The Good and The Bad of the Knicks

The good and the bad of the new Mike D'Antoni Knicks were on display in the week before the All-Star break. The Clarion Content was opposed to the D'Antoni hire, and we are still not convinced he is the right coach. It is against our core NBA beliefs that a seven seconds or less offense can win the NBA title. It is not that defense always wins in the NBA, but who was the last fast breaking NBA champ? The 1987 "Showtime" Lakers?

Coach D'Anonti's crazy offense produces amazing and awful results both. The Knicks gave up 144 points to the Golden State Warriors. They played no defense and they lost to an 18-35 team. It was the most points allowed in the NBA this season, that was supposed to be the awful result. The next night they were playing the lowly Clippers in LA. This was supposed to be the amazing, Nate Robinson blew up for 33 points, 15 assists, 9 boards and 5 steals. Unfortunately, the Knicks again played no defense and lost to a 13-40 Clips franchise, while giving up 128, albeit in OT, to a team that averages 94.6 points per game. Awful. It was the team's sixth straight loss heading into the break. The Knicks have talented pieces but we are unconvinced that D'Antoni's style can ultimately be successful.

We were bemoaning this to a native Durham NBA guru, saying how we don't think D'Antoni helps the Knicks possible recruitment of LeBron. LeBron believes in defense. Our pal came back with, what if the Knicks got Amare Stoudemire this week, before the trading deadline! How would the D'Antoni seven seconds or less offense look flying down the court with LeBron at the three, David Lee as the junkman four, and Amare playing center. He said, "Think LeBron might throw Amare some good passes? Maybe help him score some points? Maybe get him to play defense in a big spot?" The Clarion Content did have to take a deep breath and think about that scenario for a minute.

Late breaking news flash: the Knicks won tonight! They triumphed over the San Antonio Spurs in OT, with Nate Robinson, fresh off of his dunk contest win, having another big night. He is averaging over 25 points per game in his last five contests. David Lee had his 17th consecutive double double.

Think the Suns were a little bit happy to be rid of fired Coach Terry Porter? All they did was beat the Clippers by forty tonight and light up the scoreboard for 140 points.