James Dolan should not fire coach Mike D’Antoni today.
Because if he did, in good conscience, the Knicks owner also would have to fire himself, interim general manager Glen Grunwald, and ship Carmelo Anthony back to Denver, Amar’e Stoudemire back to Phoenix and Toney Douglas back to Florida State.
Everyone is to blame for the disgusting mess littering the Madison Square Garden floor last night, a greasing-the-skids 100-86 loss to the Bucks.
The season’s first official “Fire D’Antoni!’’ chant descended from the 400-level in the second half. There were periodic bursts of it in the fourth quarter in addition to a brief “Phil Jackson!’’ serenade and plenty of boos throughout another wretched Knicks evening.
D’Antoni’s selfish offense scored 35 points in the second half. The kicker chant came with 2:23 left: “Let’s go Giants!’’ In other words, forget the Knicks.
“I don’t blame the fans,’’ D’Antoni said afterward. “Half my family probably is [chanting, too].’’
It was another glib remark, but D’Antoni otherwise was as serious as he ever has been, looking drained and perhaps realizing this is the beginning of the end.
D’Antoni said Wednesday the club was in “a little bit of a crisis’’ after its fourth straight loss to the previously 4-9 Suns. Now it’s five straight losses, and the Knicks are in a complete crisis after getting dominated by the previously 4-9 Bucks, who had not won on the road all season.
“There are no magic words or magic potion,’’ D’Antoni said. “It looks like they are running circles around us.’’
There can’t be many nights like this left for D’Antoni to survive into February. There just can’t, even if this dreck is not entirely his fault.
It is the worst time for the Nuggets to come to town tonight and refresh everyone’s memory of last February’s Anthony blockbuster trade, which looks worse by the minute.
The Knicks can’t beat anyone right now. They can’t beat the lousy Bucks, can’t beat St. John’s and probably can’t beat Bucks rookie Tobias Harris’ high school team in Dix Hills, Half Hollows Hills West.
Anthony couldn’t bear the beating anymore last night. He got into a trash-talking battle with Milwaukee’s fleet point guard Brandon Jennings and was ejected with 1:33 left. Some fans cheered, just like they will cheer Denver’s Danilo Gallinari tonight. Anthony scored 35 empty points, shot just 11-of-26 and had four turnovers.
Meanwhile, Stoudemire stayed on the court long after the buzzer, solitary on the bench.
“Just trying to soak it in, trying to figure out how to get us back to where we were,’’ Stoudemire said.
A lot of Knicks fans would like to go back to where they were in February, when a young, up-tempo, ball-sharing team had Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov.
This roster is flawed — with nothing in the backcourt, on the bench or in the chemistry department with Stoudemire, Anthony and Tyson Chandler. The blame is with management and ownership, not just with the head coach who has a sophisticated offense that takes time to master.
Dolan, who was not present for the chants, gave up the farm in the Anthony blockbuster against the better judgment of former Knicks president Donnie Walsh.
“They traded chemistry for celebrity,’’ one Walsh confidant said. “It wasn’t a basketball trade.’’
If you want to nitpick last night, Walsh doesn’t go unscathed either for the 2008 draft, when he passed on Jennings for Jordan Hill — maybe his worst miscue. Jennings scorched the Knicks for 36 points.
It could get worse tonight when the Nuggets march into town with their 11-5 record playing Melo-free ball.
D’Antoni will pay the price for that trade ultimately, but probably not until Baron Davis gets healthy and Dolan sees what the team looks like with a true point guard.
A 6-9 record is not a record to fire a coach over, not in a lockout season with a two-week training camp and new pieces to fit together. Not with a sophisticated offense that takes time to learn. Anthony still hasn’t.
Had Anthony waited for free agency and signed with the Knicks with their cap space, he would be part of a deep and rich team in New York with Raymond Felton as his point guard, Mozgov as center and Gallinari as Sixth Man.
“I just miss the energy and free-spirited way the team played,’’ one person close to Walsh said of the pre-Melo Knicks. “On any given night, it was anyone’s game to be hot.’’
D’Antoni called the offense “a wreck.’’ A coaching change to assistant Mike Woodson won’t fix it. It’s putting lipstick on a pig.