D'Antoni fires back at Barkley

[hsandhu]

Damn, he lit him up!

I actually agree more so with Barkley on this issue, but I do like the fact the D'Antoni is confident that his way is the right way.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0222sunsnb0222.html
Free throws
After former Suns star and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley criticized D'Antoni's short rotation and challenged him to use his reserves more, D'Antoni said he wasn't sure he should take basketball advice from someone who "choked" away championships and had his own playoff conditioning questioned.

 

[az1965]

Ha, ha, ha...

I also unfortunately agree with Barkley, but absolutely love D'Antoni's response.

 

[dodie53]

barkley just went to the finals just once right?

 

[Goldfield]

I love Dantoni The fact that he isnt scared to rip on a guy like Barkley is great.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I don't agree with Barkley, the 12 man rotation in shifts is never going to happen here, they tried it in the beginning and it failed miserably sorry this isn’t hockey.

 

[azsouthendzone]

If he was serious, then DiAntoni is way offsides. Everyone knos the short roation hurt the Suns last year in the playoffs, and Barkley didn't choke away a champuionship. Until diAntoni gets th3ere, he needs to ****.

 

[bko32]

I don't agree with Barkley, the 12 man rotation in shifts is never going to happen here, they tried it in the beginning and it failed miserably sorry this isn’t hockey.

do you even watch basketball besides the suns? no one is saying that all 12 guys should play every game, just to give your starters a break every once in awhile, even if it means the suns lose a game or two. so what if suns don't have the best record in the league. if they are as good as everyone here thinks they are, they should win no matter where they play.

 

[fordronken]

If he was serious, then DiAntoni is way offsides. Everyone knos the short roation hurt the Suns last year in the playoffs, and Barkley didn't choke away a champuionship. Until diAntoni gets th3ere, he needs to ****.

That's crap. Don't give me "everyone kno[w]s". Did you see James Jones when we gave him minutes? Did you see Eddie House? Injuries killed us, not "the rotation". The Suns didn't have enough depth to be missing three key rotation players in the conference finals. Yeah, D'Antoni is an idiot. He should have been playing Dijon Thompson more.

 

[Mulli]

That's crap. Don't give me "everyone kno[w]s". Did you see James Jones when we gave him minutes? Did you see Eddie House? Injuries killed us, not "the rotation". The Suns didn't have enough depth to be missing three key rotation players in the conference finals. Yeah, D'Antoni is an idiot. He should have been playing Dijon Thompson more.[/ quote]
Rapier wit!!

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

I heard Barkley's criticisms on TNT after the game. I agreed with him to an extent. We need to play more than 7-8 guys and try to develop a backup point gaurd during the season. As much as I hate to say it, D'Antoni comes out of this looking like an *** because he attacked Barkley personally rather than addressing the merits of Barkley's point.

 

[fordronken]

D'Antoni has been sick of Barkley's smack talking for a while. He even took down a big picture of Barkley in the offices and replaced it by last year's Suns because he was tired of hearing Barkley say what was so bad about the Suns and then seeing a big picture of him losing in the finals.

 

[The Commish]

I think D'Antoni will use his bench more now that it appears that we won't get the #1 seed.

I would still like to see Nash rest a few more games. His shoulder is clearly still bothering him.

 

[JCSunsfan]

That's crap. Don't give me "everyone kno[w]s". Did you see James Jones when we gave him minutes? Did you see Eddie House? Injuries killed us, not "the rotation". The Suns didn't have enough depth to be missing three key rotation players in the conference finals. Yeah, D'Antoni is an idiot. He should have been playing Dijon Thompson more.

 

[SunsTzu]

Let's have Barkley coach the team next year and see how well he does.

 

[Mainstreet]

IMO, they're both right. The Suns need to expand the playing time of bench players during the season to give the players more experience and to minimize fatigue injuries. However, during the playoffs the Suns can cut down their rotation to their best 7-8 players because there shouldn't be any back-to-back games.

