Fan Gate II
Welcome to your first tabloid firestorm, Coach. It only took one game.
Mike D'Antoni today admitted he did hear the chant of "We Want Steph!" from a section of the sellout crowd at the Garden in the second half of Wednesday's season-opening win over the Miami Heat. But while television replays showed D'Antoni yelling, "Are you [bleeping] kidding me?" toward the crowd, what is unclear is if he was directing his anger at the chanting fans -- who were calling for benched guard Stephon Marbury -- or the referees.
“I just thought they didn’t quite get it, but they’re great fans and they’re into it," D'Antoni said. "It’s almost like on draft night, no matter who you draft they’re going to boo because there’s somebody the fans like and somebody they don’t . . . You’ll hear it from the people that don’t and that’s OK. It’s no big deal.”
Remember last season Isiah Thomas was caught in the crosshairs when he jawed with fans near the Knicks bench and scolded them for not supporting the team.
This situation was a little bit different.
D'Antoni left Marbury on the bench for the entire game, which was an intriguing subplot that eventually engulfed what was an entertaining debut win for the new coach. Some fans started a chant of "We Want Steph!" from a small section of the upper bowl that, after a few attempts, was drowned out by loud boos from the majority of the rest of the sellout crowd.
By today's practice, however, the win became the afterthought and D'Antoni's curious rebuke was the main topic of discussion and debate. It even overshadowed whether or not Stephon will play Friday in Philadelphia.
The moment in question came with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter and, it should be noted, after a foul was called on Mardy Collins. The Knicks were leading at the time, 93-77, but a 23-point lead was already starting to slip away.
A reporter present here said there was also video evidence that D'Antoni added, "What a bunch of [expletives]."
[Bloghost note: From my vantange point at the Garden (front row, baseline by visitor's bench), I saw with my own eyes D'Antoni's first comment and wondered if it was at the chanting fans or at the foul called by the referees. I was not prepared to take a leap with it and planned to ask about it at today's practice. I did not see D'Antoni say the second comment, but loyal Fixer Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN Radio was dispatched to the training center after Max Kellerman's producer, Robin Lundberg, spotted while watching the game.]
After he spoke with us immediately following practice, D'Antoni actually came back a short while later to re-address the issue, which wasn't settled after he finished his first post-practice address. He said his words were not directed at the crowd.
"There's no way I would do that to the fans," he said.
“If y’all are going to read my lips during the game there is a lot of stuff I’ll be saying that, probably I’ll have to be like a football coach," he added while he covered his mouth with a piece of paper. "We’ll do that for now on, if that’s news.
"I’m really happy the way the team responded and the crowd was fantastic last night. I thought it was a great opening night. That should be the story . . . There will be times when I lose it. And that’s from adrenaline and wanting to win so much. There was no way I had any animosity toward anybody. I thought the fans were great last night. But it’s not always going to be great and not always going to be fun and roses, but I’m really not going to get into, well, you might have said something and I read your lips and I overheard somebody say . . . You know guys, we just played a really good game and I’m really happy with the fans. The atmosphere was great and they can expect more of the same. And we’re going to go into the Garden and hope it’s rocking and I know they’ll support the team and we’ll support them and go forward."
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Comments (43)
Amen Matt. Amen.
Those clowns who chanted for Benchbury are an embarrassment to the fan base. You simply cannot be a Knicks fan and support Benchbury. You just cannot. This cancer has brought so much drama and embarrassment, how can you still root for him?
Handeled perfectly by Coach D. By the way Alan, why aren't you taking the high road and ignoring the Steph "story" instead of adding fuel to the fire?!?
I'm with you Matt B.
I was at the game. The first chant was from about 100 "fans," who were drunk and were not even really watching the game. The dumb chant took us all by surprise.
The next time they tried to start the chant, they were booed out of the arena by the vast majority of fans.
A clean slate means a clean slate. If your not going to play the guy cut him. This will not end good Watch!!!!
New Yorkers like to win!!! Period!!!
