Last February, when the Knicks traded for Nuggets star Carmelo
Anthony, there was at least one voice within the organization that
wasn’t quite in favor of the move—coach Mike D’Antoni.
The reason was
obvious: Anthony is simply not the kind of player who works well in
D’Antoni’s floor-spreading, pick-and-roll offense.
One fellow former coach told Sporting News that, around the time the
deal was made, D’Antoni told him, “With this trade, I don’t know how
much longer I will be able to stay here (in New York).”
That was never more obvious than over the last couple of weeks, as
the Knicks endured a six-game losing streak during which Anthony
appeared frustrated. Reports in the New York media Wednesday morning had
Anthony privately wishing he would be traded, expressing his
displeasure with the franchise and claiming he had been told that
D’Antoni would not be back as coach this year. It has become
increasingly clear that D’Antoni and Anthony would not be able to
coexist.
On Wednesday, a day before the NBA’s trade deadline, D’Antoni bowed
out, with the sides mutually agreeing to part ways, ending his
four-plus-year run as the team’s coach. The move was first reported by
Yahoo! Sports.
D’Antoni compiled a 121-167 record in New York, presiding over a
two-year rebuilding phase before the team was able to create enough cap
space to sign power forward Amare Stoudemire.
That was followed by the
controversial deal for Anthony. In the last two seasons, the Knicks are
34-31 without Anthony and 26-37 with him.
It’s another strange twist in what has been the strangest of seasons
for the Knicks. Struggling from the beginning of the year after cutting
Chauncey Billups and signing Tyson Chandler, the Knicks caught fire
thanks to the unlikely emergence of point guard Jeremy Lin, who led the
Knicks on a seven-game winning streak that revitalized the season and
turned Lin into an international star.
But that was with Lin primarily
running D’Antoni’s offense against weaker teams, with Anthony sitting
out with a groin injury. When Anthony returned and the competition got
stiffer, the Knicks started losing.
Now, with the Bucks acquiring guard Monta Ellis and moving past the
Knicks in the playoff race, it will be up to assistant coach Mike
Woodson to clean up this team. Unfortunately for Woodson, there will be
precious little time to do so. If Woodson is to please Anthony, he will
need to overhaul the playbook and to de-emphasize the pick-and-roll.
That won’t be too difficult, because it will require only that he run
more isolation plays for Anthony.
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But, beyond Woodson, the question the Knicks now face is this: Who’s
next? The organization is still reeling, and the team will take some
time before starting a search.
Speculation immediately leapt to former Knick Phil Jackson, who has
long wanted to follow in the footsteps of his old coach, Red Holzman.
Jackson is one of the few coaches who could come in with enough
credentials to command immediate respect from Anthony.
But if Jackson
were to be lured out of retirement, he would not do so in the middle of a
season.
A source tells Sporting News that one potential candidate who would
be very interested in the Knicks job is Orlando Magic assistant Patrick
Ewing, one of the greatest Knicks players of all time.
Ewing has sought
out head coaching jobs in the past, and interviewed for the Pistons job
last year.
He does not have strong ties to Dolan, but there is no doubt
he would have strong fan approval.
Should the Knicks continue grooming
Allan Houston to be the team’s general manager, Ewing—Houston’s former
teammate—might make a good deal of sense.
Kentucky coach John Calipari, meanwhile, preemptively shot down
Knicks rumors by posting on his Twitter account, “As I’ve said before, I
have the greatest job in basketball at any level.
Why would I be
interested in another job? I love being the coach of the commonwealth’s
team.
To the (Big Blue Nation and) all the recruits that are coming or
want to come, I will be at Kentucky.
” It’s also unlikely that the Knicks
would pursue a college coach—though it has been noted that Calipari is
represented by CAA, the same agency that reps Anthony. Calipari has been
mentioned as a possible candidate for the Wizards job, too.
There’s always—ahem—Isiah Thomas, a favorite of owner James Dolan,
even after he left the team in financial disarray and as the subject of
an embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit. Thomas remains deeply
unpopular among Knicks fans, making his return a longshot.
SI.com reported that former Utah coach Jerry Sloan would be
interested in the Knicks job, though the Knicks probably would be
looking for a younger coach who could better relate to tteam’s
players.
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