The Official Discuss Coach D'Antoni Thread

[Stout]

What the HELL kind of coaching is this? First quarter, we get a golden opportunity to go up by 20 because the Celts are shooting like crap, and we start playing like a bad playground team on offense...over 10 turnovers IN THE FIRST QUARTER!!! Does D'Antoni get upset, call a TO, get his guys to get their heads back in the game? Nope, lets it go. Then we end the 1st quarter with our scrub team and no point guard. Gee, no wonder the situation didn't improve. Then the scrub team plays the first few minutes of the frickin' SECOND quarter!!! All the while, the Celts are getting back in the game, and suddenly we're the one's in trouble. Wow, a good coach might just have stopped, oh, say, any one of those things!!! Yikes, sometimes I could coach the team better! Blech!

 

[Treesquid PhD]

What the HELL kind of coaching is this? First quarter, we get a golden opportunity to go up by 20 because the Celts are shooting like crap, and we start playing like a bad playground team on offense...over 10 turnovers IN THE FIRST QUARTER!!! Does D'Antoni get upset, call a TO, get his guys to get their heads back in the game? Nope, lets it go. Then we end the 1st quarter with our scrub team and no point guard. Gee, no wonder the situation didn't improve. Then the scrub team plays the first few minutes of the frickin' SECOND quarter!!! All the while, the Celts are getting back in the game, and suddenly we're the one's in trouble. Wow, a good coach might just have stopped, oh, say, any one of those things!!! Yikes, sometimes I could coach the team better! Blech!

that bench move was one of the worst I have ever seen, I would expect that from a coach like Frank Johnson but the offensive genius? Strawberry and Marks should never see floor time together again.

 

[Chaplin]

Marks was rewarded because he does a good job in practices. I have no problem giving him a few minutes in the 1st quarter. If he earns it, how can you be against giving him a few minutes?

 

[Stout]

Marks was rewarded because he does a good job in practices. I have no problem giving him a few minutes in the 1st quarter. If he earns it, how can you be against giving him a few minutes?

I have a problem with it if you also keep Nash, Barbosa (injured?), Amare, and Shaq on the bench. I mean, that was NOT a lineup for success. Sure, throw Marks in there with the big boys, but make sure he's not one of the main threats, or else we won't get much done.

 

[dodie53]

maybe DA is experimenting again?
who knows?

 

[jagu]

I wish Straw would get more minutes, his defensive intensity is great and he is quick enough to keep up with fast shooting guards.

 

[CHAPTER 7]

Straw was great but I guess his teamates really don't trust him for offense??? Looks like no one wanted to pass to him. I was actually shocked when Marks came into the game before Skinner...

 

[green machine]

Straw was great but I guess his teamates really don't trust him for offense??? Looks like no one wanted to pass to him. I was actually shocked when Marks came into the game before Skinner...

DJ passed up a couple of open looks; he can't do that. If there is one thing D'Antoni seems to hate it is when players pass up open looks. If you miss, fine, but at least take the shot.

 

[HooverDam]

Oh D'Antoni you never use your bench!

*D'Atoni uses the bench and his team wins*

Oh D'Antoni you never use the bench the way I want you too!

 

[green machine]

Oh D'Antoni you never use your bench!

*D'Atoni uses the bench and his team wins*

Oh D'Antoni you never use the bench the way I want you too!

Funny how that works, right?

People wanted him to spend time in the regular season experimenting, tinkering with the lineups and rotations. He does that, and it's still not enough.

 

[BeeBeard]

Mike D'Antoni, your team outrebounded and embarrassed one of the best rebounding teams in the league, with valuable contributions coming off of the bench. Mike D'Antoni, I don't recognize this team any longer. Hold me, Mike D'Antoni. I'm scared.

 

[mojorizen7]

My only DA complaint tonight was the usual situation where we're up by 8 to 12 points & the other team goes on a run & he will not take a momentum snuffing TO.
That and Diaw still inexplicably plays too many minutes.
Controlling the glass can do wonders for you when you can't buy a hoop huh Mike?

 

[mojorizen7]

Mike D'Antoni, your team outrebounded and embarrassed one of the best rebounding teams in the league, with valuable contributions coming off of the bench. Mike D'Antoni, I don't recognize this team any longer. Hold me, Mike D'Antoni. I'm scared.

You must be registered for see images

Ahhhh....thats the beauty of it.

 

[green machine]

My only DA complaint tonight was the usual situation where we're up by 8 to 12 points & the other team goes on a run & he will not take a momentum snuffing TO.
That and Diaw still inexplicably plays too many minutes.
Controlling the glass can do wonders for you when you can't buy a hoop huh Mike?

