Plausible Deniability
Make Sure to read BOTH Mike’s and Alex’s articles! They beat me to the post because I was at work all day but I just got home and I’m going to post my article anyway. Sorry for covering your post’s guys! Enjoy the reading. And for the record this is a good hiring for the Knicks. Everyone should be happy. We’re now going to see an exciting product on the court. So once again, good hiring, not great but very good.
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Don’t ask, don’t tell. The Knicks The Knicks organization continues to deny reports they’re on the verge of offering Mike D’Antoni a large contract to become their next head coach. The team’s media relations department calls reports of a five-year offer “inaccurate”. In the mean time, ESPN.com continues to report that the two sides are in contract negotiations.
Donnie Walsh is known as a meticulous negotiator and, in this case, he has time on his side. D’Antoni is in a hurry to get word back to the Phoenix Suns who are in limbo while D’Antoni interviews with other teams. Walsh’s only problem is he’s now in New York where we want everything now. Not now but now!
Walsh has remained silent over the past week. So far, the Knicks are still operating under James Dolan’s code of silence instead of a reformed media policy as Walsh promised. It’s this silent treatment that’s turned the coaching search into media frenzy. Welcome to New York Mr. Walsh. Congratulations, by taking the 5th Amendment, there’s been loads of misinformation, confusion and chaos on talk radio, television and in the newspapers.
It’s become popular belief that D’Antoni would be an outstanding coach for the Knicks. However, no one really knows D’Antoni’s interest in the job. Many simply believe D’Antoni’s representatives are using the Knicks as a way to get a better offer from the Chicago Bulls.
It’s believed D’Antoni prefers the Bulls’ roster but would join the Knicks if they make an offer considerably larger. Reports say the Knicks are ready to do just that. I’m not for it. I don’t see D’Antoni even on the same level as Larry Brown or Lenny Wilkens but its possible Dolan might go into shock if he doesn’t throw big money at another coach.
Steve Nash wants D’Antoni to return to the Suns next season. “This is the last thing I’m going to say about our coaching situation: Mike’s my coach so I expect to see Mike back here next year. And I know there’s a lot of stuff going on right now, but Mike’s my coach. I love playing for him. I expect to see him back in October.”
Members of D’Antoni’s coaching staff called the idea of the Sun’s fastbreak style being unable to adjust to the Knick’s roster “laughable”. They say D’Antoni can make it work in New York even if players such as Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph return next season.
“That’s what a good coach does, he adapts to the players he has,” one of D’Antoni’s assistant coaches said. “I get a good laugh at that. He gives them confidence and supports them and he always won. He’ll find a way to get them to put the ball in the basket.”
Right now the Knicks have a handful of players who run the court well. It’s widely believed that Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler, David Lee and Jared Jeffries would all thrive in a fastbreak system. I totally agree and while I look at this list it makes me feel better about D’Antoni’s possible arrival. Stephon Marbury can also be added to that list because of his experience in D’Antoni’s offense while playing in Phoenix in the 2003-04 season. That’s a strong point in my eyes because I personally want Marbury to stick around so we can enjoy his $22 million coming off our cap at the end of next season.
What bothers me is D’Antoni’s lack of defensive coaching skills. We have scorers. We can score points. We just can’t stop anyone else from scoring. If D’Antoni is hired the Knick’s product will certainly become more exciting but will that translate to wins? I’m not so sure.
Through the smoke, it sure sounds like D’Antoni has put himself in a position of power. Why is our coaching soap opera such a roller coaster? Give me a million. I’ll coach the team. I’m sure Isiah Thomas put out a how-to coaching book at some point during his tenure in New York. Chapter One: Kissing the owners butt. Chapter Two: Buying expensive suits…
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UPDATE: SNY, ESPN and every other sporting news outlet is reporting the Knicks and D’Antoni have indeed agreed on a new deal. It’s reported the deal is something like a four years and $24 million. The official deal hasn’t been announced yet because its still being finalized. Rejoice Knicks fans! D’Antoni is a big time coach who will take his European style and completely 180 the Knicks organization. I personally would have liked a more defensive minded coach but there is no way to be mad at this hiring if you’re a true Knickerbocker fan.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Knicks, Larry Brown, MSG, Steve Nash, Knicks Signings, ESPN, Renaldo Balkman, Madison Square Garden, Dan D'Antoni, Lenny Wilkens, Donnie Walsh, Bulls, Mike D'Antoni, Wilson Chandler, Knicks Coaches, Knicks Management, Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Isiah Thomas, Knicks News, NY Sports Talk Radio, New York Newspapers, Nate Robinson, Jared Jeffries, Phoenix Suns, James Dolan, New York Knicks, Eddy Curry, David Lee, New York Knickerbockers.
