I think bringing in all the character guys has finally hit a tipping point where they were able to fight through the early season struggles and adjustments where other Knick squads might have folded.

I still think there are moves to be made that could really solidify this team, but credit is certainly due to Donnie and MikeD for what they've been able to do.

Seeing the standing ovations for Amar'e and then Wilson and Felton was moving because it wasn't meaningless like it has been with some of the standing ovations given to Lee, Nate and Crawford in the past few seasons.

work not done, but it's still nap time time Feb.

martin wrote:Major major props to the Donnie Walnuts

work not done, but it's still nap time time Feb.

MDA has done enough to show me he can make adjustments and get this group to gell.

Now its just time to let it cook and see what develops

nixluva wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:To be tied with Miami in wins this far in and have our team on an upward trend with AZ coming back soon and Miami in the middle of all sorts of controversy... I have to give the whole staff credit.

I think bringing in all the character guys has finally hit a tipping point where they were able to fight through the early season struggles and adjustments where other Knick squads might have folded.

I still think there are moves to be made that could really solidify this team, but credit is certainly due to Donnie and MikeD for what they've been able to do.

Seeing the standing ovations for Amar'e and then Wilson and Felton was moving because it wasn't meaningless like it has been with some of the standing ovations given to Lee, Nate and Crawford in the past few seasons.

There were complaints about how Mike didn't want to work with guys that have that "trouble maker" tag or were just plain mavericks like Harrington. But now we see that when you have a roster of guys that are "good soldiers" it's a cumulative effect. These guys are just more adult in how they approach everything. All the drama with guys like Nate, Hughes or McGrady types is a distraction and pulls a team apart. We have more team unity and less drama. Guys that play with pride and didn't like the taste of losing. Instead of folding they fought hard to overcome. It's a good thing to see.

We've lacked leadership the most tho. If we had Amar'e/Felton last year it would've made a huge difference. You just have to have guys that command respect and keep everyone in line. Without that a team just can't be successful. Look at how the Bobcats look now this year. They just lack that leader and they look a lot like we did. Most of these teams below .500 that we're beating now are like we used to be. Leaderless.

you speak as if MDA had nothing to do w/all the drama that played out behind the scenes the past 2 years... do you really think guys like Nate, Al, Hughes & McGrady all came here wanting to cause drama & division in the lockerroom? there needs to be 2 conflicting parties for drama to be created... those players all wanted to make things work in NY too, but they didn't work for one reason or another... sometimes u don't get along with certain guys in life... but i certainly wouldn't classify those guys as quitters either... i think Nate did his best to try & do what MDA wanted him to do, he just couldn't get the grasp of the system & never meshed well w/the head coach... now to be fair he deserved a lot of the heat that MDA gave him for some of his knuckleheaded shenanigans, but for the most part the kid worked his tail off on & off the court... instead of going into a shell, he chose to keep working hard in practice & broke out with a vengeance in that game vs Atlanta when he got back into the rotation... Al worked hard all year & could very well have won 6th man of the year honors if we had had a better W-L record... T-Mac gave it his all, but his knees were just shot... Larry Hughes tried his best on the floor when he got his minutes, but he got benched & became disillusioned w/the head coach... it is really great that we're seeing some chemistry out of this team, but IMO that has WAY more to do with Amare & Ray Felton leading the way than anything MDA did this year to bring this team together.

TMS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:To be tied with Miami in wins this far in and have our team on an upward trend with AZ coming back soon and Miami in the middle of all sorts of controversy... I have to give the whole staff credit.

I think bringing in all the character guys has finally hit a tipping point where they were able to fight through the early season struggles and adjustments where other Knick squads might have folded.

I still think there are moves to be made that could really solidify this team, but credit is certainly due to Donnie and MikeD for what they've been able to do.

Seeing the standing ovations for Amar'e and then Wilson and Felton was moving because it wasn't meaningless like it has been with some of the standing ovations given to Lee, Nate and Crawford in the past few seasons.

