“I’ve been in basketball long enough where you don’t win all the time,” said new Head Coach Mike D’Antoni, whose Knicks dropped to 1-1 following Friday’s loss. “As long as these guys are sticking together, which they are, and as long as they give me 100 percent, which they do, and care about winning and losing, that’s all a coach can ask for.”
The Knicks showed signs of the fast-paced offense that helped put 120 points on the board in Wednesday’s home win over the Heat, but they struggled from the perimeter and gave up easy baskets to the Sixers on Halloween night.
“We shot 32 percent, so if you’re going to try to win and shoot 32 percent, it’s going to be tough.” D’Antoni said. “But obviously they shot the ball too well and our defense has to get better. There are a lot of areas we need to improve on and we’ll definitely go to work and try to do that.”
Similar to the Knicks, the Bucks made changes in their front office and brought in a new head coach following a disappointing season where they finished with a 26-56 record, the third-worst in franchise history.
However, while New York decided to go with an offensive-minded leader, Milwaukee took a defensive approach with veteran coach Scott Skiles.
Skiles is expected to bring a toughness to the Bucks, who have struggled on defense over the past few seasons and relied mostly on the offense of sharp-shooting guard Michael Redd.
After helping the U.S. team win a gold at the Beijing Olympics, Redd is off to another strong start alongside forward Richard Jefferson, one of seven new players on the Bucks this season.
The duo scored 20 points apiece in a 98-87 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday to help Skiles notch his first victory as the Bucks’ head coach.
The two teams will meet again in Milwaukee on Nov. 21 before the four-game season series shifts back to The Garden on Dec. 19.
NYKnicks.com
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