The move ( to sit steph) looks good when the Knicks are playing the heat but what happens later on. When things start going wrong at the garden. The Knicks fans will start yelling for Marbury or even Patrick Ewing. We all know it. This is a different market then most. The only way to stop the distraction is to get rid of it.
Also,sitting Steph will cause future issues for the Knicks. You see the more Nate plays the more value he creates. We could easily go into next season with Duhon being the only point gaurd.
are you suggesting that Mike Dantoni was saying that stuff to the fans? Hahn, for the first time im a little dissapointed in you.. Felt like I was reading Bermans blog
why does the media in new york have to suck the fun out of the knicks? you guys are really making good use of your new all access package from walsh and d'antoni.
Q: "hey mike, we read your lips and you said a bad word!"
come on guys, you can do better than this. how about talking about wilson chandler owned beasley?
and you know what, frankly the idiots who were shouting for steph to get in the game seemed like the type of people who can afford to go to the knicks season opener and sit in the 100s section and in celebville. i know i saw the sopranos guys chanting for steph. hey, they want their showbizness. the real fans want good basketball. d'antoni and the knicks gave us that last night. steph and eddy aren't in the fold. turn the page already.
Not even a story here. The coach did the right thing, which is to let Marbury know from the get go who runs the team and decides who plays. I loved every minute of it. By the way did anyone notice Marbury PLUGGING his ears durning introductions before the game. What a joke this baby is!!!!!!!!!
Lebron to miami in 2010.
Good for him if he did say it. I had the same reaction.
It's annoying how there were about 100 of 19,000 who were chanting for Steph, but this becomes a top story.
Why are we trying to get under the cap by 2010? Lebron isn't coming to NY he's going to Miami. In 2010 miami will only have 4million on the books, the rest are team options. The can easily sign lebron and re-up Wade. They will also have Beasly and a high draft pick from this year.
Miami is also a major market.
Bottom line it, at the end of the day, it's a win in the ledger.
quick point for knicksmyteam and anyone else saying the 2010 plan is a bad one --
it's not about lebron. it's about putting yourself in a position where you're not hamstrung by bad contracts and where you have some fiscal liberty to make moves for superstars. trades, free agent pickups, etc. if it lands bron bron, great. if not, it's still the right, responsible way to rebuild.
Give D'Antoni a break please. The guy has only coached one game and he is getting grief. He got us a win and thats all that matters. As far as benching Marbury I agree with him entirely. The guy has been a cancer on this time for quite a while. I bet once he leaves the Knick organization they will be a better team. We need this coach and president of basketball operations. We now have legitimate front office men. Dolan dont listen to these folks. Gradually get rid of Marbury, Eddy Curry and James.
I fully support Coach D. Steph got what he deserves and so did Curry.
this is a story?
are you [expletive] kidding me?
what a bunch of [expletive]!
This reminds of the media generated controversy regarding Carlos Delgado's refusal to take a curtain call last season after hitting threee HR's in a game, despite being urged to do so by the fans. After close to a year of booing due to his poor performance, I don't blame him for not taking the curtain call, and I think most fans did not care one way of the other, either, whether he took the curtain call. But the media kept dwelling on the story until Delgado, finally, agreed to take a curtain call later in the season.
Incidents like this, which are seized upon by the media and rehashed over and over again, give the fans a bad reputation with the players, and likely cause many of them to think twice about playing in New York. But in reality it is the New York media that creates this hostile, adversarial work environment for the players. As the tone of many of the preceding posts suggests, many of us fans resent the media for creating this atmosphere and sympathize with the players (and, in this case, the coach).
I am glad we finally have a coach with the intestinal fortitude to do whatever is in the best interests of the team, regardless of who pouts as a result. I would even bet that most of the fans chanting for Marbury last night feel the same way. But that won't stop the media from running beating this story to death. In the end, fans like me will rally to the defense of the coach, so it will be the media will be the ones whose reputation ultimately suffers most as a result. Right between politicians and lawyers on the integrity scale.
