“Illusion, Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money”.

Since becoming Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni has compiled a stellar record of 33-59 (27-56 since the Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford trades). The former coach of the year with Phoenix was brought in as an established coach with a proven offensive system. Since his arrival we’ve realized his “seven seconds or less” system only works with talented players and his lack of interest or overall lack of ability to teach defense is a huge negative when building a championship team. Two summers ago I believed D’Antoni was the right hire and even now I still think he’s the right man for the job. While Marc Jackson and Avery Johnson may have taught defense they wouldn’t have had the past success needed to get a free pass from the media and fans.

Most Knick fans are under the belief that Mike D’Antoni’s tenure as Knick
head coach begins opening night 2010; sadly most Knick fans are wrong. Mike D’Antoni’s official evaluation begins tonight when the 1-9 Knicks travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. I’m well aware that a 1-9 starts basically seals our fate and the Garden playoff draught will reach 5 years, but starting tonight the overall goal of this franchise is to give the league the illusion that Eddy Curry is still a player destined for stardom.

Phase one is complete. The new slimmed down version of Eddy Curry actually looks the part of the NBA player. Now the hard part begins, offensive “guru” Mike D’Antoni must devise an offensive scheme that highlights Curry’s strengths and hides his many weaknesses. For those who don’t remember Eddy Curry averaged close to 20 points per game just three years ago. Despite all his problems he does have strengths that can be highlighted. Even after losing close to 60lbs Curry is still indefensible after he catches the ball deep in the post. He has an above average post game and despite his size he’s surprisingly athletic and can finish above the rim. If I’m Mike D’Antoni I’m using every motivational technique I’ve ever learned in my life and urging Eddy Curry to run to the opposite block after every missed shot by the opposition. The key to making Eddy Curry look effective is proving to the league he is in shape and inflating his stats (It shouldn’t be hard… Stat wise Wilson Chandler, David Lee, and Al Harrington are having good years). If you can get Curry to bust it down the court and receive post entries before the defense has time to setup he can score and score in bunches. If that option isn’t available I’d run the normal offensive and tell Curry to focus only on hitting the offensive glass. While his defensive rebounding is dreadful, he’s shown flashes of being respectable on the offensive glass.

Unfortunately for us Curry makes David Lee look like a good defensive player. Despite his athletic gifts he shows no lateral movement and zero shot blocking ability. There is a bright side though folks. When your team is so bad defensively you can’t blame just one player so Curry should receive the same pass the rest of our awful defenders get. His sole focus should be on blocking shots and inflating an overrated NBA stat. Sean Williams of the Nets is a great shot blocker but an absolutely horrible defensive player. While I believe the stat is overrated, many NBA executives look at shot block numbers and believe a player is a good defender.

The goal to me is simple. Ease him back into the lineup the first week. The last thing we need is have Curry injury himself again. But come middle of December the goal should be to have him playing 26 minutes a night while averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block. If Curry can do that he becomes a tradable asset and let’s not forget that by trading either Jarred Jefferies or Eddy Curry we can afford to sign not one but two superstars come next summer.

At this moment it may seem far fetched but there is one GM out there that may just be stupid enough to pull the trigger on an Eddy Curry trade. The Golden State Warriors are in even worse shape then we are and they have a coach/gm in Don Nelson that has a proven track record for making bad decisions (Nelson was the coach that wanted to make Anthony Mason into a point forward). Monta Ellis and Anthony Randolph are unhappy in Golden State and would both fit this offense well. We probably wouldn’t be able to get both but I’d consider a package of Eddy Curry and Wilson Chandler for Monta Ellis and Ronny Turiaf a definite possibility.

To continue on the Arrested Development theme The Final Countdown for Eddy Curry begins tonight.