The Self-Destruction of the New York Knicks?

The afternoon of March 14, 2012 was anything but normal. Mike D'Antoni held a team practice for the embattled New York Knicks, who have lost six in a row and have been on the playoff bubble at that point. A few hours after practice ended, he informed the Knicks front office that he had enough. And so it did. Mike D'Antoni left the Knicks training room for the last time. 

Mike D'Antoni's Knicks record was 121-167
(.420), a far cry from his tenure with the
Phoenix Suns.

The Knicks under D'Antoni failed to buy into his 'seven seconds or less' philosophy he was known for. Even as D'Antoni added his old pal Amar'e Stoudemire away from Phoenix and traded for Carmelo Anthony, the lack of a point guard in the mold of Steve Nash doomed the Knicks. Sadly, they gave up Chauncey Billups, who had his Nash-like glimpses during his time in New York, and gambled upon Tyson Chandler to anchor the defense, which again didn't work out. 

The only time the Knicks thrived well under D'Antoni was when an unknown Taiwanese-American named Jeremy Lin took off like a rocket and brought hope to a fanbase that is hungry to recapture past glory. But when Amar'e and 'Melo returned, the Knicks were shot back down to earth, capped off by six straight losses, the final straw being a 104-99 loss at Chicago on Monday night.

D'Antoni's resignation added more frustration to the Knicks fan base, whose high expectations have deserted them despite the addition of two perennial All-Stars, and the emergence of another. As far as New York City is concerned, it hasn't been good times lately for their teams wearing the traditional blue and orange (Mets, Knicks, Islanders), teams with a history of winning. On the contrary their red and blue counterparts (Giants, Rangers) have performed well, with the Giants winning the Super Bowl this year and the Rangers currently in contention for the Stanley Cup. Which really doesn't help if you're wearing a blue and orange jersey.

The Knicks had a lot of problems in addition to D'Antoni's system being a bad fit. Anthony is not a good defender. Toney Douglas and Iman Shumpert are not pure point guards. J.R. Smith and Baron Davis arrived way too late. Mike Bibby is on the doghouse. Landry Fields is slumping. Stoudemire has struggled after a back injury hampered him in the 2011 playoffs. Josh Harrellson and Jerome Jordan are unproven commodities. And Jared Jeffries is oft-injured. Aside from Lin, Steve Novak has been lights out, but other than that, the Knicks were a dysfunctional bunch, a far cry from Red Holzman's team oriented 70s squads and Pat Riley's scrappy and gritty 90s teams. 

If the Knicks were to salvage at least the eighth playoff seed, they need to perform well under interim coach Mike Woodson, otherwise another painful year is on the horizon.