Fanatics have been trying to tell everyone who would listen that one of the major problems with this season's team is the impact of Mike D'Antoni's stubbornness and poor communication skills. Both traits were apparent before he joined the Knicks. His stubborn insistence on using his offense as his defense led him to leave the Suns and skip over the Bulls in favor of the desperate Knicks. His unwillingness to communicate clearly with players was described, if not specifically identified as such, in Jack McCullum's Seven Seconds or Less. D'Antoni regularly assigned communication with specific players to other coaches. So far this season accusations of poor communication have largely gone ignored because they usually originate from disgruntled players relegated to DNP Coach's Decision status such as Larry Hughes, Nate Robinson, Eddy Curry. Darko Milicic and Al Harrington at various points during the season.
However, apparently D'Antoni has had enough of the status quo and of Nate Robinson running his team after last two games as a starter. D'Antoni felt it was time to meet with and lean on his team captain to right the ship and help him communicate with players. According to the New York Post, D'Antoni met with Duhon after deciding to return him to the starting lineup. At the meeting, he also asked Duhon what could be done to improve the team and Duhon spoke about better commmunications between the coach and player. Marc Berman, of the New York Post, reported the following:
Not surprisingly, the communication issue came up, with D'Antoni agreeing he needs to talk to the players more often and get their thoughts -- even during a game.
Players have complained publicly and privately D'Antoni doesn't communicate enough individually to guys and define their roles -- with Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry, Robinson, Al Harrington and Darko Milicic headlining the list.
Of course, Chris Duhon was diplomatic in describing how communication needed to improve between the players and the coach.
"It's tough being head coach," Duhon said. "We as players think that we can do it, but we really can't. But the main thing is communicating with him more when the game is going on."
While it is certainly a positive that D'Antoni is now willing to open the line of communication with his players by delegating more responsibility to Duhon, one must wonder whether D'Antoni will be more communicative with his players or has just appointed Duhon to do all of his bidding with the disenchanted lockerroom elements. Actually it is a little late to develop the team unity and communication lines that should have been established at least in the off-season or at the beginning of the season at the latest. The team's inconsistent energy is reflective of the energy D'Antoni puts into communicating effectively with his players.
Finally, as Tman would point out, unless the discussion also centered on defense, the lines of communication will be filled with nothing but talks of losing.
I was stunned when I saw this video my pre-teen was watching intently. I immediately started to tell her to pick up the remote and turn the channel because lord knows I did not want to see her trying to imitate Beyonce's wardrobe and bouncy moves. But I hope she didn't hear my jaw crash to the floor as I became mesmerized by the sheer "talent" (not the sheer panty hose) of the dancers. The video had been over for five minutes before I could pull it together and suggest turning it off. For the next twenty minutes, I sat at my computer trying to contrive a Knicks related reason to post the video here. But it eventually dawned on me that I could post whatever the hell I wanted for whatever reason I made up. So forget that Beyonce visits the Garden every once in a while with her boo JayZ or that she was wearing Knicks orange with a blue gun in the last scene, this video is being posted because this is a major talent in motion loved by Fanatics all over the world. Together, Beyonce and Lady Gaga do more for video phones than the Knicks do for NBATV or the Mike D'Antoni show. So let' just enjoy an energized and skillful performance at least once this season. You Go Girl. LGK.
"My God, he didn't even come close to missing." -- Mike D'Antoni
"You sometimes become a fan because he's taking 3-point shots way beyond the arc. Sometimes you get star-struck and you just start to get in a daze." -- Chris Duhon
"It's a momentum team. They have some really good players, some really good shooters. When they're not shooting the ball well, they're not very good because they don't get to the paint a lot. . . . When they shoot the ball extremely well, like they did the second half, they're a very tough team to cover because they have guys who can make plays off the dribble and spot up. . . . Two different teams today. They didn't make shots in the first half and did in the second."-- LeBron James
NOTES FROM THE OBSERVATORY:
Fun game to watch last night. First, because LeBron James is a marvel. So talented that you can understand why some Knicks fans would delude themselves that he is switching teams next year and coming here to win Championships. Just watching him score 24 in a row and the last 12 or so from half-court -- all net -- was stunning.
Yet, the Knicks were played like chumps in the first half as they stood there watching him. His display disguised the fact that the Knicks were also getting abused in the paint as the Cavs scored on mostly layups and dunks before LeBron took the Cavs game outside, way outside. It made the thinking fan wonder, "why in the hell does D'Antoni persist on having David Lee guard Shaq?" Why? Why? Why? Why didn't D'Antoni double team LeBron and try to take the ball out of his hands at least after he scored 12 in a row? Why did he wait until the second half to bring a real big man out there to make it more difficult to score on the Knicks in the paint? Why, Why Why?