There were complaints about how Mike didn't want to work with guys that have that "trouble maker" tag or were just plain mavericks like Harrington. But now we see that when you have a roster of guys that are "good soldiers" it's a cumulative effect. These guys are just more adult in how they approach everything. All the drama with guys like Nate, Hughes or McGrady types is a distraction and pulls a team apart. We have more team unity and less drama. Guys that play with pride and didn't like the taste of losing. Instead of folding they fought hard to overcome. It's a good thing to see.

We've lacked leadership the most tho. If we had Amar'e/Felton last year it would've made a huge difference. You just have to have guys that command respect and keep everyone in line. Without that a team just can't be successful. Look at how the Bobcats look now this year. They just lack that leader and they look a lot like we did. Most of these teams below .500 that we're beating now are like we used to be. Leaderless.

you speak as if MDA had nothing to do w/all the drama that played out behind the scenes the past 2 years... do you really think guys like Nate, Al, Hughes & McGrady all came here wanting to cause drama & division in the lockerroom? there needs to be 2 conflicting parties for drama to be created... those players all wanted to make things work in NY too, but they didn't work for one reason or another... sometimes u don't get along with certain guys in life... but i certainly wouldn't classify those guys as quitters either... i think Nate did his best to try & do what MDA wanted him to do, he just couldn't get the grasp of the system & never meshed well w/the head coach... now to be fair he deserved a lot of the heat that MDA gave him for some of his knuckleheaded shenanigans, but for the most part the kid worked his tail off on & off the court... instead of going into a shell, he chose to keep working hard in practice & broke out with a vengeance in that game vs Atlanta when he got back into the rotation... Al worked hard all year & could very well have won 6th man of the year honors if we had had a better W-L record... T-Mac gave it his all, but his knees were just shot... Larry Hughes tried his best on the floor when he got his minutes, but he got benched & became disillusioned w/the head coach... it is really great that we're seeing some chemistry out of this team, but IMO that has WAY more to do with Amare & Ray Felton leading the way than anything MDA did this year to bring this team together.

TMS I don't get u sometimes. You can't really want to overlook the fact that Nate had similar issues with LB, Zeke & Doc. So 4 coaches had the same complaints and you think Mike was the issue. How come for the most part things are quiet when we don't have selfish players with behavioral or other issues? Mike is the damn coach. He has the right to play or sit whomever he choses. The player doesn't get a vote in that. From everything i've seen Mike makes it clear that he's gonna play certain guys and the others will have to understand that it's not gonna be easy to break into the rotation. Guys like Hughes who have a false sense of entitlement are the problem. It's not a democracy. The coach is King and the players must abide by what he says. If the coach is abusive then he risks being replaced, but I saw nothing in what Mike did that was abusive.

TMS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:To be tied with Miami in wins this far in and have our team on an upward trend with AZ coming back soon and Miami in the middle of all sorts of controversy... I have to give the whole staff credit.

I think bringing in all the character guys has finally hit a tipping point where they were able to fight through the early season struggles and adjustments where other Knick squads might have folded.

I still think there are moves to be made that could really solidify this team, but credit is certainly due to Donnie and MikeD for what they've been able to do.

Seeing the standing ovations for Amar'e and then Wilson and Felton was moving because it wasn't meaningless like it has been with some of the standing ovations given to Lee, Nate and Crawford in the past few seasons.

There were complaints about how Mike didn't want to work with guys that have that "trouble maker" tag or were just plain mavericks like Harrington. But now we see that when you have a roster of guys that are "good soldiers" it's a cumulative effect. These guys are just more adult in how they approach everything. All the drama with guys like Nate, Hughes or McGrady types is a distraction and pulls a team apart. We have more team unity and less drama. Guys that play with pride and didn't like the taste of losing. Instead of folding they fought hard to overcome. It's a good thing to see.

