Gotta love Isola
[h1]Knicks hire Mike D'Antoni as 24th head coach with 4-year, $24M deal[/h1]
BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Updated Saturday, May 10th 2008, 5:36 PM
Shamus/Getty
The Knicks gave their head coaching job to ex-Suns coach Mike D'Antoni on Saturday.
Gossage/Getty
'Antoni built an offensive powerhouse in Phoenix with two-time MVP Steve Nash, but must now resurrect the Knicks.
Mike D'Antoni averaged 58 wins over his last four seasons with the
PhoenixSuns and was the architect of one of the
NBA's most exciting offensive teams.
Of course, he also had
Steve Nash,
Amare Stoudemire and
Shawn Marion executing his game plan. Now, he'll be working with
Stephon Marbury,
Eddy Curry and
Zach Randolph.
Warm weather isn't the only difference between Phoenix and New York. D'Antoni is about to find out if his system can win in the rugged EasternConference with a roster that most coaches wouldn't wish on their worst enemy.
Donnie Walsh's first and most important hire as
Knicks presidentraises as many questions as it answers. D'Antoni Saturday accepted Walsh's four-year, $24 million contract offer to become the Knicks' newestcoach/savior.
Walsh, who for two days denied that he was preparing to offer D'Antoni a contract, declined to comment. In fact, the Knicks waited until early lastnight to confirm D'Antoni's hiring, which was first reported early Saturday morning by
SI.com.
The club released a statement that read: "The New York Knicks have agreed in principle with
Mike D'Antoni to become the next head coach of the team. A press conference will be scheduled upon the completion of thecontract."
The Suns gave D'Antoni permission to interview with
Chicago and the Knicks.Phoenix owed D'Antoni $8.5 million over the final two years of his contract.
Besides Walsh's credibility taking a hit, the Knicks' president is also taking a risk on a coach whose up-tempo style works only with certain typesof players. Also, D'Antoni has a reputation as a coach who does not stress defense.
When Walsh was hired last month, he talked of the importance of reestablishing the team's defensive culture. Instead, he hired a coach who angered hisbosses in Phoenix because the team wouldn't defend enough. Under D'Antoni, the Suns went 26-25 in the postseason, including a first-round loss to
San Antonio in five games this year.
"I think it is a terrible match," said one rival head coach. "I don't get it. Two of the biggest problems with the Knicks are that theydon't practice and they don't play defense. I don't know if that changes now."
Mark Jackson was perceived to be the front-runner in the race for the job, but Walsh did not speak to Jackson after their original interview two weeks ago.According to sources, however, Walsh led Jackson to believe that he was the leading candidate.
A source close to
Avery Johnson claims that the former
Mavericks head coach also was led to believe that he was the top candidate.On Friday, Walsh was involved in contract negotiations with Johnson's representatives.
In the cases of both Jackson and Johnson, it appears that Walsh was not forthcoming with either. The way things shook out also raises the possibility thatGarden chairman
James Dolan was involved in the decision-making process.
Jackson's close relationship with
Jeff Van Gundy may haveconcerned Dolan, who still has a problem with the last coach to lead the Knicks to a playoff victory. Plus, D'Antoni is the kind of big-name star whoappeals to Dolan, whose previous three coaches are all in the Hall of Fame -
Lenny Wilkens,
Larry Brownand
Isiah Thomas.
When Walsh was hired, Dolan vowed that his new president would enjoy complete autonomy, and yet Walsh's first move - removing Thomas from the bench butnot firing him from the organization - had Dolan's fingerprints all over it.
For the past two days, people close to Walsh questioned his interest in D'Antoni. The general feeling was that the laid-back D'Antoni wasn't theright fit for the underachieving Knicks. There is also a feeling that he is too sensitive to survive the intense media scrutiny here.
A source close to D'Antoni said Saturday that he was "shocked" that D'Antoni would agree to join the Knicks.
"The money is great, so maybe that's the reason he took it," said the source. "If I were advising Mike, I would have told him not to takethe job."
D'Antoni is an assistant on the
U.S. national team, which means thathe'll have to spend four or five weeks away from the Knicks as the team trains in
Las Vegas and then heads to
Beijing.
When he returns, D'Antoni's system could make the Knicks more exciting.
Jamal Crawford,
Nate Robinson and
David Lee are three players who could flourish under D'Antoni. Of course, it is worthnoting that Robinson is one of several players whom the Suns, with D'Antoni as head coach, rejected and eventually sent to the Knicks.
Robinson originally was a Phoenix first-round pick before he was traded here. The Suns also traded
Quentin Richardson for
Kurt Thomas, a deal that continues to haunt the Knicks. And when D'Antoni took overthe Suns 21 games into the 2003-04 season, his point guard was Marbury.
That relationship lasted 13 games - the Suns went 4-9 - before Marbury was traded to his hometown team. That deal enabled the Suns to clear salary cap spacein the summer of '04 and sign Nash, who went on to win two MVP awards.
As for Marbury, he's D'Antoni's problem ... again.
Someone shoot this dude now, please? And yea, the lottery has me shook. In a perfect world, we'd be sailing right about now knowing the #1 pick is ours.But of course, with the lottery not in our favor we can only pray.