D'Antoni Says Suns Were a Good Defensive Team

[Covert Rain]

Oh boy. If this doesn't sum up the problem with D'Antoni. I don't know what will. His ego is either so freaking huge or his stubbornness is so abundant he has convinced himself that he didn't need to change and didn't have problems with his defense. Evidently, the Suns win total equaled good defense in D'Antoni's eyes.

Plus he said during the press conference that most of the the time in practice and in the film room was on defense not offense. That is a lie. If that was true, Kerr wouldn't have been asking for more of emphasis on defense. Mike during the live press conference made it sound like every practice was about defense. We all know that isn't true.

http://www.nba.com/knicks/


You have to be kidding me with this:

Despite his impressive record, D'Antoni's hiring has drawn criticism because his teams in Phoenix were never strong defensively — a critique that both amuses and annoys him.

"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."

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/116238

D'Antoni says he will win with Knicks roster

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Mike D'Antoni is bringing his high-scoring brand of basketball to a Knicks team that seems ill-suited to run it.
No matter. The former Phoenix Suns coach figures he'll come up with something that works.
"I will adapt what I do. Now I like to play fast, move the ball and all that stuff, and we'll try to do that as best as we can," D'Antoni said Tuesday. "Obviously you're going to be a little slower than (the Suns), but at the same time there's no reason why you can't run, be exciting and have good ball movement."
The Knicks are counting on it, hoping one of the NBA's top offensive coaches can turn around a team with seven straight losing seasons — and make New York an exciting future destination for free agents who want to play his entertaining style.
D'Antoni was introduced as the Knicks' 24th coach during a news conference at Madison Square Garden, four days after agreeing to leave the Suns for a $24 million, four-year contract. Knicks president Donnie Walsh referred to his new coach as Mike "D'Antonio," before quickly correcting himself. Still, Walsh is certain he has the right man.
"I thought that Mike was the best guy to choose because I think he's been in situations like we have right now and he did a good job with those situations," Walsh said.
D'Antoni believes he can win right away, even though the mismatched group of players he inherits makes that difficult to imagine.
"I look at the roster and that's the roster I'm going to win with," D'Antoni said. "My focus is to win this coming year."
D'Antoni replaces Isiah Thomas, who was fired last month after going 56-108 in two seasons. New York was 23-59 last season, matching the franchise record for losses.
D'Antoni won at least 54 games each of the last four seasons and earned coach of the year honors in 2005. He is known as one of 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."
The 57-year-old D'Antoni went 253-136 in Phoenix, but the Suns let him talk to other clubs about their jobs after losing to San Antonio in the first round. He chose the Knicks over the Chicago Bulls, citing his comfort with Walsh and his desire to live in New York.
D'Antoni's career record is 267-172 in parts of six seasons with Phoenix and Denver. He also coached Benetton Treviso to the 2002 Italian League championship.
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.
Despite his impressive record, D'Antoni's hiring has drawn criticism because his teams in Phoenix were never strong defensively — a critique that both amuses and annoys him.
"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."
There's no questioning D'Antoni's offense. He turned the Suns into the NBA's most potent team, relying on a system that focused on taking a shot in the first 7 seconds of the shot clock, many of them 3-pointers.
But the Suns had Nash along with a roster loaded with players who could get up and down the floor quickly and shoot from the outside. The Knicks are a slower group, with Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph in the frontcourt, and their point guard is 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."
Marbury and Quentin Richardson, who both played for D'Antoni in Phoenix, attended the news conference. Marbury was traded to the Knicks soon after D'Antoni took in 2003 — a move that helped clear salary-cap space for the signing of Nash — but Richardson flourished in his one season with the Suns, tying for the NBA lead with 226 3-pointers in 2004-05.
Richardson said his teammates are excited about the hiring, and the Knicks hope some of the league's superstars will be, too. Walsh's goal is to be under the salary cap in the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all can be free agents, and perhaps the allure of D'Antoni's style would get the Knicks on their list of teams to consider.
"Who wouldn't love to play that way?" Richardson said.

