Never mind what college he came from (Xavier)...or how many years he's been in the league (5)...David West is officially a force to be reckoned with, and Tim Duncan's latest nightmare.
The line...he shot 16-25 for 38 pts...6-7 free throws...14 rebs...5 assists...2 steals and 5 blocks. D.West played MVP style in a game that required nothing short of just that. He literally carried the Hornets thru the first half when the most pts the next mnan on his team had was 6...and as horribly as the Hornets played, his 20 pts kept them within 3 by halftime. That proved to be all it took for CP3 to get it together and do what he does best....torch opposing guards and defenses with sweet dribbles...crafty passes...and lobs to Tyson Chandler. But don't get it twisted...it was all about D.West last night.
At a crucial point in the game, he swatted away a shot by Bruce Bowen, and then another one by Tim Duncan just 3 possessions later. He dazzled the crowd from the get go with technically sound jumpshots, and an array of inside moves en route to the hoop and ultimately, another 2 points. On this night, D.West would not be denied. He called out his team in such an inconBLEEPuous manner by saying "WE didn't show up" (to game 4). He challenged them to step up, and then he lead by example. D.West would not be denied in game 5, coming only 1 point shy of the Hornets all time playoff scoring record (39 by Glen Rice). He could care less though...he wanted the win...and even when his back tried to deny him...he kept on going.
Who is David West? ask Tim Duncan....ask greg Popovich....ask the NBA. If they didn't know...NOW they know!!!
4 years and $24 million...Wow! that's a whole lot of money for a coach who hasn't proven anything except that he can't coach in a half court set.
I'm not happy at all with this deal, for one huge reason...the NY Knicks do not need a high wire act...they need a make over!!! Walsh has made the first move in what can prove to be a very long 4 years. I'm a life long Knicks fan and i know that first of all we need to define the direction of the franchise. Are we going to rebuild? If so, then around who? we have so many jacked up contracts and jacked up players...we have zero chemistry, and no floor leader. we have tired ,overpaid and lazy players (yeah Eddy Curry...i'm comin at you!)...and what in the world has D'Antoni shown us as far as dealing with that type of atmosphere? NOTHING except that when the BLEEP hits the fan, he can run like Flo Jo in the 88 olympics!
I'm not sold on him as coach at all....not even close! He can't take criticism, so what will he do when the NY media gets to unloading on his coaching skills and decisions? D'Antoni...time to strap on your vest!
the Spurs have consitently exposed his inability to coach a functioning defense. he showed us all this last season that his developmental skills are non-existent, having had a rotation of 8 players tops for the majority of the season. Sure his offense came with some excitement for Phoenix, but take it from me, NY don't want excitement...they want a winner!!!
I don't care what anyone says....when things get hot, he's gonne get to running like keenan Ivory Wayans in "I'm Gonna Get You BLEEPa", hollering out "...they shootin....they shootin".
trade him or get him the RIGHT help. he still doesn't have the help he needs. there's no need to even get into stats...any fool can tell that if shutting down one man is the key to beating a team, then he has zero help.
look at the champions of past. 90's Bulls....80's Lakers....80's Celtics...even the current Spurs. all of those teams had role players who played their roles to the t. so what if the main guy gets shut down. if the role players are doing their job right, then the defense will be stretched to wide to focus on one guy.
MJ had guys to rebound....hit open shots....play defense....even Will Perdue (who?) was confident to play his role. John Paxson could do nothing more than bury that J....and he sure did it when they needed him to. just ask those Laker fans when he hit 6 or 7 straight baskets in the 1991 finals.
Danny Ferry took a gamble and lost. those guys are not going to give LBJ the help he needs. maybe Ferry's season as a Cavs GM is over. Maybe Lebron's chances as a Cav are too!
