Mike D'Antoni?!?!?!? Knicks's 6 Game Losing Streak!

[Blacklash2k4]

There weren't much to watch on TV tonight, so I decided to watch the Knicks and Nuggets game just for the hell of it. Before the game even started, I already had a gut feeling that the Knicks would lose down the stretch. I didn't really expect it to be this tight, but it was definitely an entertaining game. Unfortunately for the Knicks, my gut feeling was right and they lose once again in their home court for their sixth straight loss (Major props to the Nuggets for fourth straight win). After the game, it got me thinking about Mike D'Antoni. I know he's got a lot of pressure placed on him on the beginning of the season with the signing of Tyson Chandler. A lot of people, including myself actually, thought before the regular season, that the Knicks would be a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference and might even make it at least to the conference semi-finals. Unfortunately, the Knicks have failed to fulfill what was expected from them and they have disappointed. They still have the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, but they're on the edge. I know there's still a hefty chunk of games left in the season, but it makes you wonder whether Mike D'Antoni is truly the problem and isn't the same offensive guru. I mean I remember the game the Raps had with them and they shot a ridiculous 35 three point attempts and only made 10 of those 35 attempts. And for anyone who watched the game, the last possession of the 4th quarter, where Melo hit the two to force overtime, was a pretty crappy possession. Melo was more or less forced to take a really difficult shot which he happened to make. I seriously think that during the timeout, D'Antoni just went to Melo and told him to do whatever he wanted. It's not just offense but also their defense. Do you think Mike D'Antoni is truly the problem and should get fired? If yes, then let's have some fun and guess how much longer he has left as the Knick's head coach

[Matt52]

Mike D'Antoni has, in my opinion, obviously lost the ear of the Knicks' players.

The issue, again in my opinion, is not so much D'Antoni but James Dolan. Donnie Walsh, arguably one of the best executives over the last 20-25 years, did not want to make the Carmelo trade. He felt like they were giving up too much - and guess what, he was right.

Then this summer they turn around and give Tyson Chandler a max contract. The Knicks had many holes in their roster and decided to use all their money to plug up one of them.

Their season is going to be determined on Baron Davis' return to form.


So in a nutshell, D'Antoni can get some of the blame but the overwhelming majority is shouldered by James Dolan in his pursuit of name recognition versus assembling a solid roster.


Since the Carmelo trade, the Nuggets are 31-17 while the Knicks are 20-28. Awesome.

*EDIT* I read 30-17 for DEN and 20-27 for the Knicks somewhere yesterday. CBSSports.com says 29-12 for DEN and 20-23 for NY. Either way, DEN has done much better since the trade.

[Apollo]

Denver (12-5)
New York (6-10)

All that big market winning is working out nicely for Melo ha, ha. Seriously though an Anthony, Stoudamire and Chandler led team should be at least .500 by now.

[Blacklash2k4]

Mike D'Antoni has, in my opinion, obviously lost the ear of the Knicks' players.

The issue, again in my opinion, is not so much D'Antoni but James Dolan. Donnie Walsh, arguably one of the best executives over the last 20-25 years, did not want to make the Carmelo trade. He felt like they were giving up too much - and guess what, he was right.

Then this summer they turn around and give Tyson Chandler a max contract. The Knicks had many holes in their roster and decided to use all their money to plug up one of them.

Their season is going to be determined on Baron Davis' return to form.


So in a nutshell, D'Antoni can get some of the blame but the overwhelming majority is shouldered by James Dolan in his pursuit of name recognition versus assembling a solid roster.


Since the Carmelo trade, the Nuggets are 31-17 while the Knicks are 20-28. Awesome.

*EDIT* I read 30-17 for DEN and 20-27 for the Knicks somewhere yesterday. CBSSports.com says 29-12 for DEN and 20-23 for NY. Either way, DEN has done much better since the trade.

To be honest, I've always though that the Melo trade was so unnecessary for the Knicks. I read a quotation on some article on the internet that basically sums up the Melo trade and I can't help but totally agree. “They traded chemistry for celebrity,’’ one Walsh confidant said. “It wasn’t a basketball trade.’’

Also, Melo has hurt the Knicks offensively in a way. The Knicks do better when they're moving the ball around, but Melo just love the ISO way too much. He needs to distribute the ball instead of just going for the ISO. As for Baron Davis, I don't really think that he'll make too big of a difference. He'll contribute with the ball movement to open shooters, but he's not the same player he once was in Golden State. As for Mike D'Antoni, I think he needs to put a leash on Iman Shumpert when it comes to his outside shot. He's good, but he's just forcing up shots and most of which are completely unnecessary. He's only shooting 38% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc.

