Monsters Are Among as the End-of-Days Nears, Apparently
Be afraid. Very afraid. Seemingly each day there are reports of terrifying beasts rising from the sea or descending from the stars. Make no mistake. We are under attack. By Monsters. And not cuddly, witty monsters with paper-mache skeletons and felt teeth. No, we're not under attack from any sort of cookie-loving creature or pansexual ticklish consumer products. We're under attack from mutated, sea dogs with dino-beaks and razor-sharp teeth. And, they're starting their conquest of the Eastern seaboard from Montauk, Long Island. Yup, the monster hordes are headed for the Hamptons. The last place us simple-minded humans would have expected.
I first heard about this washed ashore creature-corpse on Tuesday when the WWOD? Special Correspondent for Monster Issues forwarded me a link to a story in Gawker. From there, I did some digging and confirmed the location of some sort of high security government facility on an island not too far off the LI coast where this cutey washed up.
Those living in the vicinity of the US Governments' highly secretive and openly biohazarderrifc Animal Disease Research Center on Plum Island have long thought that dangerous and terrible experiments were going on there, both in terms of the treatment of animals as well as the existence of highly contagious disease possibly being used to create biochemical weapons. Or Monsters. Rumors have swirled (read: I've found them written on the Internet) that both West Nile Virus (which first appeared on US soil on Long Island and in nearby Queens in 1999) and Lyme Disease (which was first recognized as we know it today after several cases turned up in Connecticut, not too far from Plum Island) first appeared after being released, accidentally or otherwise, from this complex.
Since we are talking about a monster in this cynical day and age there are varying responses: Some say hoax and others say this is a prodigious blogger.
And if sea monsters weren't enough to get you to rent a copy of Monster Squad to brush up on your beast-fighting incantations then maybe this crazy beast-pig-gorilla, which was born in China (yeah, that place is totally safe for our most finely-tuned athletes), will do the trick. It is clear the Rapture is upon us. The four horsemen are in the saddle and the seventh seal is about to be opened. I'll see you in Hell. Or, out at the Hamptons!
UPDATE:
"This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions... Human sacrifices, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!"
UPDATE No. 2:
If FOX NEWS is trotting out "experts" to deny the existence of "Monty" the Monster then he must be real. Right? I mean if Fox News says it's a lie then it's the truth. Right?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
"Rey Ain't Coming Home!"
Knicks Trade Renaldo Balkman
Renaldo Balkman is a Knickerbocker no more. He has been traded to the Denver Nuggets for two players and a future draft pick (but more about those things later). He ain't coming back to the Garden any more than once next season, unless the Knicks face the Nuggets in the Finals. Obviously. But before us stalwart few remaining Knicks fans start collecting stray dreadlocks for our hope chests and pre-heat the ovens for another batch of Mrs. Finkle's cookies - Look, they're little basketballs! - let's take a good look at Balkman's numbers in his two seasons treading the boards in the Mecca.
2006-2007
Games: 68
Games Started: 1
Minutes Per Game: 15.6
Points Per Game: 4.9
Shot %: 0.505
Free Throw %: 0.567
Rebounds Per Game: 4.3
Steals Per Game: 0.8
Assists Per Game: 0.6
Turmovers Per Game: 0.72
Fouls Per Game: 2.10
2007-2008
Games: 65
Games started: 0
Minutes Per Game: 14.6
Points Per Game: 3.4
Shot %: 0.489
Free Throw %: 0.432
Rebounds Per Game: 3.3
Steals Per Game: 0.7
Assists Per Game: 0.6
Turnovers Per Game: 0.57
Fouls Per Game: 2.0
In spite of the fact that the second-year small forward was a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden, Balkman's numbers in a Knicks uniform were poor and actually got worse during his sophomore season. The long-haired Balkman was a player for whom the numbers don't tell the story. Sort of. The small forward out of South Carolina, who was roundly and enthusiastically booed when Isiah Thomas selected him with the 20th pick in the 2006 NBA draft, become a fan favorite due in part to his frenetic hustle and his high-flying finishes. The energy that Balkman visibly played the game with was a much-needed counterpoint to the joylessness which seeped from the floor in so many first quarters before derision flowed from the crowd during so many second quarters.
