D'Antoni stands by Lin through struggles

[insidehoops]

ESPN NY reports:

In a roughly 30-second monologue on Feb. 6 after the Knicks' 99-88 win over the Jazz, D'Antoni began by telling reporters (while also speaking to fans), "Indulge me for a second. Anybody who boos Jared Jeffries has got to reexamine their life a little bit. ... He takes every charge, every dirty play, every rebound. He works hard every second. And there are people that look at that and go, 'I think I’ll boo him.' I have a hard time believing that."

On Sunday afternoon, a similar situation unfolded -- this time centered around Jeremy Lin's recent struggles during the Knicks' 106-94 loss to the Sixers and their five-game losing streak. the head coach defended his starting point guard in an emotional plea-like way, just like he did for Jeffries.

"Jeremy has to play a certain way," he said. "The floor has to be open, you've got to play with energy, you've got to go. And he's going to make some mistakes, but his overall game will be good, is good. I think he has to play a certain way and we'll try to get to that way. We're not there. And he's played 15 to 20 games in the NBA, he's going to have some nights where he's not going to be perfect. But he knows how to win and he figures it out as the game goes on.

[insidehoops]

More from ESPN NY:


Mike D'Antoni said he kept Anthony and Stoudemire on the bench in the final quarter because the Knicks' reserves were "fighting."

"I just didn't feel like it was fair to them to take them out and try something else," said D'Antoni, who said he believed his team lacked a "collective spirit" on Sunday. "... If guys are going to fight that hard and bring you back, I [want to] give them the chance to finish it up."

Stoudemire said he didn't have an issue with being benched in the fourth quarter. Anthony wasn't as clear on the issue. He said he didn't know exactly why D'Antoni kept him out, though he guessed the coach may have been saving him, as well as Stoudemire, for Monday's game in Chicago.

"I don't really know what was Coach's mindset," Anthony said, who had 22 points on 5-of-13 shooting in 29 minutes. "Maybe he was trying to save us for tomorrow. I'm not sure, you're going to have to ask him."