103 replies to this topic

[RedOctober3829]

Mike D'Antoni has resigned as New York Knicks coach, a source tells Y! Sports.

https://twitter.com/#!/WojYahooNBA/status/179993878563262464

[soxhop411]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏ @WojYahooNBA
Another source confirms D'Antoni ouster with Knicks, tells Y!: "Conflicting visions of club's future...Mutual decision to no longer coach."

Details

[jsinger121]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏ @WojYahooNBA
Assistant coach Mike Woodson will take over as the Knicks interim coach, a source tells Y!

[crow216]

I can't express how happy this makes me. Really odd that they would wait for the day they had a game and not do this yesterday.

[Solder]

They should trade Lin right now to maximize trade value. As soon as he is outside of D'Antoni's system, his stock will drop considerably.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

They should trade Lin right now to maximize trade value. As soon as he is outside of D'Antoni's system, his stock will drop considerably.

His stock isn't the one MSG cares about. That's why he'll always be around.

[AimingForYoko]

Not that he didn't have it coming, but I hope his resignation ended with "Fuck you, Melo".

[irishtap03]

They never got the pieces that would work to fit his system. They spent so much time to get out of the mess created by past GM's (Hi Isaiah!) and then went for big names rather than what works in his system. Now it is also on a coach to adjust when the pieces don't fit and D'Antoni didn't do this well.

It still won't fix the issues on this team. Mainly the are spending close to $37million on two players that don't play well together. Melo they could move but that would still leaves Amare who is tough to build around. Had they not wet themselves to get Chandler they could have saved Billups as an expiring deal trade this deadline and cut Amare in the offseason.

But it's the Knicks so I think we've come to expect this from them now.

[crow216]

They should trade Lin right now to maximize trade value. As soon as he is outside of D'Antoni's system, his stock will drop considerably.

His stock isn't particularly high right now. NBA GM's aren't exactly creaming their pants over him.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

This guy would be an excellent college coach. He should go to Illinois.

[greek_gawd_of_walks]

Is Isiah Thomas walking through that door?

[ifmanis5]

"Hey Phil, this is James Dolan, how much do you need?"

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Melo should just coach. He's the only person in the organization with any power.

[collings94]

I really don't see this fixing anything. Dolan put together a team who's two best players played no defense, and both dominate the ball. If anything, they should hire a defensive minded coach to at least try to whip Amare and Carmelo into shape on D. D'Antoni was never known for his defensive prowess, so putting him with this team was suicide.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

I really don't see this fixing anything. Dolan put together a team who's two best players played no defense, and both dominate the ball. If anything, they should hire a defensive minded coach to at least try to whip Amare and Carmelo into shape on D. D'Antoni was never known for his defensive prowess, so putting him with this team was suicide.

Woodson might fit that bill.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Yeah, he once coached the 11th best defensive team in the NBA.

Edit: Here's where Mike Woodson's teams have ranked in the league defensively:

04-05 -- 25th
05-06 -- 26th
06-07 -- 23rd
07-08 -- 18th
08-09 -- 11th
09-10 -- 13th

He's not exactly the Tom Thibadeau.

Edited by Grin&MartyBarret, 14 March 2012 - 02:16 PM.

[jon abbey]

I saw a link that said Jerry Sloan might be interested earlier today (pre-resignation), but just home and digesting this now.

[jon abbey]

"While retired Lakers and Bulls coach Phil Jackson has frequently been named as a possible successor to D'Antoni, sources close to retired Utah coach Jerry Sloan say he would be interested in the position."

http://sportsillustr...book/index.html

[TomRicardo]

Is Isiah Thomas walking through that door?

They have one draft pick in the next three years. HE IS ALREADY THERE.

[TomRicardo]

Yea Melo wouldn't listen to his head coach. I am sure he is going to start listening to his assistant turned head coach.

I think Melo is more universally hated by the people who coach him than Rick Barry.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Yea Melo wouldn't listen to his head coach. I am sure he is going to start listening to his assistant turned head coach.

I think Melo is more universally hated by the people who coach him than Rick Barry.

Melo's gonna love Mike Woodson. Melo is his new Joe Johnson. He's gonna put the ball in his hands and everybody else is gonna stand around.

[Pumpsie]

I saw a link that said Jerry Sloan might be interested earlier today (pre-resignation), but just home and digesting this now.

Just the very thought of Jerry Sloan coaching Carmelo Anthony has me in stitches.

[jon abbey]

I don't know who the coach should be, but I know that D'Antoni was not a good coach. There's got to be another Frank Vogel or Lawrence Frank out there, not that I have confidence in the Knicks front office to find him.

[ifmanis5]

Can LaLa coach?

[TomRicardo]

Melo's gonna love Mike Woodson. Melo is his new Joe Johnson. He's gonna put the ball in his hands and everybody else is gonna stand around.

Until he tells Melo to start playing defense.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

I don't know who the coach should be, but I know that D'Antoni was not a good coach. There's got to be another Frank Vogel or Lawrence Frank out there, not that I have confidence in the Knicks front office to find him.