So, perhaps some measure of Balkman's popularity sprung from the same place as the unfettered and unchecked devotion for every back-up quarterback in every NFL city that is home to a loser in November. Like those clipboard holders, Balkman never played enough to be tainted by the suckitude that enveloped every major member of the rotation. He was the breath of fresh air. He had long hair and he seemed distinct from the starting five and even from the core bench players, Robinson, Lee and Jeffries.
As a fan of the 2006-2008 Knicks it was, for several reasons, easy to like Balkman. He made you feel like he was trying. He made you feel like he was caring. He made you feel like something exciting might happen when he played. And, as fans we really needed to feel those things during the last two seasons. Although Balkman didn't often make you feel like the team would win, he did make any game in which he was playing something that you could bear watching. Or, at least, something you could bear watching more easily.
But remember what I said earlier about the numbers not telling the whole story with this guy? Well, neither do your eyes. Or your feelings. Just as he wasn't as bad as his numbers show, Renaldo Balkman wasn't as good as the way most of us felt about him. In the Bill James/sabermetrics/Moneyball sense, Balkman may have been somewhat of a mirage. He didn't really produce. He just looked like he wanted to more than some of his teammates looked like they wanted to. At the end of the day, it's rather damning to say that a young player couldn't get a firm grip on major minutes for the past two incarnations of New York City's home team! But Balkman never did grab hold of any major minutes. Old, undersized veteran power forward Malik Rose started more games than Balkman last season. And, so did rookie small forward Wilson Chandler, who seems to jump ahead of Balkman in the estimation of both Isiah Thomas as well as Mike D'Antoni.
Therefore, Balkman may have been more important to the fans than he was to the game plan. But no matter how you slice it. Balkman is gone. And I'll miss him. Even if it might not read like it, I liked this guy. A lot. The high point of the 2007-2008 season was the second home game of the season (yeah, that was when this team peaked) when Balkman's defense on Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony turned the tide in an enervating, come-from-behind win. He played hard in that game. He totally turned the tide against one of the game's premeir scorers and looked like he was going to be the lock-down defender that would guard the other team's best player on a nightly basis. But that never really panned out. Not surprisingly, I put most of the blame on Isiah Thomas's doorstep. The deposed Knicks despot never stayed with Balkman the way he did with Quentin Richardson and Jared Jeffries. He didn't nurture him or force-feed him minutes. He seemingly forgot about him for stretches both during games and between them. And, Balkman didn't always handle this well. I can remember attending a few games deep into the season, during a run when his minutes were way down, and Balkman was not really all-the-way there. He never ventured farther than the periphery of a huddle and mostly kept to himself at the end of the bench. He was shooting the breeze with Randolph Morris and Jerome James and paying more attention to the skits on the big screen the words in the huddle. Now, when given a choice between whatever cliches Isiah Thomas might have been offering in the huddle and the top-notch MSG in-game entertainment then I would likely have made the same choice.
(Ed note: We'll be back later to look at who came back in this trade and what happens next)
Renaldo Balkman is a Knickerbocker no more. He has been traded to the Denver Nuggets for two players and a future draft pick (but more about those things later). He ain't coming back to the Garden any more than once next season, unless the Knicks face the Nuggets in the Finals. Obviously. But before us stalwart few remaining Knicks fans start collecting stray dreadlocks for our hope chests and pre-heat the ovens for another batch of Mrs. Finkle's cookies - Look, they're little basketballs! - let's take a good look at Balkman's numbers in his two seasons treading the boards in the Mecca.
2006-2007
Games: 68
Games Started: 1
Minutes Per Game: 15.6
Points Per Game: 4.9
Shot %: 0.505
Free Throw %: 0.567
Rebounds Per Game: 4.3
Steals Per Game: 0.8
Assists Per Game: 0.6
Turmovers Per Game: 0.72
Fouls Per Game: 2.10
2007-2008
Games: 65
Games started: 0
Minutes Per Game: 14.6
Points Per Game: 3.4
Shot %: 0.489
Free Throw %: 0.432
Rebounds Per Game: 3.3
Steals Per Game: 0.7
Assists Per Game: 0.6
Turnovers Per Game: 0.57
Fouls Per Game: 2.0
In spite of the fact that the second-year small forward was a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden, Balkman's numbers in a Knicks uniform were poor and actually got worse during his sophomore season. The long-haired Balkman was a player for whom the numbers don't tell the story. Sort of. The small forward out of South Carolina, who was roundly and enthusiastically booed when Isiah Thomas selected him with the 20th pick in the 2006 NBA draft, become a fan favorite due in part to his frenetic hustle and his high-flying finishes. The energy that Balkman visibly played the game with was a much-needed counterpoint to the joylessness which seeped from the floor in so many first quarters before derision flowed from the crowd during so many second quarters.
