONI's system.

And it also says something about Atkinson, whose job is to keep the non-rotation players ready for that moment when Mike D’Antoni calls on them.

“I mean this guy wakes up at 6 a.m. every morning,” Lin says. “I’ll text after a game at midnight, 1 o’clock when I go home and I’ll say, ‘Hey can I look at those turnovers. Can I look at the upcoming team? How they run pick and rolls?’ And he ’ll have the film ready when I walk into the facility the next morning.

“When I wasn’t playing much, we were working out before practice, and after practice he was picking apart my game, teaching me what it’s like to play in Coach D’Antoni’s system.”

Once Lin started actually practicing with the team then for sure MDA was directly coaching Lin everyday in practice. Come Crush you've got to get off MDA's back. One day when MDA gets another shot we can debate his coaching ability again, but right now it's time to stop taking cheap shots at the guy and move the freak on.

CrushAlot wrote:I try to stay away from the topic. But I disagree with his approach and was very frustrated with how he handled things when he was in NY. If you are going to praise him for grooming a young offensive mind that understood the euro game then I think it's fair to point out that he would not hire the best defensive mind in the game to be his assistant. Also, I enjoy joking about Dan dantoni That quote is real though.

Here's the thing. MDA had success in this league before coming to NY. He didn't come here with a team looking to get better right away, but instead in year 3 of his time here. The one thing we and everyone in the world knew about MDA was that for his system you needed to give him at least a decent PG so that he could run the style he is famous for. So now looking at what they actually gave him to work with it's obvious that they didn't value just how important that was.

WHY bring in a big name coach and then not give him a PG which he needed most in order to make what he does work? You keep blaming MDA for the lack of success here and i'm saying that you can't tie the man's hands behind his back and then kick him in the face by saying he has not been successful.

MDA had Felton for half a season and Lin for less than that. SO we gave MDA what he needed for less than a full season of the nearly 4 yrs he was here. I can guarantee you that he would've been more successful had they given him good PG's to work with for his entire time here. IN fact we saw that if you give him a good PG, shooters and a defensive set of players he can not only have a team that scores but can defend too. Lin, Shump, Novak, Jared and Tyson was a very successful group under MDA.