New York Knicks: Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Lin and Why Mike D'Antoni Is Gone

Mike D'Antoni resigned as Knicks head coach today. It may have been a "mutual decision," but Mike D'Antoni needed to go for one real reason: he could not create a capable offense built around Carmelo Anthony and Jeremy Lin.

D'Antoni is a talented coach and a brilliant offensive mind. His years in Phoenix were some of the most statistically impressive in NBA history. But he proved over his Knicks tenure that he was unable to modify his system to make it work with different styles of personnel.

In particular, D'Antoni's system needs a talented, high-usage point guard at its focal point. That is why the Knicks failed from 2008-2011 until Chauncey Billups arrived, they didn't have a point guard of that caliber. Then, when Billups was amnestied for Tyson Chandler, the Knicks began floundering again.

Then, New York found Jeremy Lin buried on the Madison Square Garden bench. Lin is the type of guard D'Antoni's system needs, which is a huge part of the reason the Knicks looked fluid and won seven straight games with him at the focal point. Lin fit the system and, by confluence of circumstance, showed it could work and gave Knicks fans hope for this season.

For a 10-game stretch, the Knicks looked like the NBA's most dangerous team. With Lin, Anthony, Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Baron Davis and Steve Novak, there is more talent on the Knicks roster than almost any team in basketball.

But that did not matter when Anthony returned. That's because Anthony's style demands the ball in isolation as he slows the offense and plays one-on-one. D'Antoni's offense puts the ball in the hands of his point guard and demands flow, off-ball movement and quick shooting from his forwards. The team's offense completely broke down, chaos set in and Mike D'Antoni had to go.  

It's not about blame. It's just facts. D'Antoni has a system and his point guard centric style simply cannot thrive with Anthony demanding the ball on each possession.

So, where do the Knicks go from here? Simply put, they design a new offense to fit their personnel! Lin should be the center of most set possessions at the start, taking the ball up the court or at the top of the key. Anthony should share the offensive spotlight with Lin, but the system should use him as the feature wing and build in different isolation plays to take advantage of Anthony's scoring abilities and create advantageous double-team matchups.

Finally, the Knicks should keep Chandler, a blessedly low-usage star, and Stoudemire in the paint area for a mix of pick and roll, post and put-back offense, while players like Novak, Smith and Harrelson stay on the outside for open-range shots.

Now, D'Antoni is gone. If the Knicks can build a system to take advantage of their mix of personnel, they will be dangerous once again.