So, perhaps some measure of Balkman's popularity sprung from the same place as the unfettered and unchecked devotion for every back-up quarterback in every NFL city that is home to a loser in November. Like those clipboard holders, Balkman never played enough to be tainted by the suckitude that enveloped every major member of the rotation. He was the breath of fresh air. He had long hair and he seemed distinct from the starting five and even from the core bench players, Robinson, Lee and Jeffries.
As a fan of the 2006-2008 Knicks it was, for several reasons, easy to like Balkman. He made you feel like he was trying. He made you feel like he was caring. He made you feel like something exciting might happen when he played. And, as fans we really needed to feel those things during the last two seasons. Although Balkman didn't often make you feel like the team would win, he did make any game in which he was playing something that you could bear watching. Or, at least, something you could bear watching more easily.
But remember what I said earlier about the numbers not telling the whole story with this guy? Well, neither do your eyes. Or your feelings. Just as he wasn't as bad as his numbers show, Renaldo Balkman wasn't as good as the way most of us felt about him. In the Bill James/sabermetrics/Moneyball sense, Balkman may have been somewhat of a mirage. He didn't really produce. He just looked like he wanted to more than some of his teammates looked like they wanted to. At the end of the day, it's rather damning to say that a young player couldn't get a firm grip on major minutes for the past two incarnations of New York City's home team! But Balkman never did grab hold of any major minutes. Old, undersized veteran power forward Malik Rose started more games than Balkman last season. And, so did rookie small forward Wilson Chandler, who seems to jump ahead of Balkman in the estimation of both Isiah Thomas as well as Mike D'Antoni.
Therefore, Balkman may have been more important to the fans than he was to the game plan. But no matter how you slice it. Balkman is gone. And I'll miss him. Even if it might not read like it, I liked this guy. A lot. The high point of the 2007-2008 season was the second home game of the season (yeah, that was when this team peaked) when Balkman's defense on Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony turned the tide in an enervating, come-from-behind win. He played hard in that game. He totally turned the tide against one of the game's premeir scorers and looked like he was going to be the lock-down defender that would guard the other team's best player on a nightly basis. But that never really panned out. Not surprisingly, I put most of the blame on Isiah Thomas's doorstep. The deposed Knicks despot never stayed with Balkman the way he did with Quentin Richardson and Jared Jeffries. He didn't nurture him or force-feed him minutes. He seemingly forgot about him for stretches both during games and between them. And, Balkman didn't always handle this well. I can remember attending a few games deep into the season, during a run when his minutes were way down, and Balkman was not really all-the-way there. He never ventured farther than the periphery of a huddle and mostly kept to himself at the end of the bench. He was shooting the breeze with Randolph Morris and Jerome James and paying more attention to the skits on the big screen the words in the huddle. Now, when given a choice between whatever cliches Isiah Thomas might have been offering in the huddle and the top-notch MSG in-game entertainment then I would likely have made the same choice.
(Ed note: We'll be back later to look at who came back in this trade and what happens next)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
And, starting at point guard...Chris Duhon?!?!?
Steve Nash was the engine of Coach D'Antoni's Seven Seconds or Less offense in Phoenix. Derrick Rose was the college point guard out of the University of Memphis that every Knicks fan coveted heading into the draft lottery. So, Donnie Walsh went out and signed Chris Duhon away from the Chicago Bulls? Yup. Duhon has signed a two-year pact reportedly worth $12 million.
Duhon enters his fifth NBA season as a member of the New York Knickerbockers. The first four seasons of his professional career where all spent with the Chicago Bulls, who drafted him early in the second round of the 2004 NBA draft. During his time in Chicago he was the primary back-up to Kirk Hinrich and the third wheel in the Hinrich-Ben Gordon back-court. In each of his four seasons in the Second City he ranked second on the team in assists behind Hinrich. The 2005-2006 season was Duhon's most successful campaign; he averaged 8.7 points and 5 assists per game. The following season, Duhon was an integral part of the Bulls team that won the first playoff series since Jordan was still in town.
