The Mike D'Antoni Rescue Clinic

[George O'Brien]

There was a report on Gambo and Ash that Olowokandi wants to play for the Suns They claim that the Suns are concerned about his knees, which rings only partly true true. My guess is that they are concerned about a lot more than his knees, but that's a different topic. What interested me is Olowokandi's interest in the Suns.

Obviously this is pure speculation, but I have a theory that D'Antoni may be getting a reputation for turning around apparent busts and turning them into hot properties. Obviously there are numerous guys like Paul Shirley whose non-existent NBA careers stayed non-existent. Still, the list of guys given up for dead is actually pretty impressive.

Leandro Barbosa
Boris Diaw
Stephen Hunter
Joe Johnson
Antonio McDyess
Tim Thomas

Perhaps the most easily overlooked example might be Joe Johnson. Before D'Antoni became coach, JJ was backing up Penny Hardaway much of the time. By most measures, he had a notably unspectacular career up to that point. Most people give credit to the Marbury/Hardaway trade for turning JJ around, but D'Antoni was the coach when it happened.

Nash went from All Star to MVP and Bell went from starter to star; but that is less spectacular than the huge turnarounds some of the other guys have had. Some guys like Eddie House and James Jones played much like they did before coming to the Suns and increased their value only somewhat. But rescue missions on Diaw and Hunter tend to overshadow the examples of only mild success.

Obviously the D'Antoni magic doesn't work for every player. Jake Voskuhl, Bo Outlaw, Howard Eisely, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Brian Grant, Dijon Thompson, Casey Jacobsen, Jackson Vroman, Walter McCarty, Maciej Lampe, Jahidi White, Paul Shirley and Pat Burke did not succeed with the Suns. Burke is the only one of the group left. The only guy that has done much better since leaving is Jake Voskuhl and that's only because he plays some in Charlotte and didn't under D'Antoni.

The only guy that got materially worse while playing under D'Antoni was Jimmy Jackson. He started out well, but was awful this past season. Q Richardson's numbers were down under D'Antoni, but his market value went up. It not really go down until after Q went to the Knicks.

Obviously no coach is going to get career performances out of every player, but D'Antoni's ability to get career performances out of a lot of guys is pretty impressive. For a guy like Olowokandi whose career is in deep trouble, you can see why he'd be interested. Anybody who can turn Stephen Hunter into an NBA player has be considered a genius.

 

[Errntknght]

Leandro is also a special case because he was easily at his worst under D'Antoni - when the latter was trying to fit him in as Nash's backup.

I suppose from outsiders Mike might get most of the credit for reviving McDyess' career but I think the bulk of us here attribute it predominantly to the work of the Suns trainers in his physical rehab.

Smush Parker and Andre Barrett come close to qualifying as players who did better after leaving D'Antoni's Suns.

 

[George O'Brien]

I probably shouldn't have included Barbosa, but the rumor that he was almost traded for a second round pick shows just how big a turn around he experienced. It would be interesting to know if D'Antoni was consulted when BC tried to make that move.

I'm not sure how to evaluate 10 day guys, so I left them off deliberately. In any case, I think playing PG for D'Antoni is by far the hardest challenge. No one other than Nash has been all that successful: Howard Eisley, Barbosa, Yuta , Smush Parker, Andre Barrett, and Eddie House all struggled.

If I was to make an analogy to football, the Suns are like a pass oriented team that is totally dependent on their quarterback. I liken their offense to the NFL's "run and shoot" which asks an awful lot from the quarterback but with the right guy can put up a lot of points.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I agree with this premise and attribute it to the system and the fact that players get more open looks and just more looks period. Leading to more assists, rebounds and scoring numbers.

But lets go back to the Kandi man blurb. The fact that he wants to come here after the comments in the SI piece last year is quite the testament to how badly he wants to resuscitate some sort of career. And he does have the physical tools and low asking price.

I have no idea why the Suns wouldn't sign him if they could get him for a year and a year only. It makes a lot of sense with our need for front court depth.