D'Antoni Interview

[azirish]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22738.shtml

In Vegas: From Mike D'Antoni's Seat
By Tracy Graven
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jul 12, 2007, 16:39

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Wednesday was a very good day for the Phoenix Suns organization.

After finally putting pen to paper with free agent Grant Hill, head coach Mike D'Antoni and general manager Steve Kerr flew to Las Vegas to re-join the rest of the Phoenix contingent and were treated to one heck of a performance by the two players they drafted last month, Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry.

The NBA Summer League is about players trying to make a dent in an NBA roster, and none may be tougher to impact than Phoenix's.

Marcus Banks is out here in an attempt to justify his contract and show those who put his faith in him that he can be worth every penny of the multi-million dollar deal. 2006-07 wasn't exactly his time, but Monday night was, when he broke summer league scoring records with a 42-point performance.

Nursing a strained left shoulder in Wednesday morning's shoot around, it was learned that Banks wouldn't play against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday afternoon, which gave Strawberry and Tucker a front and center opportunity to show D'Antoni, Kerr and David Griffin what they were made of.

Though the Suns lost in an overtime nail-biter, they were nothing short of superb, much like Banks on Monday.

I caught up with D'Antoni right after the final buzzer:

Mike, your thoughts on Marcus Banks' performance Monday night, 42 points, that was nice, wasn't it?

Oh yeah. It was good. He scored a lot of points, came out and played hard and made some shots. I thought he looked pretty good.

How about Alando (Tucker) tonight? Twenty-nine points. He and D.J. (Strawberry, 19 points) really stepped it up in Marcus' absence tonight.

They played well. They're two guys that have similar games in the sense that they play very good defense and they move the ball. They both need to work on their shots and knock down their open jumpers, but they've got a good chance (to make the roster).

As you mention similar games, why did the Suns draft two guys have such similarities, play the same position, nearly the same height. Is it because of their defense?

Well, one can play a little '1' - one can play a little '2' - one can play a little '3'. So there's three spots out there for them. It doesn't really matter that they're that similar, there's still three spots out there that they can play and even be on the floor together. Especially at the 59th pick, you take the best player available and D.J. was by far the best player available.

That's when you know it's a deep draft, when someone like D.J. Strawberry is still available. How about today's signing? That's got to make you happy.

Grant Hill? Yeah, yeah -- that was huge. He's going to be a real, big positive for us.

I heard that you might envision him as one of your starters. Is that something that's feasible from your point of view?

Yeah, definitely. We'll see what happens, but he could easily start.

Looking at a potential starting line-up of Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Grant Hill, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire then? That's quite impressive!

Yeah, that would be nice. Nothing's written in stone, though. We'll just have to wait and see what goes on.

Using last year as a model, do you go a little bit deeper into your rotation this year? Or do you still go only seven or eight deep with all the talent you've got on the bench?

That's funny. I've never played seven guys ... ever. In five games out of 90, I may have played seven players. So that's 85 games we played eight or more players. I know there's the perception that we go eight. Eight's a good number. We've got the best eight in the league and we'll probably stick with that, and maybe try and work a ninth and tenth guy in there once in a while. But we've got eight of the best players in the league.

It was a great fiscal move for the team, but won't you miss what Junior (James Jones) brought to the table?

Oh, yeah. Junior was great for us and we'll miss him and his character and his family. He was super. But Grant would have taken up his minutes, so it was the thing to do.

Do you think the chip that the team will likely have on it's shoulder from the ruling debacle of Game Five will be the motivation for this season, where they seemed to kind of expect things last year and the chip was missing?

No, I don't think so. I don't think we can play any harder than we played. They play that way every night and they give you everything they've got. They didn't have any more to give. I'm really happy with their effort ... and it will stay that way.

But two extra players in Game Six, and you guys are on your way to a title, though ... seriously.

Yeah, we're there. And we're gonna be there. Anytime you've got Amare (Stoudemire), Shawn (Marion), and Steve (Nash) on your team, you're going to be in the title hunt. So, hopefully it will work out.

The coming months, training camp, and official announcements will tell the tale, but it appears the Suns have what they want and need to make another run at the championship that eluded them just a few weeks ago, fairly or unfairly.

The slate is clean.

The roster is packed.

Buckle in, Suns fans ... it's going to be one hell of a ride.

 

[HooverDam]

Im probably reading into it too much, but D'Antoni doesn't seem like his normal upbeat self in this interview. He seems kinda down and annoyed. But its probably more in my reading than anything.

 

[green machine]

Im probably reading into it too much, but D'Antoni doesn't seem like his normal upbeat self in this interview. He seems kinda down and annoyed. But its probably more in my reading than anything.

Yeah, I fail to see how anyone could get a feel for tone and mood in a print interview.

Watch the Grant Hill press conference video on Suns.com and then tell us what you think of D'Antoni's mood.

 

[da_suns_fan]

Hey Stache.....you realize youre gambling playing only eight guys. Every series in which you've been eliminated, at least one of those guys isn't available.

 

[Maligzar]

Hey Stache.....you realize youre gambling playing only eight guys. Every series in which you've been eliminated, at least one of those guys isn't available.

