Hamilton column: D’Antoni on hot seat

NEW YORK — The city that never sleeps is also the cauldron that never cools. At least, that’s the case when Knicks fans don’t have your back.

Welcome to the world of Mike D’Antoni.

After three full seasons as the coach of the New York Knicks, D’Antoni is 103-143, has one playoff berth, zero playoff wins, and the hottest coaching seat in the NBA. Maybe even in all of professional sports.

From day one, Knicks fans have never fully embraced D’Antoni or his coaching style. He knows it as well as anyone. And until his motion based, pick-and-roll, shoot-quickly system is employed by a team that wins the ultimate prize, the brand of basketball he plays will never be respected by those that appreciate the structure and hard-nosed defensive style that Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy’s Knicks played.

Despite the fact that his entire tenure—to this point—has been marked by roster turnover and unclogging a terrible payroll and cap situation, there has always been a sect of fans calling for D’Antoni’s demise. His love for the 3-point shot and propensity to play smaller lineups because of the matchup problems he hopes to create for the other team are indicative of a coach who simply views the game shortsightedly.

You can’t simply expect to outscore opponents and beat them. You’ve gotta be able to get stops.

And if the Knicks don’t get stops — and December/January wins, when will D’Antoni’s seat get too hot?

So, after being armed with a one-time amnesty clause and finding a player in Tyson Chandler who wanted to play in New York, Glen Grunwald delivered one of the league’s premier stoppers.

Now, in the final year of the four-year, $24 million contract he signed back in May 2008, it’s time to put up or shut up.

Fair is fair: D’Antoni willingly accepted a massive rebuilding project, took on a lot of stress and losing, and dealt with a lot of knucklehead players. But you know what?

Fair is fair: There is absolutely no reason why the 2011-2012 Knicks shouldn’t be able to compete for the Atlantic Division title and win a first-round playoff series. Anything less and Mike probably won’t be brought back next year.

He sees the obstacles, he knows the circumstances, and hell, he probably even sees the writing on the wall. But one thing I’ll give coach is this: he’s fair. And now, with a fairly talented and deeper-than-advertised roster, D’Antoni himself knows that the Knicks should be competing for one of the top seeds in the conference this year.

He said so himself last week while being interviewed by Michael Kay. His exact words were, “If you have a center from the defending champions on your team that’s 28 years old and is playing the best basketball he’s ever played and you’ve got two superstars in [Carmelo Anthony] and [Amare Stoudemire], obviously you’ve got to compete for a championship,”

There’s that “C” word again.

Championship.

D’Antoni knows that the odds are stacked up against him and that anything short of realistically having an opportunity to at least get to the NBA Finals will lead to his demise. A blind man could see that. But with class and grace, he accepts the challenge, puts himself on the line and essentially gives himself an ultimatum.

Welcome (back) to the world of Mike D’Antoni.

Donnie Walsh—the man who hand-picked him to coach the team—is no longer with the organization.

James Dolan—the man who signs his checks—isn’t particularly enamored of him.

Mike Woodson—a man who would be an adequate replacement—now sits beside him.

And Phil Jackson—one of the greatest coaches in pro sports history, could probably be coaxed into taking his job.

Combine that with the fact that he’s a lame duck coach in the final year of his deal and has had all of about 14 days to acclimate seven new players with his team.

So, how does he respond to all of that? By evaluating the situation objectively and essentially saying “Bring it on.”

After years of built-in excuses and low expectations, D’Antoni, to his credit, painted a red bulls-eye on his own chest before the season even began.

The Knicks begin the season on Christmas Day against the Celtics at home, and then fly out west for a trip against the Warriors, Lakers, and Kings, respectively. With four games in the first seven days of the season—including three on the road—and a team with seven new players and obvious chemistry issues, this team could begin the season 1-3.

The next five games (Raptors, Bobcats, @ Wizards, @ Pistons, Bobcats) are all winnable. But they all occur over an eight- day span. Going 3-2 over that stretch could see the team sitting at 4-5 after nine games.

This year, with a talented roster and hungry fan base, mediocrity will no longer be acceptable. The time for excuses is over, and with only nine of the Knicks’ first 21 games coming against teams who made the playoffs last year, anything less than a 13-8 record through the end of January probably won’t be good enough.

For Mike’s sake, I hope Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire figure things out very soon. I hope Iman Shumpert’s poor shot selection was just a preseason thing. I hope Landry Fields’ slump is the exception and not the rule.

If all goes well, Knicks fans might be in for a memorable season.

And if not?

Woodson could become interim head coach by President’s Day.

Godspeed to you, coach. All eyes will be watching. New York, after all, is the city that never sleeps.

And now, with the man who hired him gone, a man who could take his job sitting beside him, and one that would take his job watching from Montana, it’s time to put up or shut up.

A season-opening victory over the Boston Celtics—a team that the Knicks were 0-8 against last year—would go a long way. It would serve notice to the defending Atlantic Division champs that this year’s Knicks team is a bit different from last year’s. It’s the very first game of the 2011-2012 NBA regular season, and all eyes will be watching. It’s the last time the Knicks get some home cooking before embarking on a California road trip.

Clearly then, you don’t need to be Santa Claus to figure out what it is that Mike D’Antoni really wants for Christmas.

Moke Hamilton covers the New York Knicks for SheridanHoops.com and is the lead NBA Writer for CHARGED.fm. For the latest on the New York Knicks and all things NBA, follow him on Twitter.