Im not a D'Antoni fan either, but it seems to me that this isn't his team anymore and the main pieces we have don't fit that system anymore. For D'Antoni to remain the Knicks coach, he will have to adapt to it and prove he can get more defense our of players not necessarily known for it.
Once the Knicks made the Melo trade, they crossed the line from perennial pretenders to really trying to win a championship. The main pieces of Amar'e, Melo and Billups along with solid role players like Turiaf and Fields give you a sense of getting close to contending. Not that we are there yet, but we are two or three solid role players away.
Now, it feels like we moved completely away from Mike D's system. The person with the biggest challenge of making this work, IMO is D'Antoni. And the biggest one may be making this team work more on defense, whether he likes to or not. Coaches of contending teams tend to make most of their players, whether they are known defensive players or not, work hard on their D. Im not sure he can do this or if he can let a defensive specialist join his group of assistant coaches.
You guys say he cares for defense and he probably does, but can he teach his team and make them give their all on D?
We will probably reach the level we want to with a new coach. I hope Mike D makes me change my mind.