via NYPost.com
"Mike is committed to defense and molds them. I might be more aggressive in that area," Dan D'Antoni said. "It's my personality. That's what I was in high school [in South Carolina], very aggressive and at you. That's who I am."
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Mike D'Antoni never will get credit for being a defensive wizard. So he'll have to settle for his brother, Dan, getting accolades in that area.
With the perception the Knicks head coach hadn't stressed defense enough during his first two losing seasons, over the summer he quietly named Dan as his quasi defensive coordinator.
With the influx of defensive-minded players like point guard Raymond Felton and center Ronny Turiaf and the infusion of Amar'e Stoudemire's toughness and stated mission to protect the rim, the Knicks (18-12) are slowly turning into a very capable defensive squad.
Just ask Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, the NBA's preeminent defensive guru who tipped his hat to the Knicks' stingy Christmas Day defense during which they held his team to 12 fourth-quarter points -- four in the period's first 10 minutes. That followed Wednesday's lockdown of the offensively gifted Thunder, held to 38 percent shooting.
Weather permitting, the Knicks fly to Florida tonight to test their defensive mettle tomorrow against LeBron James' scorching Heat in Miami before facing Orlando Thursday. The Heat have won 14 of 15 games, coming off their Christmas Day rout of the Lakers.
"The last couple of games we've seen the pieces to the puzzle coming together," Dan D'Antoni said.
It was especially sweet for Mike D'Antoni's Knicks to flex their defensive muscle against Thibodeau. The beginning of the end for D'Antoni in Phoenix occurred when former Suns president Steve Kerr tried to force him into hiring Thibodeau as a defensive assistant, feeling his Suns staff wasn't stressing defense enough. It enraged -- and insulted -- D'Antoni.
"Mike is committed to defense and molds them. I might be more aggressive in that area," Dan D'Antoni said. "It's my personality. That's what I was in high school [in South Carolina], very aggressive and at you. That's who I am."
Dan feels it is unfair his brother was labeled as not a good defensive teacher.
"Mike has pounded the drums from day one," Dan D'Antoni said. "Yes, we will be a great offensive team, we will score in the system but we have to do more than that."
The Knicks have risen to 18th in what the coaching staff views as the most important defensive stat -- points per 100 possessions. (The Knicks were 28th during their 3-8 start). The Knicks are second in the NBA in blocked shots, with Stoudemire setting a ton of toughness.
"We're playing better team defense, we're playing better help defense," said Felton. "Amare getting six blocks [on Christmas] was big, just helping weak side and cleaning up. It makes me and Toney [Douglas'] job much easier pressuring the ball because we know we have guys who are going to clean things up when we make mistakes."
The Knicks have the makings of a competent defensive club. Felton, Douglas and Turiaf breathe and sleep defense. Wilson Chandler is an active defender. Rookie Landry Fields rarely makes a mistake. Danilo Gallinari, despite some inconsistent offensive nights, has been tenacious on the other end, among the league leaders in charges drawn.
And Stoudemire's continuous parroting of the coaching staff's defensive game plans, according to a source, is another example of his stout leadership. Even during the Knicks' 13-1 run, Stoudemire kept telling the press the club had to improve defensively -- a message that finally has sunk in.
"We have players who want to play defense," Dan D'Antoni said. "They've raised their intensity level, playing a little harder than they've played. It was a matter of adjusting to each other. Nobody guards individually in the NBA anymore. You want to shut your man down but have to understand that doesn't really work. You have to shut the man down and coordinate with everybody else. That has to be learned. It takes time."
The prior two seasons, Dan D'Antoni feels their team defense was compromized by all the cap-clearing trades.
"We were always changing the team up," Dan D'Antoni said. "We never really got a team defense."
marc.berman@nypost.com
Read more: HERE
With the perception the Knicks head coach hadn't stressed defense enough during his first two losing seasons, over the summer he quietly named Dan as his quasi defensive coordinator.
With the influx of defensive-minded players like point guard Raymond Felton and center Ronny Turiaf and the infusion of Amar'e Stoudemire's toughness and stated mission to protect the rim, the Knicks (18-12) are slowly turning into a very capable defensive squad.
BLOCK PARTY: Amar'e Stoudemire stuffs Derrick Rose during the Knicks' 103-95 Christmas Day victory over the Bulls. In that game, the Knicks held the Bulls to 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Weather permitting, the Knicks fly to Florida tonight to test their defensive mettle tomorrow against LeBron James' scorching Heat in Miami before facing Orlando Thursday. The Heat have won 14 of 15 games, coming off their Christmas Day rout of the Lakers.
"The last couple of games we've seen the pieces to the puzzle coming together," Dan D'Antoni said.
It was especially sweet for Mike D'Antoni's Knicks to flex their defensive muscle against Thibodeau. The beginning of the end for D'Antoni in Phoenix occurred when former Suns president Steve Kerr tried to force him into hiring Thibodeau as a defensive assistant, feeling his Suns staff wasn't stressing defense enough. It enraged -- and insulted -- D'Antoni.
"Mike is committed to defense and molds them. I might be more aggressive in that area," Dan D'Antoni said. "It's my personality. That's what I was in high school [in South Carolina], very aggressive and at you. That's who I am."
Dan feels it is unfair his brother was labeled as not a good defensive teacher.
"Mike has pounded the drums from day one," Dan D'Antoni said. "Yes, we will be a great offensive team, we will score in the system but we have to do more than that."
The Knicks have risen to 18th in what the coaching staff views as the most important defensive stat -- points per 100 possessions. (The Knicks were 28th during their 3-8 start). The Knicks are second in the NBA in blocked shots, with Stoudemire setting a ton of toughness.
"We're playing better team defense, we're playing better help defense," said Felton. "Amare getting six blocks [on Christmas] was big, just helping weak side and cleaning up. It makes me and Toney [Douglas'] job much easier pressuring the ball because we know we have guys who are going to clean things up when we make mistakes."
The Knicks have the makings of a competent defensive club. Felton, Douglas and Turiaf breathe and sleep defense. Wilson Chandler is an active defender. Rookie Landry Fields rarely makes a mistake. Danilo Gallinari, despite some inconsistent offensive nights, has been tenacious on the other end, among the league leaders in charges drawn.
And Stoudemire's continuous parroting of the coaching staff's defensive game plans, according to a source, is another example of his stout leadership. Even during the Knicks' 13-1 run, Stoudemire kept telling the press the club had to improve defensively -- a message that finally has sunk in.
"We have players who want to play defense," Dan D'Antoni said. "They've raised their intensity level, playing a little harder than they've played. It was a matter of adjusting to each other. Nobody guards individually in the NBA anymore. You want to shut your man down but have to understand that doesn't really work. You have to shut the man down and coordinate with everybody else. That has to be learned. It takes time."
The prior two seasons, Dan D'Antoni feels their team defense was compromized by all the cap-clearing trades.
"We were always changing the team up," Dan D'Antoni said. "We never really got a team defense."
marc.berman@nypost.com
Read more: HERE
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