Phil Jackson doesn't like taking the timeout there either, he'd rather his team play through it. Maybe D'Antoni is trying to see how certain guys with certain lineups respond.

 

[HooverDam]

My only DA complaint tonight was the usual situation where we're up by 8 to 12 points & the other team goes on a run & he will not take a momentum snuffing TO.
That and Diaw still inexplicably plays too many minutes.
Controlling the glass can do wonders for you when you can't buy a hoop huh Mike?

I would like to see an actual statistic about this, but I wonder how often the 'momentum stopping' time outs work. My gut feeling is that they are probably pretty over rated on the NBA level (unless you have a really young team), though I couldn't really prove it.

 

[cly2tw]

The problem is that we became a victim of the "chaos" we normally preferred. The nature of getting used to play defense and with Shaq prevented us from profitting from structured chaos. And Celtics played very good defense so that the finesse play with Nash wasn't working. It became the playoff like measuring of individual talents. Amare and Hill on offense, plus some late solid play by Diaw, and Shaq on defense pulled us out the winner. We just need to get used to the new style.

 

[CaptainInsano]

We are going to be beastly in the playoffs, having this type of game for the suns is unheard of.

We rebounded like Kodiak bears, D'd it up like the young gary payton, and STILL got a hell of a lot of fast break points.

If everything comes together we could very well be the team to beat come playoff time.

If we can get our 3 point shooting clicking then we are going to be toughballs mcnasty, right now nash seems to be the only one who easily adjusted with his outside shooting to the new system (that pick by shaq leading to a nash 3 was brilliant).

 

[BeeBeard]

nash seems to be the only one who easily adjusted with his outside shooting to the new system (that pick by shaq leading to a nash 3 was brilliant).

But Nash is the type who will shoot a three only if nobody is guarding him closely and there's not a higher percentage shot available for another team. That's no knock on Steve--in fact it's exactly what any shooter is supposed to do. It's just that it's not evidence that Nash is "getting it" any better than the other guys.

Shaq said it himself--he's spent 15 years running to the left or right block, and now he has to figure out how he fits in with the Suns' system. And they have to figure out how to get him the ball within the context of the half court sets that they run.

Shaq's setting nasty picks, playing defense in the post, and turning a terrible rebounding team into a good one are all the types of things that this future Hall of Famer could do from day one. That's the kind of "immediate impact" stuff that the Suns have benefited from so far.

But we still haven't experienced any of the benefits of having Shaq "down the line." Right now, the Suns are falling over themselves trying to integrate Shaq into their offense. Nash was forcing passes to the big guy, Diaw did, Hill did--everybody wanted to get Shaq more involved in things as a sort of welcoming present. It's primarily what led to all of those first half turnovers.

The good news? Things will get even better from here on out. The Suns' newest center is already doing all the things that naysayers said he could not. He's running the floor just fine. He's showing on the pick n' roll. And after he's practiced with the team more, he's going to be putting up 13-20 points a night in addition to being a one-man wrecking crew on the defensive and rebounding side of things. These are truly exciting times!

 

[JCSunsfan]

We are going to be beastly in the playoffs, having this type of game for the suns is unheard of.

We rebounded like Kodiak bears, D'd it up like the young gary payton, and STILL got a hell of a lot of fast break points.

If everything comes together we could very well be the team to beat come playoff time.

If we can get our 3 point shooting clicking then we are going to be toughballs mcnasty, right now nash seems to be the only one who easily adjusted with his outside shooting to the new system (that pick by shaq leading to a nash 3 was brilliant).

The Lakers are better. The WC finals could be amazing. And, oh yeah, the Spurs just added KT and Damon Stoudamire. And the Hornets are playing better than anyone in the west right now. CP is just amazing.

The playoffs this year have more plotlines than daytime TV.

 

[BeeBeard]

The Lakers are better. The WC finals could be amazing. And, oh yeah, the Spurs just added KT and Damon Stoudamire. And the Hornets are playing better than anyone in the west right now. CP is just amazing.

The playoffs this year have more plotlines than daytime TV.

Don't be too afraid of Damon Stoudamire. He's had time to acclimate to what the Spurs are doing and has been a huge bust. The Spurs' third string point guard has actually taken over his minutes. I'm not kidding.

 

[cly2tw]

And the Hornets are playing better than anyone in the west right now. CP is just amazing.

.

