Phil Jackson last year said Mike D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns "have a window that's closing fast." But now that D'Antoni is in New York, the window is bringing in some much-needed fresh air to the Knicks.
"I think the friends that I have that are still alive [in New York], that haven't passed away from old age, are really saying this is kind of fun to watch," Jackson said yesterday, before his Lakers faced the Knicks at Staples Center. "They play freely, they have a certain sense of teamwork and sharing the basketball. They like what they're seeing."
Jackson and D'Antoni built up a heated personal rivalry during D'Antoni's tenure with the Suns, who knocked the Lakers out of the first round in 2006 and '07. Things came to a head early last season when, as the Lakers were blowing out the Suns in the fourth quarter, Jackson decided to call a timeout right after D'Antoni had called one. It created a long delay that D'Antoni felt was Jackson showing up his players. The two had a heated exchange along the sideline that included Jackson telling D'Antoni, "Go sit down!"
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"It's a playground style, there's no doubt about it," Jackson said of D'Antoni's up-tempo spread offense. "But there's a lot of that kind of ball where Red came from ... There's a lot of things that can be done in that and I think Mike's incorporated it in his system."
Holzman won two championships. D'Antoni is still looking for one, and critics of his system say he won't.
"I think the thing that really was remarkable was that there was a lot of talk that, well, this may be something that could be effective in a regular season where people don't have an opportunity to match up and defend against, but will it be successful in playoff basketball," Jackson said. "And I have to say they have been successful. Even though they never got through the finals in the West, they got there a couple of times and they were effective. His record stands very remarkable in Phoenix."
