Mike D'Antoni

[AzStevenCal]

Past his prime maybe, but at 30ppg, 5apg, 5rpg he is light years ahead of anyone on the suns. The lakers are a mess and it's not from lack of talent.

We should at least enjoy it while it lasts as short lived as it may be. After all it's all we have .

I don't know about light years but yeah, Kobe on his way down is still better than anyone we have. OTOH, we have 2 point guards that are light years ahead of their current point guard. They are a talented team but they are changing systems in-season which never plays well; they are old, they are injured and they are nowhere near as good as they will be. But, they are still better than we are and they will continue to improve. When all is said and done, they'll start looking like the Lakers but we'll still be owned and operated by unlicensed clowns.

Steve

 

[taz02]

But, they are still better than we are and they will continue to improve. When all is said and done, they'll start looking like the Lakers but we'll still be owned and operated by unlicensed clowns[/B].

Steve[/QUOTE]

Come on man, can we please hold off reality til after the holidays....

 

[Mainstreet]

Really? Two WCF appearances in 4 years is a great ride? It was decent, but ultimately underwhelming as far as I was concerned... and we had the same "great" ride two years later WITHOUT DA.

Nash was the ride... not the guy who literally has been an absolute failure everywhere he's gone without him.

The place where I always seem to find myself is defending DA because few fans seem to give him any credit for the job he did with the Suns. I always like to balance out the negative perspective. Those were not dark days when he coached the Suns. I thought he provided a great ride when he was here.

 

[Superbone]

When all is said and done, they'll start looking like the Lakers but we'll still be owned and operated by unlicensed clowns.

Hey, I'd rather they didn't actually put the makeup on.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The place where I always seem to find myself is defending DA because few fans seem to give him any credit for the job he did with the Suns. I always like to balance out the negative perspective. Those were not dark days when he coached the Suns. I thought he provided a great ride when he was here.

i just don't give much credit to him. We were just as good with Amare and Nash with or without him when both were healthy in 2010 and yet, DA has been a complete and utter failure everywhere else without Nash. I mean... what credit does he really deserve? He had multiple dream-teamers/all-nba's on his team, consistently had one of the top three records in the league and couldn't even get that unit to ONE finals, much less win one... and again... once he was gone, the first year Nash and Amare were healthy together, they got back to the WCF without him.

 

[Mainstreet]

i just don't give much credit to him. We were just as good with Amare and Nash with or without him when both were healthy in 2010 and yet, DA has been a complete and utter failure everywhere else without Nash. I mean... what credit does he really deserve? He had multiple dream-teamers/all-nba's on his team, consistently had one of the top three records in the league and couldn't even get that unit to ONE finals, much less win one... and again... once he was gone, the first year Nash and Amare were healthy together, they got back to the WCF without him.

Perhaps we can agree that Gentry is as good a coach or perhaps even better than D'Antoni provided he has the same player talent. Coaching only goes so far.

 

[JPlay]

D'Antoni did pretty good with the Knicks when he had Felton at PG and Amare at PF. Once Carmelo got there, the team went to sh*t.

He needs a creator at point who can shoot the 3. An athletic big man who can play the pick and roll and a bunch of shooters.

 

[BC867]

The place where I always seem to find myself is defending DA because few fans seem to give him any credit for the job he did with the Suns. I always like to balance out the negative perspective. Those were not dark days when he coached the Suns. I thought he provided a great ride when he was here.

Do we need to be reminded that D'Antoni's approach:

-- using a rotation of 7, sometimes 8, players

-- making jokes about lack of playing defense

-- stating that it is not his job to develop young players

is extremely short-sighted and hardly deserving of credit. That is what he did with the Suns. That great ride you refer to left us in a bind.

D'Antoni did pretty good with the Knicks when he had Felton at PG and Amare at PF. Once Carmelo got there, the team went to sh*t.

Y'mean like Gentry once Beasley got here? Only D'Antoni bailed out in New York and Gentry stuck with it and has found a way to utilize Beasley -- as instant offense off the bench.