The Rockets took Hornets out of their game by NOT showing on the pick-n-roll defense. Their bigs stayed at home and CP3 was reluctant to shoot the open jumpers and their offense stagnated. We should copy this strategy some how. By showing our bigmen, CP could always find their rolling pick-setters for easy layups/dunks.

 

[BeeBeard]

The Rockets took Hornets out of their game by NOT showing on the pick-n-roll defense. Their bigs stayed at home and CP3 was reluctant to shoot the open jumpers and their offense stagnated. We should copy this strategy some how. By showing our bigmen, CP could always find their rolling pick-setters for easy layups/dunks.

I would say the Rockets' win last night was more about McGrady's exceptional shooting performance, and the brilliance of Byron Scott who--taking a page from his Nets days--had the idea to not double-team the best center in the NBA. Yeah, how'd that work out, Byron?

edit:
I guess for a more on-point response to what you were saying about the pick n' roll defense, you're right, they weren't showing on the pick n' roll, they were doing something a lot more clever. The Rockets were double-teaming Paul in a non-traditional way: One larger player would be on Paul at all times, guarding against his shooting (the Rockets have a ton of quick combo guards who are longer than Paul but still just as quick), but then the second player wouldn't pressure the ball at all, just come into the passing lane at the perfect angle and stand there, kind of pseudo-trapping against the baseline or sidelines. It was very clever, and shut him down almost completely. And, plus, even when Paul was able to get the pass off under those circumstances, there was still Yao guarding the paint and embarrassing any cutter who decided to try something funny. Really a fun game to watch.

 

[cly2tw]

I would say the Rockets' win last night was more about McGrady's exceptional shooting performance, and the brilliance of Byron Scott who--taking a page from his Nets days--had the idea to not double-team the best center in the NBA. Yeah, how'd that work out, Byron?

edit:
I guess for a more on-point response to what you were saying about the pick n' roll defense, you're right, they weren't showing on the pick n' roll, they were doing something a lot more clever. The Rockets were double-teaming Paul in a non-traditional way: One larger player would be on Paul at all times, guarding against his shooting (the Rockets have a ton of quick combo guards who are longer than Paul but still just as quick), but then the second player wouldn't pressure the ball at all, just come into the passing lane at the perfect angle and stand there, kind of pseudo-trapping against the baseline or sidelines. It was very clever, and shut him down almost completely. And, plus, even when Paul was able to get the pass off under those circumstances, there was still Yao guarding the paint and embarrassing any cutter who decided to try something funny. Really a fun game to watch.

Spurs had some very clever scheme to contain Nash in the playoffs too. Bowen always stayed at an extreme angle to force Nash into some weird zigzag path after using the pick mostly by Amare, and he would follow Nash into the paint despite being 'beat' this way while TD would not direct step forward into Nash's path to the hoop. Somehow, Nash got "shadowed" effectively this way and wouldn't dare to attempt a jump shot nor to go the hoop strong. The spirit might be quite the same.

As to not double teaming Yao, it's a gamble either way.

 

[Stout]

Now now, Hoover Dam and green machine, don't act douchy on the guy who hardly ever posts here. I haven't been a part of what has obviously been some petty arguing going on in this forum. I've never made a comment one way or another on the issue. I think it's great he went to his bench with the kid who played well in practice. Just don't do it when you sit your other stars too. It's one thing to insert the kid into the lineup, but it's another to make the entire lineup a second-tier lineup. Just because we get a 10 or a 12 point lead doesn't mean you put in your entire second team, you know. And you especially don't keep on doing it, after the other team comes back and the quarter changes.

 

[HooverDam]

Now now, Hoover Dam and green machine, don't act douchy on the guy who hardly ever posts here. I haven't been a part of what has obviously been some petty arguing going on in this forum. I've never made a comment one way or another on the issue. I think it's great he went to his bench with the kid who played well in practice. Just don't do it when you sit your other stars too. It's one thing to insert the kid into the lineup, but it's another to make the entire lineup a second-tier lineup. Just because we get a 10 or a 12 point lead doesn't mean you put in your entire second team, you know. And you especially don't keep on doing it, after the other team comes back and the quarter changes.

I wasn't trying to be ******* at all. I just think D'Antoni is a pretty damn good coach, and I do get a bit tired of people complaining about 50+ win seasons and deep playoff runs.

Honestly, I was 'working' during the game, so I was only able to catch clips of it, so I can't give a great analysis of why D'Antoni did what he did or if it was a good idea. All I know is, he's using his bench more, and still winning, so I'm a happy camper.