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19 Responses to “Plausible Deniability”
May 10th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
[…] post by Matt Agne This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 8:45 pm and is filed under NY Sports Talk […]
May 11th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Like I said before this is a great move for the Knicks organization. I’m in the Air Force and a Unit is only as strong as it’s leadership, well this applies to all walks of live. If your not strong at the top you will be weak at the bottom… look around the Sports World, look at teams that win in Sports… The proof is in the pudding, yeah I know D’Antoni didn’t win in the playoffs with the Suns, but damn he had to play them Spurs every year and last time I checked the rest of the L is having a hard time beating them too (I know I know they down 2-1, but dont count them out). Bottom line is we are better today then we were 2months ago. We got Walsh and Mike to great basketball minds as opposed to Thomas running this great organization into the ground. Who know maybe we get lucky and land Rose (Think Chris Paul) or Beastly (Think KG) and from there you never know…3yrs from now Bron Bron/Bosh/Wade there’s a good possibility one of those big names ends up in NY… The NBA needs the Knicks to be the Knicks again and ladies and gents this is the man to get us going in the right direction even if he might not be the one there when we reach the TOP!
NOTE: STOP BITCHING ABOUT D Its’not his fault his point guard was NASH! I mean the D is a reflextion of the people you got not the HEAD COACH ALONE!!!! THIS IS A GREAT MOVE FOR US LEAVE IT TO NEW YORKERS TO LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH… I mean damn if we got Bron Bron in 3 season I guess people would complain well he’s an old 27 and he can’t win the big one and his jumper….etc…STOP BEING HATERS NO WONDER NOBODY EVER WANTS TP COME TO NYC!!!!
May 11th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
ivan-I’ve said this is a good signing but having Steve Nash playing PG has nothing to do with D’Antoni’s lack of defensive savy. That’s really just a fact. D’Antoni brings a great offense thats a European style fastbreak style and will certainly lead to us scoring more. However, he teaches a zone defence that is very week. Did you see how the Suns D changed when they took Mario out of it? We dont have a Marion. Maybe if Artest opts out and we sign him we will but until then all this move is going to do is make our offense explosive. Now, that could very well put us in the playoffs alone since we’re in the East but we’ll get knocked out quick (see Phoenix Suns) because we cant stop other teams. Hopefully Walsh gets a good defender or two and we’ll be fine. D’Antoni is a very good hiring though.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
gianthinker- How would jason kidd look in D’antoni’s system? lol
I will hold off from giving my opinions until after i see the moves that Walsh will make. I read somewhere that walsh spoke with D’antoni during the interview and told him that if he came a board they will get the players that will fit his system and they went over the roster to see which players fit his system. I agree i think Crawford, Marbury,Chandler, Balkman, Jeffries, Nate, Lee are players that fit the system the are long and can run the court and they love to shoot. We need an athltic C who can run the court.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Greart deal!!! way better than isiah,i was thinkin and some good athletic big men that we could use are tyson chandler, chris wilcox, tyrus thomas, jason maxell and i like sean williams on the nets.If we cant get derrick rose we have to take oj mayo. We have to start from scratch i think will do better this year maybe playoffs but we have a chance for years to come
May 11th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
knicksfan4life- Of all those guys that you just mentioned, none of them are really available. Finding a good athletic big man is VERY hard to do. As for now, we are stuck with Curry and Jerome James.