The Louisiana-born Duhon played under Coach K at Duke University from 2000 through 2004. He was a the ACC Freshman of the Year after his debut campaign and was the starting point guard on the 2001 National Champion squad. He surprised a lot of people by not opting to enter the draft immediately after cutting down the nets in Minneapolis and (sort of) paid the price when he was a second round pick in 2004 rather than the sure-fire first-rounder he was being touted as in the aftermath of the Duke title. Still, Duhon flourished, mostly, during his remaining years in Durham, NC. He was named team captain and finished his career as the school's all-time leader in steals (300) and minutes played (4,813). When he hung up his college high-tops he was also second in school annals in assists (819). With 123 wins against just 21 losses, he was also the second winningest player in Duke and ACC history, behind Shane Battier (who had 131 wins to his credit). He was also the only ACCer to record 1,200 points, 800 assists, 475 rebounds, 300 steals, and 125 three-point shots. In other words, Duhon was a very, very good collegiate basketball player
As of today we don't know if he is the Knicks starting point guard (though he seems to think he is), a pass-first back-up or just someone else that Donnie Walsh is throwing at the wall to see if he sticks. And, what does this mean for Stephon Marbury? Is a buyout imminent? Is he going to be traded to a team looking for a cap space after next season? Is he going to be a backup behind Duhon, a guy with a per game average of 6.9 points and 4.5 assists?
Duhon enters his fifth NBA season as a member of the New York Knickerbockers. The first four seasons of his professional career where all spent with the Chicago Bulls, who drafted him early in the second round of the 2004 NBA draft. During his time in Chicago he was the primary back-up to Kirk Hinrich and the third wheel in the Hinrich-Ben Gordon back-court. In each of his four seasons in the Second City he ranked second on the team in assists behind Hinrich. The 2005-2006 season was Duhon's most successful campaign; he averaged 8.7 points and 5 assists per game. The following season, Duhon was an integral part of the Bulls team that won the first playoff series since Jordan was still in town.
The Louisiana-born Duhon played under Coach K at Duke University from 2000 through 2004. He was a the ACC Freshman of the Year after his debut campaign and was the starting point guard on the 2001 National Champion squad. He surprised a lot of people by not opting to enter the draft immediately after cutting down the nets in Minneapolis and (sort of) paid the price when he was a second round pick in 2004 rather than the sure-fire first-rounder he was being touted as in the aftermath of the Duke title. Still, Duhon flourished, mostly, during his remaining years in Durham, NC. He was named team captain and finished his career as the school's all-time leader in steals (300) and minutes played (4,813). When he hung up his college high-tops he was also second in school annals in assists (819). With 123 wins against just 21 losses, he was also the second winningest player in Duke and ACC history, behind Shane Battier (who had 131 wins to his credit). He was also the only ACCer to record 1,200 points, 800 assists, 475 rebounds, 300 steals, and 125 three-point shots. In other words, Duhon was a very, very good collegiate basketball player
As of today we don't know if he is the Knicks starting point guard (though he seems to think he is), a pass-first back-up or just someone else that Donnie Walsh is throwing at the wall to see if he sticks. And, what does this mean for Stephon Marbury? Is a buyout imminent? Is he going to be traded to a team looking for a cap space after next season? Is he going to be a backup behind Duhon, a guy with a per game average of 6.9 points and 4.5 assists?
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Tales From the Clearance Rack....
(Believing that you can learn a lot about any culture by sifting through what it discards WWOD? will take a periodic look at what sports items have been relegated to the discount racks of the world.)
Willie Randolph Bobble-Head Doll:Price: Was$18.99 Now $14.99!
Details: 3 AM shipping guaranteed
Willie Randolph Bobble-Head Doll:Price: Was
Details: 3 AM shipping guaranteed
Better Know Your Head Coach (Part II)
The second in WWOD?'s three-part series Better Know Your (NEW) Head Coach gets a tremendous assist from the fine folks at the even finer Phoenix Suns blog Bright Side of the Sun. The sun-tanned denizens of the valley of the sun were kind enough with their time too answer a deluge of questions that I sent them. And, they did so with a generosity and insight that amazed me. They are very good at what they do. So, read on and, all-together-now, get to Better Know Your Head Coach.
