Sorry Jax
So the NYK hired Mike D’Antoni away from the Suns. At first I was a little down on this move, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. Jackson should not have been in consideration; I don’t know why the media thinks up these scenarios. Thomas was a great PG too, and he was still a terrible coach and GM. Why would someone who has never even been an assistant coach be a good coach? Thank goodness Walsh did not go that route. There was a fantastic moment last week when they mentioned the D’Antoni hire during a game that Jackson was calling (while sitting next to Van Gundy). I actually felt kinda bad for Jackson. However, I still have not forgiven him for those years with the Pacers…
Anyway, the main criticisms of D’Antoni are that his teams don’t play defense and that his style does not work in the playoffs. The first point is sorta-true and the second point is false. The Suns actually have a pretty decent record in the playoffs relative to everyone else. Also, when your two best players can’t play defense, well then they can’t play defense. It’s not like D’Antoni was going to pull Steve and Amare to put in a stopper…
For NY, I like this coaching change for a few reasons. First, D’Antoni took a terrible Phoenix squad and turned it into a winner. NY is terrible and the roster does not fit D’Antoni’s style in Phoenix. However, the problem is that NY’s roster is so bad it doesn’t fit anyone’s style, unless your style is “losing.” So I guess it fit Thomas’ style, which is appropriate since Thomas acquired everyone on the team… No one really believes this is the rost of NY’s future, so why focusing on the roster is short-sighted.
Secondly, I am not as down on Marbury as everyone else. He might be able to produce some gaudy numbers in a fast-paced offense. Maybe Walsh could use this to sign-and-trade Marbury to someone else. That would be fantastic. The same may happen to some of the other scrubs on the team. Run-and-gun makes everyone look better on paper.
I like that Walsh seems to have a real long-term plan for NY. The worst part about Thomas was that he had no vision. He added parts like he was assembling an FNBA roster. Now, NY has a definite focus and can start assembling an effective and efficient team. In the meantime, D’Antoni should have NY being more entertaining at the very least. This first year is probably going to be brutal, but at least that means more high draft picks.
