Gentry: "Tell Mike D'Antoni he's vindicated!'

[AzStevenCal]

Well that tenure produced. Lots of what ifs and we have a championship. Joe Johnson hurt....Matrix Trade...Duncan hitting his one and only 3....Amare and Boris on the court....My point is that tenure gave us the opportunity for Championships. These days it's all last place and potential.

A lot of us feel this way but this board has also had very vocal support for the opposite opinion. I don't want to start another board war but it was basically "he didn't win it all, therefore he couldn't win it all" and the ever popular "it only works in the regular season" and it's not like we can disprove either claim.

 

[JustWinBaby]

Yep, MDA broke up the Suns WCF team in 2010 and caused this franchise to suck for the last 7 years.

 

[BC867]

Do ppl really use the Knicks and Lakers tenure against him? How many coaches have those teams had recently?

Not to beat a dead horse, but his quotes and actions showed Mike D'Antoni to be a coach with severe limitations.

"It is not my job to develop young players." Making jokes to the Press (and public) about not playing defense. Wearing down his 7.5 player rotation (especially Steve Nash) during each season.

In coaching the Suns, D'Antoni put on a hell of a show but was a 1-trick pony. And it caught up with him. He put the Suns in the limelight, but did not build for the post-season.

I know there are fans who believe that, in the Suns history, that is the best we could hope for. But my feeling is that an effective Head Coach establishes skills in a solid foundation (starters and reserves) while building for future growth to become a genuine playoff team in addition to making a splash during most of the regular season.

 

[Phrazbit]

Yep, MDA broke up the Suns WCF team in 2010 and caused this franchise to suck for the last 7 years.

What caused them to suck the last 7 years was that they didn't completely blow up the 2010 team. I still think letting Amare walk was a wise move, I don't think they would have won a title and our training staff turned out to be correct, Amare only had one impact season left in him. The mistake was not doing a complete tear down once they let Amare go, trying the patch work crap over the next 2 years is what truly gutted the franchise, an old roster that clearly were not contenders and the FO did nothing to alter that course for years.

The total rebuild should have started in 2010.

 

[sdscard4]

Not to beat a dead horse, but his quotes and actions showed Mike D'Antoni to be a coach with severe limitations.

"It is not my job to develop young players." Making jokes to the Press (and public) about not playing defense. Wearing down his 7.5 player rotation (especially Steve Nash) during each season.

In coaching the Suns, D'Antoni put on a hell of a show but was a 1-trick pony. And it caught up with him. He put the Suns in the limelight, but did not build for the post-season.

I know there are fans who believe that, in the Suns history, that is the best we could hope for. But my feeling is that an effective Head Coach establishes skills in a solid foundation (starters and reserves) while building for future growth to become a genuine playoff team in addition to making a splash during most of the regular season.

We were built for the playoffs. The Spurs battles were classic. They were the Kings and we fought every time. Crooked ref...suspensions...Blood...injuries. Only time we avoided them we ran into a Dallas juggernaut and with a healthy Amare I feel we beat them. Gentry was our 2010 coach but he brought back coach D style. To say we weren't built for the playoffs is absurd

 

[Covert Rain]

Do ppl really use the Knicks and Lakers tenure against him? How many coaches have those teams had recently?

Last time I checked you don't get to cherry pick which parts of a coaches career you get to include.

 

[GatorAZ]

Last time I checked you don't get to cherry pick which parts of a coaches career you get to include.

Just telling you the facts. Those teams have been dumpster fires for years now.

Knicks have had 5 coaches in 6 years. Lakers 6 in 7 years.

 

[Covert Rain]

Just telling you the facts. Those teams have been dumpster fires for years now.

Knicks have had 5 coaches in 6 years. Lakers 6 in 7 years.

Not sure how that absolves him. If he is a great coach he should have been able to put those out.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

Not sure how that absolves him. If he is a great coach he should have been able to put those out.

He's back in the perfect situation again. Like the Suns, the Rockets have bought in to his system. Harden runs the offense and he loves Mike and his system. Thats why it works. The NY and LA gig didnt because Melo is a malcontent and didnt like Mike and Kobe hated Mike and never gave his system a chance. Kobe always wanted the ball in his hands and Mike's system didnt allow that.