'Sorry, but I have found nothing redeeming in D'Antoni's attitude or performance in NBA city after city that he has conned his way into. Really!

 

[Mainstreet]

Do we need to be reminded that D'Antoni's approach:

-- using a rotation of 7, sometimes 8, players

-- making jokes about lack of playing defense

-- stating that it is not his job to develop young players

is extremely short-sighted and hardly deserving of credit. That is what he did with the Suns. That great ride you refer to left us in a bind.

The Suns were in a bind before the arrival of D'Antoni. He made the Suns relevant no matter how you feel about it.

 

[95pro]

also if amare didn't have knee issues, that dantoni's fault?

 

[Phrazbit]

D'Antoni did pretty good with the Knicks when he had Felton at PG and Amare at PF. Once Carmelo got there, the team went to sh*t.

He needs a creator at point who can shoot the 3. An athletic big man who can play the pick and roll and a bunch of shooters.

They were basically a .500 team in a pretty lousy East before the Melo trade and then went .500 the rest of the way. I think that the team was better setup for Mike's style before they got Melo, but even so, he wasnt exactly lighting it up, they were very mediocre.

The Suns were in a bind before the arrival of D'Antoni. He made the Suns relevant no matter how you feel about it.

We were in a bind before the arrival of Nash. HE made the Suns relevant. Mike got lucky and stumbled into the perfect group of players for his offense, but we had so much talent on the roster in 04/05 that the team was going to have a great season. Mike did a nice job of instilling an offensive setup, and from there on out held the team back with an inability to manage games, make adjustments, develop players, develop a bench and woeful defense. Those were fun years to watch, but they really could and should have been better.

I think Mike has proven pretty soundly that if not for Steve Nash he would be totally unknown outside of Italy.

 

[Covert Rain]

That is exactly right. We became relevant after Nash arrived. Not because of D'Antoni. I give D'Antoni credit for maximizing what we had in Nash but IMO, any good coach could have done that. I simply always go back to...what could have a POP or PJ done with the same team. I always come away with the feeling we would at least have one banner in the rafters as a result.

 

[SunsTzu]

I give D'Antoni credit for maximizing what we had in Nash but IMO, any good coach could have done that.

I don't think any good coach would have done that though. Nash wasn't even close to being a superstar prior to coming back to Phoenix. I don't think anyone had any inclination just how good a team could be with Nash being the primary option.

Granted Nash deserves the lion's share of the credit for actually producing, but I don't think there is any other coach that would have handed him that control. It may have been more dumb luck than some sort of master plan, but I will credit D'Antoni for unleashing Nash on the league despite his other faults.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The Suns were in a bind before the arrival of D'Antoni. He made the Suns relevant no matter how you feel about it.

this is ludicrous. Steve Nash made us relevant no matter how you feel about it. With DA as coach the second half of the season in 2003-4, they were still a below average team.

 

[Mainstreet]

this is ludicrous. Steve Nash made us relevant no matter how you feel about it. With DA as coach the second half of the season in 2003-4, they were still a below average team.

I'd be shocked if you would give D'Antoni any credit in his tenure as Suns coach. SSOL was exciting and innovative addition to NBA basketball that maximized the skills of Steve Nash earning him two MVPS. It wasn't just the speed of the game and putting shooters at every position, but the spacing that made it work. Of course D'Antoni found the PG essential to make it work in Steve Nash.

 

[BC867]

I'd be shocked if you would give D'Antoni any credit in his tenure as Suns coach. SSOL was exciting and innovative addition to NBA basketball that maximized the skills of Steve Nash earning him two MVPS. It wasn't just the speed of the game and putting shooters at every position, but the spacing that made it work. Of course D'Antoni found the PG essential to make it work in Steve Nash.

A pretty good definition of a one-trick pony.

 

[Errntknght]

I'd be shocked if you would give D'Antoni any credit in his tenure as Suns coach. SSOL was exciting and innovative addition to NBA basketball that maximized the skills of Steve Nash earning him two MVPS. It wasn't just the speed of the game and putting shooters at every position, but the spacing that made it work. Of course D'Antoni found the PG essential to make it work in Steve Nash.