Look Alan, I'm a loyal reader, but if some ASSHOLE journalists are going to TRY to start trouble and create disruptions for D'Antoni, then it's you guys that need to be run out of town. Isiah was an easy target because he was an incompetent coach and GM and his behavior off the court was poor also, but Walsh and D'Antoni just got here. Everyone knows Steph is 100% irrelevent to the long term plans and this year is about building the team for the future and not winning now. Personally, I think Steph deserves to play ahead of Mardy Collins on most nights, but if he doesn't big freaking deal. It's only a big deal if you make it one and screw up our team's chemistry again. Even a dim wit like Marbury was smart enough to not make a big deal out of it. Maybe it's you guys that are the real villians.
"Posted by Stephon's Dad | October 30, 2008 16:13"
Using the name "Steph's Dad" is much better? The man passed away. Although you made a valid point, you lost all credibilty with your hypocricy.
Too much nitpicking, muckracking and drama queenery...let's just watch the game and forget the soap opera crappola, please. : )
DTR
C'mon Alan, the only "firestorm" is the obsession with all things Marbury in the papers. Most fans have an opinion one way or the other on whether they want him around, but that's about it - its hardly the main issue facing the Knicks going forward. It also seems far fetched that D'Antoni is inciting the crowd during his first game as coach. Let's get back to basketball.
I was there. For me, the chanting was more along the lines of a crowd's call for the 12th guy to get off the bench in a blowout. Which, given that the Knicks were up by 20 at the time, it was.
"Posted by Stephon's Dad | October 30, 2008 16:13"
Using the name "Steph's Dad" is much better? The man passed away. Although you made a valid point, you lost all credibilty with your hypocricy.
It's really a shame when people can only talk about someone else's past transgressions, but will spit fire if someone talks about something hideous that they were once involved in. What happened to, "What have you done for me lately?"(Red Aurbach)
which is only coming to camp in the best shape in your life when asked to do so by your President; be a model team mate, be an unselfish player with the goal of making others better. Only God can judge that man on his past and punish him accordingly. Who are we to judge and jury anyone? Do you like it when you're judged, or someone keeps bringing up how you used to be when you are doing everything possible to change your ways. It's sad, but Marbury's dad having died woke him up to be a real man, and be accountable to himself and others and all we want to do is talk about what he did 'yesterday'. You don't treat people llike that and not one of us is exempt from the law of reaping and sowing. D'Antoni should have manned up and spoke to both Curry and Steph before doing what he did. It's only right; it's only being a real man. What they did was cruel and it probably was calculated before the preseason started. Again, no one is exempt from the reaping and sowing process, so don't get teed off WHEN it happens to you the next time. Without LOVE you have nothing and will always be miserable and having a good time about someone else's misery. Now, whoever wants to act like a child and call me names and crap...have at it and I love you despite what I know about you. PEACE!
Can't we just enjoy the win for once without a side story or distraction. Marbury has been quiet about the demotion. This is only a big story because the MEDIA wants it to be. Why else would there be more reporters around the guy who didn't play than any of the guys who helped win our 1st game of the new era ??? The success of the team and the implementation of the new system is a great story. Why focus on the negatives??? Scandal and negativity sell newspapers I guess.
Stay up NY, stay positive and let the new team take shape regardless of the distractions.
GO NY GO NY GO !!!!!!!
Coach could have gone all Artest on them, I don't care. In short order he has put a product on the floor that doesn't make you want to wretch, which had become a reflex action with these Knicks.
They still have a long way to go but the makings of a good team can already be seen. More focus should be on the improvement than someone in the crowd crying in his beer over Marbury.
By the way Alan, you said it best........This story is tabloid fodder. You work for a newspaper. Leave the BS to the Post !
U know what...even if Dantoni tells the crowd to go F themselves...is that wrong? If I was coach I would be saying that every damn night. We are the biggest babies in the sports world..the same people that booed Pat Ewing senior out of the garden! We want this and then we want that...wahhhhhhhhhh wahhhhhhhhhwahhhhhhhhhhh....just let Dan the man coach and give the finger to the crowd and don't question him on it...oh my God did he say that to the fans? If I was Dantoni I would probably be like what the hell do these A holes want...they want Steph after they beg for him to be cut.? Knicks fans are the worst! A bunch of Trolls in the stands.
