The New York Knicks have reportedly signed outgoing Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni to a contract worth $24 million dollars over 4 years, according to New York Times newspaper. D'Antoni fell out-of-favour with Suns management, and the final 2 years of his contract was terminated.
D'Antoni, who took over the Phoenix head-coaching role from Frank Johnson in 2003 enjoyed a successful 5 season tenure with the Suns, employing a fast-paced 'run and gun' offense, taking the Suns to 4 playoff appearances, including 2 appearances in the Western Conference Finals and 3 Pacific Division titles.
Despite D'Antoni's invigorating offense starring Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, shortfalls and lack of emphasis on team defense ultimately cut Phoenix's playoff runs short, and probably ultimately cost D'Antoni his job. Lack of team depth and excessive minutes to the team's stars also likely contributed to the Suns's failed championship runs. Management made their intentions clear, by trading away Shawn Marion, one of the centerpieces of the Suns offense, for Shaquille O'Neal before the February 08 trade deadline. The trade failed to bring the Suns any closer to a championship, as they tumbled out of contention, falling again at the hands of the defensive-minded, Tim Duncan led-San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
It is highly questionable why a team who has struggled on defense would hire an offense-minded coach who appears to have little regard for defense. On the surface, D'Antoni doesn't appear to have what it takes to bring a championship to New York. Although fruitless in their championship runs, D'Antoni's 'run and gun' offense was led by 2-time MVP Steve Nash and fueled by the athleticism of Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire, combined with the much-dependable perimeter shooting of Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa. The current New York roster littered with poor defenders and whose styles would render them very inefficient at running D'Antoni's famed up-tempo system. Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are slow plodding big men. The team's leading point guard and ex-Sun, Stephon Marbury, had a tumultuous relationship with D'Antoni while before he was traded to New York midway through the 2003-2004 season. Perhaps the only pieces of the roster suitable in D'Antoni's offense would be Jamal Crawford, a combo guard capable of lighting it up from downtown on any given night, and Quentin Richardson, an ex-Sun who has experience in D'Antoni's offense and had his best statistical season under D'Antoni in his only season with Phoenix.
Despite the team's lack of recent success, New York remains the biggest basketball stage in America. After 4 successful, yet fruitless seasons with Phoenix, D'Antoni has the opportunity to point a struggling team towards the road to finals .Don't expect miracles to happen at the Big Apple any time soon.
A's opinions:
- Expect the Knicks to bolster their team by drafting a young talented point guard. Such as Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo or Jerryd Bayless.
- Don't be shocked to see Stephon Marbury bought out or traded at some stage next season.
- Expect either one of Curry or Randolph to be moved during this offseason.
Fantasy basketball implications
- Quentin Richardson's statistics next season may resemble the type of numbers he achieved during the 04-05 season. He's certain to shoot from downtown aplenty. However managers should deal with his awful FG% by drafting or acquiring players with a great FG%, such as Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson and Tim Duncan.
- Quicker offense means less time clock spent per posession and conversely more posessions, the team's number 1 scorer Jamal Crawford could potentially reach career-best numbers in points and three-pointers made under D'Antoni
Discuss.
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