Alright, so the Knicks have made many bad decisions over the years and have basically turned the franchise into the east coast version of the LA Clippers. First, they traded Patrick Ewing with one year left on his contract that started the cap quagmire that the Knicks still have not escaped. Second, they hired incompetent GM’s like Scott Layden and Isiah Thomas to run the franchise. Third, they polluted the roster with players like Jerome James and Stephon Marbury. I could go on for days (probably years) listing the dumb decisions the Knicks have made over this past decade. However, the Knicks have finally made one decision that makes sense in naming Mike D’Antoni as head coach.
Some pundits, such as Peter Vecsey and Shaun Powell to name a few, have ridiculed Donnie Walsh’s decision to hire D’Antoni. The critics feel that his system is not built for our (garbage) roster and that a coach such as Mark Jackson is needed to preach defense and bond with Stephon Marbury. As I have said before, I agree with those who say that Mike D’Antoni is not a good fit with the current roster. But, he is a perfect fit for the future of the franchise. In fact, the only “good” fit for this roster is an atomic bomb to blow it up. The Knicks are building for the future and D’Antoni’s system is the future of the NBA. The two top players in the NBA playoffs right now are Tony Parker and Chris Paul and they are both point guards (Editor’s note: I guess Chuck forgot that there were players named Kobe and LeBron in these playoffs too) and, not coincidentally, the most important position in the NBA today is the point guard position. If your team has a Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, or Derron Williams, your team makes the playoffs year-in and year-out. These four players also happen to be the top four players at their position and you can make a legitimate argument that the true MVP this season was Chris Paul. There is only one true dominant post player in this year’s playoffs, and that guy is Tim Duncan. Therefore, you don’t hire a coach whose system fits the talents of players such as Eddy Curry. You hire him in the hopes that he can wreak havoc in the Eastern Conference with a star point guard (So we don’t have one right this second, so what? By this coming Tuesday, Derrick Rose may already be lined up to be that guy.)
I don’t know whether Mark Jackson is a great coach or not, and I do not want to spend the next two years watching the Knicks figure out of he is. If he really wants to be a coach, maybe he should join Patrick Ewing on the bench and actually get some coaching experience. Mike D’Antoni was the most qualified coach on the market and the Knicks got him. Instead of criticizing Donnie Walsh, the critics should be celebrating this decision because at the start of the season, who would have ever dreamed that Mike D’Antoni would want to come to NYC? Finally, it looks like the Knicks have started building the foundation of a strong organization, and that is reason enough to be excited. And if Derrick Rose is walking through that door in June, well then we can all start dreaming big.
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