Charles Oakley on the Knicks

[EmpireWF]

So in summary...

-You have a potential 50-win roster
-There is more to be excited about than at any point in many years
-You won your first playoff game in a decade last year

...but you still don't like the coach?

Ok. I just don't get it.

They didn't win a playoff game last year.

The way I look at it, Melo + Amare = potential 50 wins. Whether it was Don Chaney on the bench or D'Antoni.

[Warner2BruceTD]

They didn't win a playoff game last year.

The way I look at it, Melo + Amare = potential 50 wins. Whether it was Don Chaney on the bench or D'Antoni.

Ok, now this I can buy if you want the coach gone. I don't agree with it, and I think you're nuts, but that's different than asking the coach to change his stripes when what he has been doing his whole career is seemingly working.

[EmpireWF]

Another thing I hate, is stuff like this:

"Because D'Antoni's style has not been proven to win it all in the playoffs."

This is more of a general sports rant, and i'm not trying to pick on Empire here, but this is bullshit. Just because it hasn't won in the playoffs, doesn't mean that it can't, or that it has been proven that it can't.

Sports is all about matchups. D'Antoni ran into some very, very good Spurs teams seemingly every season. Great teams, and a bad matchup for his Suns personal wise. Who knows what happens if they don't run into the Spurs every year.

It's like saying the Pacers or Knicks weren't good enough to win in the 90's. Bullshit. They weren't good enough to beat Jordan, and were incredibly unlucky to play in the same era as a freak of nature.

IDK, I just hate sweeping generalizations, especially when it comes to the "win the championship or you are useless and suck" attitude that sports fans have these days.

I can understand hating such generalizations. It probably is ridiculous to say.

But, nearly every year in the finals I see great defensive efforts. The team that can be lax on that end of the floor almost aways stalls when all the marbles are on the line.

Can an offensive-minded team win it all, by purely outshooting? Sure, but it's not the norm. Could the Knicks develop the rest of their roster around the big 2? Perhaps.

The thing I'm most worried about is wasting Amare's prime and Melo's youth while the rest of the roster comes around. It's a lot hoping Landry Fields can continue to grow and Big Man A can be a legit contributor.

[jeffx]

Ok, now this I can buy if you want the coach gone. I don't agree with it, and I think you're nuts, but that's different than asking the coach to change his stripes when what he has been doing his whole career is seemingly working.

The coach can stay, but only if he makes a committment to defense, and holds players accountable. Look at Miami and Boston - their stars play 'D', our stars don't. Until that changes(and we get size up front), Knicks will NEVER get to the next level. Bulls fans should consider themselves lucky - you could have had No-D'Antoni if the front office didn't lowball him.

As for the '94 Knicks, Pat Riley fucked up in Game 7, which he admits now.

[ralaw]

I'm not a D'Antonio guy either........mostly because IMO with the way this team in constructed it simply isn't good enough. For D'Antonio's system to work you have to have a very talented team with a gifted PG. If they want any chance of competing with the Miami Heat in the East they have to get Chris Paul. Paul in that system would be NashMVP like. Neither Athony or Stoudemire are the type of players who you can expect to carry the load......Chris Paul is that type of guy and also is the type of guy who will hold others accoutable and get everyone where they need to be to be successful (this is what Nash did). Paul will also demand that they play some defense as well.

[NAHSTE]

Sports is all about matchups. D'Antoni ran into some very, very good Spurs teams seemingly every season. Great teams, and a bad matchup for his Suns personal wise. Who knows what happens if they don't run into the Spurs every year.

Not to mention Steve Nash getting hip checked into the scorer's table by Robert Horry, which somehow led to Amare Stoudemire getting suspended for a critical game 6. Or the time Tim Duncan banked in a fluke three pointer to swing the series.

Both of those are the fault of D'Antoni's system, apparently.

[DJ Rhude]

Mike Woodson will make a difference because now D'Antoni can just do what he's good at and let Mike worry about the defense.....now hopefully we have some semblance of a season

We played the Celtics tough those first two games in the playoffs, probably should've won both....had we pulled at least one of those games out, it would've changed the complexion of the series....not saying we would've beat the Cs, but it wouldn't have been easy for them....those two losses in Boston took all the air out of us

Didn't help Billups got hurt....that was huge because Tony Douglas is not a play maker

I love Charles Oakley, but let me remind him how many times he had a careless turnover in the playoffs with one of his stupid behind the back passes or took ill advised shots lol.....over time he's designated himself the dedicated Knick ripper like he never fucked up

[FedEx227]

Not to mention Steve Nash getting hip checked into the scorer's table by Robert Horry, which somehow led to Amare Stoudemire getting suspended for a critical game 6. Or the time Tim Duncan banked in a fluke three pointer to swing the series.

Both of those are the fault of D'Antoni's system, apparently.

That Amare suspension was always ridiculous. Never, ever made sense.

[FedEx227]

Mike Woodson will make a difference because now D'Antoni can just do what he's good at and let Mike worry about the defense.....now hopefully we have some semblance of a season

We played the Celtics tough those first two games in the playoffs, probably should've won both....had we pulled at least one of those games out, it would've changed the complexion of the series....not saying we would've beat the Cs, but it wouldn't have been easy for them....those two losses in Boston took all the air out of us

Didn't help Billups got hurt....that was huge because Tony Douglas is not a play maker

I love Charles Oakley, but let me remind him how many times he had a careless turnover in the playoffs with one of his stupid behind the back passes or took ill advised shots lol.....over time he's designated himself the dedicated Knick ripper like he never fucked up

He prides himself as being this beacon of toughness, defense and basketball smarts when the primary reason the Bulls traded him was because he didn't have enough toughness or basketball smarts.

Still turned out to be a good player but has a very inflated sense of himself.

[IamMedellin]

We played the Celtics tough those first two games in the playoffs, probably should've won both....had we pulled at least one of those games out, it would've changed the complexion of the series....not saying we would've beat the Cs, but it wouldn't have been easy for them....those two losses in Boston took all the air out of us

Didn't help Billups got hurt....that was huge because Tony Douglas is not a play maker

also didnt help that Amare got hurt in game 1 and was ineffective for the rest of the series...

It was basically Melo and the holdovers from the midseason trade[that killed the knicks bench] after that...

[jeffx]

also didnt help that Amare got hurt in game 1 and was ineffective for the rest of the series...

It was basically Melo and the holdovers from the midseason trade[that killed the knicks bench] after that...

...and Landry Fields looked totally lost on the court.

[EmpireWF]

Fields lost all his confidence after the trade. I'll chalk it up to blowing up the team + hitting the rookie wall (he was starting from day one and getting big minutes).

[DJ Rhude]

Fields' play regressed after the trade but I'm confident he'll find himself again.....he's a heady player

[FedEx227]

Does anyone think he played above his head for a majority of the year?

[EmpireWF]

Does anyone think he played above his head for a majority of the year?

Have nothing to compare him to since I never knew he existed until he started making noise last summer.

First half of the season, he was routinely in good spots to pick up offensive rebounds which surprised me. His shot from past the three line is hit or miss and his offensive game as a whole definitely needs work. Needs to improve his FT% too.

At the same time, he probably won't be asked to do too much since teams can't double both Amare and Melo. The few shots he will be open for, needs to be more consistent.