We can probably figure it out. Who brings that highly sought after combination of huge name recognition and terrible basketball coaching skills AND is represented by CAA, which will keep Carmelo appeased?

John Calipari. They just have to wait for him to shit the bed in the tournament with the #1 overall pick on his team for the 3rd time in 4 years to start negotiating.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Until he tells Melo to start playing defense.

Don't worry, he won't do that. His reputation as a defensive coach is entirely undeserved and just comes from his days sitting next to Larry Brown.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

The Clippers are going to be ridiculously fun to watch when Mike D'Antoni's coaching them next year.

[mikeford]

The Clippers are going to be ridiculously fun to watch when Mike D'Antoni's coaching them next year.

And they still won't win anything.

[maufman]

Had they not wet themselves to get Chandler they could have saved Billups as an expiring deal trade this deadline and cut Amare in the offseason.

I thought the same thing last spring, but when you have an expiring deal like that (i.e., not clearing enough room to sign a max-money FA), you hope and pray you can parlay that expiring deal into a player like Tyson Chandler. Chandler has done nothing to diminish his value in New York. So, if the Knicks regret signing Chandler (not that they should), they could easily flip him to someone for expiring contracts.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

According to David Aldridge, D'Antoni approached Dolan about proposing a Carmelo for Deron Williams trade. Laid out his case that Carmelo was not a fit, and Dolan refused. So D'Antoni resigned.

A source with knowledge of the discussions says D’Antoni and Knicks chairman James Dolan mutually agreed to terminate D’Antoni’s job with New York after the two met this morning.

D’Antoni, the source said, had been advocating that the Knicks attempt to trade Anthony to the New Jersey Nets for guard Deron Williams, a deal D’Antoni believed would be beneficial for both franchises. But Dolan categorically declined that request, and the “conflicting visions” between the owner and head coach about Anthony meant there was no way forward.

D’Antoni had hoped the Knicks’ inspired and winning play with Lin as the centerpiece — while Anthony and Stoudemire were injured — would convince Dolan the Knicks could win without Anthony. Bringing Williams from the Nets would also have eases the burden on Lin, D’Antoni believed, allowing Lin to settle into a three-guard rotation.

D’Antoni asked for the meeting with Dolan after his relationship with Anthony had deteriorated sharply in recent days. He will be paid the remainder of the $6 million he’s due in this fourth and final year of his $24 million contract.

Edited by Grin&MartyBarret, 14 March 2012 - 03:41 PM.

[jon abbey]

According to David Aldridge, D'Antoni approached Dolan about proposing a Carmelo for Deron Williams trade. Laid out his case that Carmelo was not a fit, and Dolan refused. So D'Antoni resigned.

Interesting, good for him. He seems like a stand-up guy, but really underwhelmed with his coaching skills.

[Dogman2]

Interesting, good for him. He seems like a stand-up guy, but really underwhelmed with his coaching skills.

Either that or he was saddled with guys that play a ton of minutes and have a reputation of being the worst defenders in the league simply because they are more worried about scoring and, thus, money. Unless Amare and/or Melo end up on a top 5 defensive team, they will win nothing, ever.

[crow216]

Either that or he was saddled with guys that play a ton of minutes and have a reputation of being the worst defenders in the league simply because they are more worried about scoring and, thus, money. Unless Amare and/or Melo end up on a top 5 defensive team, they will win nothing, ever.

People keep killing the Knicks defense. They weren't playing such bad defense (aside from when Chandler and Jeffries were out) that you could point to that as their weakness. It was a number of factors all contributing to this string of losses and it was capped off by terrible in game calling of D'Antoni. There were times this season where the Knicks defense looked outright great only to see D'Antoni sub in players who were cold for players who were hot.

Firing D'Antoni isn't a panacea but it's definitely step 1. If Carmelo still can't succeed without D'Antoni's offense here, then step 2 is getting rid of him.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

People keep killing the Knicks defense. They weren't playing such bad defense (aside from when Chandler and Jeffries were out) that you could point to that as their weakness. It was a number of factors all contributing to this string of losses and it was capped off by terrible in game calling of D'Antoni. There were times this season where the Knicks defense looked outright great only to see D'Antoni sub in players who were cold for players who were hot.

Ironically, pretty much every instance of this involved bring Carmelo and Stoudemire back into the game.

[fairlee76]

And they still won't win anything.

That'll beat watching the Knicks. At least the Clips will be entertaining.

[crow216]

Ironically, pretty much every instance of this involved bring Carmelo and Stoudemire back into the game.

Except for the times when they were hot and inexplicably he took them out. That's my point. He was just very consistently doing something that was so easily identified as a wtf? Some of his decisions were obvious enough that the broadcasters were openly trashing the decisions.

He dug himself a hole and once you do that in a place like the garden, it's very hard to dig yourself out. It took Arod a world series to get New Yorkers off his case.