The quotation was from here: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knick...#ixzz1kEM6ztXp

[Blacklash2k4]

Denver (12-5)
New York (6-10)

All that big market winning is working out nicely for Melo ha, ha. Seriously though an Anthony, Stoudamire and Chandler led team should be at least .500 by now.

Agreed. They should be up there with the other playoff contenders. And after Boston's win against the Wizards today, Boston has basically kicked him out of their playoff spot to the 9th spot. Even Cleveland is ahead of them. We'll see how the Knicks respond in the next couple of games as they try to break their six game losing streak. Their next game is against Charlotte, which they should be able to win against, but we'll see what happens.

[Soft Euro]

I really thought they wouldn't need a real pointguard with the two of Stoudamire and Anthony, but Anthony all but cancels out Stoudamire, they simply haven't learned, after about 40 games, how to play together. (Billups would look really good in New York now). I watched a large part of the game yesterday and in the final part of the game (I believe they said in commentary from the 4th and both overtimes) Stoudamire was only in the game to pick up some rebounds. That's all he did. They could have hired Reggie Evans to do that.

I can't understand one bit why they don't use Anthony and Stoudamire more on the pick and rolls. There wasn't even any sign of movement on offense. Everyone was standing around watching Anthony going to work during the later parts of the game.

In spite of all this, they were a bit unlucky to lose the game to the Nuggets. They also improved a lot on the defense with Chandler on the team. Chances are they will get it together (at least a bit), but they'll probably need a healthy Davis with a heathy head.

And if they don't get it together they might try to trade Anthony, maybe to the Nuggets for let's say Gallinari, W. Chandler (if resigned this year) and Raymond Felton. A team with Felton, W. Chandler, Gallinari, Stoudamire and T. Chandler would look darn good! But I'm not sure the Nuggets will do this trade...

[NoPropsneeded]

Felton is on the blazers...unless your talking about cutting Carmelo Anthony in half and sending the other half to portland.

[Matt52]

To be honest, I've always though that the Melo trade was so unnecessary for the Knicks. I read a quotation on some article on the internet that basically sums up the Melo trade and I can't help but totally agree. “They traded chemistry for celebrity,’’ one Walsh confidant said. “It wasn’t a basketball trade.’’

Also, Melo has hurt the Knicks offensively in a way. The Knicks do better when they're moving the ball around, but Melo just love the ISO way too much. He needs to distribute the ball instead of just going for the ISO. As for Baron Davis, I don't really think that he'll make too big of a difference. He'll contribute with the ball movement to open shooters, but he's not the same player he once was in Golden State. As for Mike D'Antoni, I think he needs to put a leash on Iman Shumpert when it comes to his outside shot. He's good, but he's just forcing up shots and most of which are completely unnecessary. He's only shooting 38% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc.

The quotation was from here: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knick...#ixzz1kEM6ztXp

That is a great quote and very accurate for the Carmelo trade, in my opinion.

The signing of Chandler would also be appropriate for that quote as well.

[Soft Euro]

Felton is on the blazers...unless your talking about cutting Carmelo Anthony in half and sending the other half to portland.

Stupid me

[ceez]

D'Antoni will make a fantastic offensive coordinator for us next year

[Fully]

To be honest, I've always though that the Melo trade was so unnecessary for the Knicks. I read a quotation on some article on the internet that basically sums up the Melo trade and I can't help but totally agree. “They traded chemistry for celebrity,’’ one Walsh confidant said. “It wasn’t a basketball trade.’’

Also, Melo has hurt the Knicks offensively in a way. The Knicks do better when they're moving the ball around, but Melo just love the ISO way too much. He needs to distribute the ball instead of just going for the ISO. As for Baron Davis, I don't really think that he'll make too big of a difference. He'll contribute with the ball movement to open shooters, but he's not the same player he once was in Golden State. As for Mike D'Antoni, I think he needs to put a leash on Iman Shumpert when it comes to his outside shot. He's good, but he's just forcing up shots and most of which are completely unnecessary. He's only shooting 38% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc.

The quotation was from here: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knick...#ixzz1kEM6ztXp

Good post. I hated the Carmelo deal for New York when it happened, and I feel even more strongly about it now.

Without an elite point on the roster, both Amare and Melo need the rock in their hands in a lot of isolation sets in order to be effective. However when you're paying them both over $20 million a season, that redundancy in their games makes it almost impossible for both players to earn their salaries and that's what we're seeing take place in New York this year. Amare has evolved into a complimentary player, which on the surface may look like a great luxury to have, but the problem is that they're paying him like a top five player (and will continue to do so for the next four years). When you look at the big picture it's a very poor use of resources for New York.

