D’Antoni not to Blame for Knicks Struggles?
In some corners of the Knick locker room, there was fear after a listless loss to the rebuilding Cavaliers on Wednesday night that (Mike) D’Antoni could be gone soon if progress isn’t achieved, according to a person familiar with the players’ thinking. That would be a shame, because D’Antoni never asked to coach the ill-fitting roster he has, and his reservations about giving up so much for Carmelo Anthony are proving to be dead on.
“I hope you’re wrong,” one person connected to the team said, hoping D’Antoni can hang on.
“It’s not the coach,” said another person invested in the Knicks turning things around. “I wish it were that simple.”
It isn’t, of course. A mess of this magnitude rarely can be blamed on one person or factor. To anyone who thinks so, I ask this: If the best offensive coach in the game has a team that is struggling to break 70 points and 40 percent shooting on a regular basis, what does that tell you about the players he is coaching?
“It’s got to be a willing thing from everybody,” Amar’e Stoudemire told reporters in Cleveland after the Knicks lost to the Cavs 91-81. “We all have to be willing to space the court, willing to move the ball. It has to be something that we all have to buy into. It works, and it’s been proven that it works.”
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