Blogger extraordinaire and LeBron James Cleveland Cavalier fan, Brendan Bowers ain't mad at us about LeBron. In fact, he is extremely confident that LeBron is going to be in Cleveland for a long, long time. So maybe we should be mad at him. But Brendan, the founder, editor and head writer of Bloguin's Stepien Rules, is a good sport who we were able to catch up with and exchange some questions and answers before tonight's game in Cleveland. Check out our Q and A on his site here, but more importantly you can't hurt yourself by visiting Stepien Rules often to keep up with the next wanna be NBA champs.
KNICKS FANATICS:The Cavaliers are on a roll. What has Mike Brown done to make the integration of Shaq into the system easier than it was in Phoenix?
BRENDAN:I think a couple things here. First, Shaq's a more natural fit in Cleveland, and probably should have been the last player Phoenix thought could fit into their no defense, run at all cost system. But secondly, .and maybe more important, is that the Cavaliers have brought Shaq along slowly. They sat him out a couple games earlier in the year with maybe only a hint of injury, and seemed to let him and his teammates learn how to best incorporate him into the system almost prior to really doing so. What I mean by that is, Shaq hasn't really started playing key minutes, and bigger minutes, until probably the last 10-15 games. And when he has, the offense has gone through him some. Not so much that he was the scorer, but the Cavs have been able to throw it into Shaq, let the double team come, and cut off him. As a result, he's been finding shooters off those double teams, and more importantly, LeBron cutting to the basket. To counter, when the double team's don't come, he's sorta looked a bit like a younger version of Shaq, in that he can still beat anybody one on one in deep. I have to think the fact that he's relatively fresh to start the second half of the season is a big reason why he's moving so well. Hopefully he still moves like that in June.
KNICKS FANATICS:What is different this year about your bench play that has you feeling more confident about coming away with the O'Brien trophy?
BRENDAN:Well the main thing different about the bench play this season, as compared to last, is the fact that the players are just better. Ben Wallace, Wally Szcerbiak, and Sasha Pavlovic - for example - have been replaced with three guys that were starters last season on a team that won 66 games: Varejao, Delonte, and Z. That's huge, coupled with the emergence of guys like Jawad Williams - who nobody saw coming this season, as well as guys like Jamario Moon who has been explosive off the bench this season when healthy in his own right, makes this team - in my opinion - as deep and as versatile as any in the NBA. To that point, not that he's an All Star, but Daniel Gibson was probably the best player off the Cavs bench last year, and this season, he couldn't get on the court until Mo Williams and Delonte West got injured, despite playing the best basketball of his NBA career. As the third string PG, he's hit some big shots as of late, and scored double figures in the last 6 games. But the truth is, once those guys get back, he'll go back to racking up DNP after DNP.
"But that's life. Everybody makes mistakes. They didn't talk to me [before], but I did work out for them. And I did have a good workout, by the way." -- Brandon Jennings
"They beat us to the ball, they beat us to the basket, beat us to screens, they beat us to everything. We're just not a real cohesive unit for whatever reason."-- Mike D'Antoni
"They outhustled us, I guess. It seemed like they were mentally, they were more the tough team." -- Nate Robinson
"We're just not clicking. We've gotta find something. I don't take it personally. Nate's been playing well. He deserves to start." -- Chris Duhon
Through their sports branding consulting firm, HallPass, Mike D'Antoni and Danilo Gallinari are teaming up with American Express for a unique on-line ad campaign. The very well done, warm and fuzzy ads, show how close D'Antoni and Danilo are and give you an idea of why Danilo is one of coach's favorites on and off the court. The ad gives you a sense of how Gallinari can eventually be a marketing star if he steps his game up and the Knicks become a real winner. Right now he is being oversold: while he is being hailed for hitting the most threes because he takes the most threes in the league, those praising the "rookie" forward are ignoring the fact that he is ranked 45th in three-point shooting, 299th from deuce range ( at 45%) and 100th in free throw shooting at 82%.
If you have been paying attention to the Knicks sideline and doghouse drama, you can also see why some of the vets may be vexed by D'Antoni's favoritism and rotations based on "feeling" and not merit. Recent comments by Knicks players including Al Harrington and Larry Hughes seem to contradict D'Antoni's ad in which he says he attempts to create an atmosphere where players treat each other like family. If dysfunction is a prime family trait, then he is probably right. But favoritism behind claims that playing time is doled out based on merit does not foster an atmoshpere for comraderie and group bonding.