We've lacked leadership the most tho. If we had Amar'e/Felton last year it would've made a huge difference. You just have to have guys that command respect and keep everyone in line. Without that a team just can't be successful. Look at how the Bobcats look now this year. They just lack that leader and they look a lot like we did. Most of these teams below .500 that we're beating now are like we used to be. Leaderless.

you speak as if MDA had nothing to do w/all the drama that played out behind the scenes the past 2 years... do you really think guys like Nate, Al, Hughes & McGrady all came here wanting to cause drama & division in the lockerroom? there needs to be 2 conflicting parties for drama to be created... those players all wanted to make things work in NY too, but they didn't work for one reason or another... sometimes u don't get along with certain guys in life... but i certainly wouldn't classify those guys as quitters either... i think Nate did his best to try & do what MDA wanted him to do, he just couldn't get the grasp of the system & never meshed well w/the head coach... now to be fair he deserved a lot of the heat that MDA gave him for some of his knuckleheaded shenanigans, but for the most part the kid worked his tail off on & off the court... instead of going into a shell, he chose to keep working hard in practice & broke out with a vengeance in that game vs Atlanta when he got back into the rotation... Al worked hard all year & could very well have won 6th man of the year honors if we had had a better W-L record... T-Mac gave it his all, but his knees were just shot... Larry Hughes tried his best on the floor when he got his minutes, but he got benched & became disillusioned w/the head coach... it is really great that we're seeing some chemistry out of this team, but IMO that has WAY more to do with Amare & Ray Felton leading the way than anything MDA did this year to bring this team together.

you can try and give those guys props all you want, they were all playing for self and you know it.
The few who weren't are still here.

knicks1248 wrote:

TMS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:To be tied with Miami in wins this far in and have our team on an upward trend with AZ coming back soon and Miami in the middle of all sorts of controversy... I have to give the whole staff credit.

I think bringing in all the character guys has finally hit a tipping point where they were able to fight through the early season struggles and adjustments where other Knick squads might have folded.

I still think there are moves to be made that could really solidify this team, but credit is certainly due to Donnie and MikeD for what they've been able to do.

Seeing the standing ovations for Amar'e and then Wilson and Felton was moving because it wasn't meaningless like it has been with some of the standing ovations given to Lee, Nate and Crawford in the past few seasons.

There were complaints about how Mike didn't want to work with guys that have that "trouble maker" tag or were just plain mavericks like Harrington. But now we see that when you have a roster of guys that are "good soldiers" it's a cumulative effect. These guys are just more adult in how they approach everything. All the drama with guys like Nate, Hughes or McGrady types is a distraction and pulls a team apart. We have more team unity and less drama. Guys that play with pride and didn't like the taste of losing. Instead of folding they fought hard to overcome. It's a good thing to see.

We've lacked leadership the most tho. If we had Amar'e/Felton last year it would've made a huge difference. You just have to have guys that command respect and keep everyone in line. Without that a team just can't be successful. Look at how the Bobcats look now this year. They just lack that leader and they look a lot like we did. Most of these teams below .500 that we're beating now are like we used to be. Leaderless.

you speak as if MDA had nothing to do w/all the drama that played out behind the scenes the past 2 years... do you really think guys like Nate, Al, Hughes & McGrady all came here wanting to cause drama & division in the lockerroom? there needs to be 2 conflicting parties for drama to be created... those players all wanted to make things work in NY too, but they didn't work for one reason or another... sometimes u don't get along with certain guys in life... but i certainly wouldn't classify those guys as quitters either... i think Nate did his best to try & do what MDA wanted him to do, he just couldn't get the grasp of the system & never meshed well w/the head coach... now to be fair he deserved a lot of the heat that MDA gave him for some of his knuckleheaded shenanigans, but for the most part the kid worked his tail off on & off the court... instead of going into a shell, he chose to keep working hard in practice & broke out with a vengeance in that game vs Atlanta when he got back into the rotation... Al worked hard all year & could very well have won 6th man of the year honors if we had had a better W-L record... T-Mac gave it his all, but his knees were just shot... Larry Hughes tried his best on the floor when he got his minutes, but he got benched & became disillusioned w/the head coach... it is really great that we're seeing some chemistry out of this team, but IMO that has WAY more to do with Amare & Ray Felton leading the way than anything MDA did this year to bring this team together.

you can try and give those guys props all you want, they were all playing for self and you know it.
The few who weren't are still here.

of course they were playing for themselves... they were all lame duck players with expiring contracts... they all knew they had no future on this team... but you're kidding urself if u think those guys came in intending to tank it & cause a disruption... what the hell did they have to gain by causing drama in their walk years? they all wanted to be out there playing so they could earn their next paycheck, that goes for David Lee too, everyone's dough boy good guy, but you never hear anyone talk ill of him... how long do u think he would have kept his mouth shut if MDA had benched him in favor of playing one of his other favorites? u can't just put this solely on the players if u ask me... the head coach played his role in losing the lockerroom last season... guys were no longer playing for each other, they were playing for themselves, but that's not how the season started.

