Gortat's Interview

[Phrazbit]

Awful in Denver, awful in New York, apocalypticly bad in LA and here he had an insane amount of talent at his disposal on never got them over the hump.

I might be able to write off his run here as just "bad luck" if not for that his teams regularly lost games that we absolutely should have won. Blown leads, blow possessions, inability to get defensive stops. Those are not trademarks of competent coaching.

D'Antoni brought in a good offensive system, and the positives about him end there. He is an absolutely awful game coach. Unable to make adjustments, unable to make serviceable rotations and unable to do anything without his system (Nash) on the court.

 

[Phrazbit]

Mike is 174-264 as a coach of non-Suns+Nash teams. That figure does not include his 4-13 record as Suns coach when Nash was out with injury. He had numerous all-stars at his disposal during those tenures and went under .500 with a team that Mike Woodson (not exactly Popavich) went 18-6 with.

So, you're looking at a coach who can not even crack a .400 career winning percentage with players like Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and now... an older Steve Nash, gracing his rosters.

I not only think he is a bad coach but he is among the worst currently in the league. He has a good SYSTEM if the parts are in place to run it, but if those parts are not there he is completely lost and even if he does have the right players for his system he has no clue how to handle the rest of his job requirements.

 

[BC867]

As has been said before, he is an incomplete coach. SSOL with Nash running it was a gimmick that got him noticed. By now, the league and fans have noticed his shortcomings and stubbornness in refusing to incorporate all aspects of the game and build a championship contender. A good coach makes his own luck.

I want to emphasize the word "build". The best coaches, whether in sports or business, include developing young talent for the future.

Following his departure, what are the Suns lacking beside a well-rounded "present". A future that should have started developing under D'Antoni.

 

[Budden]

I want to emphasize the word "build". The best coaches, whether in sports or business, include developing young talent for the future.

Following his departure, what are the Suns lacking beside a well-rounded "present". A future that should have started developing under D'Antoni.

Did he not develop Joe Johnson? Leandro Barbosa? Boris Diaw? Earl Clark? Jeremy Lin? Danillo Galliniari?

I've always known that the only way a player can improve is if he works hard and improves himself. Today's NBA players have an abundance of resources to which they are free to turn if they decide they want to put in the hard work that it takes to turn potential into reality.

For the sake of argument, however, let's say it's the head coach's job to "develop" players. Joe Johnson was horribly inconsistent under every coach he played for until Mike D'Antoni came along. He was indecisive, unconfident, and for every 6 minutes he played well, there were 5 games where he played really badly. In the 2003 playoffs, he averaged 5.3 ppg on 27.5% shooting. Leading up to that point, he hand’t shown any improvement whatsoever: he went from averaging 8ppg on 42% shooting as a rookie to 9.8ppg on 40% shooting as a sophomore. It wasn’t until Frank Johnson was let go and Mike D’Antoni took over that JJ started to resemble a good player in this league. Less than a year and a half later, Joe Johnson got a near-max level contract from Atlanta that Sarver wouldn’t match. But do you give Mike D’Antoni any credit for turning a scrub with potential into an all-star? No.

Leandro Barbosa played his first 4 years in the league for Mike D’Antoni. As the 29th pick in the NBA draft, he averaged just under 8 points and 2 assists his rookie year in 2004. That blossomed to 18 points and 4 assists in 2007. But do you give Mike D’Antoni any credit for turning a quick tweener into the leading scorer on a team that got within two games of the NBA Finals? No.

And then there’s Jeremy Lin. I don’t have to rehash this kid’s history, but I will point out that every coach that saw him play before Coach Mike cut him. Mike D’Antoni coached him, and 6 months later he was the proud new owner of a $30 million contract from the Houston Rockets and the leading role in Volvo’s ad campaign. But do you give coach Mike any credit? No.

How did Boris Diaw do before Mike D’Antoni coached him?

The fact is, Mike D’Antoni has developed tons of players as a coach of the Suns, Knicks, and even the Lakers. Somehow, you dismiss ALL of that. And contrary to what you may believe, forgetting about every detail that contradicts your point of view does not make those details cease to have ever existed. This isn’t an episode of Fringe.

 

[elindholm]

Less than a year and a half later, Joe Johnson got a near-max level contract from Atlanta that Sarver wouldn’t match.

Bzzt. Sarver offered to match it and Johnson begged him not to.

 

[Folster]

Bzzt. Sarver offered to match it and Johnson begged him not to.

The same thing happened with New Orleans and Eric Gordon except New Orleans matched.

 

[elindholm]

The same thing happened with New Orleans and Eric Gordon except New Orleans matched.

And now the rumor is that they're already trying to trade him. I don't fault Sarver for letting Johnson go when he made it clear he didn't want to be in Phoenix. (Yes, I know that some others are perpetually up in arms over the alleged $5 million gap the previous summer, but that's outside the scope of this discussion.)

 

[JCSunsfan]

And now the rumor is that they're already trying to trade him. I don't fault Sarver for letting Johnson go when he made it clear he didn't want to be in Phoenix. (Yes, I know that some others are perpetually up in arms over the alleged $5 million gap the previous summer, but that's outside the scope of this discussion.)

Joe Johnson was being overpaid at that moment and everyone knew it. If you overpay for a player, you want them to want to be on your team. Besides, the picks and player Sarver got back looked like brilliance a few months later.

When Amare went down, Diaw looked fantastic. We were also scheduled to get a top 10 pick from Atlanta, until they won the stinking lottery (top 3 protected pick, and they get 3rd). That pick ended up being Horford. If the draft had gone according to the odds, the Suns would have picked Joakim Noah.

From the Lew Alcindor coin flip, to the Robert Horry hip check, to the 2007 draft lottery, the Suns have NEVER had ANY good luck and have had plenty of bad. Yes, they have made some bonehead moves, and JC pulled off some good trades, decent drafts, and decent signings. But there has never been any luck to speak of. That has always gone the other way.