42 wins...believe it toolboxes.
I'm shocked . . .by what a waste of time this story is.
Now on a point that actually matters, I must say D'Antoni bringing in Nate and Chandler off the bench makes a ton of sense I didn't see before. The energy they bring into the game is unreal. When we get a real PG and some interior D this team can be dangerous. Watching Nate out there I see why Duhon starts over him. Nate is clearly the better player, as is Steph for that matter, but neither can keep a player in front of them (which has been our problem that past few years). With no shotblocking back there Duhon makes more sense to protect Lee and Zach from getting in foul trouble. If only he was a better overall player.
Zach still takes bad shots but he is the hardest working Knick. If we could pair him with a shotblocking C we may actually get to 40 wins. His contract means he has to go, but I think this is the player IT envisioned when he brought him in. Looking back on it, IT understood talent, but did not understand how to build a team. That was his problem. He fell in love with talent. but didn't know how to put it together.
The Knicks won the damn game, you inept hockey writer. That's all that's important.
You shouldn't be covering the Knicks or the Isles. You're better suited for the Albany River Rats or some other minor league operation. Call Rex Smith. Give him my regards.
New York got the W, and it ain't married to Laura. I could give a rat's (or your wife's) ass if Marbury and Curry are moping around and whining that their feelings have been hurt.
Tell 'em to suck their (own) thumbs, shut the hell up, sit courtside every game, and show up at the pay window every two weeks to collect their millions.
Damn, Nelson Mandela didn't get this much sympathy for spending 27 years in jail.
My best to the Dolans, Chuck and The Punk.
Posted by Italian Stallion | October 30, 2008 15:15
Look Alan, I'm a loyal reader, but if some ASSHOLE journalists are going to TRY to start trouble and create disruptions for D'Antoni, then it's you guys that need to be run out of town. Isiah was an easy target because he was an incompetent coach and GM and his behavior off the court was poor also, but Walsh and D'Antoni just got here. Everyone knows Steph is 100% irrelevent to the long term plans and this year is about building the team for the future and not winning now. Personally, I think Steph deserves to play ahead of Mardy Collins on most nights, but if he doesn't big freaking deal. It's only a big deal if you make it one and screw up our team's chemistry again. Even a dim wit like Marbury was smart enough to not make a big deal out of it. Maybe it's you guys that are the real villians.
****
I cannot do it any better than that. Brilliant, Stallion, simply brilliant.
Hey Knicks4Lif,e I agree with you 100%, especially about Duhon and Zack. If we had a good defensive center and another good point guard we might do some damage. As it is now, it will be very hard for us to beat the good teams because they will try to slow the ball down by playing good defense, pound us on the inside and exploit all of our weaknesses. I think we will consistently beat the mediorcre and bad teams and have trouble with good clubs.
Coach D
Dont explain yourself...
If SplinterBury wants an explantion just tell him
"its a business"
sound familiar
NotAPennyLessBury?
Alan, we need the truth here...
If those comments were made towards the fans, fine, if they were made towards the refs, fine, but we need the truth. I read that there is a tape of D'Antoni saying that the comments were made towards the fans, and then after speaking with a knicks PR person, going back and saying it wasn't towards the fans. DID THIS HAPPEN? is there actual evidence of him admitting that it was the fans first?
Nothing but the truth.
If Coach D said it
it doesnt have to be an attack on Splinter
it might have been because your NYK were up by 20 points, and he was like : "why are you complaining?"
Forgot to say, last week I was upset about passing.
Last night the Passing was crispy crisp!!!
What a joy to see an easy layup from Jamal to Lee in the post to a cutting Chandler.
Chandler's put back dunk was sssweeeet.
Other blog talking about trading for Harrington. I do not know his game but looked up his stats.
