D'Antoni responds to criticism

[FArting]

D'Antoni responds to criticism

Skepticism has morphed into full-fledged disbelief. The coach with the second-highest winning percentage in Suns history has discovered that fan patience these days is shorter than his bench.

He's being called everything from "One-trick 'toni" to "Mike D'Anphoney."

He is taking the criticism in stride, although it was refreshing to see the Suns coach bear his teeth a bit Monday.
"To me, it's competition now," Mike D'Antoni said. "People think I can't get it done. I think I can.

"Right now, (the critics) are winning. Well, they're winning for three months. I've been winning for three years. And we've still got a month to come so they better be careful."

Well, well. Good to see a little swagger on this team because it sure hasn't been spotted on court.

Why the fan ire? The Suns are 2-4 with Shaquille O'Neal in the lineup. Their performance has raised questions about what kind of coach D'Antoni can be outside his comfort zone, where the tempo is faster than a salsa beat.

They're fair questions. D'Antoni has spent much of his career coaching this style. In his effort to work a 7-foot-1, 321-pound giant into rotation, the Suns have played sloppy defense, turned over the ball frequently and struggled with their perimeter game.

"Any time you try something different, there are going to be those who don't think you can do it," D'Antoni said. "But I'm confident with who I am and what I can do. I understand in this business there's more pressure on me than anybody else, and if I can't get it done, they'll get somebody else in here."

Fans are worried about postseason seeding.

Steve Nash preached patience Monday, suggesting that because of the team's new look, "we're in training camp right now and everyone else is in midseason."

That's fine except that with 23 games remaining in the regular season, there's not a lot of wiggle room.

If D'Antoni wants to win over fans, here's what needs fixing:


• The turnovers. The team's new style of offense is simply more predictable than its former run-and-gun ways. Teams are anticipating passes, and the turnovers - Nash, of all people, has 23 in the past five games - are a product of the predictability.


• Boris Diaw. His tentativeness surfaces at the worst times. He remains more potential than productivity though, suggesting D'Antoni has struggled to push the right buttons. Too bad for the Suns. Diaw could fill some of the holes Marion's absence created.


• O'Neal's contributions. D'Antoni remains a tough read on his opinion of this trade. He has said all the right things to support management and at the very least, he has to be relieved that his two bigger headaches, Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, are gone.

The team's rebounding differential has improved dramatically - from a minuis-5.6 to a plus-4.7 - and its second-chance points have improved, but O'Neal has added to the turnover problem and seems out of sync with the offense.

It's a strange universe when a coach who has won 177 games the past three seasons is the target of so much venom. I agree that his performance this season should be evaluated not now but in June.

He deserves a mulligan if you consider his body of work since joining the Suns. He helped ease Amaré Stoudemire's transition into the NBA and helped the forward and the team endure the rocky waters that came with the player's injuries. He has adroitly juggled a variety of egos. And let's not forget how many teams were eager to copy his style.

He has done it with integrity, which says something in this league

Nash is befuddled by fans' willingness to place the blame on D'Antoni.

"That's a very amateur view of the situation," he said. "I'm glad it's not important to me what other people think. They're not here every day, they don't understand what it's like.

"You can't really judge us on six games or 10 games. Judge us in 30 games, 25 games. I think to do anything else is really short-sighted."

We're trying. But it sure feels like time is running out.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaolaBoivin/18517

 

[cly2tw]

1. You can't turn back the clock. Your style is no longer working with your roster this season even without the trade, as witnessed with the embarassing losses to GS and Hornets.

2. What did you win for the last 3 years, for the Suns? Anything of consequence?

3. Nash's turnover issue has been here to stay all season long, not just after the trade for Shaq.

4. Barbos, besides Diaw, is another issue you could fix, DA. Somebody just mentioned that we are still 6-0 with LB starting.

 

[mojorizen7]

D'Antoni: "Any time you try something different, there are going to be those who don't think you can do it," D'Antoni said. "But I'm confident with who I am and what I can do. I understand in this business there's more pressure on me than anybody else, and if I can't get it done, they'll get somebody else in here."

At last....some passion and fire from the coach on an issue that doesn't involve the referees. Sounds like HIS team's poor play has finally lit a fire under HIS butt. It also sounds like he's ready to accept the challenge and put it on HIS shoulders.
....and not one mention of the "E" word.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

How is it amateur to blame the coach? If he cant find a way for Diaw to be Diaw 100% of the time, yet still plays him 30+ mpg, then whose fault is it?

If we are undefeated with Barbosa starting, and Bell has been shooting worse than my grandmother but still gets 30+ mpg, whose fault is it?

If we swap out one starter for another starter and triple our turnover rate, and dont show any signs of improvement game by game even when playing the freakin 76ers, then whose fault is it?

Amateur? Screw you Nash, right now the fans are giving you the most objective analysis youre going to get of the current situation.

 

[nashman]

No offense but Nash is right, you and I as we are all just fans, we don't know what they are going through. I will take Nash word for it they will get it figured out its not just going to happen over night which some on here expect.

 

[jandaman]

Quiet frankly, the problems stems to the fact.

that Teams anticipate Suns style, it has been 3+ seasons. They are well prepared, have identified the weak points and have exploited the weak points.

the short rotation, due to the short rotation of D'Antoni, 8-12 players on the bench do not have any contributions to the results. Other teams will have an occasional input from their 8th and 9th player, may it be a few extra rebounds, energy on the defensive end during late 2nd or 3rd quarter which prevented 4-6 points from the other team, the occasional 3pter or the occasional steal block which leads to an extra possesion. But no.... the Suns bench, with the exception of Strawberry and earlier this season with Skinner, who was technically 7th man so he doesnt fit the 8th-12th man bill anyways. The short rotation on paper sounds good, put your best 7 and be done with it. But not if your point guard is 30+ years old and constantly has a lot of load on his shoulders night in and night out. Not if your most physical perimeter player was coming off injury and has shown his age due to the wear and tear.


Losing Marion was big time "bad" for the system. But bringing in Shaq has solved the lack of size and being rebounded night in and out. But the energy and hustle that Marion brought in that covered a lot of gaps is now missing. Hill has done well but doesnt cover Marion's work capacity, Diaw has shown in some games he can make up for Marion and then some, but has been inconsistent as everyone know, but usually coaching strategy plays a factor to his contributions some nights.


Barbosa I'm afraid, as good as he is off the bench offensively, could of been a very good trade bait that would of brought in a long range shooter and a viable energy guy off the bench.



And then back to D'Antoni and his lack of strategic and discipline in the defensive end. Nash can only make this system work with functional parts and the Suns have lost those parts, yet why not alter the system slighty maybe depend less on Nash. Nash was the MVP and still the catalyst but teams have figured a way to counter attack.

Defense... yes... I'm afraid, Suns simply need a more tactical approach to defense than your simple double team the "hot" player.

 

[nowagimp]

Steve Nash is absolutely right. It took at least 25-30 games for KT to be comfortable here, shaq will be no different. Guys just have to learn to play with each other. Suns fans will know come april whether the move made a better playoff team. Still, if the suns had traded for gasol and lost basically no-one, people would be saying how great the small ball strategy is. The lakers theft of an all star PF for basically two picks and a couple stiffs will be hard to compete with. The spurs may have made the necessary adjustment with the acquisition of KT without subtracting anything meaningful, but the suns did a subtraction to get shaq. The smoke will clear come april and the playoffs will test this team.