Excellent point.

 

[azirish]

I think this season will be the real test. Last season Banks played his way out of the rotation and the rest were just not very good. Rose and Pike could score, but not play defense due to being too slow.

D'Antoni won't have the same excuse this year. He said he needed more athletiicims, well he's got it and then some with the addition of Tucker and Strawberry.

In any case, I think D'Antoni was hoping to get Noah and it seemed like a done deal right up to just before the draft. I get the impression he's still disappointed. BTW, I think the Suns expected to hang onto the #29 so Tucker might have been part of the plan.

 

[da_suns_fan]

I think this season will be the real test. Last season Banks played his way out of the rotation and the rest were just not very good. Rose and Pike could score, but not play defense due to being too slow.

D'Antoni won't have the same excuse this year. He said he needed more athletiicims, well he's got it and then some with the addition of Tucker and Strawberry.

In any case, I think D'Antoni was hoping to get Noah and it seemed like a done deal right up to just before the draft. I get the impression he's still disappointed. BTW, I think the Suns expected to hang onto the #29 so Tucker might have been part of the plan.

Tucker and Strawberry will never see any legitimate playing. Does anyone really think D'Antoni can change?

 

[jbeecham]

D'Antoni has tried to play more than 8 players in games and the guys he's put in there have never performed well consistently. I don't blame him for not trusting Banks, Burke, Rose, Jumaine Jones, Pike or Marks on the court. I didn't have any faith in them either. Still he gave them chances to contribute and they didn't perform very well and I believe he'll do the same this year with Tucker at least. DJ & Otis will probably have a harder time getting minutes if they make the team. Hopefully those guys will take their minutes seriously by playing hard and trying to earn more minutes when they get in in garbage time instead of just clowning around like Burke did.

 

[da_suns_fan]

Sometimes it takes more than a handful of games for everyone to adjust to their roles.

Banks might have done better with just a little more time and patience from our "coach".

Banks usually went in and tried to do too much too quick cuz he felt like all future playing time was on the line.

You can't expect him to excel in that type of environment.

 

[azirish]

D'Antoni has tried to play more than 8 players in games and the guys he's put in there have never performed well consistently. I don't blame him for not trusting Banks, Burke, Rose, Jumaine Jones, Pike or Marks on the court. I didn't have any faith in them either. Still he gave them chances to contribute and they didn't perform very well and I believe he'll do the same this year with Tucker at least. DJ & Otis will probably have a harder time getting minutes if they make the team. Hopefully those guys will take their minutes seriously by playing hard and trying to earn more minutes when they get in in garbage time instead of just clowning around like Burke did.

This IS at least one of the great debates. Will D'Antoni leave a great player on the bench because he irrationally insists on an eight man rotation come hell or high water, or was it just that his backups stunk?

Most of the debate was over Rose. He shot really well, but couldn't stay close to his shadow on defense (or so it seemed). 2004-05 the Suns suffered through having Q who could score but not defend and went out to get Bell and KT in an effort to improve their defense. Last year they got Banks as a defensive oriented PG, but he played his way out of the rotation.

There is no guarantee the current backup group is going to be better, but at least they can play defense and really athletic. I hope that will help get them some minutes. I hate having no one with game experience when there is an injury - but they can't be a total liability.

 

[Mainstreet]

Actually, I thought the interview was typical D'Antoni. Always reserved in giving players too much praise. However, I thought these questions/ answers were intriguing in regard to the rookies:

How about Alando (Tucker) tonight? Twenty-nine points. He and D.J. (Strawberry, 19 points) really stepped it up in Marcus' absence tonight.

They played well. They're two guys that have similar games in the sense that they play very good defense and they move the ball. They both need to work on their shots and knock down their open jumpers, but they've got a good chance (to make the roster).

As you mention similar games, why did the Suns draft two guys have such similarities, play the same position, nearly the same height. Is it because of their defense?

Well, one can play a little '1' - one can play a little '2' - one can play a little '3'. So there's three spots out there for them. It doesn't really matter that they're that similar, there's still three spots out there that they can play and even be on the floor together. Especially at the 59th pick, you take the best player available and D.J. was by far the best player available.
_____________________________________________________________________________

The last paragraph was D'Antoni at his best in explaining how he thinks about players and positions being interchangeable.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Wow, what interview. The big problem with this interview is that

Mike DAntoni proves the Suns tampered with Grant Hill prior to the free agency period.

The logic is fairly straightforward. They did the James Jones trade because they knew they were getting Hill. But the trade was done before the free agency period started. Look at this quote again.

It was a great fiscal move for the team, but won't you miss what Junior (James Jones) brought to the table?

Oh, yeah. Junior was great for us and we'll miss him and his character and his family. He was super. But Grant would have taken up his minutes, so it was the thing to do.

He indicates that they did the trade partly for James Jones benefit, because JJ wouldn't get the touches with Hill here. Its as if Hill had already signed.

A lot of people on this board criticized the JJ trade because none of us really considered it a lock that Hill would sign here. Its obvious that the Suns considered it a lock at the time of the draft.

