ORLANDO — Mike D’Antoni is made for the West. He certainly wasn’t made for New York.
His whining about the difficulty of coaching a team in New York City was unbearable during his final days with the Knicks.
He looked like a guy who signed only for the money and not the only reason to coach — to try to bring your team to a championship.
The Lakers did the Knicks a favor late Sunday night, opting to make D’Antoni the coach over Phil Jackson, who simply overplayed his Kobe hand. Jackson owns 11 coaching championships and had his way with the Knicks. He would have been able to squeeze out all the talent Kobe Bryant had left while making the most of Dwight Howard, something Mike Brown could not do in the short time given to him.
Now that job falls to D’Antoni, who was too soft to make it big at the Garden. He never won over Carmelo Anthony. This is a superstar’s league in every way and if you can’t cut it with your team’s superstar, you have no chance to survive.
As an added bonus for the Knicks, just imagine Carmelo’s effort level when they face D’Antoni’s Lakers on Dec. 13 at the Garden and then in Los Angeles on Christmas Day. Anthony will have a score to settle in both of those games. You can be sure he will try his best to showcase all of his talents, making Mike Woodson’s job that much easier.
The Knicks are 4-0, will move to 5-0 tonight against the struggling Magic at the Amway Center, and D’Antoni is nothing but a tiny speck in their rear view mirror. Most Knicks fans could care less about D’Antoni. Mike Who?
It is in Melo They Trust. The Knicks will go as far as Anthony takes them.
D’Antoni was the Ghost Rider coach, a gauzy image along the Knicks sideline during games and then in postgame press conferences he looked as if he didn’t want to have anything to do with his team.
When all was said and done he was a terrible fit, and checked out early. His much ballyhooed fluid desert offense never came together in the big city and his defense was a joke from Day 1.
The saddest part of all this was D’Antoni coached as if he knew he didn’t belong at the Garden. He now has been given a second chance with the Lakers, reunited with his coach on the floor, Steve Nash. Showtime in Seven Seconds will be given life.
D’Antoni’s offense should help the Lakers because Brown’s Princeton’s Offense was a ridiculous notion in the ever-widening world of over-coaching. This is a league of explosiveness. The Lakers need to open it up as much as possible and hope for the best, and D’Antoni will open it up. He has a wonderful relationship with Nash and Bryant idolized him while growing up in Italy.
The stars have aligned once again for D’Antoni and this time it is up to him to make the most of the pick-and-roll opportunity. He can’t blame Anthony or anyone else this time around. Getting rid of the Princeton-influenced offense that Brown brought to the table will be a welcome relief. Already D’Antoni, who recently underwent knee replacement surgery, is way ahead of the game in L.A.
He hated New York. He’ll love L.A., but he still will have to come up with some form of disciplined defense, something his teams have never been able to do.
D’Antoni couldn’t get the job done with the Knicks, going to the postseason once in his tenure and never winning a single playoff game. By hiring D’Antoni, though, the Lakers are saying it was the Knicks who failed, not D’Antoni.
This is yet another challenge the Knicks must take on this season. Sure, D’Antoni has much to prove in L.A.
Anthony has something to prove, too.
That he can take the Knicks to a winning place D’Antoni could never reach.