New York Knicks coach Mike D’ Antoni still confident about his job – NBA Update
When the NBA regular season started late last year, the New York Knicks were billed as one of the teams team supposed to make the headlines.
The franchise has done that all right, but for all the wrong reasons.
Losers of 11 of their last 13 games, before finally pulling off a 99-92 win against the New Jersey Nets this Saturday; the Knicks have had a nightmare of a season so far. Sure enough, one of the major reasons of their tailspin
has been the poor form of star forward Carmelo Anthony, but fingers are also being appointed at the head coach Mark D’ Antoni.
D’ Antoni is known in the NBA circles as someone who puts emphasis on fast paced offense but lacks in the defensive acumen. It was no coincidence thus that the Knicks, despite being efficient up the court, were thumped on the D
in the playoffs last season. However, this time around, the Madison Square Garden franchise has shown fragility in their offense as well. At present, despite having stars like Anthony, Amare’ Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler in the mix, they are ranked 24th
in offensive efficiency, scoring 97.3 points per 100 possessions.
However Antoni, who is the last part of a 4 year contract, believes that it is still not the time for him to panic;
"You've got to do your job, you can't panic. We are who we are and we've got to get better. If I can do my job well, good things will happen. If we don't win, it'll happen," he said, in reference to losing his job. "So I'm not
that worried about it, to be honest with you. ... That's one of the good things about being 60 years old; you don't have to worry too much."
At present, the main problem for the Knicks is the role definition. Before Anthony arrived at the Garden in February last year, Stoudemire used to be the go-to man and it was the power forward, who ensured that the Knicks entered
last season’s playoffs for the first time in seven years.
However, with Anthony open at the wings, it is only natural that the passes will find him rather than reaching Stoudemire in the paint. Stoudemire’s role therefore became lesser as the season progressed and Carmelo’s slump from
the floor didn’t help either.
D’ Antoni however believes that the chemistry issue between the two stars will fade away with time;
"I'm doing and the players are doing the best they can do that we know, and we hope it works out. And our chemistry is pretty good, pretty solid on what we're doing and I think we're improving. We're getting close. After that,
it's kind of up to the basketball gods and we'll see what happens."
The fact that the Knicks have lost the last games against the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics by a combined tally of 5 points, somewhat justifies that fact. However, the Knicks have been there and we all know that they can lose
way very quickly.
D’ Antoni needs to ensure that after Saturday’s win, that his team doesn’t give up the momentum. After nearly one third of the season, Knicks are languishing at the 10th spot in Eastern Conference and another slip up
will make it very difficult for them to remain in the post season qualification hunt.
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