The Chandler signing looked good for New York in a vaccum. They had issues - Carmelo and Amare very much included - in protecting the rim, interior defense and rebounding, which is basically what Chandler has made his career off of up to this point. The real problem however is when you look at that whole "big picture" thing. They committed $15 million a year to a player whose main job is to clean up the mess of the two guys that are getting $40 million a year. Once again... A very poor use of resources if you ask me. It shouldn't cost you $55 milly a season just to come up with one complete defensive player.

The fans who are hitching their wagon to Baron Davis are going to be dissapointed. He hasn't played since last April. He has a long history of "conditioning issues". He's sitting out with a herniated disc, which is going to severely limit the type of training he's able to do right now, which means that even when he's back in the lineup you are looking at a couple of weeks before he's ramped up his play. When you take all those things into consideration, the chances of B Diddy being the human pinball that we saw in Golden State/New Orleans are somewhere between slim to none. He's going to be a shooter and someone who can facilitate the offense from the perimiter - but is he really going to be that big of an upgrade over Toney Douglas at this point? He's going to be a liability on defense for a team that already struggles in that area.

That's the reality that the Knicks face for the foreseeable future - filling out spots 4 through 12 on the roster with rookies, veterans on close to the minimum and the odd cast off from another team. They have no other choice with the money that is tied up and the state of the post-lockout CBA.

I think the Knicks (Dolan) got caught up in what happened in Miami and decided that they were going to add their own set of superstars no matter what the cost or how they meshed together. I really think they're going to end up paying for it, both in the short and long term.

[planetmars]

I hate to say this, but I think the Knicks will actually be fine. History shows that they never really have any loyalty to any of there players.

I can see them next year dangling Amare this off season so that they can try and land a quality PG. Would NJ trade DWill for Amare? If NJ is not going to land Howard, and DWill is going to jet.. why wouldn't NJ do that deal?

If you have a stud (even if he's not being used to his maximum capacity), you could swing him for other assets. The Carmelo trade was bad, but it can be fixed. NY is in a good position. D'Antoni however may not be.

[Matt52]

I hate to say this, but I think the Knicks will actually be fine. History shows that they never really have any loyalty to any of there players.

I can see them next year dangling Amare this off season so that they can try and land a quality PG. Would NJ trade DWill for Amare? If NJ is not going to land Howard, and DWill is going to jet.. why wouldn't NJ do that deal?

If you have a stud (even if he's not being used to his maximum capacity), you could swing him for other assets. The Carmelo trade was bad, but it can be fixed. NY is in a good position. D'Antoni however may not be.

Amar'e's contract is not insurable due to the 2 microfracture surgeries he has had. He is not an easy player to move.

[Matt52]

D'Antoni will make a fantastic offensive coordinator for us next year

D'Antoni's offense flies in the face of what Casey does (slow it down on O to rest, balls out on D).

[planetmars]

Amar'e's contract is not insurable due to the 2 microfracture surgeries he has had. He is not an easy player to move.

True, but Amare and a non-insured contract may still be worth more than nothing to some GM's. A new rumour has started saying that Orlando has inquired NY about trading Howard for both Amare and Chandler:
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...Chandler_Trade

Very hypothetical at this point, but NY with Howard and Melo is an upgrade from NY with Amare, Melo and Chandler.

[Matt52]

True, but Amare and a non-insured contract may still be worth more than nothing to some GM's. A new rumour has started saying that Orlando has inquired NY about trading Howard for both Amare and Chandler:
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...Chandler_Trade

Very hypothetical at this point, but NY with Howard and Melo is an upgrade from NY with Amare, Melo and Chandler.

I saw that earlier and thought of this.

If anyone can take on Amar'e it would be an 86 year old billionaire.

[NoPropsneeded]

trade melo to the raps...

[Blacklash2k4]

trade melo to the raps...

lol in return for what? Our whole starting line-up...? I rather not pull what New York did just to get Melo into the big apple. If Bryan Colangelo is stupid enough to do this, I will personally go into his office and slap some sense into him and all the other assistants that were too stupid not to tell him not to do it. I will :P

[NoPropsneeded]

i was joking

[noeyeinteam]

I've been smiling ear to ear watching the Knicks this season. 2 of the most overrated players of the past decade finally showing their true colours. Amare "I don't need a PG to spoonfeed me! Really!" Stoudemire and Carmelo "I lost my game when I left Syracuse" Anthony.

I know that I'll probably take some heat for this (Lord knows I have in the past) but I'd take Bosh over either of these 2 any day of the week. At least he knows how to adjust his game to fit into a team concept and isn't completely allergic to the idea of playing team D and sharing the ball. A much better player than Amare off the dribble too.

Idiotic trade for NYK. A real shame because they were so close to coming back strong.