Mike D’Antoni is ready to reinstall Chris Duhon as the Knicks starting point guard, and also wants to make him a quasi-assistant coach as he seeks more input from the players.
The Post has learned Duhon and D’Antoni held an important meeting in their Cleveland hotel Saturday afternoon as the desperate Knicks coach picked his captain’s brain on the Knicks’ troubles for 30 minutes.
Coincidence or not, Duhon, with the club 0-2 since he went to the pine, is expected to return as the starting point guard tomorrow vs. Sacramento in their last game before the All-Star break. Nate Robinson will return to a reserve role.
“It was typical coach-talking-to-his-captain type talk, trying to see what we could do to get this team back to where we were,” Duhon told The Post. “What I see we could do differently, what he and I need to do better. There was a lot of brain-storming trying to find solutions.”
Not surprisingly, the communication issue came up, with D’Antoni agreeing he needs to talk to the players more often and get their thoughts — even during a game.
Players have complained publicly and privately D’Antoni doesn’t communicate enough individually to guys and define their roles — with Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry, Robinson, Al Harrington and Darko Milicic headlining the list.
“It’s tough being head coach,” Duhon said. “We as players think that we can do it, but we really can’t. But the main thing is communicating with him more when the game is going on.”
Duhon said the coach wants him in particular to be in his ear — a clear sign how much D’Antoni trusts Duhon’s judgment.
“If I’m not even in the game, just watching it from his point of view, trying to make adjustments, helping him out,” Duhon said. “Being kind of another assistant coach out there, try this, try that. We need more interaction with him so he can have a better feel. He can’t see everything.”
What D’Antoni sees is his Robinson starting point guard experiment as a failure.
D’Antoni said he now firmly views Robinson is better suited as a shooting guard off the bench. The Knicks were slaughtered 44-24 in the first quarter against the Cavaliers on Saturday, though Robinson led them back with a scorching 23-point second half. The Knicks were a Duhon 3-pointer from tying with two minutes left.
Robinson and Duhon shared the backcourt in the fourth quarter when the Knicks made their comeback from 23 points down. That will be a combination D’Antoni will look to use to close games. With D’Antoni classifying Robinson as a shooting guard, Hughes will likely see only backup point guard duty, if he plays at all.
“Starting is not that big a deal,” Duhon said. “It’s more who finishes. My job is to find a way out of the slump I’ve been in and go back to being myself.”
Duhon shot 2 of 6 in Cleveland but had 8 assists. He’s been in a shooting rut for five weeks, coinciding with the Knicks on the verge of tumbling out of the playoff race, a season-low 12 games under .500.
With the Knicks getting the day off yesterday, Duhon, a Slidell, La., native and longtime diehard Saints fan, was prepared to get his “Who Dat” on yesterday. Duhon slipped on his Drew Brees jersey for his Super Bowl Party. The Knicks can use some of Brees’ magic now.