Welcome to the Driftwood
Welcome to my first entry in the Driftwood Blog. I guess you could say it's named after the character from The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. I needed something short, sweet, and hoops related, and that's what I came up with. I envision this forum being updated occasionally for now, depending on what other things I have going on. As I'm currently writing the Playoff Daily Dose every day, I'm not sure there will be much more to offer here for now. However, once the playoffs die down and I go into "one column per week mode" for the summer, the blog will be updated more often. In any case, thanks for stopping by, and I hope to have some entertaining stuff here the rest of the way.
Mike D'Antoni is going to coach the Suns, but many people don't think it's a good idea. FoxSports' Mark Kriegel , The New York Post's Peter Vescey, and the Contra Costa Times' Marcus Thompson all think D'Antoni's decision to go to New York is either going to be bad for the Knicks, bad for D'Antoni or bad for all involved.
I find this a bit curious though, as D'Antoni is basically the biggest name out there, and should end up being worlds apart from Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown. Mark Jackson was a popular choice for the Knicks, but the fact is the guy has never coached a professional basketball game and he didn't blow Walsh's socks off in their initial meeting. I do agree that D'Antoni and the Bulls looked like a good match on paper, and find it interesting that Bulls nation is now basically saying "we didn't want him anyway."
I certainly have some doubts about D'Antoni and it's clear that he'll struggle with having Stephon Marbury at point guard instead of Steve Nash. Eddy Curry at center instead of Shaq, and Zach Randolph at power forward instead of Amare. If he couldn't win with that bunch, how's he going to win with the Knicks?
This move wasn't made for today. The Knicks are going to land a big free agent in the summer 2010 (LeBron, anyone?) and D'Antoni and Walsh will work together between now and then to get rid of the three aforementioned headaches, free up a bunch of money, and start adding pieces with their eyes on a championship in 2011. And for once, I fully expect James Dolan to stay out of Walsh's way this time around, which could be the key to the whole thing as the Knicks travel on their road back to respectability.
The reasons D'Antoni left Phoenix appear to be pretty deep. I'm guessing there were issues with how his brother, Dan, an assistant coach with the team, was treated, how D'Antoni himself was being treated and a strained relationship with upper management. Bryan Colangelo left for Toronto because he couldn't co-exist with owner Robert Sarver, and I think the same can be said for D'Antoni. He got a lot of money from Dolan, and is headed into the eye of a storm, but that storm is eventually going to pass. Last year, the coach, GM and president for the Knicks was Isiah Thomas. Now you've got Walsh and D'Antoni in his place. If you ask me, the worst part of the storm has passed. Now we'll just have to find out if D'Antoni can coach without Nash running his offense. I'm guessing he can.
Comments
Congrats and good luck Dr. A on your new blog. I've been a Knicks fan for only 15 or so years as opposed to some who've been following them for double that. Nevertheless I agree and disagree on some things you've said. You are right, Mike D' , better yet anyone can do a better job than Isaiah Thomas. Remember what the NY media reported: Isaiah would show up late for games, Isaiah stopped running plays the final month of the season, Isaiah issuing regular delusional statements that he would lead this team to a future championship. Bottom line, put me or you in the Knicks head coaching position and we would actually do more work, be more concerned, and care for our team.
As for your comment that he couldn't win in Phoenix, Mike D' just couldn't do that in the postseason. His regular season record was outstanding and that's something the Knicks haven't had in a very long time. One step at a time, a respectable postseason seed produced by a WINNING regular season record would be nice.
Finally, in regards to the storm you speak of Mike D' may be in store for the worst part of it. I certainly don't think it's passed. Basically only a couple things have changed, GM Walsh and head coach D'Antoni. With Isaiah being retained in the organization his ominous presence and horrid curse still lurk!
Posted by: John Williams | May 13, 2008 01:39 AM
Yeah...good point. D'Antoni did win in Phoenix, no doubt. But he didn't win when it mattered and never got a very talented team to the Finals. I guess that was my point. D'Antoni, Walsh and Dolan know it's going to be a process to fix the team, and it's not going to happen overnight. But Walsh knows what he's doing and commands respect. He's off to a pretty good start and I'm guessing there will be a lot of roster movement over the next 12 months. The soap-opera drama may be ending, but the Knicks are going to be in the news A LOT. Starting tomorrow at 1 p.m. when D'Antoni is introduced.
Posted by: Doc | May 13, 2008 04:31 AM