NBA Playoffs 2011: 5 Coaching Decisions That Will Cost Mike D'Antoni His Job

When Mike D'Antoni was hired back in 2008 as the head coach of the New York Knicks, the move brought about mixed feelings for the fans of New York. Although, he had been to the playoffs with his previous team, the Phoenix Suns many believed he was simply not the right fit for this team.

The reasoning behind these feelings was simple, the Knicks already loved to shoot three pointers and bringing in a head coach who would ultimately tell them to shoot more of them sounded like an absolute disaster.

However, New York fans were forgiving at first since everyone knew LeBron James was set to be a free agent in 2010 and fans firmly believed that the monumental city of New York and King James would be a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, we all know how that story played out. LeBron James took his talents to South Beach and would leave several franchises in disarray which he strung along, only to leave them in the dust for what many believed was a decision he already had made way in advance.

While the New York Knicks were able to land Amar'e Stoudemire in 2010, and a year later would land Carmelo Anthony in a blockbuster deal it still seems as if the team is completely scattered when it comes to executing down the stretch even with the help of it's two aforementioned stars.

Many times a coach ends up taking the brunt of a team's failure and getting fired, simply because changing the head coach of the team is a lot easier than revamping an entire roster of players. This time though, blaming the head coach is appropriate, as Mike D'Antoni's game plan for the Knicks in the final minutes of the first two games was bewildering and fatally flawed.

Although the Knicks are not out yet, they are down 3-0 when they could easily be up 2-1 with another game to play at the Garden. Simply put, he knows how to run his system and cannot make adjustments to it for his players. Instead, he expects his players to adjust to fit his system. Part of being a good coach in the playoffs is doing just that, making adjustments to your system to benefit your players.

The coaching decisions he made and the rotations he used down the stretch were extremely questionable and should ultimately cost him his job.

5. Overusing Jared Jeffries

While Jeffries is certainly a player who can serve a purpose on a playoff team as a solid defender in certain situations, Mike D'Antoni simply played him too many minutes. In Game 1 he played 19 minutes, Game 2 he played 26 minutes and in Game 3 he received 34 minutes of playing time.

Since D'Antoni's system is known for it's run and gun system, giving an offensively inept player like Jeffries such a large amount of minutes is questionable in itself. However, what is most frustrating is that young players, most notably Shawne Williams and Landry Fields, received very sporadic minutes as Jeffries minutes surprisingly increased over the span of the series so far.

The most troublesome decision came when D'Antoni not only left Jeffries on the floor for the final possession in Game 2, but he actually ran a play for him, assuming that Melo would get double teamed and pass the ball the him for an easy layup.

While Jeffries did make the go ahead shot on a drive to the basket, he does not even belong on the floor for the final play when his specialty of defense is not needed, since there was only enough time for the Knicks to get off a final shot.

D'Antoni needs to realize in this situation that Jeffries is a defensive player, and will have the mindset to pass the ball if he is in fact faced with any type of defensive coverage. Blaming Jeffries for fumbling the ball over at the end of the play is futile, since Jeffries does not even belong on the floor in this situation.

With Fields and Shawne Williams left watching from the bench, it is easy to wonder why D'Antoni did not use either one of them, since Williams is an offensive minded player, and making the game winning shot could've given Fields his confidence back.

Getting 10 points out of Jeffries is a lot considering he is a defensive minded player. As his coach you have to realize that asking him to hit the game winning shot, after scoring the go ahead basket, is overusing him and cost them the game. When one of the aforementioned young players should have been used in order to give the Knicks the best possible chance at winning the game.

4. Not Having Enough Confidence in Landry Fields

Outside of the spectacle that is Blake Griffin, many believe that Fields was easily the most versatile rookie to come out of the 2010 draft class. After the blockbuster deal occurred for Carmelo Anthony, Fields' role became that much more important for the Knicks as the glue guy of the team.

Unfortunately as the regular season came to a close, Fields seemed to be thinking to much and it showed in his production as his scoring and rebounding were down from what the Knicks were used to getting from him. However, entering the playoffs as his coach you must realize that he is one of the guys that got you to the playoffs and helped Amar'e Stoudemire carry the Knicks until they acquired Melo at deadline.

Receiving only 19, 15, and 22 minutes in Games 1, 2 and 3 respectively as opposed to the 31 minutes per game he averaged during the regular season, it was clear that Mike D'Antoni lost a tremendous amount of confidence in him, and was not allowing him to play through the slump that he is in.

The reality is that many of the Knicks role players, can rely on hitting the three point shot as their main contribution, with Fields it was different. He was the hustle player the Knicks needed to complement the star power of Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, especially during the playoffs when extra possessions, rebounding and defense become even more important.

Considering that he was one of the players who got the Knicks to the playoffs, he deserves to play through his mistakes and learn from then. Looking at the big picture, Stoudemire, Anthony, Douglas, and Fields are likely the team's core four that they can build around for the future. Giving players like Bill Walker and Jared Jeffries more minutes than an intangible player like Fields is inexcusable. Especially since this is his first playoff appearance, it will only help his development for the future to give him the bulk of the minutes as opposed to the two previously mentioned substitute players.

