CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Knicksfan wrote:

nixluva wrote:

JesseDark wrote:

islesfan wrote:The problem was hiring Antoni 3 years ago. Knicks need to hire a head coach who understands that defense is what wins. Always has, always will.

That says it all. We won't win until defense is part of the equation. seems like 9 year old being told to eat his vegetables whenver the subject is defense.

This is a childish post. In what way has Mike acted resistant to defense?

OCTOBER 5, 2010 10:25 AM3 COMMENTS
Knicks focus on defense thanks to Dan D'Antoni
BY FRANK ISOLA

PARIS - Dan D'Antoni's voice is being heard more and more in training camp and it's usually when the Knicks are working on defense.

It's a welcomed sight for a team that has struggled defensively the past few years. Mike D'Antoni likely asked his older brother to get more involved in practice and in games. In fact, during Sunday's first preseason game Dan D'Antoni was more vocal than usual.

It doesn't mean that Dan, 62, holds the title of defensive coach but it's clearly one of the main responsibilities for a coach that won 500 games as head coach of Socastee HS in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Knicks have four guards that are all sound defensively, particularly Toney Douglas. Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and rookie Landry Fields also share a defensive mindset.

The frontcourt could be a problem depending on how well both Anthony Randolph and rookie Timofey Mozgov progress. Randolph gives the Knicks a shot blocking presence and Mozgov gives them strength and size in the paint.

The question is will the Knicks practice defense all year long or will it just be a training camp phenomenon. The San Antonio Spurs are a team that will spend every practice working on their pick-and-roll coverage and such. The D'Antoni Knicks, however, don't have a history of doing that. But with 10 new players on the roster and the fans - and front office - clamoring for a playoff berth, things could be changing. The more you hear Dan yelling the better it will be for the Knicks.

From day one Mike has been pushing the team to get better defensively. The offense was actually behind the defense at the start of the year. This team wasn't built to be strong defensively and on the boards and we knew that coming into the season. This is just year 1 of the process of rebuilding this team, so it's understandable that things still need to be addressed with the makeup of the roster. Especially considering the cost of getting Melo.

I find it odd that with all his supposed lack of focus on D, he was able to keep the Suns playing well enough on D to win a ton of games. He had Nash and STAT in the middle of his D and no real size and yet they were never in the bottom half of the league on D. So at some point you have to look beyond just saying he doesn't coach D.

October 5, 2010

Before that, we had crappy defense. After that date, we still have crappy defense. I don't care if hearing Dan D'Antoni means they are working on defense because it seems like whatever he is teaching/planning hasn't worked for the last three years.

I like Mike's open floor and ball movement offense, but defense has always been an issue with his teams, whether they play average or below. I'd be more than happy if he gets a new assistant coach who brings a new strategy on defense and demands accountability on that end of the floor. Now, if Mike is too stubborn to make this change and the results remain like they've been in the last 3 years, it becomes easier to see him go.

You realize that if we played defense at the same level that his Suns did, we'd be a 50 win team!!! You can make fun of it, but we haven't ever been 13, 15 or even 17th in the league on D. If we were at that level right now, we wouldn't be losing games. I don't think it's 100% a coaching thing. Guys have to take responsibility for what they do and too many of the players we have don't do that and never have. The guys we have that are known for D, actually defend all the time. Then we have the guys who have never been known to defend and lo and behold those are the guys that keep messing up.

As much as people bash Mike, IMO you simply don't get to two WCF's if you don't play any D. It's impossible.

I won't pretend to know what kind of influence Dan D'Antoni has had on the Knicks defense. However, my guess is he never gets a job in that role for anyone other than his brother. Check out how many times this year old school's defense gave up over a 100 points to an opponent.
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/schedule.asp

I would like to see this coach with a solid defensive C and another tough PF on the roster that can come in and rebound and defend that position. We need to address those issues on the roster 1st and then see what results.

nixluva wrote:

JesseDark wrote:

islesfan wrote:The problem was hiring Antoni 3 years ago. Knicks need to hire a head coach who understands that defense is what wins. Always has, always will.

That says it all. We won't win until defense is part of the equation. seems like 9 year old being told to eat his vegetables whenver the subject is defense.

This is a childish post. In what way has Mike acted resistant to defense?

OCTOBER 5, 2010 10:25 AM3 COMMENTS
Knicks focus on defense thanks to Dan D'Antoni
BY FRANK ISOLA

PARIS - Dan D'Antoni's voice is being heard more and more in training camp and it's usually when the Knicks are working on defense.

It's a welcomed sight for a team that has struggled defensively the past few years. Mike D'Antoni likely asked his older brother to get more involved in practice and in games. In fact, during Sunday's first preseason game Dan D'Antoni was more vocal than usual.

It doesn't mean that Dan, 62, holds the title of defensive coach but it's clearly one of the main responsibilities for a coach that won 500 games as head coach of Socastee HS in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Knicks have four guards that are all sound defensively, particularly Toney Douglas. Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and rookie Landry Fields also share a defensive mindset.

