D'Antoni regrets leaving PHX

[sunsfan88]

Found this little gem on the real gm forums

In an interview with ESPN Los Angeles, D'Antoni confessed what he has never even told to Steve Nash, although he and former Suns general manager Steve Kerr have long ago ironed out their acrimonious 2008 parting.

"I shouldn't have gone to New York," D'Antoni said. "I should have stuck in there and battled. You don't get to coach somebody like (Nash) too many times. It's pretty sacred and you need to take care of it. I didn't."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2012/11/29/mike-dantoni-regrets-suns-knicks/1734117/

Still makes me cringe every time I think about what if D'Antoni had listened to Kerr and hired Thibodeau as an assistant coach to mask/fix the defensive problems....

 

[TJ]

Of course he does. Hindsight is always 20/20. D'Antoni was a mediocre coach in NY and has completely embarrassed himself with the Lakers. The Suns went to the WCF two years after his departure, and none of his future teams got out of the first round. The Suns got the better end of that divorce. Even if he got Thibs, I'm not sure his future would've been safe. Thibs would've likely supplanted him.

Now, D'Antoni coaches one of the most recognizable teams in the NBA as has managed to make them a laughing stock. Takes a ton of effort to do that.

 

[Errntknght]

I sure had no regrets about his departure - it was long, long overdue, IMO. Heck, he learned basketball in Europe and he never adjusted to the NBA game. Not while he was here at any rate - since his departure I haven't paid significant attention to his teams.

 

[Gaddabout]

If D'Antoni had stayed, he never would have accepted Thibodeau:

1) Thibodeau would have wanted to alter the nature of D'Antoni's substitution scheme, because the defense could not have been fixed without altering personnel to hide Nash on the floor.

2) D'Antoni knew he would have been hiring his replacement if things didn't get fixed. That's an obvious assumption when the GM is telling you to hire a guy.

 

[AzStevenCal]

If D'Antoni had stayed, he never would have accepted Thibodeau:

1) Thibodeau would have wanted to alter the nature of D'Antoni's substitution scheme, because the defense could not have been fixed without altering personnel to hide Nash on the floor.

2) D'Antoni knew he would have been hiring his replacement if things didn't get fixed. That's an obvious assumption when the GM is telling you to hire a guy.

You're right but it wasn't just Nash. Even if Nash had been a great defensive player, Tom's defense would have clashed with Mike's basic offense. It was absurd to force Dantoni to take on Thibodeau and it was pretty close to being cowardly IMO. I think they found a way to force him to resign so they wouldn't have to fire him. I'd have felt a lot better about that situation if they had just fired him outright and hired Thibodeau as the Head Coach. Unlike a lot of people here, I liked Dantoni but for reasons not entirely his fault, it was time for him to go.

Steve

 

[JustWinBaby]

You're right but it wasn't just Nash. Even if Nash had been a great defensive player, Tom's defense would have clashed with Mike's basic offense. It was absurd to force Dantoni to take on Thibodeau and it was pretty close to being cowardly IMO. I think they found a way to force him to resign so they wouldn't have to fire him. I'd have felt a lot better about that situation if they had just fired him outright and hired Thibodeau as the Head Coach. Unlike a lot of people here, I liked Dantoni but for reasons not entirely his fault, it was time for him to go.

Steve

I agree with that totally. I was more pissed at management for not discussing roster moves with Mike rather than suggesting that he should bring in Thibodeau. I like Thibodeau but defense was not our biggest issue. All Sarver did in those years was bring in the cheapest veterans possible to stay under the LT. Our bench sucked. We had no back up big that could run the court and we had no back up PG. We traded all of our draft picks and we blamed Mike for not playing the bench. We had no bench other than the first seven. That blame belongs squarely on Sarver and Kerr not MDA, IMO. The incomplete roster was more of a problem than Mike's defensive coaching prowess. He had the same issues in New York and currently has a horrible roster in LA.

 

[slinslin]

D'Antoni is not a good coach and we have not missed him so who cares.

And who says Kerr did not discuss roster moves with him? It has been reported by different sources that D'Antoni wanted Shaq.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Found this little gem on the real gm forums

Still makes me cringe every time I think about what if D'Antoni had listened to Kerr and hired Thibodeau as an assistant coach to mask/fix the defensive problems....

DAntoni's biggest weakness is arrogance and stubbornness. Yup. With some tweaking there was a real chance for something great. I was in NY when the news broke on that one.

 

[JCSunsfan]

D'Antoni is not a good coach and we have not missed him so who cares.

And who says Kerr did not discuss roster moves with him? It has been reported by different sources that D'Antoni wanted Shaq.

Yes. Mike pushed for Shaq.

 

[JustWinBaby]

D'Antoni is not a good coach and we have not missed him so who cares.

And who says Kerr did not discuss roster moves with him? It has been reported by different sources that D'Antoni wanted Shaq.

That same management team replaced D'Antoni with Porter and Amare with Warwick and Childress.

Certainly Kerr and Sarver knew exactly what was needed to bring a championship to the desert, they deserve no blame. It was always MDA could not coach and Amare could not rebound. Some things never change.

They Knicks were accused of shooting too many three pointers when MDA was there. Woodsen takes over and they set league records for 3 pointers attempted and not a peep of criticism.

 

[JustWinBaby]

Yes. Mike pushed for Shaq.

How do you know that for sure?

I expect he agreed to the deal in that Marion would have walked that summer with nothing in return and Mike would have had Shaq for two years, if he and Kerr had not got into their pissing contest.

