Suns Fire Johnson

[thegrahamcrackr]

GO LOOK AT THE PICTURE OF FRANK ON THE FRONT OF ESPN.com / NBA



Such a great picture of the ever confused FJ

 

[jbeecham]

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[matt_whitlock]

Mike D'Antoni? Is that the correct spelling?

I think we all should learn, because it's much more complicated than Frank Johnson or FJ, and in about 4 games when everybody starts bashing him, we all should at least know how to spell it so it makes it look credible.

Hopefully this will light a spark under our guys. It'd be really nice to string about 7 or 8 wins together sometime soon and get us back in the hunt. The Suns have some great players, but this team has adopted a losing attitude that has been more than evident in the last 7 games or so. All in all, "Mike D" has a tough task ahead of him. Hopefully he'll pull through.

 

[Forrestham]

I think everyone is in agreement that this needed to be done. Frank was a victim of the Peter Principle. I don't feel he was qualified for the job. He proved he was an idiot with the "Mrs. Hancock" incident. I am not here to preach morals but it showed his lack of smarts getting with a major sponsors wife.

 

[SirStefan32]

I think he'll do just fine.

 

[matt_whitlock]

I honestly don't know. The thing that concerns me is that it's pretty clear he has no idea how to get this team to play better. I'm not sure anybody does, but somehow it has to happen, and with the talent we have, it SHOULD happen.

"We would love to score 100 points a game. That would be a goal. Whether we can do that or not, we’ll see. We want to open the floor up for Steph as much as we can. He’s the main guy. He has to be a star. And we’ve got Shawn and Amaré, who are stars in their own right. So we’ve got plenty of fire power. We’ve just got to make sure we share the ball and do the chemistry right. Try to stick with a plan and stick with it all the way to the end. You know, believe in something and go with it. Hopefully that will be the way to go."

That is D'Antoni's plan, as he said it. Well, scoring 100 points, believing in something, having a game plan, that all sounds good, but what is that game plan? How are we going to score 100 points per game?

We do have a lot of firepower, he's right about that, but the same was true when FJ was coaching and we went 8-13. Just acknoledging that we have good players isn't going to get it done. Maybe his substitution patterns will be better than FJ's, although we wont' really know for another month considering we have 3 players out right now. Nevertheless, if D'Antoni knows how to solve the Suns' woes, they would've been solved already. One of Frank's positives was his communication and being able to receive good tips from the players and assistant coaches without feeling threatened, and if Mike D knew anything that FJ didn't, he would have told him.

I don't want to judge this guy before he really does anything as a head coach. When it comes down to it, he really is just going to have to be a better motivator and be able to get us better prepared for the start of games. If we can compete for 48 minutes, even with FJ's game plan we would've been much better off than we are now. Maybe D'Antoni will be able to eliminate that inconsistency. I just don't know, though...

 

[fordronken]

Originally posted by matt_whitlock

That is D'Antoni's plan, as he said it. Well, scoring 100 points, believing in something, having a game plan, that all sounds good, but what is that game plan? How are we going to score 100 points per game?...

Just acknoledging that we have good players isn't going to get it done.

What did you want him to do, bring a chalk board to the press conference and start drawing up plays? Do enactments with Brian and Jerry of the way they'll run the fast break?

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by fordronken
What did you want him to do, bring a chalk board to the press conference and start drawing up plays? Do enactments with Brian and Jerry of the way they'll run the fast break?

Exactly. A lot of people are already condemning just because he didn't detail his plans in the press conference. Why?

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by fordronken
What did you want him to do, bring a chalk board to the press conference and start drawing up plays? Do enactments with Brian and Jerry of the way they'll run the fast break?

I don't see why not....

What is it called... "Every Effort", right?

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Exactly. A lot of people are already condemning just because he didn't detail his plans in the press conference. Why?

Who is doing that?

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by matt_whitlock
Who is doing that?

You've done it already.

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by Chaplin
You've done it already.

Oh.. was it in a fairy land, where every house is made of gingerbread and every light post and telephone pole is made of chocolate coated candy canes?

I figure, as long as we're making statements with no basis in reality, accusing me of judging D'Antoni when I have done nothing of the sort, we might as well make our make-believe stories fun.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by matt_whitlock
Oh.. was it in a fairy land, where every house is made of gingerbread and every light post and telephone pole is made of chocolate coated candy canes?

I figure, as long as we're making statements with no basis in reality, accusing me of judging D'Antoni when I have done nothing of the sort, we might as well make our make-believe stories fun.

What a lame reply!

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain


What a lame reply!

I'm just at a loss as to how Chaplin can say that I condemned Mike D'Antoni at any time. I figured I'd run with his logic a little bit. That's all.

 

[Ryanwb]

Originally posted by matt_whitlock
I'm just at a loss as to how Chaplin can say that I condemned Mike D'Antoni at any time. I figured I'd run with his logic a little bit. That's all.

Did you eat paint chips as a kid?

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by Ryanwb
Did you eat paint chips as a kid?

Hehe, why?