May 11th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Listen to what you said gianthinker “All this move is going to do is make our offense explosive” wow, let me see our offense is far from explosive with Thomas running the show and our Defense is far from shut down under Thomas and as for us making the PLAYOFFS then getting knocked out quick, well umm yeah we have not made the playoffs in a hooooot minute. So yeah, I will take my chances with D’Antoni even if all we end up doing is scoring 108pts a night and winning 50-54gms a season and playing ESPN/ABC games because we can score with anyone but can’t stop them…Yeah, I think i will take that if thats the worse that can happen…I mean we are the LAUGHING STOCK of the SPORTS WORLD, not just the NBA right now… I’m TIRED Of LENO and then clowning us every other night…Bring me a high power offense Mike if you do nothing else!
May 11th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Dan S- i no there not available but we have the players to make them avaliable
May 11th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
knicksfan4life - We have the players to get them? Like who? There isnt one player on our roster that we can trade for any of those players.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
knicksfan4life- Oh yeah, I forgot how all those teams are going nuts to get players from one of the worst teams in the NBA.
Chandler- future all star, WON’T BE TRADED
Williams- why would NJ trade him to us???
Maxiell- who would the Pistons want from us??
Wilcox- Seattle won’t trade one of their core players
Thomas-2nd pick, only 21, why trade him after 2 yrs?
May 12th, 2008 at 1:50 am
I have been listening on sports radio and reading on message boards. I also have read the newspapers. There are people that are actually whining about this hiring. What the hell is this? What will make NY fans happy? I think Mike D’Antoni is a fine choice. A great choice. He will do a good job here as long as Donnie Walsh give him the players, which I expect him to do. This is a good hire. The first two years will not be pleasant, but as long as the team is improving and exciting, that will be good enough for now.
It seems NY sports fan want a championship type of coach here. It seems here if you don’t win a championship, you are a failure. We have fans here that whine about Joe Torre in the end. We have fans bitching about Willie Randolph. We have fans wanting Tom Coughlin gone at the time the Giants were struggling, and you can bet fans will be at it if the Giants struggle. Now you got Jets fans wanting Mangini out after a bad year.
What the hell is this? We boo everyone. We whine. What will make NY Sports fans? Winning a championship would be nice, but it’s hard to do.
Knicks fans should enjoy this hire, but fans are whining along with the writers here. Unreal.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Mike D’Antoni is a great coach, and will be missed in Phoenix. I believe the Knicks could make a fast paced offense work, however, I would recommened that Donnie Walsh insist on the hiring of a defensive expert as the lead assistant.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Also D’Antoni’s system would mean that all the players have to work on their speed to succeed. A couple of hours on the treadmill per week would do wonders for a player like Eddy Curry - he has tons of strength but lacks quickness.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Finally, in addition to a defensive expert, how about hiring Pat Ewing as an assistant to work with Curry, Randolph and Lee?
May 12th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Steve- Curry- “lacks quickness”
LOL, Eddy Curry is trash. He lacks quckness, speed, jumping ability, endurance, athleticism, defense, rebounding, etc. The only thing he doesn’t lack is a high shooting %.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:45 am
hahaha yea and the only reason y he has a high shooting percentage is bc he only shoots from 5 feet away
May 12th, 2008 at 11:25 am
ivan-I agree. I hope you didn’t misunderstand me. I dont like the D’Antoni hire because I like the alternatives more but he’s a MAJOR upgrade over Thomas ANYDAY!
May 12th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
First, I’d like to admit when ever Isiah made a trade or signed a free agent I thought it was a great move, I thought:
Steph, Yes! We finally got a good point guard.
Eddy, Yes! The next Shaq.
Jefferies, Yes! He’s a great defender.
Jerome, Yes! We need a center (remember Kurt was our center, we didn’t have one)
Q, Yes! We need a three point shooter (Alan was hurt)
Zach, Yes! 20 and 10 a game for Frye and Francis, great move Isiah.
So on and so on, but I’d like to go on record as saying D Antonio is not the coach we needed, I would have preferred Thidoeou. I think Thidoeou could have worked with these guys. I don’t think D Antonio can, which means well have to start from scratch, again.
But as you can see what do I know.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Oh and by the way, at least I’ll admit I was wrong and I pretty sure some of you all thought the same as I did.
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