Fired & Ice

Mike Woodson/ Chris J Nelson - Wikimedia

Who calls the Grim Reaper for the coaches at the end of the season? There has been six coaching changes in the NBA since the 2014 regular season has ended. They have been fired for either a poor record or the team does not like the coach.

The president of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, decided to fire Mike Woodson at the end the 2013 - 2014 season for their losing record. This season marked the first time that the Knicks did not make the playoffs since 2010. It was also the first time that Carmelo Anthony did not play in postseason.

“The move had been expected since Jackson's arrival, with the notion of a long and unexpected playoff run likely Woodson's only hope for being retained,” Sam Amick said in a 2014 USA TODAY article. 

Although a coach may do exceedingly well record wise, there still may be dysfunction among upper management or the other coaching staff. Coach Mark Jackson of the Golden State Warriors, was fired after the Warriors made it to the second round of the playoffs. Jackson brought the team to the playoffs the second time in a row since 1990.

“While Jackson was the Warriors' most successful coach since Don Nelson, tension between him and the front office slowly percolated over the last year,” Tyler Conway said in a 2014 Bleacher Report article.

The disunity caused the team to have a very powerful defense, but not the most coordinated offense. Management blamed Jackson for not finding a way to utilize All-Stars Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala’s skills to lead them further. They finished 51-31 in the Western Conference and yet Jackson was not able to salvage his job.

“When management and a coaching staff aren't on the same page, it's bound to end badly,” Conway said. “There is shared blame here, but it's much harder to fire an owner than a coach.”

NBA coaches were playing basketball before some of the players were even born, and yet, the players still get to call the shots. A coach can get the boot if the veteran players such as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol don’t like the style of coaching. Mike D’Antoni, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was pressured to resign after the Lakers worst season in its history ending in only 27 wins. Gasol and Bryant both openly voiced opposition to the D’Antoni system, causing tension among the team and staff.

"It's more of a finesse game,” Bryant said in a 2014 ESPN article. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for."

Mark Jackson (l.) / Matthew Addie - Flickr

Many general managers say that it is time to move the team in a different direction in regards to firing a coach. This is the case with the ex-coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mike Brown. In 2005, Brown started a five season saga with the Cavs, went to the Lakers for a year, and then back to Cleveland. The GMs have the power to treat these coaches like baseball cards. They can be used, traded or dismissed. The GMs and president will not give an actual reason to why the coach was fired.

“Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction,” Dan Gilbert said in a team release. “We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best.”

At the end of the 2013 regular season, 11 coaches were fired. Most of them were because of a lack of wins, but some coaches have been doing it right.

“The San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich and Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra are two of the league's three longest-tenured coaches” Amick said in a 2013 USA TODAY article.

These two veteran coaches are able to find an effective strategy utilizing their many all stars. Popovich and Spoelstra currently control two of the best teams in the NBA and they will continue to do so. They know how to run their offense and defense to the best of the abilities of their players.

With coaches getting let go left and right, there is a lot of speculation on what makes a good coach besides producing wins. This trend of a third of the leagues teams’ looking to pick up a new coach after a mediocre season will likely happen for several years to come.

By Willy Herman & Shawn Watts

New York Knicks clinch playoff berth for the first time since 2004

Shawne Williams and Landry Fields /Chamber of Fear / Wikimedia Commons

For the first time since 2004, Madison Square Garden will be the site of an NBA playoff game. It will be a chance for the hometown crowd to rally behind its new and revitalized New York Knicks. The last appearance for the Knicks was in the 2004 playoffs. Led by head coach Lenny Wilkens, their showing resulted in the New Jersey Nets sweeping them in the first round. Their last conference title came in 1999 under the guidance of Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing. Ever since the Ewing era, the Knicks have failed to impress any non-New Yorkers and those who weren't Knick fans.

That changed last summer with the arrival of Amar'e Stoudemire. For 53 games, Stoudemire, with the help of Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Toney Douglas and others turned the Knicks around and put them on the map of playoff contending teams.

In the middle of the season the Knicks took part in a groundbreaking three-team trade. This trade saw NBA veterans Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups put on blue and orange jerseys for the first time, but also saw many Knicks protégés leave to play for Denver, namely Gallinari and Felton. After a brief adjustment period when they went 7-13, they are now on a four game win streak and look to become the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference for the 2011 NBA playoffs.

This time led by distinguished head coach Mike D'Antoni, the Knicks look to prove themselves as being one of the elite teams that dominate the front page news once again, as opposed to half-page articles next to the classifieds section. Anthony and Stoudemire desire to add a NBA playoff ring to their enormous collections of awards.

In order to be successful in their playoff run, the Knicks need to keep passing the ball the way they have these last four games. The confidence that they are showing on the court is key to hitting big shots in close situations, where they will find themselves in most playoff games. The three-point game has really worked for them as of late, hitting fifteen of them against the Raptors Tuesday night on 56% three-point shooting. If they continue to play tough defense as they have been since the start of April, Knicks fans will have a lot to cheer about as they see their team run deep into the playoffs.