The league has seen basketball like that in the past - in fact some of it by the 'run and gun' Suns of old. The 'showtime' Lakers are one example and the Celtics under Red Auerbach ran beautiful fastbreak basketball - and both those teams played serious defense (yes, the showtime Lakers). Denver probably played the closest to SSOL and their defense would have delighted D'Antoni - the only other team that would let the opponents score just to keep the pace up. Like the Suns under Mike they folded in the playoffs. While the Celts and Lakers ran to a great multitude of titles.

 

[Phrazbit]

Watching the Lakers Clips game.

First off... this is depressing. The Clippers are so good, so sooooo good, and remind me a lot of a better defensive and rebounding version of the 2005 Suns.

Secondly, wow, D'Antoni is a joke. An absolute joke. This season shows clearly how inflexibile he is. Stubbornly wasting a monster front court so he can force players who dont fit his system to run his system... very poorly.

 

[BC867]

D'Antoni is a joke. An absolute joke. This season shows clearly how inflexibile he is. Stubbornly wasting a monster front court so he can force players who dont fit his system to run his system... very poorly.

I continue to be shocked that the Buss family, who have overseen Laker excellence for many years as well as the NBA, didn't anticipate that.

If fans such as ASFN fans predicted D'Antoni's consistent shortcomings and stubbornness, how could they not?

 

[D-Dogg]

Dwight's lack of a post game is a glaring part of the problem. Then the total miscomm and lazy defense. They cut the game to 3, and then dwight efs up three post moves, metta blows a three and they don't compete on the defensive end, and it's back to 12 in four possessions.

 

[Errntknght]

Why the heck is Mike continuing to play Darius Morris instead of Chris Duhon, his ATO ratio is half of Duhons and I doubt if he's as good a defender. Except for 3pt shooting his stats are consistently worse than Chris's - he's a terrible FT shooter, not that he gets to the line much. All I can think is that Mike is blinded by his 41.5 % from three, earned mostly in garbage time.

 

[elindholm]

They cut the game to 3, and then dwight efs up three post moves, metta blows a three and they don't compete on the defensive end, and it's back to 12 in four possessions.

Suns fans know this phenomenon well. Although Stoudemire's post game (before his knees broke down) was better than Howard's, it wasn't much better. Game after game was lost by force-feeding Stoudemire in the post down the stretch, having him turn the ball over or get rejected while asking for a foul, and collapsing mentally on the defensive end. A Nash-led offense thrives on unpredictability and controlled chaos. Once the defense knows where to focus its attention, all of Nash's brilliance is forfeited, and the offense becomes quite ordinary regardless of the star power on the floor.

 

[BC867]

Why the heck is Mike continuing to play Darius Morris instead of Chris Duhon, his ATO ratio is half of Duhons and I doubt if he's as good a defender. Except for 3pt shooting his stats are consistently worse than Chris's.

Game after game was lost by force-feeding Stoudemire in the post down the stretch, having him turn the ball over or get rejected while asking for a foul, and collapsing mentally on the defensive end.

'Just two examples of how D'Antoni is an incomplete, stubborn coach. 'Always has been, always will be.

 

[Covert Rain]

'Just two examples of how D'Antoni is an incomplete, stubborn coach. 'Always has been, always will be.

Me and my buddies were at a bar watching one of the playoff games when D'Antoni refused to change it up for Nash and and stop running the pick and roll at the top of the key. I think it was stopped or resulted in TOs 5 times straight down the court. To tell you how obvious it was to just about everyone......the bar started chanting..."run another play.....run another play". It was pretty damn hilarious....yet frustrating.

 

[D-Dogg]

Why the heck is Mike continuing to play Darius Morris instead of Chris Duhon, his ATO ratio is half of Duhons and I doubt if he's as good a defender. Except for 3pt shooting his stats are consistently worse than Chris's - he's a terrible FT shooter, not that he gets to the line much. All I can think is that Mike is blinded by his 41.5 % from three, earned mostly in garbage time.

Defense. Only defense. He's 10x the defender Duhon is.

But yeah, he sucks otherwise.