He's kidding.

About the drinking, that is. Not the losing.

A successful and wildly entertaining run with the Suns came to an end. D'Antoni is now coach of the New York Knicks, a franchise that hasn't had a winning record in seven seasons.

This team won't soar to the heights the Suns did with D'Antoni. Let's just say Chris Duhon is no Steve Nash. But that's not what this season is about.

Knicks president Donnie Walsh has done the heavy lifting needed to clear up a horrible salary-cap situation and give the franchise financial hope. Walsh and D'Antoni took a stand on Stephon Marbury that needed to be taken. The point guard won't play again for the Knicks, and he's as delusional as he is disruptive if he thinks the club will let him walk to join a playoff team without giving some money back.

That leaves D'Antoni to install his system and change a dysfunctional culture.

"There is something to be said about people who play in a losing situation for awhile," D'Antoni said. "You get bad habits.

"Habits are things you have to break, and that takes time."

The Knicks are in an awkward phase of their transformation. Some nights they seem to get it. Their offense is crisp. The ball whips around the perimeter. The players develop a rhythm.

Other nights, they revert. The ball sticks in spots too long. Players don't catch and shoot the way D'Antoni preaches. They pound the ball on the dribble and fall into their old one-on-one ways.

In recent weeks, D'Antoni has tried to find a compromise. He's slowed his team down a bit and incorporated more halfcourt sets to give his players a security blanket at the end of close games.

"That's something we're going to have to work out and something I have to be careful about," D'Antoni said. "We made a switch. We went from a 28-assist team to a 13-assist team with a lot of standing. That's on me.

"We didn't finish some games off. I thought we needed some sets. We worked on it hard, and it's carried over into our games.

"We can't do that. We've got to spread the floor and run and get ball movement, and that will lead to assists. That's us. That's got to be our identity.

"We've got to get back there."

That's the tricky part. Players must have success to truly embrace a new system. They have to win, something the Knicks haven't done enough of in their 13-22 start.

But if they win with a style the coach doesn't intend to use in the future, what long-term benefit does that yield?

"As a coach, you have to have your standards of how you want to play, and they come up to that," D'Antoni said. "You can't compromise the building process.

"We can't stray from our identity because I want it all right now. I've got to hold steady and keep going."

So D'Antoni keeps going. His style, the money that will flow in 2010 and the lure of New York will make this franchise competitive again. There are more epic battles in his future.

This season is about laying the groundwork for that future.

"There are some setbacks," D'Antoni said. "Those are things ... that must be eradicated. ... We've just got to get to the other side.

"We're not on the other side yet."

Court of Opinion

Who knew Darius Miles would be the talk of the league in early January? That forces the Court to ask the question: What does that say about the league?

Portland

The Blazers threaten to sue any team that signs Miles because they don't want the salary-cap hit. The phrase restraint of trade comes to mind.

Darius Miles

Now that the Grizzlies have signed Miles, they get more than a player for the end of the bench. They get a luxury tax check from Portland. What other free agent carries his own stimulus package with him?

Players Association

Union gets to side with a player other than Stephon Marbury. Union chief Billy Hunter gets to hammer Portland and look good with his constituents.

Larry Miller

Few had heard of the Blazers president until he sent his ill-advised e-mail. Now, he makes Utah owner Larry Miller - no relation - look polished. That's not easy to do.