I hate change, so I'm sad to see Mike D'Antoni depart as the Knicks'
coach. My first reaction was to blame Knicks' owner James Dolan, who's
been meddling with the general manager and coaching decisions for way
too long. Brilliant GM Donnie Walsh left this year because
he couldn't work with Dolan, who is ultimately responsible for the sad
state of affairs the Knicks currently find themselves in. That said, it's the
coach's job to work with what the management gives him in personnel.
While it is clear that Knicks super-star Carmelo Anthony didn't
fit in well with the post-Linsanity system -- the Knicks have been
losing consistently since his return to the lineup; he was out with an
injury when Jeremy Lin took over to such dramatic success -- D'Antoni's
style of moving the ball did not work well with Anthony. Trying to make
the proverbial square peg fit in the round hole was not working. So now
it's assistant coach Mike Woodson's turn to see if his system works
better with the talent he has on hand, which everyone agrees is
substantial and should be winning more games. Better yet, how nice would
it be if Phil Jackson came out of retirement to coach the Kincks, where
he once played. His triangle offense could really work well with Knicks'
talent.
I hate change, so I'm sad to see Mike D'Antoni depart as the Knicks'
coach. My first reaction was to blame Knicks' owner James Dolan, who's
been meddling with the general manager and coaching decisions for way
too long. Brilliant GM Donnie Walsh left this year because
he couldn't work with Dolan, who is ultimately responsible for the sad
state of affairs the Knicks currently find themselves in. That said, it's the
coach's job to work with what the management gives him in personnel.
While it is clear that Knicks super-star Carmelo Anthony didn't
fit in well with the post-Linsanity system -- the Knicks have been
losing consistently since his return to the lineup; he was out with an
injury when Jeremy Lin took over to such dramatic success -- D'Antoni's
style of moving the ball did not work well with Anthony. Trying to make
the proverbial square peg fit in the round hole was not working. So now
it's assistant coach Mike Woodson's turn to see if his system works
better with the talent he has on hand, which everyone agrees is
substantial and should be winning more games. Better yet, how nice would
it be if Phil Jackson came out of retirement to coach the Kincks, where
he once played. His triangle offense could really work well with Knicks'
talent.