Lenny is taking a lot of heat on this board. Unjustified in my view. He is 19-17 as knicks coach. He is coaching a team having had no training camp, huge roster turnover and a lot of injuries.

It's been pointed out all teams have injuries and that's no excuse. Yes all teams do have injuries and most of them play much worse when key players are out. Look at the records of the Lakers, San Antonio, N.J, etc when they are missing any of their top players - and they are all much more talented teams then the Knicks.

It's been pointed out what a great job Van Gundy has done with Miami. But look how long it took - Miami record for the first 36 games was 15-21 and that was with a training camp to work with the team.

In my view the Jury is still out but Lenny has done a pretty good job so far.

Posted by OldFan:

Lenny is taking a lot of heat on this board. Unjustified in my view. He is 19-17 as knicks coach. He is coaching a team having had no training camp, huge roster turnover and a lot of injuries.
It's been pointed out what a great job Van Gundy has done with Miami. But look how long it took - Miami record for the first 36 games was 15-21 and that was with a training camp to work with the team.

In my view the Jury is still out but Lenny has done a pretty good job so far.

Actually Oldfan, Stan Van Gundy took over 6 days from opening day. Riley at the last moment left and gave the coaching position to Stan. The problem with Lenny is that his practices are to lax and the players aren't properly prepared during practice. Thats been the grip with Lenny and the players from Toranto al ot of the player in Toranto which was hard hit from injuries pointed to lax workout as the cause of the injuries. Another problem is that Lenny hasn't implemented a system for the players to follow which I think is the most important thing in basketball. For instance the Lakers KNow they run the triangle offense, the Nets are a running and motion offense team, Kings are a running and motion offense team, Detroit is a half court and defensive team, Pacers are Half Court low post oriented team with defense. What are the Knicks? But Lenny is definitely an improvement over Chaney.

[Edited by - Vmart on 04/04/2004 11:01:29]

IMO, like I stated before, Knicks were going to playoffs with Chaney
Lenny still has the month of April to make amends:

1- Win all 5 games

2- New York finishes .500

3- Lenny is awarded coach of the month for April

The way Lenny will have Knicks finish may ease the nay sayers.

Just imagine yourself returning from a 6 month vacation and you find out Knicks are still below .500 [without you knowing about Chaney being fired]....you first reaction has to be why is Chaney still coaching.

[Edited by - Bobby on 04/04/2004 13:57:36]

keeping in mind all the roster changes and injuries all season long, I think Lenny has done a decent job. NO BULL!

Posted by Vmart:

Posted by OldFan:

Lenny is taking a lot of heat on this board. Unjustified in my view. He is 19-17 as knicks coach. He is coaching a team having had no training camp, huge roster turnover and a lot of injuries.
It's been pointed out what a great job Van Gundy has done with Miami. But look how long it took - Miami record for the first 36 games was 15-21 and that was with a training camp to work with the team.

In my view the Jury is still out but Lenny has done a pretty good job so far.

Actually Oldfan, Stan Van Gundy took over 6 days from opening day. Riley at the last moment left and gave the coaching position to Stan. The problem with Lenny is that his practices are to lax and the players aren't properly prepared during practice. Thats been the grip with Lenny and the players from Toranto al ot of the player in Toranto which was hard hit from injuries pointed to lax workout as the cause of the injuries. Another problem is that Lenny hasn't implemented a system for the players to follow which I think is the most important thing in basketball. For instance the Lakers KNow they run the triangle offense, the Nets are a running and motion offense team, Kings are a running and motion offense team, Detroit is a half court and defensive team, Pacers are Half Court low post oriented team with defense. What are the Knicks? But Lenny is definitely an improvement over Chaney.

[Edited by - Vmart on 04/04/2004 11:01:29]

Good catch on Van Gundy - but I still believe given the limited number of practices the amount of team turn over and injuries no one could have gotten a system totally in place. It takes time to figure out what is going to work with your players and time to practice and refine.

As far as his history and what others have said about him - I'll ignore that and judge him on what he does here. THere are always plenty of critics.

[Edited by - oldfan on 04/04/2004 16:49:24]

Posted by OldFan:

Posted by hDavis:

no one likes to hear the coach blame injurys as an excuse and lenny has.

I agree I don't like the coach to blame injuries either. That I believe is a mistake on Lenny's part. That said thought that doesn't mean injuries don't effect the team.

FIRE LENNY!

i don't think we can truly judge lenny until midway through next season. is it distressing that we sometimes come out with no type of effort, yes but let's give it some time. if we're still struggling around the .500 mark next season with a healthy roster, then lenny is not the right man.

if h20 was healthy this year, i have no doubt in my mind we would be challengin for the 4th spot, maybe even pressing the nets. shandon has dissapointed this season and penny's contributions have been few and far between. i think a backup jumpshooting SG should be priority for us next season as insurance for h20.