In the midst of our upcoming collaboration with Brendan Bowers of Stepien Rules, an excellent Cleveland Cavalier Blog, I ran into this website, www.NoYork.com, dedicated to keeping LeBron out of New York. The movement includes the selling of the pictured T-Shirt.LOL. We should probably order a few as collectors' items.
LeBron is constantly showing the world why he is so coveted by his home team and would be home-breakers like the Knicks. The following video, featured on both Stepien Rules and NoYork.com, of a very unique LeBron dunk is just mind-boggling. Wouldn't you like to see him bounce it off the Empire State Building? In fact that reminds me of the MJ-Bird commercial where they were playing H-O-R-S-E from all over the place including the Sears Tower for a Big Mac. Since he just signed his endorsement deal with McDonald's, you can imagine LeBron playing against himself but probably without camera tricks. LOL.
"We bring a lot to the table. It's an experience game. It's still an old man's game. You need those veterans out on the court. We don't want to be the main guy. We just want to contribute." -- Larry Hughes
"In the first half we were dead in the water and I didn't feel like there was any life. We weren't giving anyone in the building anything to cheer about. I just thought we needed Nate to show some energy and he did, and the rest of the guys responded really well." -- Mike-D'Antoni
"We picked it up. We were pushing the ball up the court, putting pressure on the defense. There was a stretch there we were making shots and they were making shots, but for the most part we kept the energy and kept the pressure on. And once they start missing, we continued to make shots, so we pulled away." -- Larry Hughes
"When you lose three in a row and you're playing bad you just try to give someone else a chance. You keep losing you got to change something up." -- Mike D'Antoni
"It's up to coach to do what he wants to do. But we know how to win." -- Al Harrington
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dick McGuire, a basketball Hall of Famer and longtime member of the New York Knicks organization, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 84.
The Knicks said McGuire died at Huntington Hospital in Long Island. McGuire still worked for the Knicks as a senior basketball consultant.
McGuire was a part of the Knicks' organization for 53 of its 64 seasons.
''Dick McGuire was the epitome of what it means to be a Knickerbocker: pride, tradition and class,'' Knicks president Donnie Walsh said in a statement. ''It was an honor to watch him play for our hometown team and I consider myself very lucky to say I worked alongside a man who shaped the National Basketball Association for parts of all eight decades of its existence.''
A Bronx native, McGuire was a five-time All-Star and led the Knicks to three straight NBA finals from 1951-53. He went on to serve the team as a coach, assistant coach and scout. His No. 15 was retired in 1992 and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame a year later.
McGuire still ranks third on the Knicks' career list with 2,950 assists.
Nicknamed ''Tricky Dick,'' McGuire was born Jan. 26, 1926, in New York, part of a famed basketball family. His younger brother, Al, also played for the Knicks and later won a national championship as coach of Marquette -- before being himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.
Dick McGuire played collegiately at St. John's and was picked by the Knicks in the first round of the 1949 draft. He played eight seasons for the team before he was traded to Detroit on April 3, 1957, for a first-round pick. McGuire spent his final three seasons with the Pistons.
''Dick was one of a kind,'' former St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca said. ''He was a great ballplayer and coach and a better human being. All of basketball is going to miss him.''
McGuire is survived by his wife, Teri, four children and seven grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.
As Tracy Porter ran back the game-clinching interception for the Saints on Sunday night, Chris Duhon started sprinting. "I ran with him," Duhon, a huge Saints fan who hails from Louisiana, recalled yesterday. "I ran all the way to my mailbox, I did his end zone dance and everything and...
Chris Duhon admits his eyes might have been opened when Mike D'Antoni demoted him to the bench two games ago. Tonight, Duhon will be back in the starting lineup, and he's prepared to return with one thing above all else -- energy.
As the Post's Marc Berman...
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers pulled together to win their second straight contest without Kobe Bryant with a 101-89 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.
The Knicks’ present is gloomy, their future uncertain, and their short- and long-term goals in clear conflict. Call it an unfortunate but necessary side effect of rebuilding.
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni announced after practice Monday that Nate Robinson is going back to the bench to be a reserve shooting guard, while Chris Duhon has regained his starting berth as the team's playmaker.
Led by team president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni, the Knicks sent a full delegation of officials, coaches and current and former players to Hall of Famer Dick McGuire's funeral Monday on Long Island.
The Knicks have to root for Boston, Orlando or Atlanta to knock off Cleveland during the postseason because a second trip to the NBA Finals would likely result in LeBron James re-signing with the Cavaliers.
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