 

[Covert Rain]

He's back in the perfect situation again. Like the Suns, the Rockets have bought in to his system. Harden runs the offense and he loves Mike and his system. Thats why it works. The NY and LA gig didnt because Melo is a malcontent and didnt like Mike and Kobe hated Mike and never gave his system a chance. Kobe always wanted the ball in his hands and Mike's system didnt allow that.

So he needs a perfect situation to be a good coach?!?

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

So he needs a perfect situation to be a good coach?!?

No, just not malcontents. Plus Harden is a Steve Nash -like PG.

 

[Covert Rain]

No, just not malcontents. Plus Harden is a Steve Nash -like PG.

Sort of proving my point. Coach D IMO needs someone of that caliber to take the Xs and Os out his hands. The more you have to rely his actual coaching the worse it is for him.

 

[GatorAZ]

Not sure how that absolves him. If he is a great coach he should have been able to put those out.

I didn't say he's a great coach but I don't think a great coach would've succeeded in those situations either.

 

[Covert Rain]

I didn't say he's a great coach but I don't think a great coach would've succeeded in those situations either.

We all know his system can do. My biggest issue with him has always been when it comes to critical adjustments he often is playing checkers while other coaches are playing chess.

I never doubted he could interject some fun offense into a team. His team is fun to watch. I am going to enjoy watching them but temper expectations come playoff time.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

Sort of proving my point. Coach D IMO needs someone of that caliber to take the Xs and Os out his hands. The more you have to rely his actual coaching the worse it is for him.

Well yeah, Mike was a PG so he needs someone to run his system ala Nash / Harden. But like I said, EVERYONE has to be on board for it to work. Its working in Houston.
I know quite a few of you arent going to be swayed by my or anybody elses positive opinions of Mike. So lets just agree to disagree. Im a Mike fan and I loved the Suns when he was coaching along with Nash and everybody on the roster. Now Im a Rockets fan also because of Mike and his fun style of play. If I could find a Mike D hat Id wear it, so insteadl I'll just wear a Rockets cap occasionally.

 

[Mainstreet]

A lot of us feel this way but this board has also had very vocal support for the opposite opinion. I don't want to start another board war but it was basically "he didn't win it all, therefore he couldn't win it all" and the ever popular "it only works in the regular season" and it's not like we can disprove either claim.

Exactly. And the Suns have come so far since then. (sarcasm)

 

[Mainstreet]

Well his tenure as GM was pretty damn bad.

In regard to D'Antoni as GM with the Suns, I think this was Sarver trying to save money. At least those were my feelings at the time.

 

[Mainstreet]

We all know his system can do. My biggest issue with him has always been when it comes to critical adjustments he often is playing checkers while other coaches are playing chess.

I never doubted he could interject some fun offense into a team. His team is fun to watch. I am going to enjoy watching them but temper expectations come playoff time.

I think D'Antoni is a systems coach. He needs the players to run his system particularly at the PG position. Most of the decisions, except for plays out of bound, timeouts etc., are made by the PG. It's sort of like a read option quarterback in football. However, D'Antoni now gives some attention to defense which should help the Rockets come playoff time.

 

[TRW]

He's 455/426 regular season and 26/33 in the playoffs in his career. A bit over .500 regular season and not too good in the playoffs. He has had some entertaining teams but they seem to burn out come postseason, maybe because of his system?

We'll see if Harden starts to break down and the system "works" in the long run in Houston. Maybe he has learned some lessons and will avoid the pitfalls he had in the past, who knows? So far, so good for them though.

 

[JustWinBaby]

What caused them to suck the last 7 years was that they didn't completely blow up the 2010 team. I still think letting Amare walk was a wise move, I don't think they would have won a title and our training staff turned out to be correct, Amare only had one impact season left in him. The mistake was not doing a complete tear down once they let Amare go, trying the patch work crap over the next 2 years is what truly gutted the franchise, an old roster that clearly were not contenders and the FO did nothing to alter that course for years.

The total rebuild should have started in 2010.

When they decided to not sign Amare I agree that the rebuild should have started then and we should have traded Nash along with not signing Amare. Keeping Nash was a huge mistake, IMO. However I really liked that 2010 team and really wished we would have kept it together. Even if Amare would have only had one more productive year I just do not see how we would have been any worse. We actually might have started the rebuild sooner by getting higher draft picks sooner.

