I like Mike D’Antoni. In a dark time of Knicks’ basketball, he brought his mustache along with an entertaining style of basketball to the Garden. It all made a very bad Knicks team at least a little fun to watch…but Mike’s time is up. As Mikey D’s track record has proven, entertainment usually translates to a bunch of points and a bunch of disappointing losses.
With the recent losses, the Knicks have shown a lack of offensive continuity. They have also continued their futility on the defensive end of the ball and seem to forget all things intangible (rebound anyone). The result has been a string of bad losses (much like the beginning of the season). If the Knicks want to compete for more than a playoff spot, there needs to be a change in the offense and a change in the "offense comes second to nothing".
The addition of Melo means you have to create an offense where both he and Amare can coexist. Melo’s strength isn’t in playing the move and spacing game D’Antoni preaches. His game can be likened to Kobe and the role Kobe plays in the Triangle. He can be on the ball, dish when the defense collapses or shoot when he’s alone in the post or has space to shoot facing the basket. With that considered, there also needs to be at least a basic commitment to some defense. Every team/player goes through stretches where baskets are hard to come by. What keeps great teams in those games is their ability to play some defense and keep things a little close (all things the Knicks have struggled to do recently making these loses look so bad). D’Antoni seems either incapable or unwilling of making those offensive/defensive adjustments, meaning he has to go. Maybe this Melo move was a secret sneaky move to get him out of his job by The Snake (Isaiah Thomas) and James Dolan.
I suggested Ewing as a possibility in a recent post. Another option mentioned by Bill Simmons is have Phil come back to where it started and try and win a ring like his old coach/idol Red (a move I would endorse but seems unlikely). Anyone have any other names to throw in the hat?
