THIS was all they asked of D'Antoni?? What a baby!

[Yuma]

I mean, c'mon. Kerr wanted D'Antoni to spend 15-20 minutes more per day practicing defense. He wanted a deeper rotation and playing time for D.J. Strawberry and Alando Tucker. Kerr said they could look into bringing in a defensive-minded assistant, if necessary. To an outsider, it sounds like sensible, constructive criticism.

Jeezus! It wasn't like they asked for him to slow the Suns down! I think he just wanted to bail after he saw how San Antonio beat us again in the playoffs. What's the solution for Mike to get past the Spurs? Eureka! Go to the Eastern Conference!

 

[LV-Suns]

source?

 

[ShuHanGuanYu]

Dan Bickley

 

[az1965]

Jeezus! It wasn't like they asked for him to slow the Suns down! I think he just wanted to bail after he saw how San Antonio beat us again in the playoffs. What's the solution for Mike to get past the Spurs? Eureka! Go to the Eastern Conference!

Yep, pretty much. And even if he fails miserably in New York, he has secured 24 million for next 4 years. Its amazing he is still milking Nash even when he leaves the Suns.

 

[scXfreakX]

Well, good get out Mike! We don't need your stupid ideas anyways. Hopefully with a fresh start and a larger rotation, we can see that our main five get more rest.

 

[gdiddy]

Sigh....here we go again with the excuses and potshots at D'Antoni.

Well Suns fans, you're prayers have been answered. You can now install defensive-minded coach.

Enjoy the search.

 

[mojorizen7]

Sigh...the D'Antoni apologists will forever hang their hat on regular season victories and 3-point shots,alley-oop dunks in transition,ignorance of the shot clock,no defense etc...

 

[Chaplin]

Sigh...the D'Antoni apologists will forever hang their hat on regular season victories and 3-point shots,alley-oop dunks in transition,ignorance of the shot clock,no defense etc...

EXACTLY!

2 weeks ago he couldn't do anything right. But now we've let our savior get away! Oh, the horror!

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

I don't see how anybody can defend Antoni on this one. Seems to me like the guy needs to learn how to take some constructive criticism. Talk about being stubborn to a halt, clearly the decision to let him go was the right one. It'd be different if he hadn't blatantly refused to *gasp* practice defense.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Some of you are pretty naive to believe it comes down to asking D'Antoni to spend 15-20 minutes more per day practicing defense.

I guess it's also almost impossible for a few on this board to grasp the concept that many of us don't love D'Antoni, we just see there are major issues with the way this franchise is being run.

 

[TheHopToad]

I've come to the conclusion that we're just plain screwed either way. We weren't going to win a title with D'Antoni, and we're not going to win one without him.

As long as this owner and GM make decisions based on what's best for the business as opposed to what's best for the team, then the Suns will continue to make profits and not win championships.

 

[Chaplin]

I've come to the conclusion that we're just plain screwed either way. We weren't going to win a title with D'Antoni, and we're not going to win one without him.

As long as this owner and GM make decisions based on what's best for the business as opposed to what's best for the team, then the Suns will continue to make profits and not win championships.

How does that apply to the Shaq deal?

 

[Andrew]

He didn't care about the team, just the money. You don't need a coach like that.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

How does that apply to the Shaq deal?

Considering almost everything they are selling on suns.com is plastered with #32, a lot.

 

[Mainstreet]

So if San Antonio goes on to win the championship will everyone feel the same about D'Antoni? If the Spurs do it, I bet a lot of NBA watchers will think the Suns got a little trigger happy.

Here is an interesting link to a blog from Bruce Cooper at AzCentral:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/BruceCooper/23323

 

[DeAnna]

No, it was more than just that (from EVT)

But the rift between Mike, his brother Dan and the Suns’ front office ran far deeper than most realized.
I pulled Mike D’Antoni aside before Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs series and asked him if he’d like to respond to the criticism that he was being outcoached by San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich. He said, “I don’t want to talk about it,” and walked away.
When I told a Suns front office executive that I thought D’Antoni was upset with me, he said, “At least he’s competing with somebody.”
That kind of behind-the-scenes sniping was happening every day — on both sides. The coaching staff thought assistant general manager Vinny Del Negro and senior vice president of basketball operations David Griffin were undermining D’Antoni’s authority, and the Suns’ front office believed D’Antoni’s stubbornness when it came to his playing rotation was hurting the team.
The relationship between D’Antoni and his bosses was irreparably damaged, and D’Antoni knew it. Even if he ceded to Kerr’s requests — holding Amaré Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa more accountable, spending more practice time on defense, playing his bench more — he would wonder if he had management’s full support.

 

[SirStefan32]

So if San Antonio goes on to win the championship will everyone feel the same about D'Antoni? If the Spurs do it, I bet a lot of NBA watchers will think the Suns got a little trigger happy.

Here is an interesting link to a blog from Bruce Cooper at AzCentral:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/BruceCooper/23323

San Antonio winning the championship, or losing to NO is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with D'Antoni.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

No, it was more than just that (from EVT)

But the rift between Mike, his brother Dan and the Suns’ front office ran far deeper than most realized.
I pulled Mike D’Antoni aside before Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs series and asked him if he’d like to respond to the criticism that he was being outcoached by San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich. He said, “I don’t want to talk about it,” and walked away.
When I told a Suns front office executive that I thought D’Antoni was upset with me, he said, “At least he’s competing with somebody.”
That kind of behind-the-scenes sniping was happening every day — on both sides. The coaching staff thought assistant general manager Vinny Del Negro and senior vice president of basketball operations David Griffin were undermining D’Antoni’s authority, and the Suns’ front office believed D’Antoni’s stubbornness when it came to his playing rotation was hurting the team.
The relationship between D’Antoni and his bosses was irreparably damaged, and D’Antoni knew it. Even if he ceded to Kerr’s requests — holding Amaré Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa more accountable, spending more practice time on defense, playing his bench more — he would wonder if he had management’s full support.

ballsy by Bordow, he is taking a chance of being blacklisted here.