Doesn't really matter but it surely has not been a lot of fun following this team for quite a while. I like several players on the current roster and I hope they start being relevant sooner than later.

 

[Mainstreet]

He's 455/426 regular season and 26/33 in the playoffs in his career. A bit over .500 regular season and not too good in the playoffs. He has had some entertaining teams but they seem to burn out come postseason, maybe because of his system?

We'll see if Harden starts to break down and the system "works" in the long run in Houston. Maybe he has learned some lessons and will avoid the pitfalls he had in the past, who knows? So far, so good for them though.

You bring up a good point about players breaking down. Looking at box scores it looks like D'Antoni has extended his player rotation to more than 7 or 8 players. Also it looks like Beverley can play some PG as well. This should help with fatigue. However, if Harden breaks down, like with most any star, the Rockets will struggle.

 

[Cheesebeef]

We were built for the playoffs. The Spurs battles were classic. They were the Kings and we fought every time. Crooked ref...suspensions...Blood...injuries. Only time we avoided them we ran into a Dallas juggernaut and with a healthy Amare I feel we beat them. Gentry was our 2010 coach but he brought back coach D style.

Gotta disagree about Gentry playing DA's style. That team was not running 7 seconds or less and took off when Amare and Robin Lopez started playing together in the second half of the season, something that would have never happened under DA. I mean... the starting lineup for the 2nd half of the season when we went on a tear had Amare/Hill/Lopez... THREE guys who couldn't shoot the three. That is absolutely NOT DA's system.

And that team went 10 deep with Gentry playing a deep bench that DA never did. Guys like Lopez/Admunson were actually solid role players on that team and that team didn't have to have 4 3 point shooters on the court at all times. It had Amare/Nash and NO ONE else from DA's squads.

 

[JustWinBaby]

Gotta disagree about Gentry playing DA's style. That team was not running 7 seconds or less and took off when Amare and Robin Lopez started playing together in the second half of the season, something that would have never happened under DA. I mean... the starting lineup for the 2nd half of the season when we went on a tear had Amare/Hill/Lopez... THREE guys who couldn't shoot the three. That is absolutely NOT DA's system.

And that team went 10 deep with Gentry playing a deep bench that DA never did. Guys like Lopez/Admunson were actually solid role players on that team and that team didn't have to have 4 3 point shooters on the court at all times. It had Amare/Nash and NO ONE else from DA's squads.

Since you think Alvin Gentry is the 2nd coming compared MDA.Please explain why his career record is 389 Wins and 460 losses as a head coach. Everyone seems to look at MDA's record in NYK and LA to support their negativity. Why not look at Gentry's, other than that one year. MDA actually beat Phil Jackson twice in the playoffs. Does that make Phil a bad coach?

The year Gentry coached the PG that MDA helped win 2 MVP's was by far his best record as a head coach. Amare was also healthy and playing for his last contract.

I still like Alvin but the facts remain. If you don't have the correct players it is pretty hard to win at anything, no matter who the coach is. Even if you are Phil Jackson.

It has been that way forever in the NBA.

 

[JCSunsfan]

In regard to D'Antoni as GM with the Suns, I think this was Sarver trying to save money. At least those were my feelings at the time.

I did not. DAntoni did not like any of the rookies available, so Sarver sold the picks. Why pick a player if your coach says he is not going to play him.

I think they signed JRich instead. It wasn't that DAntoni hated rookies. It just was not where his team was.

 

[BC867]

He has had some entertaining teams but they seem to burn out come postseason, maybe because of his system?

That is an understatement! What coach in his right mind would combine a frenetic pace (seven-seconds-or-less) with a 7.5-man rotation?

Either one wears out players. Both together? Ignorant. Short-sighted. A Head Coach who planned for the moment and couldn't see beyond the end of his nose.

The biggest victim of that combination was Steve Nash, who had to lie on the floor to rest when he was not on the court.

I posted at the time, yes, over and over that under D'Antoni, Nash and the rest of the rotation were drained "down the stretch and into the playoffs". It was that obvious. And it repeated season after season.