Knicks’ D’Antoni says he’ll stay patient
September 30, 2009
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP)—Mike D’Antoni could be forgiven if he sometimescatches himself daydreaming of Steve Nash(notes) and Amare Stoudemire executing theperfect pick-and-roll.
Perhaps he occasionally closes his eyes and pictures LeBron James(notes) or someother superstar finishing on the fast break.
When he opens them again, he sees a New York Knicks team that is givenlittle chance of winning big this season.
Yet D’Antoni vows to stay patient and positive, even if he suddenly racks uplosses as quickly as his old Suns teams used to pile up points.
“You have to have a plan,” D’Antoni said Wednesday. “I would be veryselfish. I tell players to sacrifice all the time. If the plan is that we’ve gotto do this, then what does that tell me if I can’t do it?”
It won’t be easy though.
“If we don’t win, it’s going to be hard,” said his brother, Dan, a Knicksassistant. “You can be patient, and he understands that. But it’s hard to chokeit back. He wants to win, he thinks he can win.”
The plan Mike D’Antoni alluded to was the Knicks’ goal of being in positionto make a run at James or some other free agent next summer, when a deep classof free agents will be available. To do that, they traded away their top twoscorers, Jamal Crawford(notes) and Zach Randolph(notes), early last season to free up salarycap space, then did little to upgrade this summer, choosing to save their moneyinstead.
It was somewhat lousy timing for D’Antoni. After the Knicks threw away moneyon bad contracts for most of the decade, he arrived in time to see them becomefinancially responsible. Still, team president Donnie Walsh said his coach hasnever come to him with a request to get him better talent now.
“We talk every day and he knows,” Walsh said. “Look, we would get aplayer if the guy was somebody we knew we wanted to live with, but we’re nottaking chances. So no, he hasn’t. He understands what we’re trying to do.”
He can’t like the effect it will have on his career record. The Knicks went32-50 last season and it’s possible D’Antoni could lose 100 games in two seasonsin New York. Isiah Thomas was fired for that.
D’Antoni knew only winning in Phoenix, where he averaged 58 victories in hisfour full seasons and twice reached the Western Conference finals. He wasconsidered an offensive genius and a star in the coaching business—but ofcourse he had All-Stars like Nash and Stoudemire. Becoming a great coach ofteninvolves having great players first, and right now D’Antoni doesn’t.
“That’s amazing, isn’t it? That’s how it is. That’s how it usually works,”D’Antoni said. “But I don’t think you get into that. I’ve never been intothat.”
No player on the Knicks roster has ever been an All-Star. A coach like LarryBrown loves having players who are low on star power so he can teach them. Manycoaches would probably prefer it the other way.
“I think Mike is halfway of that,” Dan D’Antoni said. “Winning driveshim, but he loves basketball and he loves getting guys to a certain level. So Ithink he’s not quite Larry Brown, he’s probably not Pat Riley. He’s probablysomewhere in between.
“He understands we’re going to have to do a teaching job, that it’s notgoing to be instant wins, that there is going to be a stepping process. Butcertainly he thinks and we think the organization and coaches are up to thattask and that the players will buy in.”
Mike D’Antoni said the Knicks will have to overachieve this season to makethe playoffs, but he believes they can. More likely, their lack of talent willkeep them out of the postseason for the ninth straight year.
Walsh’s plan has risks. The Knicks could strike out in free agency and beright back in the same place when they open camp next fall. But D’Antoni is onboard, and he won’t rock the boat.
“This is fun, I love it. It’s a challenge and I’m with our guys, and youknow what, if we lose, we lose,” D’Antoni said. “But if we do everything we’resupposed to do and that’s what happens to us, then so be it. I’m OK with that.”