 

[TJ]

Twisted logic by D'Antoni. A good defensive team does not allow 105 PPG

 

[Covert Rain]

Twisted logic by D'Antoni. A good defensive team does not allow 105 PPG

Not only that but you can win by outscoring opponents versus playing defense.

 

[Renz]

So if you won 58 games a year averaging 75 PPG would that make you a good offensive team?

 

[Covert Rain]

So if you won 58 games a year averaging 75 PPG would that make you a good offensive team?

Good example.

 

[TheHopToad]

The problem with D'Antoni is not with those 58 wins and how they won them or whether they were the best defensive team on the floor.

The problem is what they did after those 58 wins each year. I'll let him have his flawed logic if he had kept it up and been "the best defensive team on the floor" for 16 more games.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Just like: I am a good owner I paid $400 million for the team.

 

[nowagimp]

You guys whine when a guy throws his co-horts under the bus and you whine when he doesnt. What do you expect him to say when that question is asked, say amare sucked on D, and nash couldnt stay in front of anyone? Alot of you guys appear to have a struggle in your grappling with reality. The reality is that when the press sets up those kinds of questions(obviously inflamatory in a bridge burning context) they arent answered, POP does it, PJ does it, they all do it.

 

[elindholm]

"We were a good defensive team; it's just that everyone else was better."

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

You guys whine when a guy throws his co-horts under the bus and you whine when he doesnt. What do you expect him to say when that question is asked, say amare sucked on D, and nash couldnt stay in front of anyone? Alot of you guys appear to have a struggle in your grappling with reality. The reality is that when the press sets up those kinds of questions(obviously inflamatory in a bridge burning context) they arent answered, POP does it, PJ does it, they all do it.

And they get teased and criticized for doing it as well. You want us to criticize pop and PJ when they spin, but not Dantoni?

Your lack of reality seems quite contradictory to your accusations.

 

[az1965]

Remember, to him good defense is to outscore your opponents.

 

[Covert Rain]

You guys whine when a guy throws his co-horts under the bus and you whine when he doesnt. What do you expect him to say when that question is asked, say amare sucked on D, and nash couldnt stay in front of anyone? Alot of you guys appear to have a struggle in your grappling with reality. The reality is that when the press sets up those kinds of questions(obviously inflamatory in a bridge burning context) they arent answered, POP does it, PJ does it, they all do it.

I have no clue what your even talking about. The issue here is not whether D'Antoni should have thrown someone under the bus or not. The issue here is that D'Antoni honestly thinks this was a good defensive team and that his belief was so strong that he felt he had to leave. Hence the problem with D'Antoni.

A non egotistical response or even an honest response would have been something like "yes we struggled at times defensively but were looking to improve" or something generic like that. Nobody would have thought worse of him either way.

This speaks to the very heart of the problem with D'Antoni. Who said he should throw someone under the bus????

 

[DeAnna]

Well, what is he supposed to say? Dis his players and say "yes, we were crappy?"

Obviously he knows they were not a good defensive team (and I don't think he's on drugs).

 

[Mainstreet]

I probably missed it somewhere but does anyone have a video link to D'Antoni being introduced in NY. I'd appreciate it if someone could post it.

 

[Covert Rain]

Well, what is he supposed to say? Dis his players and say "yes, we were crappy?"

Obviously he knows they were not a good defensive team (and I don't think he's on drugs).

I wouldn't expect him to say the worst case scenario either way. I think most of the great coaches acknowledge shortcomings. However, did you see his statement? His ego and arrogance was about as big as the good year blimp.

Since, D'Antoni's stubbornness and unwillingness to change his philosophy was at the heart of his leaving...I think this press conference validates the tragedy of a situation that never should have happened had D'Antoni been more flexible and had Kerr refrained from making unsupportive comments in the media.

