Woj has the details:
D’Antoni and Knicks owner James Dolan agreed on Wednesday to end his three-plus-years run as Knicks coach, a source said. “It was a mutual decision to no longer coach the Knicks … conflicting visions of the club’s future,” the source said.
[…] “Dolan is blaming the coach,” said a source with knowledge of the Knicks’ locker-room dynamics. “Tyson [Chandler], Baron [Davis], A’mare [Stoudemire] – guys who came to play for Mike – or that system – are pissed. [Jeremy] Lin isn’t happy either.”
So Mr. run-and-gun is out. Mike Woodson is in. How long before Isiah Thomas is back in New York?
I wrote up a big reaction on Crossover Chronicles. Here's part of it.
D'Antoni deserves his share of the blame, but he's also being scapegoated for some pretty horrible behavior by the Knicks' "star" player. Carmelo Anthony's pouting has gotten tiresome. It seems the only reason he wanted to be in New York is so a bigger market could bask in his greatness, rather than going to a team with a chance to win.
Could the Knicks have won under D'Antoni's system? Maybe not. But Melo hasn't helped. Neither has James Dolan, who is the biggest culprit in this Knicks mess. From ditching the one guy in Donnie Walsh that had a vision for the team and the ability to make it work, to listening to Isiah Thomas' constant chirping from hundreds of miles away, it's Dolan that is mostly responsible for New York's problems.
Never forget, a horrible owner will always find a way to screw things up. Sure, he might get lucky, catch lightning in a bottle, and win a title. But a bad owner will always screw things up by being too cheap, too meddling, or listening to the wrong people.
Once Walsh left the Knicks, it was obvious where this team was headed. Dolan's office might as well be a replica of the bridge of the Titanic.
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