The New York Knicks introduced Mike D’Antoni as their new head coach on Tuesday, with the hope that he will turn around a team with seven straight losing seasons. Knicks president Donnie Walsh beat out the Chicago Bulls with a $24 million, four year contract making him the 24th coach in franchise history. D’Antoni replaces Isiah Thomas, who was fired last month after going 56-108 in two seasons. After firing Thomas, Walsh took his time with his search, interviewing TV analyst Mark Jackson, coaches Rick Carlisle and Avery Johnson, and Knicks assistant Herb Williams before settling on D’Antoni.

Even though D’Antoni went 253-136 in Phoenix, the Suns let him talk to other clubs after losing to San Antonio in the first round. He chose the Knicks over the Chicago bulls, alluding to his comfort with Walsh and his desire to live in New York.

In each of the last four seasons, D’Antoni has won at least 54 games and was coach of the year in 2005. He is known as one the NBA’s top offensive minds, running a system that helped Steve Nash win two MVP awards and making the Suns one of the league’s most exciting teams. “Mike is a proven winner in this league with a long impressive coaching resume in the NBA and abroad,” Walsh said. “While Mike’s style in Phoenix was extremely successful with a running offensive team, he can adjust his style to the personnel.”

Despite his notable record, D’Antoni’s hiring has drawn harsh criticism because his teams in Phoenix were never strong defensively. “I know one thing for sure,” D’Antoni said. “We averaged 58 wins in four years, so 58 times a year we were the best defensive team on the floor, I do know that.”

However, the Suns had Nash along with a roster filled with players who could get up and down the floor quickly and shoot from the outside. The Knicks are a notably slower group, with Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph in the frontcourt, and their point guard uncertain with Stephon Marbury coming off ankle surgery that ended the worst season of his career.

D’Antoni said he still wants to play fast and believes many of the players on the roster are capable of it. “We were 7 seconds or less and the rules say you have to be 24 seconds or less,” D’Antoni said. “So we can adjust it to anything we want.”