 

[JCSunsfan]

How do you know that for sure?

I expect he agreed to the deal in that Marion would have walked that summer with nothing in return and Mike would have had Shaq for two years, if he and Kerr had not got into their pissing contest.

That was the word coming out of the front office at the time. It was all over the radio etc. It is memorable because the first question in everyone's mind was "what in the world does Mike want with Shaq? This must be pushed on him." The answer that Kerr gave in the radio interview I was listening to was that Mike was the one pushing hardest for Shaq.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That same management team replaced D'Antoni with Porter and Amare with Warwick and Childress.

Kerr wasn't here for the Warwick and Childress moves and then reconstructed the roster after Mike was fired to bring them right back to the WCF.

They Knicks were accused of shooting too many three pointers when MDA was there. Woodsen takes over and they set league records for 3 pointers attempted and not a peep of criticism.

the knicks were also accused of playing terrible defense and pretty much being a joke. then DA was fired and immediately, the entire team started playing better, went 20-6 and the next season actually won a playoff round and was 2 games away from the ECF...as opposed to DA who has won ONE playoff game since 2008.

DA is a bad coach. His Nuggets team was terrible the one year he coached there, the Knicks were a joke for the majority of his tenure before he quit there and the Lakers were the laughingstock of the league last year and lost the number 1 FA in the summer.

He did great when Steve Nash basically ran the team and was still in his prime. But Steve Nash ran this team to the WCF without DA as well, meanwhile, DA has never gotten any other team except a MVSteve team to even win two games in the playoffs.

dude has very little to hang his hat on and once he gets run from the Lakers after this year, the only coaching position he'll get is in the likes of nowheresville like Sacramento or Charlotte.

 

[Phrazbit]

It took D'Antoni 6 months to figure out that having Pau Gasol on his team was a GOOD thing and not some kind of burden. I think any thoughts of him being a good coach should be long buried.

 

[elindholm]

So does D'Antoni last the season in Los Angeles? I'd lay even money that he doesn't.

 

[ProdigalSun]

So does D'Antoni last the season in Los Angeles? I'd lay even money that he doesn't.

I'd take that bet. I was even putting aside my hatred for the Lakers last year because I wanted to see Nash get his ring. I have a feeling old Steve will be done pretty soon as well...

 

[Mainstreet]

It took D'Antoni 6 months to figure out that having Pau Gasol on his team was a GOOD thing and not some kind of burden. I think any thoughts of him being a good coach should be long buried.

I think Gasol is a better fit for DA than Howard. DA's offense is all about spacing and shooting. Actually a center like Frye (if healthy) would have helped him more and let Gasol work inside.

 

[Phrazbit]

Howard was undoubtedly a bad fit with Mike D's offense, however, he was the only thing keeping them defensively respectable. Swap him out for someone like Frye and they might get marginally better on offense but become a travesty defensively, I dont think they even come close to the playoffs.

 

[sunsfan88]

You're right but it wasn't just Nash. Even if Nash had been a great defensive player, Tom's defense would have clashed with Mike's basic offense. It was absurd to force Dantoni to take on Thibodeau and it was pretty close to being cowardly IMO. I think they found a way to force him to resign so they wouldn't have to fire him. I'd have felt a lot better about that situation if they had just fired him outright and hired Thibodeau as the Head Coach. Unlike a lot of people here, I liked Dantoni but for reasons not entirely his fault, it was time for him to go.

Steve

How? Coaches take on assistant coaches who specialize in one side of the ball all the time.

If anything Thibodeau could have used Amare's athleticism to show that he can be better defensively than he was.

 

[Mainstreet]

Howard was undoubtedly a bad fit with Mike D's offense, however, he was the only thing keeping them defensively respectable. Swap him out for someone like Frye and they might get marginally better on offense but become a travesty defensively, I dont think they even come close to the playoffs.

Since when did DA worry about defense.

SSOL took the Suns a long way although it would take a younger Steve Nash to play it now.

 

[AzStevenCal]

How? Coaches take on assistant coaches who specialize in one side of the ball all the time.

If anything Thibodeau could have used Amare's athleticism to show that he can be better defensively than he was.

Because Mike's offense was predicated on not playing traditional defense in certain situations. And Amare had been better on defense, he just learned he couldn't play defense and stay on the court and he wanted to stay on the court more than anything. He's part of that generation that learned more about how to get on Sportscenter than how to play basketball.

Steve

 

[Mulli]

Because Mike's offense was predicated on not playing traditional defense in certain situations. And Amare had been better on defense, he just learned he couldn't play defense and stay on the court and he wanted to stay on the court more than anything. He's part of that generation that learned more about how to get on Sportscenter than how to play basketball.

Steve

I object! There are many who are part of that generation who play defense/all around basketball.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I object! There are many who are part of that generation who play defense/all around basketball.

Yes there are but that doesn't negate my point.

Steve

 

[Mulli]

Yes there are but that doesn't negate my point.

Steve

How so?

 

[AzStevenCal]

How so?

How so not? Go watch 70's basketball and tell me how many times you see a defender race out of the picture when a big guy comes in for a dunk? Go to a city park or high school gym and watch how often the kids practice dunking instead of shooting. The worst example of it was a dozen years ago (roughly) when players started spending more time in front of a mirror then they did on their game because ESPN had started showing players' game faces. I'm not saying they can't learn defense or master the fundamentals of the game, I'm just making a point how about how it's influenced priorities.

Steve