 

[azirish]

Wow, what interview. The big problem with this interview is that

Mike DAntoni proves the Suns tampered with Grant Hill prior to the free agency period.

The logic is fairly straightforward. They did the James Jones trade because they knew they were getting Hill. But the trade was done before the free agency period started. Look at this quote again.

It was a great fiscal move for the team, but won't you miss what Junior (James Jones) brought to the table?

Oh, yeah. Junior was great for us and we'll miss him and his character and his family. He was super. But Grant would have taken up his minutes, so it was the thing to do.

He indicates that he did it for James Jones benefit, because JJ wouldn't get the touches with Hill here. Its as if Hill had already signed.

I am certainly comforted by the knowledge that they cheated. If they hadn't, I'd wonder just how crazy they were in making the trade without Hill confirmed.

Did they violate the letter of the rules? I haven't read the fine print, but it is almost impossible to prevent back door communication. The FO cannot talk to the player or his agent, but players cannot be stopped from talking to "old friends" and then talking to the FO.

As it is, once Hill effectively announced he was interested in playing for the Suns on ESPN radio and his agent said money was not that important; it did not take a huge amount of contact.

 

[Folster]

Wow, what interview. The big problem with this interview is that

Mike DAntoni proves the Suns tampered with Grant Hill prior to the free agency period.

The logic is fairly straightforward. They did the James Jones trade because they knew they were getting Hill. But the trade was done before the free agency period started. Look at this quote again.

It was a great fiscal move for the team, but won't you miss what Junior (James Jones) brought to the table?

Oh, yeah. Junior was great for us and we'll miss him and his character and his family. He was super. But Grant would have taken up his minutes, so it was the thing to do.

He indicates that they did the trade partly for James Jones benefit, because JJ wouldn't get the touches with Hill here. Its as if Hill had already signed.

If the Suns did in fact tamper with Hill, Stern would have found out. I'm sure he would love to find yet another way to screw the Suns. He would take away two draft picks and reject the Hill signing. Naturally, San Antonio would be Hill's second choice.

 

[elindholm]

It's not tampering if Hill's agent, on his own, tells the Suns that Hill wants to join them.

 

[Covert Rain]

This is ridiculous. Do you really think the Suns would have cared if James Jones was traded even if they didn't get Hill? James Jones would not have been a big loss even if the Suns didn't get Hill. His play time was sporadic at best and IMO wasn't in the Suns plans. Hill or no Hill I think James was gone. He wasn't going to be the difference between getting a title or not and I think the Suns probably figured they could find someone either in the draft or through free agency that could fill his role at a cheaper price.

If that was the plan then tampering makes no sense.

 

[azirish]

I think Jones is a nice player. He plays defense and can shoot the three plus he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. If he was a minimum guy, he'd probably still be on the team.

Going into the playoffs, I rather have him than Tucker in the rotation even though Tucker has much more upside. There is no substitute for experience. But Hill has both more skills AND more experience.

 

[Covert Rain]

I think Jones is a nice player. He plays defense and can shoot the three plus he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. If he was a minimum guy, he'd probably still be on the team.

Going into the playoffs, I rather have him than Tucker in the rotation even though Tucker has much more upside. There is no substitute for experience. But Hill has both more skills AND more experience.

That experience didn't stop James Jones from being incredibly inconsistent. I would rather have an inexperience guy who plays consistent then an experienced guy who is going to completely disappear on you sometimes. I see no downside to playing Tucker or Strawberry or just giving somebody else a crack at playing Jame's minutes.

 

[azirish]

That experience didn't stop James Jones from being incredibly inconsistent. I would rather have an inexperience guy who plays consistent then an experienced guy who is going to completely disappear on you sometimes. I see no downside to playing Tucker or Strawberry or just giving somebody else a crack at playing Jame's minutes.

Mistakes can kill a team at crunch time. Fortunately, both Tucker and Strawberry were in college for four years in fairly disciplined systems, so I think they are better prepared than a lot of "high upside guys".

 

[Covert Rain]

Mistakes can kill a team at crunch time. Fortunately, both Tucker and Strawberry were in college for four years in fairly disciplined systems, so I think they are better prepared than a lot of "high upside guys".

I will be the first to admit that both of those guys have surprised me a bit in the summer league.

 

[azirish]

I will be the first to admit that both of those guys have surprised me a bit in the summer league.

Good or bad?

 

[Covert Rain]

Good or bad?

No good. I really didn't think either one of these guys would stand out even in Summer league. I thought Tucker MIGHT and I thought DJ had very little chance. If they keep this up, I could see possibly both of them making the roster.

 

[azirish]

No, good. I really didn't think either one of these guys would stand out even in Summer league. I thought Tucker MIGHT and I thought DJ had very little chance. If they keep this up, I could see possibly both of them making the roster.

Obviously Tucker makes the roster since he has a guaranteed contract. Strawberry still has to prove himself, but with the Suns need to develop a future point point guard I think he has a very good chance. Obviously summer league is forgotten 10 minutes after it is over, but if he continues to show skills as a distributor, his chances are pretty good.