The frontcourt could be a problem depending on how well both Anthony Randolph and rookie Timofey Mozgov progress. Randolph gives the Knicks a shot blocking presence and Mozgov gives them strength and size in the paint.

The question is will the Knicks practice defense all year long or will it just be a training camp phenomenon. The San Antonio Spurs are a team that will spend every practice working on their pick-and-roll coverage and such. The D'Antoni Knicks, however, don't have a history of doing that. But with 10 new players on the roster and the fans - and front office - clamoring for a playoff berth, things could be changing. The more you hear Dan yelling the better it will be for the Knicks.

From day one Mike has been pushing the team to get better defensively. The offense was actually behind the defense at the start of the year. This team wasn't built to be strong defensively and on the boards and we knew that coming into the season. This is just year 1 of the process of rebuilding this team, so it's understandable that things still need to be addressed with the makeup of the roster. Especially considering the cost of getting Melo.

I find it odd that with all his supposed lack of focus on D, he was able to keep the Suns playing well enough on D to win a ton of games. He had Nash and STAT in the middle of his D and no real size and yet they were never in the bottom half of the league on D. So at some point you have to look beyond just saying he doesn't coach D.

His words don't match up to his actions. Saying you want a better defense and actual giving the team a defensive startegy and adjustments to in game situations are two different things.

I though the "rebuild" use the yoots to build around the stars.

TMS, its the downside of Starphuching dude. Its all hype until the results are in. Fans are over sold and this is the push back.

When they get it done on the court the whining will stop.

TMS wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Let's not forget how bad we were to start this season with our brand new team. Now that we have another brand new team we are struggling a little bit, but not nearly as bad as we were the first time we went through this. I'm still dumbfounded by all of the negativity when we have significantly better upside as a team going forward then we did before the trade. I'm convinced certain people just want this team to be mediocre to bad so they can complain, but this takes it to an entirely new level. Kind of an embarrassment.

last summer it was all about "Melo is Donnie's plan B, we must all be patient!" when we missed out on Lebron & Wade... then we start out 3-8, again it's all about patience, "we must give this team time to gel, it's not easy to integrate a superstar like Amare & Felton needs time to get his timing down w/the rest of his teammates"... now that Melo's a Knick, it's all about "Melo's a diva, he's Starbury part 2, let's trade him for 2 draft picks & a tube of icey hot! Chauncey's finished, he sucks, put him out to pasture!"... some Knick fans are so damn fickle, they want something then they completely lose interest when things don't go as smoothly as they wanted them to go straight out the gate... if we hadn't made the trade & signed Melo as a FA you'd still have people complaining about his effect on team chemistry & how he's stealing shots away from Gallo & Wilson C... it never ends... hey i think Dwight Howard might be available in 2012... then again, i've heard people on this board say "he's overrated" too... ah well there goes that idea.

we're 7-9... the Heat got the team we all wanted and had training camp together. They were 8-8 in the first few games and everyone here and elsewhere piled on. They look pretty good now

SupremeCommander wrote:

TMS wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Let's not forget how bad we were to start this season with our brand new team. Now that we have another brand new team we are struggling a little bit, but not nearly as bad as we were the first time we went through this. I'm still dumbfounded by all of the negativity when we have significantly better upside as a team going forward then we did before the trade. I'm convinced certain people just want this team to be mediocre to bad so they can complain, but this takes it to an entirely new level. Kind of an embarrassment.

last summer it was all about "Melo is Donnie's plan B, we must all be patient!" when we missed out on Lebron & Wade... then we start out 3-8, again it's all about patience, "we must give this team time to gel, it's not easy to integrate a superstar like Amare & Felton needs time to get his timing down w/the rest of his teammates"... now that Melo's a Knick, it's all about "Melo's a diva, he's Starbury part 2, let's trade him for 2 draft picks & a tube of icey hot! Chauncey's finished, he sucks, put him out to pasture!"... some Knick fans are so damn fickle, they want something then they completely lose interest when things don't go as smoothly as they wanted them to go straight out the gate... if we hadn't made the trade & signed Melo as a FA you'd still have people complaining about his effect on team chemistry & how he's stealing shots away from Gallo & Wilson C... it never ends... hey i think Dwight Howard might be available in 2012... then again, i've heard people on this board say "he's overrated" too... ah well there goes that idea.

we're 7-9... the Heat got the team we all wanted and had training camp together. They were 8-8 in the first few games and everyone here and elsewhere piled on. They look pretty good now

yup... everyone killed Miami for not starting out on fire, including myself, but look at them now... they had the benefit of a full summer & training camp of working out together getting to know each other & the system & still it took them a good stretch of games before they fully hit their stride... the Knicks have had the benefit of neither, they're trying to all get on the same page on the fly in the heat of a playoff stretch... no doubt the record isn't what most people thought it would be when we got Melo but winning 7 games isn't too bad when you consider these guys have only been playing together for 2 weeks or so... guys are acting like this is the end product, which is amazingly short sighted.

Childs2Dudley wrote:The Heat's problem wasn't defense.

or height.