Comments on: Knicks woes not D'Antoni's fault

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:41:24 +0000

Personally I hate his run an gun style and total lack of emphasis on defense. That may have worked in Phoenix but will not in the eastern conference and not with the type of players he has. These players lack the athleticism to make that work.

By: LebronHater

LebronHater — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:32:06 +0000

Who’s the coach of the Cavs? He sucks, but has Lebron. Talent on the court makes every coach look good. Isaih is the one that bought the groceries and make a terrible dinner with it. D’Antoni has proven he can win.

By: slugger

slugger — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:35:16 +0000

jcb. You are not Black, otherwise you wouldn’t be using the term “race card.” NBA roster spots are mostly taken by Blacks because they play better ball than whites, which is racial or at least cultural to be more accurate. When Isaiah Thomas loses and is driven to suicide by the white media (Michael Jackson, anyone?)and we are told D’Antonio is blameless for the Knicks losing, you don’t think that is “racial”? What world are you living in?

By: jcb

jcb — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:31:45 +0000

I agree and I’m Black! Stop the race card BS. We have already taken most of the nba roster spots so it doesn’t have merit any more. D’Antoni makes less than most of the guys on the roster and when was the last time you listened to someone who made less than you! It’s not coach’s fault. Can’t wait until he wins again and you are kissin’ his butt

By: USUKwordman

USUKwordman — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:27:58 +0000

A great coach adapts to fit his players? Phil Jackson doesn’t. Play the triangle or get the hell out.
Isiah sucked. He may not have started the problems in NY, but he sure made the sh*t pile bigger.

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:04:09 +0000

Unless I miss my guess, both Walsh and D’Antoni were part of the plan to finally end the Knicks cap suffering in 2010.
They have done that. Walsh had less room to bargain with who he brought in because of the 2010 wall. D’Antoni had to make do with what he was given – a hodgepodge.
There is no real leader on this team for the coach to work with. Robinson was moved as much for his ego as anything else. Sorry NY, this has been building for 10yrs; it’s just that you can start to get out of it this summer.
To go on a rant now and dump the coach and GM makes very little sense. Of course, that’s fans for you.

By: Race_matters

Race_matters — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:01:06 +0000

I agree that had this be a Black coach, I think fingers would be pointed at the coach, However, this article start from the gate to give D’Antoni a pass. He is a coach just like Don Nelson that can only coach in one style (ie One Trick Pony), can’t make any adjustment with the personel that he has and somehow keeps a job and has never won anything as a coach.

By: Narayan De Jesus

Narayan De Jesus — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:17:57 +0000

With the frantic pace that D’Antoni likes to play, you have to wonder if his teams will ever be up par in the Playoffs.
Maybe only a LeBron type can push those around him to work hard enough to collectively fill those holes in the Knicks “D”.
Which begs the question: Does any Superstar in the league want to have that job description (be the one to establish a defense)? Because the coach hasn’t shone he can?

By: Corebuilt

Corebuilt — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:22:07 +0000

Honestly, this is not a race issue, however I believe that there is a different perception applied to a coach like Doc Rivers or Thomas than would be for a D’Antoni. A great coach shapes the way he coaches to fit his talent. Not to say that D’Antoni has not tried. However the proof speaks for itself every night on the basketball court, D’Antoni has a “system” that worked in the past, but his “system” isn’t working with the players that he has now. He has not been as patient with his players as a lot of other coaches would be which causes players to play a certain way. When you have players not knowing if they will get minutes or not based on how the coach feels, that’s problematic. It’s a virus that spreads throughout the locker room. I don’t see any chemistry on the floor. That is coaching, not just tallent. E pluribus unum is not what I see with my Knicks these days.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:22:19 +0000

thats a good one

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:13:59 +0000

Yeah, bringing race into this is about the more ignorant thing I’ve read about the coaching/team management issue of the Knicks, ever. Way to show take the issue in the absoulute wrong direction and make it racial…

By: Jimdandy

Jimdandy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:48:20 +0000

It may not be all D’Antoni’s fault but he surely needs to take some blame for the demeanor of that time. The Knicks look like they are just waiting to hit the buffet line after the game from the opening tip. The game against the Cavs was unbelievable. Cleveland started a lay-up line and not even one Knicks player offerred even token resistance.
I’m sure it’s hard to play for a bad team, but seriously, to not exert any effort on the defensive end, nor demand any (by benching the main turnstiles, er culprits) speaks to D’Antoni’s utter lack of indifference on that end of the floor.

By: j.j.

j.j. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:25:26 +0000

kurt helin, u need to do u’r homework like the rest of america everyone wants to blame isiah, but the truth is the knicks were in a horrible situation when isiah took over. it was because scott layden was paying allen houston and larry johnson and by your column here, i take it that those are names u have never heard of. but those salaries w/injs put the knicks in this situation and had then strangled by the cap. isaiah inherited this situatioin he did not create it. he actaully brought in half the expiring contracts that the knicks are using this summer to get under the cap. isiah was f’d in this job and everyone who knows anything about basketball knows it. u should do research before u go saying that isaih created this chaos in new york, he was w/ the pacers when this all started w/ new york and he was doing pretty good there until somebody name larry bird took over.

By: Sharkbite NYC

Sharkbite NYC — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:23:36 +0000

Look what Rick Adelman has done with Houston this year. The Rockets are playing .500 ball with no superstars…

By: Guest

Guest — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:23:16 +0000

REALLY? You are a joke. You can’t spell, make sentences or offer any opinions. Please don’t make this a race issue…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:46:25 +0000

its not the coach fault , you are kidding me, these guys can only do and play and run the plays and defence the head coach put out there, so if its the talent level , then he need to use a style of play thats suitable for the team to achieve, hes not, so now you make excuses for him, let that have been doc, isaiah, or any other african american coach, you would be saying that he cant get tha guys to buy into the system, he cant , he cant, why do the media make excuses for the white coaches but toss the black coaches under the bus quickly, wow