"I’m 100 percent sure the way we want to play will win," D'Antoni said in response to a question about his quick-paced style of basketball. "I think we’ll win a championship this way. Now, not today. But that’s where we want to get to."

D'Antoni admitted that he came in thinking he could turn the Knicks around right away.

"Didn’t happen. Underperformed a little bit, no doubt about it," he said. "Again, all we can do is keep slogging away and keep trying to get better and understand where the plan’s going and we’ll have a good shot at it for next year."

D'Antoni appreciates the support Donnie Walsh has given him in taking the blame for the Knicks' poor play.

"That’s awful nice of him, first of all, and that’s why I came here, because I have so much faith in him that we can get the job done together. There’s nobody out of the boat; everybody’s in the same boat."

Read more: http://www2.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/65152/20100305/dantoni_my_system_will_produce_title_for_knicks/#ixzz0hLLTHmTD

Now that's the kind of confidence I want to hear. I actually agree with him. Any system can win if you have the right players running it. It's actually a good fit for the kind of guys we'll likely end up getting. I expect a lot of great shooters to be added and guys that are also very good passers. So long as DW can make sure to get guys who can also play D, we should be a very formidable team under MDA. We've never seen this system here with a higher caliber of players running it. I also expect Gallo and Chan to improve being around better players and leaders.

Lakers - West, Kareem, Green, Cooper, Shaq, Kobe, Horry
Celtics - Russell, Havlicek, Cowens, Silas, Chaney, Bird, McHale, Johnson, Parrish, KG, Rondo, Pierce, Powe
Knicks - Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere
Rockets - Dream, Maxwell, Drexler, Horry
Pistons - Salley, Rodman, Laimbeer, Dumars, Mahorn, Big Ben, Tayshaun, Billups
Heat - Shaq, Wade, Zo, Payton, Posey, Haslem, Anderson
Bulls - Jordan, Rodman, Grant, Pippen, Harper, Brown, Kukoc, Salley, Cartwright, Williams
Spurs - Robinson, Duncan, Manu, Bowen, Horry

can't seem to come up with a list of championship teams that stressed wanton 3 point shooting & don't put a premium on playing good team defense tho... if u know of any let me know.

TMS wrote:there is 1 common factor to just about every NBA championship team, & that is they had several defensive minded players & they stressed team defense

Lakers - West, Kareem, Green, Cooper, Shaq, Kobe, Horry
Celtics - Russell, Havlicek, Cowens, Silas, Chaney, Bird, McHale, Johnson, Parrish, KG, Rondo, Pierce, Powe
Knicks - Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere
Rockets - Dream, Maxwell, Drexler, Horry
Pistons - Salley, Rodman, Laimbeer, Dumars, Mahorn, Big Ben, Tayshaun, Billups
Heat - Shaq, Wade, Zo, Payton, Posey, Haslem, Anderson
Bulls - Jordan, Rodman, Grant, Pippen, Harper, Brown, Kukoc, Salley, Cartwright, Williams
Spurs - Robinson, Duncan, Manu, Bowen, Horry

can't seem to come up with a list of championship teams that stressed wanton 3 point shooting & don't put a premium on playing good team defense tho... if u know of any let me know.

See that's the problem. What we're talking about here isn't a philosophy but a matter of roster composition. DW is a guy that has stressed defensive players being on his teams and I don't see him changing now. MDA is not averse to having a defensive presence as we saw in how they used Bell and Marion. They had a pretty effective team defensive concept that allowed them to win games. I see no reason to assume that we won't see this team also have some defensive approach that is similar.

We'll have a good defense when we bring in guys that can defend and want to defend and execute the defense that the coach institutes.

fishmike wrote:

TMS wrote:there is 1 common factor to just about every NBA championship team, & that is they had several defensive minded players & they stressed team defense

Lakers - West, Kareem, Green, Cooper, Shaq, Kobe, Horry
Celtics - Russell, Havlicek, Cowens, Silas, Chaney, Bird, McHale, Johnson, Parrish, KG, Rondo, Pierce, Powe
Knicks - Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere
Rockets - Dream, Maxwell, Drexler, Horry
Pistons - Salley, Rodman, Laimbeer, Dumars, Mahorn, Big Ben, Tayshaun, Billups
Heat - Shaq, Wade, Zo, Payton, Posey, Haslem, Anderson
Bulls - Jordan, Rodman, Grant, Pippen, Harper, Brown, Kukoc, Salley, Cartwright, Williams
Spurs - Robinson, Duncan, Manu, Bowen, Horry

can't seem to come up with a list of championship teams that stressed wanton 3 point shooting & don't put a premium on playing good team defense tho... if u know of any let me know.

seems to me the trend there are great players. Great players usually play both ends. Usually.

actually there are plenty of role players on that list... the point is MDA's system doesn't stress defense & he doesn't place a premium on playing defensive minded players... he's so infatuated w/guys who can hit a 3 pointer to fit his style of play.