WWOD?: Vizzini always told us, "Go back to the beginning." So let's do just that. How on Walt Clyde Frazier's green Earth did the New York Knicks end up with Mike D'Antoni? One minute we were all talking ourselves into Mark Jackson (who we love for his St. John's and Knickerbocker history but who has also never even held an assistant coaching position on a high school team) and the next minute we're signing up the 2004-2005 NBA Coach of the Year and arguably the most innovative hoops mind of the past decade. How did this happen?
Bright Side of the Sun: Sometimes guys are so good at one thing that they start believing their pub and refuse to change. D'Antoni is that guy.
You first have to understand that he was an NBA nobody when he lucked into the Phoenix job after the Suns fired Frank Johnson a few weeks into the 2003-04 season. What you won't read is that Johnson was fired not so much for his poor record but because of a sex scandal that made him unacceptable to the puritanical Jerry Colangelo. So really, D'Antoni can thank Frank's wandering pecker for his big break and the irony is that he is again replacing a head coach with his own "woman problems". Mike D of course did amazing things in Phoenix and for the league in general and he (and Nash) turned the Suns into a contender.
His public failings – lack of defensive focus and poor player development – are well documented but from my cheap seat his real failing is his stubbornness.But before I slam him, let me also debunk another myth about the Suns. Seven Seconds or Less (7SOL) didn't die in early February when Shaq came to town. That system died when the Suns lost to the Spurs in the 2007 playoffs. It wasn't the suspensions that killed the Suns; it was the inability to adjust to playoff basketball against defensive teams that were able to defend in transition and slow the game to a grind.
D'Antoni recognized this and spent all of the 2007-08 season slowing the Suns down and learning to run an execution style half court offense. This meant more ball handling duties for Hill and Diaw and less of a dependence on Nash to create everything. It was a fairly encouraging development in the eyes of yours truly. The problem was that while he was able to adjust the offense to a more slow down half court game, he wasn't willing to adjust defensively and play bigger, slower less talented players so that the interior defense and rebounding improved.
In the first two years of his reign the Suns could get away with being small because they were so fast and so explosive. When they gave that up they no longer could afford that weakness. And that lead to the Shaq gamble. Right idea. Wrong player.
He and the Suns should have brought in a big guy like Diop and kept Marion or at least traded Marion for the same kind of defensive athletic big along with picks, young talent, etc. Instead D'Antoni insisted on a big that could rebound and defend but also be a threat in his beloved offense. That insistence lead to $40m worth of reputation that couldn't defend away from the hoop, couldn't hit a free throw and could barely score from 2ft in the post. Sure, the Suns GM and owner signed off on this but it was D'Antoni's refusal to consider other options that lead to it and D'Antoni was the biggest advocate for the trade.
And as the final straw of D'Antoni's hard-headedness was his refusal to bench an injured Grant Hill in the first 3 games of this year's Spurs series. He hadn't used enough depth and variety in his rotations to prepare the team to play without Hill and he personally couldn't get it through his head that Hill wasn't able to deliver. He waited until game 4 to adjust and by then it was too late.
Finally, when Kerr came to him and asked that he spend a full 30 minutes per practice on defensive schemes and rotations and consider playing a deeper rotation ala Detroit he decided that was too much intrusion and interference and left for the Big Apple.
It was time for a change for all involved.
WWOD?: Should whatever went down in Phoenix to catalyze this coaching change concern Knicks fans or should we just be happy to pick up the pieces?
Bright Side: I have no idea but I am curious to see how things work out for D'Antoni in New York. History shows that great coaches can adjust and can be successful in different places. In the next year or two we will find out if D'Antoni is really a great coach or a guy that had the perfect storm of an innovative system and Nash, Amare and Marion to run it.I can't think that after the Brown and Isaiah debacles that the Knicks could have done any better. You can only go up from there. The true test will come in a few years if the Knicks actually get competitive to see if Mike can get over the hump.
