Here we go again. It is not all his fault, but New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni is hearing it from the Madison Square Garden crowd.
“Fire D’Antoni” chants broke yesterday during the Knicks’ loss to the 76ers. The Knicks were down as many as 21 during the second half before making a brief run in the fourth, eventually falling 106-94. As Marc Berman with the New York Post writes, D’Antoni may have been getting the blame from the crowd, but coaching was not the whole problem yesterday.
Returning from a winless four-game road trip, a sloppy (Jeremy) Lin had a lousy afternoon and the Knicks “stars,” Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire were mediocre.
Stoudemire was invisible with nine points and Anthony, after a big start, finished with 22 points, shooting 5 of 13. Anthony and Stoudemire both sat out the final quarter.
First off, the 76ers gave Lin the same problems the Heat gave him a few weeks back. They swarmed him with their athleticism, never letting him get comfortable.
Lin’s problem is that he is still adjusting to the different looks defenses are giving him now that he is the focal point of the Knicks offense. ‘Melo is still taking some time to adjust to having not one, but two point guards he has never played with as well. But at what point does that excuse run for a guy who is supposed to be a top 10 player in the league?
This is not a ground-breaking analysis, but I think Amar’e is just spent at this point. He has had back, knee and eye problems and I would not be surprised if his body is starting to wear down.
On top of that, the team is 3-7 in its last 10 games and losers of five in a row. They are now only a game of falling out of the playoffs in the East.
In spite of all of that, I cannot see them missing the playoffs this season. There is a ton of talent there and it really comes down to ‘Melo being able to mesh with Lin. I would also assume that Mike D’Antoni is going to do everything he can to get the Knicks in to the playoffs since he’s in the last year of his contract.
