The second chapter of Mike D'Antoni's NBA coaching career -- the New York era -- unofficially began December 1st at Madison Square Garden, against his old team ironically. That blowout of the Suns was the first win in a stretch that would see the Knicks take eight out of 11 so far this month. A modest hot streak by most standards but a meaningful leap for a club mired in years of disastrous season after miserable season with low-lights ranging from the embarrassing to the futile.

After a 1-9 start to the current season, another dose of New York despair filled the void left by the tiny slivers of the usual preseason optimism. Some of it began to erode the coach's own personal approval ratings among the trend-setting intelligentsia of the team's fan base. Many of these individuals set up shop on RealGM's discussion forums.

"Online and on talk radio, some fans are blaming the coach," Howard Beck of The New York Times wrote on November 16.

The Knick resurgence coincided with the removal of Nate Robinson from the rotation, the most widely publicized of D'Antoni's coaching decisions though maybe not the most important. Benching Robinson was as much about transforming team culture as changing basketball tactics. But the fact of the matter is that Nate is a 1-on-1 scorer who cannot run the point and deflates ball movement. He also has a tendency to go under screens and offer little resistance defensively. Next to all of this, Nate's premature celebrations and non-stop in-game chatter don't even look so bad.

D'Antoni planted the seeds of a turnaround well before that December 1st game at the Garden, spending much of training camp stressing and teaching team defense. He also came into the new season with a better grasp of the psychological demands of this particular coaching assignment.

When he noticed his players' heads drop after a tough loss, D'Antoni toughened them up by extending practice and pushing them harder. Today, D'Antoni credits a healthier mental approach for the team's improved play.

"They just have a better feeling about themselves, and more confidence," D'Antoni said.

This is a grittier and more analytical D'Antoni whose coaching philosophies have evolved from the laissez-faire offensive genius to the hands-on micromanager daily monitoring his team's energy and mood. When he arrived in New York last season, D'Antoni looked very much like a coach who just spent four seasons handing the ball to perhaps the most intuitive point guard in the history of the game, an elite floor general who ran his system with breakneck speed and the precision of an atomic clock. So by the time D'Antoni first walked onto the floor as Knick head coach, he expected that his famed Seven Seconds or Less playbook and a 'tireless' Chris Duhon would be adequate to produce eventual, if not immediate, results.

When the Knicks got off to another bad start this season, D'Antoni responded by slowing the pace of his offense a tick or two. This adjustment helped the team gradually establish some credibility on the defensive end, while giving their young players a chance to execute on the offensive end.

"As long as it's 24 seconds or less," D'Antoni said.

He's still a players' coach. But the Darwinian New York experience has forced D'Antoni to adapt to survive. And he's a better coach because of it.

From the Knicks' perspective, the timing of the development of both their coach and young nucleus could not be better with the summer of 2010 lurking in the not-too-distant future.

Magic Johnson believes LeBron James "really probably wants to go to New York" and is "looking at the Knicks very, very hard."

Under D'Antoni's watchful eye, Wilson Chandler has been attacking the rim with excellent results, after he began the season rushing and aiming jumpers from behind the arc.

Danilo Gallinari continues to put over 40% of his 3-point attempts through the net while slowly unfurling the rest of his well-rounded game. On top of a pretty stroke, Gallinari displays a desire to take his man off the dribble and just enough ball-handling skill, foot speed and aptitude for drawing contact to act on that desire successfully. He's also surprised just about everyone with keen defensive instincts, and the length and timing to rack up 29 career blocked shots to date.

"Knicks fans are surely envisioning his skills meshing well with a certain MVP-caliber 3-man," wrote David Thorpe of ESPN. The MVP is probably envisioning the same, at least according to Magic.

"If Gallo was a Cav, Cleveland would be the best team in basketball," Thorpe wrote.

This statement could also be applied to David Lee, who has become one of the league's most reliable finishers in the paint and is still only 26 years of age. Lee regularly challenges and beats bigger defenders with quickness and an explosive leap, converting an astonishingly high rate of high-difficulty attempts around the basket. This season he installed an effective outside shot to keep defenses honest.

Donnie Walsh could ultimately decide that his best move this summer is to use the team's remaining cap room -- over and above one maximum contract -- to re-sign Lee to a long-term deal. As the holders of Lee's Bird rights, the Knicks could have the cap room to offer him a deal averaging $9 million a season over six years. And the team would sidestep the snag of Lee's free-agent cap hold simply by inking him before a max player signs.

Walsh's decision to lock up Lee could be made easier by a few other factors:

Unless he can dump Jared Jeffries or Eddy Curry for expiring contracts, the Knicks may not have enough room for a second max contract in 2010. (Note to Bill Simmons: Trading a career of Gallinari to erase one year of Curry or Jeffries is a Celtics' fan fantasy that Walsh would not even remotely consider.)

Both these contracts expire the following summer, giving the Knicks another $18 million coming off the books in 2011.

And Walsh may come to the realization that only free-agents named LeBron or Dwyane are truly worthy of a max deal next summer.

SALARY CAP POSTSCRIPT: ESPN reports that the salary cap will not drop as much as feared next season. At $54 million, the Knicks would be less than $2 million from that second max slot if they shed Jeffries' contract. The progress (or playing time) of Jordan Hill in the second half of the season could be another key variable in Walsh's final determination on whether to retain Lee. It is worth noting that Hill has looked more like an NBA center than power forward in his limited action, and his ability to protect the rim could help cover for Lee's defensive deficiencies.

whoa. that is one optimistic piece.