One thing is clear though – he is in a place where he's got some room to fail and so does Terry Porter. That wouldn't have been the case if he had stayed in Phoenix. Freedom to fail and lowered expectations should let D'Antoni and the Suns (and Suns fans) enjoy the next season or two a lot more then the last one which was a joyless pressure cooker for all involved.
WWOD?: What was your first reaction to the news that D'Antoni was on the way out? Was the writing on the wall? It seemed sort of shocking from afar. We ran a poll of potential coaching candidates (which included employed coaches known to be on the proverbial hot seat) and D'Antoni never even entered the conversation.
Bright Side: It was no surprise. There was talk at the end of last season that if he couldn't get it done that a change might be in order. And as the season progressed and it became clear that he wasn't going to do the things everyone agreed he needed to do that he was in trouble. In December, he and Kerr had a fight over direction which leaked out as well. They both said all the right things, but the writing was on the wall that they weren't on the same page.
Then during the Spurs series there were some very public signs. After game 1, D'Antoni "blamed" the Suns offense and Kerr "blamed" the defense and as the series went on Kerr and Sarver refused to openly support him and I think Amare quit on him as well. He was a non-factor in games 4 and 5.
WWOD?: What was the feeling in Phoenix when the word spread that D'Antoni was out? We always got the impression that he and his team were well liked. Was this the case?
Bright Side: Mixed I guess. We had quite the debate about it over at Bright Side of the Sun.
Fans everywhere are driven by expectations. As the Suns went from crap to contender all was well. As they got closer and closer to the ring the expectations increased so when he wasn't able to deliver then things turned.
I am guessing Yankee's fans know a thing or two about that and clearly watching some recent D-Backs/Mets games the boo's at Shea are expressing the same thing – frustration at an underperforming team.
WWOD?: Which players currently in Phoenix do you think would have an interest in playing for their old coach in the Garden? Which would the Kerr consider letting loose? Ditto for the assistant coaches?
WWOD?: Well, we already know that Brother Dan and Phil Weber are going to the Knicks. You can have them. Nothing special there other then loyalty to the boss.
As for players – well, this is a much larger can of worms of course and I don't have the time, energy or brain power to think through all the possible trade possibilities.
Obviously, the two guys that benefited most from the D'Antoni's were Barbosa and Diaw. He protected and coddled both of them and most Suns fans feel that he didn't get the best out of either.
I am ready to trade Barbosa to get back either a backup PG or backup Center that really is good enough to start about 40 games b/c that's about all you can expect from Shaq. I don't know that the Knicks meet either of those needs (don't even think about sending us Marbury or Curry).
So unless its some kind of multi-team deal, I wouldn't hold your breath for either of those guys.
And frankly, I am not in favor of letting Boris go despite his issues. There are very few players that can do what he can do on both ends of the floor and perhaps with Porter he will be better motivated and utilized.
I think Barbosa has pretty much peaked in his career as far as potential. He's not a PG and he can't cover anyone. Don't you already have that guy? Or seven of them?
WWOD?: Speaking of former pupils of the Italian master: Do you have any insight as to how Marbury might be feeling about reuniting with D'Antoni? Do you think that there is any way that Shawn Marion is sitting in Miami and thinking about heading north?
Bright Side: No comment.
WWOD?: What was the best thing about having D'Antoni as your coach (excluding his mustache)? What aspect of coaching in the NBA was he best at?
Bright Side: Mike D is a great at media, fan and sponsor relations. He can be funny and charming and "articulate". Have fun with that.
WWOD?: What was the worst thing about having D'Antoni as your coach (excluding his mustache)? What aspect of coaching in the NBA was he worst at?
Bright Side: See question 1 – stubbornness.
WWOD?: I've read 7 Seconds Or Less seven (or less) times since Walsh introduced D'Antoni. Is the sort of access that D'Antoni granted to the SI writer for that book indicative of his relationship with the press? In recent years, the Knicks organization has been compared to the Communist bloc when it comes to freedom of the press.
Bright Side I have to think that Donnie Walsh as part of his coming to NY is going to address that and in turn Mike D will be giving the opportunity to tear down the wall. If not, he's not going to last very long behind the Iron Dolan Curtain.
WWOD?: And lastly, what is the deal with the 'stache? Does it have powers? Will it steal my girlfriend?