Why do the smartest people in the game have the UPMOST respect for what D'Antoni does?

Why is he asked to Help lead the Olympic team?

If Nate was all that why did we only get 1 offer for him at deadline? ( I prefer Walker by far)

IF Larry Im so Selfish Hughes puts in such effort where fukc is he now? Marbury? China even got rid of him!!
Hill? Avgs 5 and 5 ...... Oh I miss him so!!

If Harrigton could of been 6th man was wasnt he even close in voting? Why does Denver suck worst with him?

If our coach sucks so bad with all this talent that we had why wasn't any so called experts saying he does?
Why are GM's almost to a man saying he didn't have a team to be judged by?

OUR coach has never been the problem...... No one could of won with the talent we had...... We collected
Salary's and never denied it!!

We wanted Bron and ended up with Amare not a bad result!!

I would of traded Nate Larry Hill Jeffries Duhon Marbury and 2 first Rounders for Amare in a split second!!

We have a good team..... A GREAT coach and a very BALLSY GM

And a bunch of crying Knick fans who just can't be satisfied!!

TMS wrote:

umynot wrote:If is as bad as you think then why does the WHOLE NBA give the man props?

Why do the smartest people in the game have the UPMOST respect for what D'Antoni does?

Why is he asked to Help lead the Olympic team?

If Nate was all that why did we only get 1 offer for him at deadline? ( I prefer Walker by far)

IF Larry Im so Selfish Hughes puts in such effort where fukc is he now? Marbury? China even got rid of him!!
Hill? Avgs 5 and 5 ...... Oh I miss him so!!

If Harrigton could of been 6th man was wasnt he even close in voting? Why does Denver suck worst with him?

If our coach sucks so bad with all this talent that we had why wasn't any so called experts saying he does?
Why are GM's almost to a man saying he didn't have a team to be judged by?

OUR coach has never been the problem...... No one could of won with the talent we had...... We collected
Salary's and never denied it!!

We wanted Bron and ended up with Amare not a bad result!!

I would of traded Nate Larry Hill Jeffries Duhon Marbury and 2 first Rounders for Amare in a split second!!

We have a good team..... A GREAT coach and a very BALLSY GM

And a bunch of crying Knick fans who just can't be satisfied!!

the fukc does any of that have to do w/what i've been saying on this thread? I said he played a role in the drama that went on over the past 2 years... i don't absolve him of any blame the way apologists like you do.

Any great coach and any decent man for that matter is the center of some drama.
Bacause he want to do things his way. And this is the only way to success.
The fact that MDA is a center of all this conflicts tells me that he is not some Herb or other coach-like puppet which we have plenty in NBA.
Look at the HOF coaches and tell me who of them is a mister Nice Guy? They all are tuff stubborn dictators because this what pro spoot coach must be to succed.

but we all gotta get that the knicks went through years of-- we had the right coach but not the right players, we had the right players, but not the right coach. then when we thought we got it both right, no winning chemistry.

i dont know what the F it was, though i lean to voodoo being the culprit.

i dont hate anybody during that time, i thank isiah for being here i thank steph for being here. this will sound crazy but i think the knicks learned alot about building a championship team this past decade, at least i did.

it starts with hiring a legit franchise player. we thought houston was, we thought mcdyess, we thought steph, we thought curry.

those are some damn good players who literally broke under the pressure. poor curry damn near ate himself to death. a franchise player can not only handle the pressure, he loves it! makes you love it! wins with it!

i credit old man walsh for doing what we havent been able to do since 1985; by hiring two legit franchise players.

Hopefully LeBron busts under the spotlight tonight back in Cleveland.