Yahoo! Sports–  Mike D’Antoni has resigned as coach of the New York Knicks, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. D’Antoni and Knicks owner James Dolan agreed on Wednesday to end his three-plus-years run as Knicks coach, a source said. “It was a mutual decision to no longer coach the Knicks … conflicting visions of the club’s future,” the source said. D’Antoni had clashed with Carmelo Anthony after the trade brought the All-Star forward to the Knicks a year ago, and he could never get the Anthony to buy into his system. The Knicks have lost six consecutive games to nearly drop them out of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Assistant Mike Woodson, who formerly coached the Atlanta Hawks, will take over as the interim coach.

Like this season couldn’t get anymore weird for the Knicks.

It’s clear that the team, especially Carmelo, did not respect D’Antoni. If this team didn’t respect the head coach, what makes us think they’ll respect Mike Woodson?

This team (namely Carmelo) cannot point the finger at their head coach any longer. When Melo continues to dog it on defense, he’ll only have himself to blame.

The Knicks are a complete mess and will not make the playoffs.

After a franchise-rejuvenating seven game winning streak in February, the Knicks have fallen back into a funk. Since the All-Star break, the Knicks are just 1-4, dropping four straight road games. During the four game losing streak, the Knicks have surrendered 112 points per game. That’s not going to get it done. Sure, Tyson Chandler missed the last two games against the Spurs and Bucks, but that doesn’t mean the entire defensive effort should stop. 

As of today, the Knicks are 18-22 and only two games ahead of the Bucks and Cavaliers for the eighth playoff spot. How depressing is that? 

All of the Linsanity momentum is gone. Since returning from injury, the Carmelo Anthony led Knicks are just 1-5 while giving up an obscene number of points. Blame Anthony all you want, but this disaster is squarely on the shoulders of Mike D’Antoni. We’ve always heard about how much of a basketball wizard this dude was and hasn’t done anything. Heads will roll if this team doesn’t make it into the second round of the playoffs. 

With the trade deadline just eight days away, the Knicks and Nets must address their weaknesses and determine what fixes can be made right now. For the Knicks, they’ve uncovered Lin-Sanity and signed J.R. Smith this season. For the Nets, the re-signed Kris Humphries, but really haven’t done much else. With the trade deadline quickly approaching, here are the key weaknesses (and appropriately solutions) for each club.

AP Photo

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All-Star Weekend is here. Needless to say, this shortened NBA season has been fast-faced and full of drama. The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder sit atop their respective conferences while the New York Knicks (17-18) have one of this season’s best stories. On the other side of town, the New Jersey Nets (10-25) have dealt with injuires, Dwight Howard trade rumors, and speculation about the future of Deron Williams.

With both teams expecting to rebound in the second half, here are first half grades for both teams.

Lin is Lin--AP Photo

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23 Games Led By Carmelo:

• 9-13 Record;
• 95.8 points per game scored;
• 94.9 points per game allowed

8 Games Led By Lin:

• 7-1 Record;
• 97.1 points per game scored;
• 90.3 points per game allowed;

**The Knicks had three games (at OKC, at MIA, at HOU) where neither player played. All three games resulted in losses.

Photo courtesy of Yahoo

JR Smith is the newest member of the Knicks and re-enforcement to my point from the Pre-Lin era.

Dude gets off a plane from China, hops on the floor and just balls for 30 minutes. Hits some tough shots and shows some unselfishness, surprisingly. It was even obvious he hadn’t ever played with this squad before with some looking around with the ball while running through the paint.

Result: They beat the defending champs, (fifth best defensive team in the league) and Jeremy Lin continues to school any and all comers. He was double-teamed and trapped the whole game and what does he do?

14 dimes (career high).

A tough third quarter was quickly gathered under control by the wise-beyond-his-only-eight-games floor general. He rallied the team as well as the electric Garden crowd and comes up again with clutch, hard drives to the basket in the final minutes. Lin’s heroics against Dallas turned Steve Novak into a fourth quarter hero, proving he can get to the rack or hit the hot hand in his optimal scoring situation.

JR Smith also foreshadows what this team can do when Melo is inserted back into the line up, assuming he means what he has been saying and buys into the team play and passion on both ends of the floor. If, and that’s a big if, that happens, this Knicks team is all of a sudden a very tough contender in the Eastern Conference. And if the Knicks can claim the fourth or fifth seed, expect a strong run in the post-season.

Todd Giannattasio is a guest blogger for New York State Of Sports. Todd’s newest venture is an online store for quality beer fridges and wine coolers. You can follow him on Twitter @Tresnic.

Aaron Rodgers put the ‘Discount Double Check’ on the map….

But our man Steve Novak took it to a whole new level this afternoon.

Double Check

Novak went 4 for 5 on three pointers in the fourth quarter sealing the Knick win. When’s the commerical? We are waiting, State Farm.

If you saw the post yesterday, I hinted that we may see a Jeremy Lin Harvard jersey from Mr. Lee next. Low and behold…

ABC

Lin AAU jersey tomorrow night against the Nets?

In case you missed it, Spike Lee wore a Jeremy Lin throwback jersey to Friday’s home game. Before the game, Lin’s high school coach wanted Spike to rock the throwback. What will Spike wear next? Lin’s AAU jersey? Lin’s Harvard jersey?

Before dropping their first game in about two weeks, the Knicks inked free agent shooting guard and Newark native, J.R. Smith. Smith, who had been playing in China, averaged 12.4 points per game last season with the Denver Nuggets. Smith was apparently recruited by former team mate, Carmelo Anthony. In Smith, the Knicks get a player who can come off the bench, score, and shoot well from three-point range. Smith made 39 percent of his threes last season. Smith is also a very tough defender and should adapt well to the Knicks’ pick-and-roll scheme under Jeremy Lin.

While Smith has been a decent player on the court, he has had his issues off the hardwood. In 2009, Smith spent three weeks in jail for reckless driving. Smith has had his share of nightclub incidents as well, which have resulted in suspensions. Clearly, J.R. Smith isn’t the model professional athlete, but he has toughness and ruggedness that the Knicks need.

A bench scorer that can shoots three and play tight defense? Sounds like something the doctor ordered. 

Welcome to NYC, J.R.