Hardaway: Old Suns team didn't buy into D'Antoni's system

sunsfn

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Hardaway: Old Suns team didn't buy into D'Antoni's system

BY GREG LOGAN
STAFF CORRESPONDENT

February 6, 2005

PHOENIX - Penny Hardaway and Stephon Marbury departed Phoenix 13 months ago when they were traded to the Knicks. They returned to America West Arena last night to find a vastly different Suns team that leads the NBA with 109 points per game and now ranks as a legitimate title contender with its fast-paced style.

Asked last night if he's shocked by the turnaround, Hardaway said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't able to sell his European-style offense to his players last season, but that changed when Phoenix added point guard Steve Nash and small forward Quentin Richardson as free agents, using the salary-cap space created by the Marbury trade.

"Coach D'Antoni is a great coach," Hardaway said. "He tried to have us buy into this system when we were here, and we really didn't. There was so much turmoil going on. Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson came in and had the type of game Coach wanted. That's up and down, push the ball, kick it ahead and it doesn't matter who shoots or who scores ... We had enough on the team to get it done, but we just didn't buy into the system."

Hardaway was upset in Phoenix because his playing time was reduced to make way for younger players. Marbury was in the middle of the turmoil that enveloped the Suns.

"It was like guys talking behind each other's backs, guys being selfish, everybody was trying to get their own," Hardaway said. "That leads to trades, and that broke the team up. It doesn't seem like they have any of that going on right now."


Tim still comes off bench

Despite scoring a season-high 23 points in 23 minutes against Sacramento, forward Tim Thomas again came off the bench last night behind rookie Trevor Ariza ... Center Nazr Mohammed was able to play with a groin strain, and Jerome Williams (strained right foot) played after missing one game.

Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.
 

Yuma

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Interesting both Hardaway and Marbury say the same thing. That helps explain a lot. The Suns were saying it was just a cap move, but now we see there was more to it! :cool:
 

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Do you think they are both now kicking themselves? If only they had bought into the system, they could be in a winning situation. The real question is did they have the skills to operate in this team system, or are their talents better suited to another style? I put that as a question because I don't know if they could have adjusted their games.
 

az1965

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reader said:
Do you think they are both now kicking themselves? If only they had bought into the system, they could be in a winning situation. The real question is did they have the skills to operate in this team system, or are their talents better suited to another style? I put that as a question because I don't know if they could have adjusted their games.
I don't think we could have been in this situation with Marbury running the team. He probably would be scoring in dozens but would not be running, spreading the floor, and distributing ball like what we have going right now. No way.

And Penny has always been a cry baby...
 

Yuma

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Well Marbury should be Nash right now. Then Hardaway should have been Jimmy Jackson. The only problem is we probably wouldn't have Q. Aside from that, Nash is a better distributor. I saw Marbs playing more of a two guard once he walked the ball up to the front court last night. :(
 

George O'Brien

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Yuma said:
Well Marbury should be Nash right now. Then Hardaway should have been Jimmy Jackson. The only problem is we probably wouldn't have Q. Aside from that, Nash is a better distributor. I saw Marbs playing more of a two guard once he walked the ball up to the front court last night. :(

Marbury could not be Nash because he doesn't have the court vision. This is difficult concept, but basically some guys have better peripheral vision than others. It is said that as a player Don Nelson had the ability to see all 9 other players on the court at the same time and I suspect Nash is the same way. He actually sees the open man.

i'm not sure if this can be taught, but it is crucial for PG's and quarterbacks.
 

Joe Mama

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I don't know about the rest of you, but it seems pretty clear to me what Hardaway is really saying with "we didn't buy into the European system."

I see that as "Stephon Marbury didn't buy into D'Antoni's system."

Joe Mama
 

scotsman13

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Joe Mama said:
I don't know about the rest of you, but it seems pretty clear to me what Hardaway is really saying with "we didn't buy into the European system."

I see that as "Stephon Marbury didn't buy into D'Antoni's system."

Joe Mama


i see that as hardaway and marbury were to set in their ways to believe that some no name could know more about basketball then them.
 

JCSunsfan

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"It was like guys talking behind each other's backs, guys being selfish, everybody was trying to get their own," Hardaway said. "That leads to trades, and that broke the team up. It doesn't seem like they have any of that going on right now."

