Mike D’Antoni, Knicks coach, is not happy about the manner in which the Knicks’ season is coming to a close. After coaching a perrenial playoff contender in Phoenix for several years, he was forced to watch an underachieving group of mediocre playoffs fail to get to the playoffs — the fifth year in a row that the Knicks are forced to watch the festivities from home while on an early vacation.
D’Antoni’s team so far has managed 30 wins with five to go, an improvement to be sure, but still a rather sorry excuse for professional basketball.
Not that much more should have been expected. Donnie Walsh made several early-season trades that altered the look of the squad, sending two of their better players away for expiring contracts in an attempt to create cap room for a run at what promises to be the best free agent class in the league’s history in the summer of 2010. That class could include LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade — a fearsome group.
That said, the team still has to find some competent ballplayers to keep the fans from revolting. The problem is that aside from David Lee and Wilson Chandler, there’s no one worth keeping around. And Lee is probably their most tradeable commodity.
That’s why D’Antoni is threatening a housecleaning.
“I would think we won 29 games [before last night], I don’t envision anyone anywhere,” D’Antoni said. “We’re going to try to get better everywhere. Having said that, there’s no reason he couldn’t be. Anytime you win 29 games and don’t make the playoffs, everything is open for discussion, everything is thrown against the wall.”
And everyone is on the chopping blcok.
Hank Kalet 