Charles Oakley is not very optimistic about the future of New York Knicks – NBA Update
Former New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls forward Charles Oakley uttered some choice words for the current Knicks setup in a recent interview. Oakley said he didn’t have much confidence in head coach Mike D’Antoni and also took
some shots at the star duo of Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.
Oakley was a battler during his time with the Knicks and went on to the court with a “take no prisoners” attitude. The player always has been a fan of graft and as a former power forward himself, doesn’t think Stoudemire has it
in him to succeed with the Knicks.
Oakley suggested during the interview that Stoudemire was soft and his body couldn’t handle the rough job of being a top power forward in the NBA, especially for a successful team. He also dismissed him as a “west coast” player.
"Amare's good; he's good in his way. He's a West Coast player trying to translate to the East Coast. And the longer he plays in the East, the more his body's gonna get damaged, because he’s got to take a beating now." He told the
New York Post.
Stoudemire has suffered some injuries since arriving in New York and a back problem ruled him out of the playoff series against the Boston Celtics. He is also considered a better offensive player than a defensive one, though he
is getting better in latter aspect.
About him and Carmelo Anthony arriving in New York to begin a new era, Oakley again showed some reservations.
"I mean, they've got hype. But hype don't win nothing."
He was much crueler when judging Coach Mike D’Antoni though. The former Phoenix Suns coach saw the side crash out in the first round of the playoffs against the mighty Boston Celtics. Although that can be attributed to injuries,
Oakley had other objections to his coaching style.
The former forward argued that his style of coaching was simply not suited to the Knicks, which he believed needed to harden up if they were to get somewhere.
“I don’t think [it can be successful], but that's his coaching style. They knew when they signed him. ... When you go buy a Bentley, you know it's not a Volkswagen. When they signed him, they knew what they were getting. That conversation
should be dead, because it's a West Coast offense playing in a hard-nosed city.” Oakley said.
The Knicks spent considerable resources in acquiring the star duo of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire last year and are hoping that the duo can lead them back to being a major force in the NBA. However, seeing things from
Oakley’s point of view, the Big Apple franchise is going nowhere soon.