 

[myrondizzo]

If he was serious, then DiAntoni is way offsides. Everyone knos the short roation hurt the Suns last year in the playoffs, and Barkley didn't choke away a champuionship. Until diAntoni gets th3ere, he needs to ****.

it wasnt the short rotation it was the injuries. and they still made the western conf. finals without a KT, and amare.

 

[SunsTzu]

it wasnt the short rotation it was the injuries. and they still made the western conf. finals without a KT, and amare.

Just imagine how far they could have gone if they rested Nash and played Eddie House more.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

If he was serious, then DiAntoni is way offsides. Everyone knos the short roation hurt the Suns last year in the playoffs, and Barkley didn't choke away a champuionship. Until diAntoni gets th3ere, he needs to ****.

Um, don't you think that the short rotation was due to injuries? Should we have played Pat Burke, just for the sake of playing more players? I don't thin so.

 

[TucsonDevil]

Just imagine how far they could have gone if they rested Nash and played Eddie House more.

Nailed it.

 

[azirish]

This debate is a philosophical one. Should you lose games in an attempt to develop deep roster players and rest starters? It is not all that attractive an option if it means losing home court in the playoffs and sacrifices the winning aura.

If healthy, the Suns playoff rotation is set:

Stoudemire
Thomas
Marion
Bell
Nash

Diaw
Barbosa
James Jones

That is not an excessively short bench.

Banks and Burke look to be ultra short minute guys when there are injuries or foul problems, but neither are likely to play serious minutes. Jumaine Jones has not shown much and Rose apparently has struggled in practice with the Suns pace. (He hasn't played enough in games to show much either way).

D'Antoni says he will only play guys who can help him win. Apparently this is not Banks and Burke, although they have had their moments. The odd part about Barkley's comments is that he is advocating the Suns play more guys without saying which guys he has in mind.

 

[Lars the Red]

D'Antoni is wrong, Chuck is right. Seasons are too long not to use more of a bench. A few minutes a game is all it takes, and it gives reserves a reason to stay focused. Reserves can also be important components if an injury should arise.

Mike's comments about the players being in the prime of their lives and in peak condition, not needing breaks shows me he's delusional. Any of you guys who played in college can attest to the fact that your body gets worn out toward the end of a season. I played 36 games as a senior and I was beaten up and worn out. I can't even begin to imagine playing 90 games and traveling like they do.

 

[TucsonDevil]

I believe D'Antoni is ready to give Burke 4-5 min at the end of first and beginning of second. He may or may not bring him back in the 2nd half - depending on closeness of game. Burke has shown a lot the last few weeks about being serious, showing activity on the boards, and running hard.

Banks is just a bad fit. Period.

 

[Chaplin]

Over the season, we have 9 guys that average over 10 minutes a game. Dallas has 10 (now 9 with them shipping out Anthony Johnson). Granted, that is simplistic, but I think most of this griping about a "short bench" is overreaction.

 

[jbeecham]

I believe D'Antoni is ready to give Burke 4-5 min at the end of first and beginning of second. He may or may not bring him back in the 2nd half - depending on closeness of game. Burke has shown a lot the last few weeks about being serious, showing activity on the boards, and running hard.

Banks is just a bad fit. Period.

Burke would've played in the 2nd half if he would've made any of his 4 layup/dunk attempts. I liked the energy, rebounding & speed he offers, but he still screws up too much. He commits too many careless turnovers (like inbounds passes or outlet passes after a rebound) and if he can't make layups then he's not going to get playing time. KT missed 3 layups/tip-ins on one play as well, but he plays better defense and he's still rusty from the elbow injury.

 

[F-Dog]

I've resigned myself to the fact that D'Antoni will never play more than seven and a half guys. If there's a reason (beyond his own preference), it's that his offense doesn't have enough structure to allow for shuttling players in and out.


The good news is that the current Suns have players who are good enough to step into the rotation and produce if there are injuries.