FanNation - The Republic of Sport

5/15/08

Maybe it's just me, but the Knicks hiring of Mike D'Antoni to be the new head coach of their mess of a basketball team reminds me of a New York hiring some 13 years ago.

It was another big name New York franchise pairing up with manager who was immediately labeled as 'clueless' upon him taking the job.

Of course 13 years and 4 championships later, nobody is calling Joe Torre clueless anymore.

Ok, so the comparisons between the two situations may end there, but if you look deeply at the D'Antoni hire, Knicks fans should be very happy waking up with their new head coach.

When Torre took over the Yankees before the 1996 season, they were coming off far more success than the Knicks will be heading into next season, as a first round playoff loss ended the Buck Showalter era in the Bronx.

The Knicks won 23 games last year under Isiah Thomas, and fell well short of sniffing the playoffs.

Torre went into the '96 season with a rookie in the year-to-be in Derek Jeter, and some established vetrans carrying them towards an unexpected championship run.

D'Antoni, following a first round playoff exit himself, heads into Madison Square Garden taking over a team with a hapless, emotionless team which was the model of consistentcy- consistent at underacheiving and not showing up on the defense end night after night.

As clueless as Torre may have been, he had the pieces in place to win, and needed to pull the right strings in making everything come together. 

He did, and the Yankee dynasty was born.

D'Antoni will take over the Knicks dealing with his own doubters, whether it's the fact he isn't defensive oriented, or he's too easy going on his players.

Of course the biggest knock on D'Antoni has nothing to do with him: it's the lack of quality he's been hired to coach.

Anybody who believes this Knicks team will have a switch flipped between now and October and turn into a playoff contender overngiht needs to come back down to earth- and for the most part the expectations will likely stay relatively low regardless of any roster changes team President Donnie Walsh makes.

Just as Torre was able to silence his critics, I strongly believe D'Antoni will do the same, as long as Knicks fans are willing to have patience.

The best thing right now is that Isiah Thomas has nothing to do with the decision making, and Walsh has repeatedly said we will not add to this albatross of a payroll.

D'Antoni is a winning coach, who with the right pieces, will make New Yorkers forget about Isiah Thomas faster than they can say fire him.

In speaking about those pieces, the first and most obvious name is Stephon Marbury, and as I stated a few weeks ago in a post, not only do I believe Steph will be the opening night point guard, but I believe he's capable of taking this team to the playoffs, next season.

Call me an optimist, which is ironic because I never seem to have faith in any of the teams I root for (Mets, Knicks, Jets- and with good reason considering recent history of those teams), but the Knicks have nowhere to go but up, and in an eastern conference where 37 wins can sneak you into the playoffs, with some roster tinkering, the Knicks can easily find themselves right there next season.

The bigger roster concerns have nothing to do with Marbury.  Eddy Curry, Jared Jefferies, Jerome James, Mardy Collins and Randoplh Morris combined to be as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle last season.

The problem of course will be trying to find takers for some of those bloated contracts, or possibly just biting the bullet and outright releasing some of them, which is something Jimmy Dolan isn't unfamiliar with.

The Knicks do have some workable parts, but none resemble players Knicks fan would lose sleep over losing.

David Lee, a fan favorite, is a nice role player, but plays little defense, can't shoot free throws ans has a limited offensive game.

Nate Robsinson provides energy and can score, but shot selection and decision making continue to be an issue.

Jamal Crawford, who one night can go out and dump 50 on an opponent, will also have nights where he shoots 3-21 and scores  8 points, also playing limited defense and turning the ball over more times than you can count.

The roster is bad, but at the same time, not nearly as bad as some people are thinking.  

And you can bet that between the draft (Derick Rose?) and the rest of the offseason, Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni will have a game plan for success, as long as Knicks fans are patient enough to see this thing out.

So like Joe Torre 13 years ago, Mike D'Antoni takes a high profile New York coachin job under immediate scrutiny and expectations to fail.

And while its obviously crazy to assume D'Antoni will make the Knicks Champions or even championship contenders over night, one thing Knicks fans need to no is he certainly isn't clueless.

Wait out the draft, look at the opening night roster, and then start passing judgements.

Until then, lets just wait and see what happens, and keep in mind D'An's the man, which certainly beats the alternative.