The Enigma That Is The Knicks

Its a common trend in sports that when a coach’s voice has been heard over and over in the locker room, a change is needed. Normally in these situations, that comes over many years and inconsistent play. In this particular situation, it was less than four seasons and consistent losing. Mike D’Antoni resigned today amid rumors of a rift between him and the team’s star forward Carmelo Anthony. On the surface, many fans saw this coming but no one saw it coming this quickly.

This is a flawed roster but also one of the deeper rosters in the league. They have to find a reason to play inspired night in and night out. They need someone to put the fear of God into the players. According to reports, Mike D’Antoni lost the respect of the players. These guys can’t walk around thinking they’re untouchable. Plain and simple, if they don’t defend or even play with even a sliver of effort they need to know that they will be benched. I don’t think that Mike Woodson is the guy to do that but I hope he at least makes an effort.

Personally, I like Mike D’Antoni. I think that, given the right roster, he can win. He probably can’t win a championship but any owner or general manager that hires him knows that coming in. That being said, I think it was time for a change in New York. Mike D’Antoni’s voice had become stale with the players, the media and the fans. People were tired of the lack of defense and lack of effort. Knicks fans can forgive many things but lack of effort isn’t one of them.

So now interim coach Mike Woodson takes over and there should be a new look almost immediately. Woodson is a defensive minded coach and has some of the pieces necessary to be successful. One thing he won’t be able to change right away is the carelessness of the basketball. Playing defense is one thing, turning the ball over is whole different thing.

Moving forward, the Knicks should make the playoffs. They have the roster to do so. They have two star players, veteran leadership and solid young players. I think they’ll get bumped in the first round after five games, no matter who they play. They’ll push early for either Kentucky’s John Calipari or former Lakers/Bulls head coach and former Knick player Phil Jackson. I think Jackson is a much better fit because he’ll be able to implement his triangle offense with Tyson Chandler in the post, Amare Stoudemire as the athletic big man and Carmelo Anthony as the scorer. The fanbase won’t allow anything less than a big name head coach and James Dolan has to pull out all the stops to get Jackson here.