[Dogman2]

People keep killing the Knicks defense. They weren't playing such bad defense (aside from when Chandler and Jeffries were out) that you could point to that as their weakness. It was a number of factors all contributing to this string of losses and it was capped off by terrible in game calling of D'Antoni. There were times this season where the Knicks defense looked outright great only to see D'Antoni sub in players who were cold for players who were hot.

Firing D'Antoni isn't a panacea but it's definitely step 1. If Carmelo still can't succeed without D'Antoni's offense here, then step 2 is getting rid of him.

One of the biggest factors in trading for Chandler was to have someone who could actually play defense from the 4/5 spot who plays more than 20 minutes a game. This move was essentially a cover of Amare's horrible D. Having him and Melo on the court at the same time is defensive death and D'Antoni knows it.

[TripleOT]

Why don't big men ever become successful head coaches, except for Jax of course? Patrick Ewing has been an assistant coach int he league for a while. I'm sure the Knicks are going to make a strong play for Jax, but if they can't get an established name coach, and have to choose between a retread like Woodson and an assistant getting his first chance at HC, give it to Ewing.

At least Ewing would have a reasonable chance at kicking Melo's ass if need be.

[mikeford]

That'll beat watching the Knicks. At least the Clips will be entertaining.

If you don't find the Knicks terrible-ness entertaining than you must actually be a Knicks fan.

[SemperFidelisSox]

Knicks up 22 after 3.

"Fuck you coach!"

[dolomite133]

Knicks up 22 after 3.

"Fuck you coach!"

...yeah but it's against a foundering Portland team (and the Knicks also shot 13-of-28 from three-point range with 8:30 remaining in the game).

Edited by dolomite133, 14 March 2012 - 08:43 PM.

[jon abbey]

Portland has been playing terribly, but the 29 first half points was the lowest for any Knicks opponent since 2001. The overall effort was too sporadic under D'Antoni, specifically in that big Philly game at home where they looked like they just gave up for long stretches of it. Too bad Pythagorean record isn't a tiebreaker...

Heh, now a "Hire Woodson" chant at the end up by 40.

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

I have no idea whether D'Antoni is or is not a good coach, though I have never really liked coaches who think their system is the only way to play basketball and refuse to adjust to the personnel they have.

I will say that I though the players who were playing during the Lin-lead winning streak (agreed that it wasn't the top competition) played like a real basketball team - Chandler, Jeffries, Walker, Fields, Shumpert, Novak, and Lin played really well together. Maybe it was just that they all fit D'Antoni's system particularly well.

C'est la guerre.

[LESDL]

Anybody notice what Mike Tirico said during the Bulls-Heat game last night on ESPN? At one point he made mention of D'Antoni's being fired, and then immediately said "excuse me, he resigned. Parse those words as you will." At the very end of the telecast he again mentioned "the firing in NY."

Does he know something not being reported? Or was he running his mouth? I think it was quite inappropriate and unprofessional to say these things on national television.

[jon abbey]

I don't think it was a clear-cut firing, but after Dolan chose Melo over D'Antoni again (by refusing to try to trade him for Deron Williams as D'Antoni requested), D'Antoni did offer to stay and the Knicks said no, and they are paying him his full salary which you don't really do if someone actually resigns. So, Tirico was just saying what everyone already knew.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

I heard somebody say something about the D'Antoni situation which I thought summed up the D'Antoni era pretty well.

Essentially, the point they made was that everybody in the NBA knows D'Antoni is a great coach who runs a very specific system that requires a specific type of players. Everybody but James Dolan, that is.

And at the time of D'Antoni's hiring, the Knicks went after him not because they believed in his system, but because he was the biggest name out there and that's what the Knicks do. Basically, the Carmelo trade was the moment it became clear that D'Antoni's time in New York was limited because they gave up a bunch of guys who fit the system for one who didn't. Since then, D'Antoni's essentially been a lame duck who has, according to sources, tried numerous strategies to get through to Carmelo and convince him to buy into the system, but without a contract extension, he simply had no leverage. I thought Carmelo's post game comments were really telling. He said that trying to fit into D'Antoni's system was a "sacrifice". What's particularly telling about that, is that D'Antoni's system is designed to not emphasize any one piece over the other; it only works if everybody is involved in the offense, and the defense has to pay attention to all five pieces while they spread the floor. What I find interesting about his use of the word "sacrifice", is that now as a result of his unwillingness to make that sacrifice, several of his teammates are going to be forced to make sacrifices for him.

I for one would really have loved to see D'Antoni get a fair shot in New York and to have seen a team built for his system, but I don't think James Dolan ever really considered that. Oh well. These next two games are going to be very interesting indicators of where the Knicks are as a team right now.

[fairlee76]

If you don't find the Knicks terrible-ness entertaining than you must actually be a Knicks fan.

You make a great point.

[maufman]

Heh, now a "Hire Woodson" chant at the end up by 40.

The downside of this move is that if the Knicks surge and make the playoffs, the FO will feel compelled to give Woodson the job on a permanent basis, at least if Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan aren't available.

[TomRicardo]

I hear Knicks Interim GM Grunwald has already been making inquiries into a Sun Belt Conference coach he has a great personal relationship with.