When Mike D’Antoni says he came to the Knicks with his eyes wide open, it also was implied that the rest of us would keep our eyes closed to the results.
“We could have put a Band-aid on some holes and be more competitive right now,” said the coach, who then laughed. “And right now that seems like a good idea to me because we have to go through this.
“We are going to get this done. I am full of hope and vinegar and whatever else you want to put in there.”
Double, double, toil and trouble, two years of stirring a cold cauldron of ingredients fallen off the shelves of the NBA food bank will be over soon enough. When it ends, the witching hour arrives for D’Antoni to begin what he did in Phoenix — which was coach an entertaining, contending team.
Even if LeBron James and Chris Bosh don’t come — even if, having come this far, the wisest course would be to rent more journeymen and wait a another year for Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul — the Knicks almost surely will feel compelled to sign Joe Johnson or Carlos Boozer or somebody this summer, and thereby start the clock running on D’Antoni.
Blame me, Donnie Walsh said last night. What would you expect him to say, after this much roster turnover and about a coach he gave $24 million? But it has become impossible to argue that D’Antoni — whose .360 winning percentage is worse than Lenny Wilkens’ .494, and Don Chaney’s .391, and rapidly-challenging Isiah Thomas’ .341 — has done a good job, only that circumstances have prevented him from doing even a decent one.
The Knicks are a bad defensive team, according to the coach, because they lack size and athleticism, not resolve or coaching.
“I don’t think any of it is lack of effort, I really don’t,” D’Antoni said. “It’s frustrating when you make the initial stop and they just go over top of you and score or they get a rebound and score.
“I think our guys for the most part are playing hard.”
They played harder in December — when the coach, who made his reputation in Phoenix on the offensive end, said defense was the major factor in the surge. But in winning only their fourth game in 19 last night, over the 21-40 Pistons, the Knicks held just a sixth opponent in that time under 110 points.
They weren’t doing much better before Jared Jeffries, their only earnest defender, was sacrificed for more cap space, so you wonder if the message is even being given, never mind received. An offensive innovator isn’t necessarily getting the most of this offense, either, not after some brutal end-game possessions, not with Danilo Gallinari, who will be the last high pick for the Knicks in a five-year period, playing tepidly.
To be fair, Wilson Chandler and David Lee have improved under D’Antoni and the deposed Nate Robinson shouldn’t be a character reference on anybody. But he wasn’t the only player who waited for explanations from a coach sometimes seemingly using darts to make out his rotation.
No one is joining the Knicks this summer because of the coach, instead for the money, the marketing, or the opportunity Walsh created to bring along a big-time wingman. And in this league, all but a Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich exist for the purposes of being fired when you can’t fire the key player.
This will leave D’Antoni starting November with who knows what kind of team, understanding he had better coach it to play harder than this one.