I probably missed it somewhere but does anyone have a video link to D'Antoni being introduced in NY. I'd appreciate it if someone could post it.

http://www.nba.com/knicks/

 

[TJ]

Not that I really care about the Knicks, but I hope they dont buy what he's selling. He is claiming that he can coach any style. So why play the victim card when you were simply asked to add 15 min to your practice schedule so your team could focus on defensive sets? Im convinced he lost the team after the first two games of the playoffs and knew he wanted out. HE got his wish, along with an extension and a fat raise.

He will marginally improve the Knicks only because Isaiah Thomas was that awful, but thats it.

 

[shazaam6]

D'antoni is not going to be able to huff and puff his way around in NY. They may wait until he plays some games first, but he will have his hands full if they start losing by by way of the layup drills we watched in Phoenix.

Nash is the system. No one can substitute in for him and run "D'antoni's system" because it is Nash's court awareness and ability. Coincidently, Nash's Mavericks team led the NBA in scoring until he left and led the NBA in scoring with the Suns.

It's obvious D'antoni is delusional about defense. So we'll just add a better defensive strategy to Nash's system and get him a backup so he can rest.

DJ work on your jumpshot all summer, you will get playing time.

 

[Irish]

I don't think D'Antoni is quite as big an idiot as he sounds, although I think he's wrong.

The big problem is how to measure defense. Pounts per game given up is absolutely useless in measuring defense because it always makes "milk the clock" teams look great as a defensive team. Clearly point differential is better than abvolute number of points given up.

Opponent's shooting percentage is a somewhat better measure, but gets destorted by teams that foul a lot in order to "make the other team earn it at the line". It also overrates defensive rebounds at the expense of blocks, steals, taking charges, and other ways to force turnovers where no shot was made.

In theory, the number of points given up per possession is the best measure of defense and the Suns often ranked pretty high on that measure. However, that measure hides the impact of efficient offenses. Great defensive teams can shot opponents down and the Suns never did.

 

[shazaam6]

I don't think D'Antoni is quite as big an idiot as he sounds, although I think he's wrong.

The big problem is how to measure defense. Pounts per game given up is absolutely useless in measuring defense because it always makes "milk the clock" teams look great as a defensive team. Clearly point differential is better than abvolute number of points given up.

Opponent's shooting percentage is a somewhat better measure, but gets destorted by teams that foul a lot in order to "make the other team earn it at the line". It also overrates defensive rebounds at the expense of blocks, steals, taking charges, and other ways to force turnovers where no shot was made.

In theory, the number of points given up per possession is the best measure of defense and the Suns often ranked pretty high on that measure. However, that measure hides the impact of efficient offenses. Great defensive teams can shut opponents down and the Suns never did.

That is the best statement. You can tell good defense when you see it. Suns are so good at offense they could overcome even good defensive teams. But not a well-coached one with strategy when the ball gets passed around. The great teams can still defend and contest shots. When the ball got passed around and the Suns were on defense there were wide open jumpshots.

 

[jandaman]

I do understand his "58 times a season Suns were the better defensive team"

Because it means the Suns played enough defense to be on top of the other team....


yeah yeah Its a philosophical way to evaluate it..




Thing is... Suns never got to put up stops in HUGE games in the playoffs... i could not care much if Suns made oplayoffs with 50 games but sweeped teams in the playoffs...

 

[Irish]

I do understand his "58 times a season Suns were the better defensive team"

Because it means the Suns played enough defense to be on top of the other team....

yeah yeah Its a philosophical way to evaluate it..

Thing is... Suns never got to put up stops in HUGE games in the playoffs... i could not care much if Suns made oplayoffs with 50 games but sweeped teams in the playoffs...

Early in the season I became very concerned as it became clear the Suns were racking up all their wins in the Eastern Conference and the bottom of the West. In the East they were 24-6 and just 31-21 in the West.

2-2 Denver
1-2 Dallas
2-2 Houston
1-3 Lakers
0-4 NO
3-1 SAS
1-2 Utah


This is what diisturbed me. The only team the Suns beat was the beatup Spurs. 9 and 16 with the playoff teams was not impressive.