- Tommy Boy

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by matt_whitlock
I honestly don't know. The thing that concerns me is that it's pretty clear he has no idea how to get this team to play better. I'm not sure anybody does, but somehow it has to happen, and with the talent we have, it SHOULD happen.

"We would love to score 100 points a game. That would be a goal. Whether we can do that or not, we’ll see. We want to open the floor up for Steph as much as we can. He’s the main guy. He has to be a star. And we’ve got Shawn and Amaré, who are stars in their own right. So we’ve got plenty of fire power. We’ve just got to make sure we share the ball and do the chemistry right. Try to stick with a plan and stick with it all the way to the end. You know, believe in something and go with it. Hopefully that will be the way to go."

That is D'Antoni's plan, as he said it. Well, scoring 100 points, believing in something, having a game plan, that all sounds good, but what is that game plan? How are we going to score 100 points per game?

We do have a lot of firepower, he's right about that, but the same was true when FJ was coaching and we went 8-13. Just acknoledging that we have good players isn't going to get it done. Maybe his substitution patterns will be better than FJ's, although we wont' really know for another month considering we have 3 players out right now. Nevertheless, if D'Antoni knows how to solve the Suns' woes, they would've been solved already. One of Frank's positives was his communication and being able to receive good tips from the players and assistant coaches without feeling threatened, and if Mike D knew anything that FJ didn't, he would have told him.

I don't want to judge this guy before he really does anything as a head coach. When it comes down to it, he really is just going to have to be a better motivator and be able to get us better prepared for the start of games. If we can compete for 48 minutes, even with FJ's game plan we would've been much better off than we are now. Maybe D'Antoni will be able to eliminate that inconsistency. I just don't know, though...

 

[arthurracoon]

Hopefully D'Antoni knows that the team plays well when they play good defense.

 

[matt_whitlock]

Yeah, I know what that says, Chap, I wrote it. But I never condemned D'Antoni in any of that. I questioned what he said, and said that I hope he works out. That's a far cry from "condemning" though, wouldn't you say?

In fact, I said that I didnt' want to judge D'Antoni. So, basically Chap, as you are many times, you're simply wrong again.

 

[elindholm]

I have matt_whitlock on my ignore list, but since people keep quoting his entire posts, I have to read them anyway.

My guess is that he's worried D'Antoni will play Hardaway less. A running game means that more time will be given to players who can, you know, run. Since Hardaway can't, that doesn't bode well for his role under the D'Antoni regime.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Actually Eric, I think that D'Antoni is a fan of Hardaway over JJ. At the games I have attended I noticed that he usually sits outside of the huddles and talks to Penny from time to time. I also noticed during time outs when Penny is on the floor, he meets him on the court and they share a few words before joining the team.

He is the only coach I really noticed doing that. Of course it is all just speculation, but I thought D'Antoni had a reputation of using veterans over young players on his Italian team as well.


Anyways, we have to wait a couple of games to really have any idea of what his style will be. And like some have pointed out, that will all change again when Amare is back.

 

[Wally]

One great thing about this is that we now have something new to discuss. It was getting pretty old discussing how badly the Suns were playing and that FJ should be fired. Now, at lease we have a new guy to bash and give our outstanding advice to….. Speaking of which, the first thing D'Antoni should do, is to hire Tony Robbins, or someone like him (a motivational specialist) to come in on a contract basis and get the guys fired-up (no pun intended). Isn’t it great that we all can say the same things we’ve said before, but now its’ all new because we have a new potential scapegoat?

If D'Antoni loves small-ball as suggested, I believe I’ll tune into the Nuggets’ games. I’ve about had it with the small-ball crap.

 

[matt_whitlock]

Originally posted by elindholm
I have matt_whitlock on my ignore list, but since people keep quoting his entire posts, I have to read them anyway.

My guess is that he's worried D'Antoni will play Hardaway less. A running game means that more time will be given to players who can, you know, run. Since Hardaway can't, that doesn't bode well for his role under the D'Antoni regime.

Okay, let me make this perfectly clear: I did not bash Mike D'Antoni at any point. Chaplin misunderstood what I was trying to say, and Elindholm is a moron.

Nevertheless, I did not bash Mike D'Antoni. So, realize that whoever says I bashed Mike D'Antoni, thinking that I bashed Mike D'Antoni, or condemned him, is wrong. Why would that person be wrong?

Because I never bashed Mike D'Antoni.

 

[Skkorpion]

Please tell me how any new coach is going to look at this roster, with Cabarkapa and Stoudemire out and do anything other than play small ball.

That's five coaches in a row blown out early by the Colangelos, ands the sixth is set up to fail.

Excuse me if I'm not impressed.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Skkorpion
Please tell me how any new coach is going to look at this roster, with Cabarkapa and Stoudemire out and do anything other than play small ball.

That's five coaches in a row blown out early by the Colangelos, ands the sixth is set up to fail.

Excuse me if I'm not impressed.

I for one am not expecting any miracles over the next few weeks. Once Amare Stoudemire and Zarko Cabarkapa return to the lineup I'll expect results, but until then I'll be happy with anything the Suns can get. They have a brutal schedule ahead of them even if they were at full strength.

Joe Mama