| D'Antoni and the Knicks: A Perfect Match? Or Not? |
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| Written by Loz | |
| Sunday, 18 May 2008 | |
And then here comes D'Antoni. Is he going to be part of the experiment? Or is he the missing piece that they are looking for all along? The Knicks definitely needs to rebuild. But the problem is that they don't seem know where and how to start the whole process. D'Antoni's acceptance as the head coach the New York Knicks didn't come as a big shock at all. But many are vocal with their apprehension, most especially the fans and basketball spectators. On the other hand, all the people who knew D'Antoni well have foreseen what was coming. For D'Antoni, being the Knick's head coach is a tremendous challenge. Taking the job is like living his motto once again – and that is to be the world's best contrarian. He would like to do what everybody thinks impossible. And it's always interesting to see if he'll be able to do that exactly this time around. The Knicks has a very problematic line-up of players. And D'Antoni, looking at his basketball coaching style, likes his team running and gunning. If these two can be considered a perfect match, nobody knows for sure. The only thing certain is the fact that D'Antoni had won the Coach of the Year award in 2005 – a feat that made the Knicks all too willing to gamble on his coaching prowess. Who wouldn't have? D'Antoni had made the Suns one of the teams to beat in the past three years. The Knicks' management is now hoping he could duplicate that record with their team. And they are keen on paying him $6 million per season for that optimism alone. It is also interesting to note that the Knicks are not the only ones looking to hire D'Antoni. The Bulls also needs some good leadership on the court. The only problem is that they cannot match the money the Knicks had thrown on the table. So, is D'Antoni right in choosing the Knicks as his next ward? Probably. He's being paid a lot of money for it. Plus he's going to love the adrenalin rush mandating them on the floor is going to give. A chaotic team working in full chemistry all because of his headship - that certainly is the dream of every coach. Now the bigger question: Are the Knicks right in signing up D'Antoni? This is going to be something that's worth anticipating. D'Antoni isn't god. And while the rest of the Knicks' team is hoping he's the one, it all boils down to them players doing the right thing on the court. No matter how good their coach is, if they refuse to work as one, there's not going to be a chance that their team would regain the prowess they once enjoyed in the league. It can be expected that the New York Knicks are not going to be champions overnight. Even if D'Antoni is leading the helm, it would take him two to three years to make the team mesh. Fans shouldn't expect too much too soon. But if D'Antoni is really worth his paycheck, then he would deliver much sooner than everybody could have expected.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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