Bright Side: I predict with Mike so close to Madison Ave, the mustache will be the new craze to sweep the nation just like the return of bell bottoms and long hair.
I would start work on mine now if I would were you.
WWOD?: Vizzini always told us, "Go back to the beginning." So let's do just that. How on Walt Clyde Frazier's green Earth did the New York Knicks end up with Mike D'Antoni? One minute we were all talking ourselves into Mark Jackson (who we love for his St. John's and Knickerbocker history but who has also never even held an assistant coaching position on a high school team) and the next minute we're signing up the 2004-2005 NBA Coach of the Year and arguably the most innovative hoops mind of the past decade. How did this happen?
Bright Side of the Sun: Sometimes guys are so good at one thing that they start believing their pub and refuse to change. D'Antoni is that guy.
You first have to understand that he was an NBA nobody when he lucked into the Phoenix job after the Suns fired Frank Johnson a few weeks into the 2003-04 season. What you won't read is that Johnson was fired not so much for his poor record but because of a sex scandal that made him unacceptable to the puritanical Jerry Colangelo. So really, D'Antoni can thank Frank's wandering pecker for his big break and the irony is that he is again replacing a head coach with his own "woman problems". Mike D of course did amazing things in Phoenix and for the league in general and he (and Nash) turned the Suns into a contender.
His public failings – lack of defensive focus and poor player development – are well documented but from my cheap seat his real failing is his stubbornness.But before I slam him, let me also debunk another myth about the Suns. Seven Seconds or Less (7SOL) didn't die in early February when Shaq came to town. That system died when the Suns lost to the Spurs in the 2007 playoffs. It wasn't the suspensions that killed the Suns; it was the inability to adjust to playoff basketball against defensive teams that were able to defend in transition and slow the game to a grind.
D'Antoni recognized this and spent all of the 2007-08 season slowing the Suns down and learning to run an execution style half court offense. This meant more ball handling duties for Hill and Diaw and less of a dependence on Nash to create everything. It was a fairly encouraging development in the eyes of yours truly. The problem was that while he was able to adjust the offense to a more slow down half court game, he wasn't willing to adjust defensively and play bigger, slower less talented players so that the interior defense and rebounding improved.
In the first two years of his reign the Suns could get away with being small because they were so fast and so explosive. When they gave that up they no longer could afford that weakness. And that lead to the Shaq gamble. Right idea. Wrong player.
He and the Suns should have brought in a big guy like Diop and kept Marion or at least traded Marion for the same kind of defensive athletic big along with picks, young talent, etc. Instead D'Antoni insisted on a big that could rebound and defend but also be a threat in his beloved offense. That insistence lead to $40m worth of reputation that couldn't defend away from the hoop, couldn't hit a free throw and could barely score from 2ft in the post. Sure, the Suns GM and owner signed off on this but it was D'Antoni's refusal to consider other options that lead to it and D'Antoni was the biggest advocate for the trade.
And as the final straw of D'Antoni's hard-headedness was his refusal to bench an injured Grant Hill in the first 3 games of this year's Spurs series. He hadn't used enough depth and variety in his rotations to prepare the team to play without Hill and he personally couldn't get it through his head that Hill wasn't able to deliver. He waited until game 4 to adjust and by then it was too late.
Finally, when Kerr came to him and asked that he spend a full 30 minutes per practice on defensive schemes and rotations and consider playing a deeper rotation ala Detroit he decided that was too much intrusion and interference and left for the Big Apple.
It was time for a change for all involved.
WWOD?: Should whatever went down in Phoenix to catalyze this coaching change concern Knicks fans or should we just be happy to pick up the pieces?
Bright Side: I have no idea but I am curious to see how things work out for D'Antoni in New York. History shows that great coaches can adjust and can be successful in different places. In the next year or two we will find out if D'Antoni is really a great coach or a guy that had the perfect storm of an innovative system and Nash, Amare and Marion to run it.I can't think that after the Brown and Isaiah debacles that the Knicks could have done any better. You can only go up from there. The true test will come in a few years if the Knicks actually get competitive to see if Mike can get over the hump.
One thing is clear though – he is in a place where he's got some room to fail and so does Terry Porter. That wouldn't have been the case if he had stayed in Phoenix. Freedom to fail and lowered expectations should let D'Antoni and the Suns (and Suns fans) enjoy the next season or two a lot more then the last one which was a joyless pressure cooker for all involved.