3. Playing Roger Mason over Anthony Carter

Assessing the situation as the head coach of the team, using Mason over Carter is sheer insanity for several reasons and has a bigger effect on the game than one might realize. 

For one, with Chauncey Billups out, playing Mason who cannot really handle the point guard duties and is better suited as a spot up shooter presents obvious problems. While Toney Douglas has certainly grown as a point guard, this is his first time in the playoffs so he is not experienced enough to be the primary ball handler and make the right decisions, and Carmelo Anthony is more than capable of creating his own shot, but was receiving double-teams everytime down the floor since Stoudemire and Billups were out with injuries.

In the 4th quarter of Game 2, D'Antoni went with a lineup of Roger Mason, Toney Douglas, Bill Walker, Jared Jeffries, and Carmelo Anthony. Jeffries is basically used for defensive purposes, Mason is a three point shooter, it is Douglas' first playoff appearance, and Walker's first playoff appearance with a team where he is relied on heavily to contribute.

What happens as a result is Carmelo more often than not get's double-teamed, and has to give the ball to one of the four aforementioned players, who are either inexperienced, not offensively gifted, or are only good at shooting three pointers.

Bringing in Carter, would have given the Knicks a better defensive player on the floor, would have taken some of the ball handling pressure off of Anthony and Douglas, while also giving the Knicks someone who can drive to the hole, not to mention he has the most experience playing with Melo.

I understand that it may seem like I'm nitpicking at D'Antoni's decision to play Mason instead, but Carter's combination of hustle, defense and driving ability fit better with the lineup who was on the floor and could have given the Knicks a better chance to win in the closing minutes of Game 2.

2. Not Defending Rajon Rondo Correctly

In Game 1 Rondo scored only 10 points on 5-14 shooting, while seven of his shots were jumpers as opposed to Game 2 where he scored 30 points getting to the rim at will against the Knicks.

In Game 1, the Knicks defended Rondo beautifully allowing him to score only 10 points on 5-14 shooting, with seven of his shots coming from the perimeter. However, in Game 2 Rondo routed the Knicks by pouring in 30 points by breaking down the defense and ultimately getting to the rim at will. In Game 3, Rondo scored only 15 points, but orchestrated the offense majestically accumulating 20 assists, and tossing in 11 rebounds just for good measure.

The whole point is, the Knicks had it figured out in Game 1 on how to defend Rondo, and Billups only played 18 minutes before exiting so that cannot be an excuse that they did not have Billups for Games 2 and 3.

If you are Mike D'Antoni, it is important to realize that Rondo is " the straw that stirs the drink" for the Celtics, meaning if you can contain him it is much easier to contain the rest of the team as evidenced by the numbers of Rondo's teammates in Game 3 with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combining for 70 points together.

Had D'Antoni realized this, he likely would have never played Roger Mason, since Anthony Carter is the better defender and could control Rondo a little better, and they would have kept forcing Rondo to take jump shots the same way they did in Game 1. Using Shelden Williams in spot minutes could've helped as well since he could have fouled Rondo and sent him to the line, to make him earn his points as opposed to letting him drive in for an easy lay-up.

1. Not Having a Set Rotation

As was already touched upon in the previous slides, the minutes were distributed unevenly every game and when looking at all three games in comparison to one another, it almost seems as if D'Antoni was guessing at which lineup combinations to use instead of trusting the players that got the Knicks to the playoffs in the first place.

While the Knicks have been without Billups for most of the series, and Stoudemire has not been fully effective when he has played, D'Antoni seemed to drastically change who the players were who were receiving the bulk of the minutes.

Without getting crazy with analyzing the minutes of every player for the Knicks from Games 1-3 it's safe to say D'Antoni seemed to lose confidence in players like Fields, Shawne Williams, and even Toney Douglas at times. While he put entirely too much confidence into one dimensional players like Jared Jeffries and Roger Mason.

He also never gave any minutes to Shelden Williams, who is the biggest body on the Knicks roster outside of Amar'e Stoudemire. Using him may have allowed the Knicks to expend a few fouls on Rondo when he was driving into the lane. Had he used Williams in the paint, Douglas may have been able to gamble more and go for the steal, knowing that Williams was in the paint to contest Rondo's lay-ups, and although he may not have blocked him, sending him to the line may have disrupted the flow of his game since Rondo averaged during the regular season a paltry 56.8% from the free throw line.

The frustrating thing about D'Antoni is that even though the Knicks may not be the most talented team, they are certainly talented enough to have won both Games 1 and 2 and due to his poor coaching were not able to do so. Unfortunately Game 3, the Knicks came out flat and never even had a chance most likely due to the fact, that their head coach did not prepare his team the way Doc Rivers obviously had.

D'Antoni was greatly out-coached by Doc Rivers, and the Knicks must take a long look at whether or not they think he is the right man for the job. With coaches like Jerry Sloan, Rick Adelman, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers all set to be on the market this summer, the Knicks should put in a call to each of them since D'Antoni's days in New York should be numbered after the poor coaching job he has done, which has cost the Knicks three games so far, and likely the series as well.