Mike D’Antoni getting Fired?

[Chrispy]

New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni (pictured) is a dead man walking. Sources say the team’s owner, Cablevision heir James Dolan, decided to fire D’Antoni last week after the Knicks lost to the mediocre Houston Rockets, their ninth loss in 10 games. “But Dolan wants the least coverage possible, so he’ll do it right before the Super Bowl,” one source told Flash. After expected back-to-back losses to Chicago and Boston, Dolan will pull the trigger the day before the biggest sports event of the year, and replace D’Antoni with Mike Woodson, a favorite of Dolan’s shadow consigliere, Isiah Thomas.

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/02/01/020112-gossip-briefs-1-2/

[Kuzzy Powers]

Overdue.

[NAHSTE]

It's not his fault Melo refuses to play team ball. Or maybe it is, since he's the coach, but either way that situation is not working. D'Antoni will land on his feet somewhere else, with a roster better equipped to play his style. Chances are the Knicks will continue to be a mediocre bunch, as their thin roster and mismatched pair of superstars would suggest.

[Rudi]

Overdue.

[EmpireWF]

D'Antoni was going to be fired at some point this year barring a dominant season.

Fact is this team is not built for his system. Ownership ravaged the team last year and then cut the only legit point guard on the roster.

Can Mike Woodson get them to play great? Hell no. Then again, I don't know that any coach could with the way the roster is currently constructed. They need a point in the worst way.

But you just know they'll play "well enough" for him to get an extension.

[ralaw]

I still want to know what Isiah Thomas has on Dolan.........he has to have something.

[EmpireWF]

I still want to know what Isiah Thomas has on Dolan.........he has to have something.

After everything the two have been through over the past 7 or 8 years, I am a firm believer they are fuck buddies.

Nothing else can explain it. Nothing.

[jeffx]

It ticks me off Isiah will always have a hold on this franchise thanks to the trust fund baby, Brain-Dead Dolan.

[ryne candy]

Would like to see Phil Jackson coach the Knicks....good to see him being a Knickerbocker again.

[FedEx227]

Good. D'Antoni deserves to be coaching a team like the Warriors or another fringe team more suitable for his system. It's all about maximizing talent and creating match-up problems not scoring a lot of points from superstars.

[ralaw]

I don't see Jackson doing it, as Melo and Stoudemire aren't his type of guys.

[NAHSTE]

I don't see Jackson doing it, as Melo and Stoudemire aren't his type of guys.

The flip side to this is maybe his inner-ego will entice him to take on the challenge. The "Zen Master" mystique is partly based on his ability to reign in superstars like Kobe and MJ. Maybe he feels like saving the Knicks would be his final act in basketball.

[FedEx227]

If he can get Amare on board it's over. He's perfect for the triangle.

The depth on that team is garbage though.

[jeffx]

The depth on that team is garbage though.

That's because they gutted the team twice. The first time was necessary - Walsh had to undo Isiah's bad contracts and get under the cap. The second time Dolan was impatient with the Carmelo negotiations and gave away half the team over Walsh and Pringles' objections. Walsh was willing to play chicken with Denver, Dolan wasn't(and I'll bet Isiah was whispering in his ear).

Who was right? Time will tell.

[IamMedellin]

Who was right? Time will tell.

I think time has already told; the team is awful, superstars are griping, coach is on the chopping block, Walsh walked out.

Dolan needs to stop trying to emulate Steinbrenner, and step away. Hire a GM with vision, and let him get a coach and the players.

That's logical, reasonable, the smart thing to do. But Dolan raised ticket prices 50% this year, so he's just gonna put a bandaid on this gutted team and hope for the best.