I pay more attention to the results on the court than the signs on the door.

“Another thing about D’Antoni; he only plays 7-8 guys…”

This is because Phoenix sold off all their draft picks and no one beyond the 7th or 8th man could play NBA-level ball.

p.s. Anyone who doesn’t think David Lee will see 35 mpg next year, under a real coach, isn’t really thinking…

However, the Knicks were their current personnel aren’t going to play defense anyway, and running and gunning for a couple of years while the team waits for contracts to run their course doesn’t sound so bad. If the Knicks became a contender after a few years, you would definitely want someone else running the show at that point.

Another thing about D’Antoni; he only plays 7-8 guys so if David Lee ends up outside the rotation (for whatever reason) he will never play…

How would you know?

They were an average defensive team, which – based on the roster – is about what you’d expect.
re: Kurt Thomas, he’s a good defender, but even 8 years ago he wasn’t a Tim Duncan… and by the time the Suns had him he was 37 years old. He played most of this season in Seattle, which ranks 28th in defense.

“The three best teams in the NBA, Celtics, Hornets, and Lakers are each good defensive teams.”

Sure – but that’s because they have good defensive players. We sure need more, but that has nothing to do with Mike D.

“I dont want NY to be Denver, no D no conference finals.”

Denver was the 9th best defensive team in the league – they gave up a lot of points because they played at an incredibly fast pace. (Although, it’s true, their defense really collapsed in the last month or two).

My point is that D’antoni does not insist on a strong defensive effort. Any defensive effort he got during his tenure was due to strong defensive players such as Thomas and Marion, who would have played strong D not matter the coach. But since the Knicks dont have anyone like that, I dont see how D’antoni will be able to improve the Knicks biggest problem, that being defense.

The three best teams in the NBA, Celtics, Hornets, and Lakers are each good defensive teams. That is where we need to go. I dont want NY to be Denver, no D no conference finals.

Anyway, the year D’antoni had kurt thomas, the suns had above average D (13th), so he knows what to do with a guy like that.

Fwiw, every KNICKS player (practically every player in the league) plays better D than the guys you mentioned. The thing d’antoni does especially well is finding ways to get and keep his best players on the floor, and adapt to that (I mean, did anyone think the shaq trade would work out as WELL as it did?)

The knicks aren’t going to be a good defensive team with the current roster, no matter who’s coaching, but they could be a lot better. Just one example — Balkman is already one of the best wing defenders around, and could be a total stopper with more experience and learning how to cut down on fouling.

Yeah but every Suns player is a better defender than Crawford, Curry, and Randolph. If (D)antoni could get the Suns to the middle of the NBA in defensive efficiency with average defenders, where will the knicks be with their awful defenders?
For a time the Suns had two very good front court defenders in Kurt Thomas and Marion. Bell is no sloutch either. The Knicks dont have anyone that compares to those guys. Plus Marion, Thomas and Bell each played D well before they met (D)antoni.

Same as offense — it really depends on personnel, more than coaching. They’ve had one great defender (Marion), one decent or pretty good one (Johnson, then Bell)… a couple of bad ones (Stoudamire, Nash — especially now)… middling defensive personnel, and middling defensive results… doesn’t look to me like (D)’Antoni is an especially weak defensive coach.