6'9' 13 pts 6 rebounds.?
Chandler will eclipse those numbers. Why clog it up?
Too much nitpicking, muckracking and girly gossip...it's great that D'A has emotions...who can blame him for being pissed?...let's just watch the game and forget the soap opera crappola, please. : )
DTR
My impression the last few days is that Newsday, along with other NY paper/websites, is that these sports media guys and beat writers are becoming tabloid reporters.
What's going on here?
This is nonsense ... some reporters need to get a life. If they are going to be this sensitive they need to go cover another sport ...maybe something like golf.
There certainly was plenty of news to cover on this entertaining opening game for the Knicks. Any reporter who would try to ruin this day for this young group of players in my opinion the reporter should be booed and cursed!!
i was at the that game and my girl friend told me she saw him gesture and appear to be upset with that chant. from my vantage point in section 338 you could'nt obviously hear what he was saying. I totally dismissed here observation. I guess i need to listen too her more often.
Welcome to the Knicks PR staff Alan! You wrote the official company line in this blog. It should have been labeled as "advertising." I can hardly wait for your rave review of the "amazing" singing/guitar playing of James Dolan.
What's up with benching Marbury? You'd think the Knicks would want to bring up his trade value and are aware that he can help the team win - until he is traded or his contract expires. But, that would be businesslike and professional -- two adjectives never associated with the present Knick's ownership.
Although I am not a Marbury fan, he did come into this season in shape and cooperative in his contract year. He is still one of the better players on the team. If he is disruptive, fire him.
But unless that happens -- why pay him $22 Million to watch the game and make fans pay to see him sit? Yes Alan, it is insulting to report that only the drunks realize that. More MSG doublespeak. Alan I thought you were above that.
I can understand sitting Curry because he is out of shape and slow. But Galinaro is also not in shape - so why play him? Seems like a double standard.
Between Jerome James, Eddie Curry and Stephon Marbury not to mention Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas -- the Knicks have the highest-paid bench warmers and exiles in sports! So why not buy a newspaper to "report" the company propaganda?
The Marbury situation is typical of the Knicks loser ownership attitude: Get even rather than make your team better. Pay for your revenge, sexual harassment, and mistakes by raising cable rates - it is a bottom-less cash cow. Please grow up Baby James Dolan and use your head to make the team better and don't force talented columnists to toe the company lies!
The fans in the upper sections are the TRUE basketball fans who understand the game, not people who just want to be in the Garden to say they were there. They understand that Marbury is the best player on the team and should be on the court.
Marbury still has plenty of fans left in NY, most of whom cannot afford to be one of 19,500 people in an arena 41 times a year (there are 12 million people in the NY Metropolitan area).
I believe that D'Antoni was ordered by Dolan to bench Marbury. As long as the Knicks win, they might get away with it. However, if the Knicks begin to lose games in bunches, and Duhon and Collins continue to play the way they played the other night (48 minutes combined: 9 points, 3 assists, 5 turnovers), "We want Steph" won't just be coming from the rafters.
We'll see waht happens next...
Unfortunately, no matter who James Dolan hires, the Knicks will not be winners until Baby James takes his hands off his favorite toy!
Is Mike D'Antony that crazy, dumb, irresponsible, reckless (pick any adjective you like) to bench Marbury in the Knicks first game as its coach? Would Walsh order this move without being pressured? I don't think so to either. I am certain that this came directly from the warped-loser-mind of Baby James.
Do you think that Lebron would sign with a team that has such a vindictive, irresponsible and self-destructive owner, especially with all the positive options he will have in 2010? Don't hold your breath!
The only way the Knicks will be winners is if Dolan sells (not likely) or David Stern steps in again (as he just did by dictating the recent coaching & GM change). And Stern's new intervention may not be coming anytime soon -- unless Baby James really embarrasses the Knicks and the league -- again!
@ The Whole Truth:
You took the words right out of my heart; As a Fan, a human being, and a Man, just tell me the TRUTH...It really does set you Free!