"I didn't see how you could improve this franchise by making trades or building through the draft over a long period of time. So I looked and said, 'We could get under the cap.' So I tried to do that. And if that doesn't work right away, I would continue to try to do it. And if I'm not the guy, I'll leave. I don't know another way to say it. But I don't think I put Mike in a situation where I think he should be winning with this team." -- Donnie Walsh

And according to our last poll, you Fanatics thought the Knicks weren't going to get a Cavalier. . .umm. . . . I mean cavalier.

The truth is that Donnie Walsh has always been a stand-up kinda guy. So it's no surprise that with the anti-D'Antoni furor gaining momentum, not just by the loss, but by the lackluster and uncommitted performance of the team, Donnie Walsh stepped up and fell on the sword for his coach.  As he should have. He said, "Mike's my coach, all right? I have more responsibility for whatever you guys are writing about than he does. So I should be the guy looked at. I'm taking the responsibility for these first two seasons. I did it the first day I got here".

When Walsh first arrived he said a major part of his plan was to make the Knicks competitive.  In order to do that he hired Mike D'Antoni and committed to giving him players while buying cap space.  The effort to provide a quality product has reached "Epic Fail" proportions which Walsh did not anticipate. He probably did not tell D'Antoni, when he hired him, that the next two years would be the worst of his career.  At least D'Antoni, with the many new gray hairs of managerial stress, doesn't express his emotions like he expected to fail to be competitive.

After a brief public expression of doubt about the 2010 Plan, D'Antoni quickly pulled it back together  and clarified that he believes in Walsh and the plan.  "That's why I came here, because I have so much faith in him that we can get the job done together. There's nobody out of the boat. Everybody's in the same boat, so everybody's got the same responsibility, same blame, same everything else. So that's nice of him to say. Everybody has to share the responsibility and that's what we're going to do. We're sticking with the plan and we're going to try and see it through," he told reporters

He's right.  There's enough blame to go around.

Daily News, Support or no support, New York Knicks' Mike D'Antoni doesn't mind sitting in hot seat

Daily News, New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh takes heat off Mike D'Antoni, adds free agency is still key

Peter Vecsey, Donnie's master plan may cap-size Knicks

New York Post, Down on losing, D'Antoni keeps chin up

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Post-up Prince: ...

Interesting that the metro sports media is coming around to recognize what many of us have been saying for quite some time, namely that Walsh is flim-flam man, building an excuse for 2 years of bad performance, while promising a messianic future of fame and fortune, based on the wishful coming of free agent saviors.

But if the top free agent "saviors" decide to stay put or play elsewhere, Walsh will have traded many assets (Z-bo, Crawford, N8, etc.) and 2 draft choices for one year contract guys and no guarantee that current team members who can actually play (DLee, TMac, SRod, maybe Billy Walker) will actually return to the team or accept contract offers that the Knicks cannot or will not match.

Walsh's response--we have "flexibility" for the future. Once again, we'll see how "flexibility" will suit up, add + numbers in the box score, and wins in the won-lost column. If Walsh bought himself time by his flim-flam moves, that time will soon run out, and days of judgement cometh.

1

March 05, 2010

Orange and Blue: ...

Preach on Post-Up,... Preach on!

2

March 05, 2010

Peaceman: ... http://DANTONI Can't Coach

Give Vecsey props:
"Despite the reality, had Walsh selected his draft picks more prudently and chosen a path of resistance vs. concession, the Knicks' current starters would be Randolph, David Lee, Brook Lopez, Brandon Jennings and Crawford . . . and they would own their own first-rounders in 2011 and 2012 instead of the distant hope of landing James, Wade or both."

3

March 05, 2010

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