The Suns beat up the weaker teams in the West:

3-1 Clippers
3-0 Memphis
2-2 Minnesota
3-0 Portland
4-0 Sacramento
2-2 Warriors

That's 17 and 5 against the Western Lottery teams. Treating GS as an "almost" playoff team makes the balance even more pronounced. The Suns ran up their stats aginst weak teams

 

[Griffin]

Plus he said during the press conference that most of the the time in practice and in the film room was on defense not offense. That is a lie. If that was true, Kerr wouldn't have been asking for more of emphasis on defense. Mike during the live press conference made it sound like every practice was about defense. We all know that isn't true.

Huh? We all know that wasn't true? None of us here know that, since none of us here actually attend practice. All we know is who we choose to believe. But this is not the first time D'Antoni said that his practices focus on defense. Many times in the past he acknowledged that defense was this team's biggest weakness, and that's the area on which they work the most to improve. This is nothing new. But of course it's much easier to just assume that the main reason we played poor defense is due to lack of emphasis, because that still leaves some room for improvement, doesn't it? It's something that can be relatively easily fixed with a new philosophy or a new coach. But if the coaching staff did place emphasis on defense, and the team still struggled, then what hope does that leave?

As for why Kerr would ask D'Antoni to put more emphasis on defense when he's been doing that all along, think about it: the Suns lost again to the Spurs. Kerr made the Shaq trade and it didn't exactly help, if not make us worse. He can't trade Amare, Nash or Shaq and hope to improve. His hands are tied. What else can he possibly do, other than to make unreasonable requests from the coaching staff, so that it at least appears as if he is doing something to improve the team and to deflect the blame away from himself and ownership? This is the same as with the "play the bench" request. He gave away James Jones, he gave away Kurt Thomas, replaced them with rookies, and then wonders why we play a short rotation.

If Kerr wants a deep rotation, he better re-sign players like Giricek and sign a quality role player or two with that mid-level exception he didn't even touch last year. If Kerr wants the team to play better defense, he better make a trade for someone like Artest. He can hire a coach that will do all those things he asked of D'Antoni, but unless the roster is improved, he better not expect different results.

 

[passenger]

i fear we won't be a good defensive team anymore in d'antoni's absence

 

[scXfreakX]

Kind of a stupid statement from D'Antoni. The man is way too confused. Yes, we had our games where we played solid defense and held the other team to low points, but that was few, and that was only when it HAD to be done.

 

[nowagimp]

Huh? We all know that wasn't true? None of us here know that, since none of us here actually attend practice. All we know is who we choose to believe. But this is not the first time D'Antoni said that his practices focus on defense. Many times in the past he acknowledged that defense was this team's biggest weakness, and that's the area on which they work the most to improve. This is nothing new. But of course it's much easier to just assume that the main reason we played poor defense is due to lack of emphasis, because that still leaves some room for improvement, doesn't it? It's something that can be relatively easily fixed with a new philosophy or a new coach. But if the coaching staff did place emphasis on defense, and the team still struggled, then what hope does that leave?

As for why Kerr would ask D'Antoni to put more emphasis on defense when he's been doing that all along, think about it: the Suns lost again to the Spurs. Kerr made the Shaq trade and it didn't exactly help, if not make us worse. He can't trade Amare, Nash or Shaq and hope to improve. His hands are tied. What else can he possibly do, other than to make unreasonable requests from the coaching staff, so that it at least appears as if he is doing something to improve the team and to deflect the blame away from himself and ownership? This is the same as with the "play the bench" request. He gave away James Jones, he gave away Kurt Thomas, replaced them with rookies, and then wonders why we play a short rotation.

If Kerr wants a deep rotation, he better re-sign players like Giricek and sign a quality role player or two with that mid-level exception he didn't even touch last year. If Kerr wants the team to play better defense, he better make a trade for someone like Artest. He can hire a coach that will do all those things he asked of D'Antoni, but unless the roster is improved, he better not expect different results.

Yeah well its kind of simple for suns fans. If only DA had played the bench more and DJ and tucker made like 20% of their shots that every opposing coach want them to take at every opportunity, well the suns would have had the strongest bench of the lottery teams.