I look forward to seeing how the Knicks, who are the same team as last year plus an Italian forward I haven’t seen enough of to have a firm grasp of how well he’ll do, under new coach Mike D’Antoni. Can he take the same roster Isiah Thomas had, twist around what the players do, and make these guys a winner? We’ll see. Anyway, today they added some coaching staff help. Here’s the news:
The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that Kenny Atkinson has been hired as an assistant coach. As per club policy, terms of the contract will not be disclosed.
Atkinson joins the Knicks after spending the 2007-08 season as the Director of Player Development with the Houston Rockets where he was responsible for improving player performance through on-court, one-on-one skill development and the use of video analysis.
Atkinson joined the Rockets after three years serving as the Director of Player Development/Assistant Coach with the Paris Basket Racing Club in France from 2004-06. While in Europe, Atkinson also was a Reebok EuroCamp Coach in Treviso, Italy during the summers of 2005 and 2007. He spent the 2006 summer as the Director of Player Development for the national team of the Republic of Georgia.
Following a standout collegiate career at the University of Richmond where he led the Spiders to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Northport, NY-native and St. Anthony’s HS (South Huntington) graduate played professionally in Italy, France, Holland, Germany and Spain from 1991-2004.