I feel I could do better walking into the Palms casino in Vegas (got to help out those struggling Maloofs), stroll right up to roulette table and place one bet on what the next number will be than I do of predicting what the New York Knicks will do this week.
Owner James Dolan has to decide what to do with Donnie Walsh — he seems to be leaning to keeping him — and by extension the fate of coach Mike D’Antoni is there too. Then there is what to do with Chauncey Billups — name another point guard they can get this summer who their stars respect? — but we will save him for another day.
Right now, we’re talking D’Antoni. And both Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony told Neil Best at Newsday they want him back.
“Mike is a phenomenal coach,” Stoudemire said. “He’s been great my whole career. He’s been great in New York so far this year. I have high confidence in his coaching style and what he can bring to the team.
“Coach Mike is phenomenal. He’s been doing great all year with the different changes we’ve made throughout the season. We’ve been able to maintain and still have a winning record and also have a chance to do something special in the postseason if it weren’t for injuries, so I have high confidence in Coach D’Antoni.”
Said Anthony: “I think D’Antoni was very patient. I only can speak on when I got here. I think he’s been very patient due to the circumstances. We came a long way, especially when I first got here, with the expectations being so high so quickly.
“For us to lose some games and take a step backward, and then to go out the regular season winning the way we did, you’ve got to take your hat off to Mike for being able to handle a situation like that, after almost losing damn near the whole team and start off fresh with something new. He lost four key components to his team. They had something rolling here.
“For him to take on another challenge and getting everybody on the same page when we got here, I think it took a lot and I respect that from him.”
The question with D’Antoni really is one of fit of style. If you bring back Chauncey Billups, is he the right guy to run the up-tempo offense? Does the isolation preferences of ‘Melo fit with that style either? And can D’Antoni get them to play enough defense to take the next step and be consistent (and maybe contenders)?
The questions are not easy. And Dolan throws in a complete randomness factor. This is the guy who wanted to bring Isiah Thomas back as a consultant, who made sure extra role players went to Denver in the ‘Melo deal (and Denver got a playoff win out of it). I’d be better off at the roulette table.