WWOD?: What was your first reaction to the news that D'Antoni was on the way out? Was the writing on the wall? It seemed sort of shocking from afar. We ran a poll of potential coaching candidates (which included employed coaches known to be on the proverbial hot seat) and D'Antoni never even entered the conversation.
Bright Side: It was no surprise. There was talk at the end of last season that if he couldn't get it done that a change might be in order. And as the season progressed and it became clear that he wasn't going to do the things everyone agreed he needed to do that he was in trouble. In December, he and Kerr had a fight over direction which leaked out as well. They both said all the right things, but the writing was on the wall that they weren't on the same page.
Then during the Spurs series there were some very public signs. After game 1, D'Antoni "blamed" the Suns offense and Kerr "blamed" the defense and as the series went on Kerr and Sarver refused to openly support him and I think Amare quit on him as well. He was a non-factor in games 4 and 5.
WWOD?: What was the feeling in Phoenix when the word spread that D'Antoni was out? We always got the impression that he and his team were well liked. Was this the case?
Bright Side: Mixed I guess. We had quite the debate about it over at Bright Side of the Sun.
Fans everywhere are driven by expectations. As the Suns went from crap to contender all was well. As they got closer and closer to the ring the expectations increased so when he wasn't able to deliver then things turned.
I am guessing Yankee's fans know a thing or two about that and clearly watching some recent D-Backs/Mets games the boo's at Shea are expressing the same thing – frustration at an underperforming team.
WWOD?: Which players currently in Phoenix do you think would have an interest in playing for their old coach in the Garden? Which would the Kerr consider letting loose? Ditto for the assistant coaches?
WWOD?: Well, we already know that Brother Dan and Phil Weber are going to the Knicks. You can have them. Nothing special there other then loyalty to the boss.
As for players – well, this is a much larger can of worms of course and I don't have the time, energy or brain power to think through all the possible trade possibilities.
Obviously, the two guys that benefited most from the D'Antoni's were Barbosa and Diaw. He protected and coddled both of them and most Suns fans feel that he didn't get the best out of either.
I am ready to trade Barbosa to get back either a backup PG or backup Center that really is good enough to start about 40 games b/c that's about all you can expect from Shaq. I don't know that the Knicks meet either of those needs (don't even think about sending us Marbury or Curry).
So unless its some kind of multi-team deal, I wouldn't hold your breath for either of those guys.
And frankly, I am not in favor of letting Boris go despite his issues. There are very few players that can do what he can do on both ends of the floor and perhaps with Porter he will be better motivated and utilized.
I think Barbosa has pretty much peaked in his career as far as potential. He's not a PG and he can't cover anyone. Don't you already have that guy? Or seven of them?
WWOD?: Speaking of former pupils of the Italian master: Do you have any insight as to how Marbury might be feeling about reuniting with D'Antoni? Do you think that there is any way that Shawn Marion is sitting in Miami and thinking about heading north?
Bright Side: No comment.
WWOD?: What was the best thing about having D'Antoni as your coach (excluding his mustache)? What aspect of coaching in the NBA was he best at?
Bright Side: Mike D is a great at media, fan and sponsor relations. He can be funny and charming and "articulate". Have fun with that.
WWOD?: What was the worst thing about having D'Antoni as your coach (excluding his mustache)? What aspect of coaching in the NBA was he worst at?
Bright Side: See question 1 – stubbornness.
WWOD?: I've read 7 Seconds Or Less seven (or less) times since Walsh introduced D'Antoni. Is the sort of access that D'Antoni granted to the SI writer for that book indicative of his relationship with the press? In recent years, the Knicks organization has been compared to the Communist bloc when it comes to freedom of the press.
Bright Side I have to think that Donnie Walsh as part of his coming to NY is going to address that and in turn Mike D will be giving the opportunity to tear down the wall. If not, he's not going to last very long behind the Iron Dolan Curtain.
WWOD?: And lastly, what is the deal with the 'stache? Does it have powers? Will it steal my girlfriend?
Bright Side: I predict with Mike so close to Madison Ave, the mustache will be the new craze to sweep the nation just like the return of bell bottoms and long hair.
I would start work on mine now if I would were you.
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