- Al Harrington says the New York Knicks never focused on defense when Mike D’Antoni was the head coach
- Harrington believes the Knicks could have achieved great things if they practiced defense
- D’Antoni got furious after Harrington and Hughes confronted him about his offense-heavy coaching style
Mike D’Antoni has always been known for his great offensive strategies for any team he has coached in the NBA. During his four-season stint with the New York Knicks, D’Antoni allegedly disregarded defense.
Former Knicks player Al Harrington shared the story of how the Knicks never practiced defense under D’Antoni’s coaching. Harrington made the revelation in a recent appearance with the ‘Bootleg Kev’ podcast.
“I just felt like we could have been a better team if we attempted to play defense,” the 43-year-old said. “We literally never did anything for defense, like, nothing. Never practiced a rotation, like, nothing. How do you expect us to win if we can’t defend? Me and Larry [Hughes] went to him before practice one day, and we were like, ‘Yo, coach, listen, we understand defense isn’t a priority, but we’re all willing to come in 30 minutes before practice.'”
D’Antoni apparently got furious after Harrington and Hughes reached out to him. It made Harrington lose respect for D’Antoni.
“We wanted to f*****g win, bro,” Harrington continued. “We’re the Knicks, man, we’re in New York, bro. And he got all upset and offensive and was like, ‘You think it’s defense? You think defense is the problem?’ We’re like, ‘Yes, we can’t defend anybody. We don’t know rotations, we don’t communicate. Yes.’”
He added: “And he got all pissed off and, you know, that just really frustrated me, and it just made me not like him as much as a coach.”
(Starts at 1:15)
Mike D’Antoni’s love for offense made the Knicks a pretty one-dimensional team. In 2009, he also wanted to draft Stephen Curry to further bolster the offense. While in reality, the Knicks needed to get better at defense.
The New York Knicks Under Mike D’Antoni
Mike D’Antoni took over the helm of the team ahead of the 2008-09 NBA season. He remained the man in charge until the halfway point of the 2011-12 NBA season.
Under D’Antoni, the Knicks had a 121-167 record and made the playoffs just once, in the 2010-11 NBA season. They faced off against the Boston Celtics in the First Round and were swept by them.
The Knicks also advanced to the postseason in the 2011-12 season but made a late-season push after firing D’Antoni. The Knicks were 18-24 until he was fired. As for the 2012 playoffs, the Knicks were defeated 4-1 by the Miami Heat in the opening round.
All things considered, hiring D’Antoni turned out to be a poor decision for the Knicks. As Al Harrington claimed earlier, the roster had potential, but they were simply too weak on the defensive end of the court.
After his time with the Knicks, D’Antoni coached the Lakers for two seasons and the Rockets for four seasons. As of now, he’s out of work and hasn’t been the head coach of a team since 2020.
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