by Frankie Vittorini
Mike D’Antoni should pick up Doc Rivers, bring him to a motel 6, and then let Doc ass bang him all night in the bathroom. No Mike you are always the catcher.
Not only has the entire playoff series between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks been depressing to watch as a Knicks fan, but watching Doc Rivers outcoach Mike D’Antoni is comical.
Let me start with Offense-
Everyone says D’Antoni is this great offensive mind, but have you watched the NYK playoffs thus far. What the hell do the Knicks do outside of giving Amar’e and Melo the ball and have everyone else just watch? The Knicks never run any sets, no pick and rolls, no rolling screens in the post, no post catches etc…
Think about game 1 when Stoudemire got the ball every time (except the 4th when it was Melo) and the team just watched. Or last night when Melo got the ball every possession and everyone just watched. Yea this can work during the regular season when you have superstars, but not in the playoffs against elite competition.
Last night, not once did you see Melo catch the ball of a rolling screen, or off a pick and pop at the corner, or even get the ball in the post. So when the game was on the on the line what do you think Doc Rivers did. UMM.. how bout maybe double the guy right away that had 42 points, and had not gotten the ball anywhere else on the floor besides at the top of the key. It was obvious the quick double was coming, and it wasn’t like out of a timeout D’Antoni addressed the possibility of a double because the team was in Neva Neva Land (Mike Francesca voice).
If D’Antphony would have run a set where Toney Douglas gave the ball to Melo off a screen and pop, then even if Melo got doubled right away, the court is shorter and help is limited. When you double a guy at the 3 point line, it’s so far away from the basket that defenders are always within helping reach of the open man (Jared “Fucking” Jeffries in last night’s case), especially when it is expected.
On the other hand, did you see how Doc handled both games offensively down the stretch?
Game 1: The ball went to Pierce of the bat because everyone and even LeBron’s mom thought that Pierce was going to shot, but what happened…the Celtics ran a screen and pop for Ray… Game over…
In Game 2: When everyone thought the ball was either going to Allan or Pierce because hey who else would it got to….well no it went to Garnett in the post…Game over…
Those, “mystery sets” are they type that win you playoff games in the NBA. You can’t just give the ball to one player every time and expect him to hit every shot. There are no Michael Jordans in the NBAanymore.
Move on to Defense- OH BOY? The Celtics play great defense all the time, especially down the stretch. Last night the Knicks had 3 possessions to make one basket and didn’t. Plus knowing that Melo would get the ball right away last night, Doc set up a double and the Knicks had to depend onJared “my glory is off 1 layup” Jeffries. Great coaching move…
The Knicks: when is the last time you saw the Knicks (outside of LeBron choking) get a big defensive stop down the stretch. So last night did you not expect Garnett to score? Or in game 1 Allan to not hit that three? Yea I know Toney Douglas was tripped, but if you watch it again Toney looked as confused playing a screen as I do trying to figure out whether to BK Lounge it or Wendy it…
My Main Point- Why the hell was Mike D’Antoni even on the floor last night?
Do you think D’Antoni had a plan when everyone knew Melo was going to get doubled at the end of game 2. NO. Do you think he created one set to free up Amar’e or Melo at the end of games 1 and 2.NO. And this is the one that gets me going the most: Do you think last night D’Antoni told his team, “hey guys we are down 1 and they are inbounding with 4 seconds left, so D THE FUCK UP.
Why weren’t any Knicks “inside the shorts” of Delonte West on that last inbound pass with 4 seconds left last night. I mean why did Melo let Delonte West catch the ball in the back court and take more than 3 seconds off the clock before fouling. It is not Melo’s fault (guy had 42), it is D’Antonis fault because off a timeout he should say to his players: “HEY GUYS D THE FUCK UP AND TRY TO GET A STEAL OR IF NOT FOUL REAL FAST.” That is just obvious basketball.
Or what about at the end of game 1 when the Celtics had a quick alley oop out of a timeout that took a whole .1 seconds off the clock. Speaking of timeouts why do the Knicks never have any timeouts at the end of games?
In Phoenix Mike had Steve Nash who was a coach on the floor and with a solid team in NY he just is not the right fit. At the end of the day this guy would make a 1st team All-NBA Defensive team play bad defense and in the playoffs is a fuckin straight up joke.
He is not a motivator, he does not get his guys to play hard “in your face” defense, he couldn’t decipher whether to double someone if his life depended on it, he can’t even device a set for a superstar on the offensive end, and to be honest I am sick of his depressed/nervous look on the sideline at the end of the games… it is contagious.
No comments:
Post a Comment