Suns Give D'Antoni Two-Year Extension

[NickelBack]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/0512dantoni.html

 

[elindholm]

:roll:

I can guarantee that he will be fired before his extension is up. What another embarrassing waste of money.

 

[Chaz]

"Mike did an outstanding job teaching, developing and motivating our young core this last season,"
BC

Agreed. Good for D'Antoni. I think he did a good job. Offense was up, the team was much more competitive, had some quailty wins, and they played hard in every game.

I don't understand how people can bash this guy. I watched all but a couple of games last year and the team was much better at the end of the season. I think much of the credit for that can go to D'Antoni.

as always JMHO.

 

[Chaplin]

For once, coaching isn't our main problem, so I have no real problem with the extension--I probably would have liked him to prove himself more before giving it to him, though.

 

[JerkFace]

 

[Chaplin]

Of course, if those rumors about Kobe really liking D'Antoni are true, perhaps this is the Suns' way of giving the kid more incentive to sign here...

 

[KingLouieLouie]

D'Antoni did an excellent job despite of some of the limitations he encountered... The injuries and the constant transitions the organization did following several trades were beyond his control...The team began to develop a lot of chemistry toward the end of last season and he certainly deserves a lot of credit in that regard....

It's refreshing that D'Antoni got the extension now rather than being a "lame-duck" coach entering the '04-'05 which would have been the worst possible scenario........

 

[F-Dog]

What another embarrassing waste of money.

'Classy' is the adjective I would have chosen.


If the Suns use D'Antoni to develop the young players--he seems to be doing a great job at that--and then discard him as soon as the team can compete, I think a couple of million bucks severance pay is the least they can do for him.

The Suns didn't have to pay D'Antoni as a HC this year, either, but they did anyway...I guess 'cause it's the right thing to do, or something...

 

[fordronken]

The way coaches have been getting canned lately, I think there's something to giving a guy a chance who has a good history, some good potential and was not in a situation where he could have done much more than he did. People treat coaches like they have to be the best ever right from the start or they should be tossed. Coaches, like players, can get better too.

 

[WizardOfAz]

Good for D'Antoni.

I agree....

 

[se7en]

This hurts no one. I'm fine with it. It's only two years. No one gets hurt. Worse case scenario is that this gives him more authority with players since he isn't a lame duck coach and he continues developing the young players for another year and then the new owners buy him out for a more experienced coach. Best case is that he turns out to be a good coach and helps bring Kobe to town. Now that we have new owners with deep pockets this shouldn't bother anyone nor harm the team.

 

[George O'Brien]

The last I heard, the coach's salary doesn't count against the Cap.

 

[elindholm]

The last I heard, the coach's salary doesn't count against the Cap.

Neither do luxury tax penalties, but look how much the team gave up to avoid those.