Penny has to be the biggest jerk in the NBA. Wherever he goes, this is what happens. It turned out alright in the end, but we didn't trade Marbury because he was the problem, we traded Steph so that we could dump Penny.

Talk about negative value.

Its true that Steph didn't seem to want to run--and Nash is so much better for this team. But that is hindsight, I don't think team brass recognized that so much at the time.
 

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JCSunsfan said:
"It was like guys talking behind each other's backs, guys being selfish, everybody was trying to get their own," Hardaway said. "That leads to trades, and that broke the team up. It doesn't seem like they have any of that going on right now."

Penny has to be the biggest jerk in the NBA. Wherever he goes, this is what happens. It turned out alright in the end, but we didn't trade Marbury because he was the problem, we traded Steph so that we could dump Penny.

Talk about negative value.

Its true that Steph didn't seem to want to run--and Nash is so much better for this team. But that is hindsight, I don't think team brass recognized that so much at the time.

IMO you are wrong. I agree that dumping Penny Hardaway's contract was a big part of the deal, but I think they realized that Marbury did not and would not fit their desired style of play. In other words you would have never been traded if they felt she was a good fit for the team they wanted to build. By also continue to believe that they realized that Amare Stoudemire would not be able to develop into a great player with Marbury dominating the ball for 18 out of 24 seconds on the shot clock.

Joe Mama
 

BC867

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Joe Mama said:
In other words you would have never been traded if they felt she was a good fit for the team they wanted to build.
Hey, Joe. Star-bury is now She-bury? Oooh. :D
 
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Joe Mama

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BC867 said:
Hey, Joe. Star-bury is now She-bury? Oooh. :D

good one. that was actually one of the more innocent sounding voice recognition errors. That one about tight teens the other day was awful.

Joe Mama
 

pokerface

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Penny was too washed up to be a part of any "system" unless they moved the ball up the court in wheelchairs or something....
 

George O'Brien

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pokerface said:
Penny was too washed up to be a part of any "system" unless they moved the ball up the court in wheelchairs or something....

Last season the debate over JJ versus Penny was mostly over whether Penny's better outside shooting made up for his vastly inferior defense. Now it seems obvious that efforts by the Suns to get the team to run were thwarted by both Marbury and Penny.
 

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Now that he's not here, I get a kick out of Penny's quotes. He's like a kid giving the 'innocent look' while casually poking a hornet's nest with a stick.


I still think the Suns made the Marbury trade first and foremost for money--the chemistry stuff was there, but secondary. When they did it, Steve Nash was less than a 50% possibility.

I have to LOL at the thought of Penny trying to run up and down the court at the Suns' current pace, though. :lol:
 

elindholm

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He's like a kid giving the 'innocent look' while casually poking a hornet's nest with a stick.

Funny that you mentioned that. I watched the second half and overtime of the Knicks game last night, and Hardaway adopts that pose after every foul he commits. It's the same every time.
 

Joe Mama

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elindholm said:
He's like a kid giving the 'innocent look' while casually poking a hornet's nest with a stick.

Funny that you mentioned that. I watched the second half and overtime of the Knicks game last night, and Hardaway adopts that pose after every foul he commits. It's the same every time.

My favorite is the Tim Duncan "deer in headlights" look.

Joe Mama
 

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Joe Mama said:
My favorite is the Tim Duncan "deer in headlights" look.

Joe Mama

That is the one thing that is getting pretty annoying about Duncan, he is an excellent defender, with uncanny hand-eye coordination, but he also makes fouls, which you couldn't convince him of.
 

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Ugh. Polluting the board with another Penny Hardaway thread. :trout:
 

vince56

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sunsfn said:
"He tried to have us buy into this system when we were here, and we really didn't. There was so much turmoil going on. Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson came in and had the type of game Coach wanted.

In other words, Hardaway and Marbury are punks that care more about the off-the-court issues than playing the game. "We didn't buy into it" reeks of Leon-ism. Maybe it's also an admission to being stupid. I'm glad they're gone. Richardson and Nash are better players, with better attitude, and IIRC they cost less too.
 

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