TMS wrote:there is 1 common factor to just about every NBA championship team, & that is they had several defensive minded players & they stressed team defense

Lakers - West, Kareem, Green, Cooper, Shaq, Kobe, Horry
Celtics - Russell, Havlicek, Cowens, Silas, Chaney, Bird, McHale, Johnson, Parrish, KG, Rondo, Pierce, Powe
Knicks - Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere
Rockets - Dream, Maxwell, Drexler, Horry
Pistons - Salley, Rodman, Laimbeer, Dumars, Mahorn, Big Ben, Tayshaun, Billups
Heat - Shaq, Wade, Zo, Payton, Posey, Haslem, Anderson
Bulls - Jordan, Rodman, Grant, Pippen, Harper, Brown, Kukoc, Salley, Cartwright, Williams
Spurs - Robinson, Duncan, Manu, Bowen, Horry

can't seem to come up with a list of championship teams that stressed wanton 3 point shooting & don't put a premium on playing good team defense tho... if u know of any let me know.

Every team you named has at least 2 hall-of-fame players. Lets start there. You want to win a championship? Get ur self a hall-of-famer. To go a step further, with the exception of the Pistons, every one of those teams had a player that was MVP at point or another.

TMS wrote:

Uptown wrote:

TMS wrote:there is 1 common factor to just about every NBA championship team, & that is they had several defensive minded players & they stressed team defense

Lakers - West, Kareem, Green, Cooper, Shaq, Kobe, Horry
Celtics - Russell, Havlicek, Cowens, Silas, Chaney, Bird, McHale, Johnson, Parrish, KG, Rondo, Pierce, Powe
Knicks - Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere
Rockets - Dream, Maxwell, Drexler, Horry
Pistons - Salley, Rodman, Laimbeer, Dumars, Mahorn, Big Ben, Tayshaun, Billups
Heat - Shaq, Wade, Zo, Payton, Posey, Haslem, Anderson
Bulls - Jordan, Rodman, Grant, Pippen, Harper, Brown, Kukoc, Salley, Cartwright, Williams
Spurs - Robinson, Duncan, Manu, Bowen, Horry

can't seem to come up with a list of championship teams that stressed wanton 3 point shooting & don't put a premium on playing good team defense tho... if u know of any let me know.

Every team you named has at least 2 hall-of-fame players. Lets start there. You want to win a championship? Get ur self a hall-of-famer. To go a step further, with the exception of the Pistons, every one of those teams had a player that was MVP at point or another.

yes, i think that goes without saying... u don't win championships w/o great players... the point remains the same... there are many examples of great teams with great players that won championships by preaching a defensive mindset... if u can come up with some examples of teams with great players that didn't play defense & still won championships, feel free to chime in.

I think you definitley need to play D, that goes without saying. I also think when you have the elite players on your team, they are usually, great two-players. Not always, but usually. And these elite players usually serve the coaches better than any assistant coach ever could. The presence of Magic, Bird, Dream, Jordan and even KG etc, automatically raise the level of play and demand that you bring the same intensity on the floor without the coach having to say a word.

To get further into the defensive discussion, yes, you need to play D, but I dont think you have to be the best in the league on the defensive end. Last years Lakers team ranked 13th out of 30 on the defensive end. Its important, however, to get a key stop or two down the stretch.

CrushAlot wrote:If his 'system' wins a championship in NY it will be despite his philosophies. I don't think it is possible and I am ready for the next era at this point. I hope Donnie can fortify D'Antoni's team with a group of stars that don't need coaching and can win without a leader at the helm.

DEAD WRONG!!!! Now if you concede that we may not get Lebron or Wade, then you're talking about a team that doesn't have one of the top 5 players in the league, which is usually the case for championship teams. So that means that we won't be winning purely because we have the best talent but instead part of what will get us over the top will be the coaching of MDA!

His PHX teams weren't juggernauts. They weren't great on D and yet he did manage to get his team to the WCF. One year without Amare or a real center. IF that doesn't prove that he's a more than usual coach then I don't know what to tell you, cuz he had no business going so far with a team that featured Diaw, Bell KT and TT. Man the guy got that team to the WCF!!!! You want to hold it against him that the didn't win!?! MDA actually made Diaw & Bell look good. Those players never looked as good after MDA left.

People try to say that the Suns haven't won as much the last 2 yrs due to Nash slippin, but the stats say that isn't really true. He's having a great year. Their D was supposed to improve without MDA and yet it's gotten worse.