High hopes for fallen Knicks

Carmelo Anthony has one of the highest scoring averages this season of all NBA players. When Anthony was with the Denver Nuggets, he made numerous game-winning shots and rallied his team to victory. It is another story now that he is with the New York Knicks, as they continue to lose games. After acquiring Anthony, the Knicks fell to 7-10 and are now the seventh place team in the Eastern Conference. Logically the Knicks should not be below the .500 mark because of the talent they have on their team. Both Amar’e Stoudemire and Anthony are great offensive players that demand double teams from the opposition. The problem is that when the Knicks start to play well, they give up in the fourth quarter.

Anthony is explosive on offense and takes and makes tough shots but his defense is subpar. The Knicks are a high offense team that likes to attack the basket and drain 3-pointers, but that does not mean that Anthony is automatically compatible with the Knicks. The team must be adjusted so that they can find the rhythm to win games. Mike D’Antoni wants his players to play fast and aggressive which is substantially different from the way Anthony had to play with the Nuggets. In order to match the intensity of their offense, they must now work on their defense. They must work harder to get back after the fast break to prevent the other team from scoring.

In terms of team chemistry, the Knicks are still trying to adjust to each other. Since the trade came mid-season, they have not found the time to understand how they play individually and how to make it work as a team. It is very understandable that this would happen and only the optimistic fans would expect the Knicks to win every game after acquiring Anthony. There is no argument against the fact that the Knicks can get into the playoffs this year. If they can finish the season strong and focus on their chemistry, the Knicks can be a tough contender for the championship.

The disappointing trade

Mike D'Antoni / C.J. / Wikimedia Commons

The hottest news for the New York Knicks is the trade that landed Carmelo Anthony  in the Big Apple. It all started with superstar Amar’e Stoudemire joining the Knicks at the beginning of the 2011 season. With Stoudemire leading the Knicks in points, rebounds, and blocks; the Knicks went on 13-1  run to get in playoff position. Everyone was looking forward to the Anthony trade, but rather than helping the Knicks, it appears he's been a negative influence on them.

At the time of this writing, the Knicks are 7-11 ever since Carmelo Anthony started wearing blue and orange. The Knicks lost to teams that they should have beat, such as the Cavaliers, Pacers, and the Bucks. On March 18th the Knicks lost to the Pistons in which Carmelo Anthony only scored six points. The Knicks did not give up Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, and Danilo Gallinari for a player who scores only six points. Although Carmelo averages 25 ppg, the shots he takes are not very smart. In a recent interview Amar’e Stoudemire implied that Melo does not follow the D’Antoni system. He stated that the Mike D’Antoni system works; they just have to buy into it and get it done like they did before the trade.

However, Anthony isn’t the only one to blame for the Knicks poor performance. In the recent loss to the Orlando Magic, Anthony seemed to mature and correct his mistakes; instead of throwing up bad shots, he gave out nine assists. The problem for their loss to the Magic was Stoudemire’s performance, in which he scored 13 points, his fewest as a Knick. It is reasonable for Stoudemire to have one bad day because he plays a lot of minutes back to back. If the Knicks want to get back on top, their defense will have to improve, Anthony will have to take smarter shots, and Jared Jeffries would have to further contribute to their offense and be an efficient player. The Knicks are falling, but hopefully they can pick themselves up and get back on top.

The Knicks Have yet to Bring their Team Together

Lately, the New York Knicks have faced the challenge of finding functionality in their newly updated roster. In late February, the Denver Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks in what looked to be a turning point for them. The Knicks however, have not shown signs of adjustment, as they have fallen bellow a .500 record in Wednesday night's loss agains the Orlando Magic. With every added loss, attention has been diverted to a few key players including Amar'e Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups and of course, Carmelo Anthony. In months preceeding the "Me-lo" trade, many experts saw Stoudemire strengthen his role as a leader for the team. With the new trade, a shift of leadership and responsibilities has undergone between both stars, but it needs to reach out to the team too.

With the playoffs looming, one can question whether the team can adjust in time to qualify. Amar'e Stoudemire's style of ball-play involves pick and rolll techniques while Anthony simply does not use the same techniques. He is an isolation shooter who will seek the opportunity for a clear wing in which he can make a jumpshot. Contrastingly, Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni has led the team to become more comfortable in implementing their offense with plenty of ball handling before shots are made. While both Stoudemire and Anthony have specialized playing styles to offer, they tend to conflict each when they pursue their own objectives. With these two situations becoming intertwined, it is easy to forget about the rest of the team. Defense is one of the issues that plagues the Knicks the most, especially since the team has a problem with inconsistency.

The Knicks show weakness often towards the end of games in the fourth quarter, which ends up costing them the lead. A promising strong start in the first two quarters leaves the offense tired and this is where star players like Anthony are relied upon more heavily. It has become apparent that Anthony has not found his niche in making these rushed offensive plays. The shots that he does take are usually not thought out well and come from different areas of the court suggesting that he is not yet secured a perfect spot to shoot from. Also, these continued shot attempts by Anthony prove that he is not willing to run the pick and roll with Stoudemire or other alternative plays.

Mike D'Antoni highlighted on Wednesday that Stoudemire was unable to raise his offense because he was tired. Many other phrases are recycled such as the situation being simply a "long season" or that they "[they] have to take a step backwards to move forwards." This way of analyzing the team's weaknesses lacks being realistic and will only hurt them further by blinding them from the true problem. Instead, the head coach needs to diverge some much-needed attention to the Knicks defense in order for each player to have better involvement and collaborate more effectively on the court.