CLOCK TICKING? Mike D’Antoni could be pointed toward the exit after this season, as the Knicks’ newly shaped roster, featuring Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, doesn’t work well with his up-tempo offense. (Paul J. Bereswill)
ATLANTA — Much has been made about the uncertainty of Knicks president Donnie Walsh returning next season — but coach Mike D’Antoni’s future seems in question, too.
Following the blockbuster additions of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups two weeks ago, the Knicks have assembled a club that is not built in D’Antoni’s speedball image.
So with one year left on his contract and his biggest supporter, Walsh, up in the air, there is mystery to D’Antoni’s long-term security —– fairly or unfairly.
D’Antoni’s greatest attribute as coach is perfecting a high-speed attack, which the club is slowly moving away from.
The coach figured he’d surely be back if he guided the Knicks to their first playoff berth since the 2003-2004 season. But what now? As D’Antoni admitted last week, “The stakes are now higher.”
One league executive told The Post, “I think the question for next season will be, is D’Antoni the right guy to lead a team with a halfcourt star in Anthony and a [soon-to-be] 35-year-old point guard [Billups]?”
Dealing with another roster overhaul should be par for the course for D’Antoni. Every season as Knicks coach, he’s dealt with roster-rocking, in-season trades.
In his two-plus seasons, D’Antoni has coached 34 players, which amounts to essentially three different teams.
Entering training camp, D’Antoni hoped this would be the year of roster stability. How wrong he was.
Now comes the latest in-season roster shakeup — made precisely two weeks ago, the 13-player, three-team Anthony blockbuster inspired by owner James Dolan that neither Walsh nor D’Antoni were enthralled with because of the amount of pieces they gave up, according to sources.
This time, however, the trade was heralded as a move designed to make the Knicks not just better but supposedly a more formidable force in this spring’s playoffs, with the groundwork set for a future championship run.
“You have to have patience,” D’Antoni said yesterday, before the Knicks knocked off the Hawks, 92-79, at Philips Arena.
“Most people want it done immediately. It takes a while. [After a trade], you got to go through a mini training camp and try to get everyone ready while you’re playing, without a lot of practice time.
“We do have patience. We’ll get through it. But it’s not easy on anybody — on players or the coaching staff. But we’re building in the right direction, and are enthused about it.”
D’Antoni compared the Knicks’ adjustment to Miami’s.
“They have a bunch of guys who just came together and have to figure it out,” D’Antoni said.
“Teams that have their major core together a couple years, three years, you can add pieces, change pieces, it doesn’t change that much. But when you change your identity totally, it’s tough. [Heat coach] Erik [Spoelstra] is in the firestorm. It’s not easy.
“People need to give them time to get through it, and it’s a little bit like us. For a coach, it’s a process.”