 

[Chaplin]

ballsy by Bordow, he is taking a chance of being blacklisted here.

Come on, it's D'Antoni's fault to begin with. Everyone is making D'Antoni out to be the victim, when it's really the fans that are the victims. The front office made some stupid, stupid mistakes (KT trade, etc.), but at the end of the day, it's the product on the floor that matters. And the product on the floor is the coach's responsibility. The front office gave him the tools, and he failed to utilize them.

And D'Antoni couldn't see that coaching a little more defense and holding players accountable was needed? WHY should a coach as good as him have to be TOLD to practice 20 minutes more on defense?? He was a spoiled child who couldn't recognize what was needed to win the title. And when someone called him on it, what happens? He whines that he doesn't have any support and goes to the NEW YORK KNICKS.

 

[Chaplin]

So if San Antonio goes on to win the championship will everyone feel the same about D'Antoni? If the Spurs do it, I bet a lot of NBA watchers will think the Suns got a little trigger happy.

Here is an interesting link to a blog from Bruce Cooper at AzCentral:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/BruceCooper/23323

His main argument seems to be that we won playing the D'Antoni style. Um, in the regular season, yes, we did. But we never had a title to show for it. And think about it, these last 4 years of this style, what kind of team has won every year? Teams that play good defense. That is a statistical fact, even the Miami Heat beat the offensive Dallas Mavericks.

I'm tired of winning in the regular season and not winning in the playoffs. It was time for something different while we still had time to salvage this roster. Maybe it will work, maybe not. But one things for sure: We would never win the title with Mike D'Antoni as coach.

 

[cly2tw]

So if San Antonio goes on to win the championship will everyone feel the same about D'Antoni? If the Spurs do it, I bet a lot of NBA watchers will think the Suns got a little trigger happy.

Here is an interesting link to a blog from Bruce Cooper at AzCentral:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/BruceCooper/23323

Well, Pop and the Spurs are here to stay. So, why bother to always finish second next to them which the same coach is certain to end up in the playoffs over and over again?

As to DA's stubbornness, in his defense, he did have a system established around Nash's talent and had his own complementary approach to making it work. Tidbit changes may sound good separately, but we can't be sure it's compatible with other elements of his system. Thus, it's best to change system completely rather than patching some parts up. DA had the right to say, my way or I'll go on highway.

 

[Irish]

D'Antoni is very good coach, but he is true believer in his system. Unfortunately that means he won't admit that his system won't beat the Spurs. You cannot beat a Spurs type defense with an unstructured half court offense and they won't let you run.

This just magnifies the Suns defensive limitations, but defense is not why the Suns lost the series. Not being able score in the second half on games 1 and 2 put them in a deep hole. Just shooting 41% in game 5 killed them as only Diaw was a threat.

For a coach is who is supposed to be an offensive genius to have that kind of offensive meltdowns is pretty serious. For a guy who doesn't get his players to play defense consistently, the team had better be superior on offensie and frankly they weren't.

 

[Griffin]

And think about it, these last 4 years of this style, what kind of team has won every year? Teams that play good defense. That is a statistical fact, even the Miami Heat beat the offensive Dallas Mavericks.

And how many teams have been playing the Suns style the last 4 years as well as the Suns? When 9 out of 10 teams are defensive minded, it is far more likely that one of them will win the title than an offensive-oriented team. If the majority teams in the league adopted the Suns style, do you still think those statistics would hold?

 

[Irish]

And how many teams have been playing the Suns style the last 4 years as well as the Suns? When 9 out of 10 teams are defensive minded, it is far more likely that one of them will win the title than an offensive-oriented team. If the majority teams in the league adopted the Suns style, do you still think those statistics would hold?

Interesting point. The reason that most teams are defense oreiented is that you can teach defense, but great offense is impossible to teach. Yes, Michael Redd went out turned himself in to an elite shooter after showing little his rookie year. But how many hundred guys have spent their summers doing the same thing and still can't shoot when defensed.

Defense can be taught to guys who are physically able to do it. It is something coaches can control. They can't make guys hit open shots, but theey can make them rotate on defense.

The urge to control the offense and call out plays appeals to control freaks. The running game requiires letting the players make decisions within broad guidelines. It is too scare for most coaches and their bosses.

 

[DeAnna]

Intersting from ESPN:

D'Antoni's Winning Ways
By John Hollinger
ESPN.com

This is the great irony of Mike D'Antoni's departure. In his first three seasons in Phoenix, he made the conference finals twice and fought a tooth-and-nail series with the eventual champion the other year.

And yet at the end, guess what the biggest criticism of him was?

His system doesn't work in the playoffs.

Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? Are we really saying that his style doesn't work because he took over a 29-win team and didn't immediately produce a championship? And if so, aren't we placing the bar laughably high in light of that 3.3 percent figure? Consider that over the past three years only three teams have had more playoff success than the Suns: San Antonio, Detroit and Miami. That's it. The other 26 have fared worse.
D'Antoni had his team in position to win titles twice in three years, and the one year he didn't he was missing his best scorer and still made the conference finals. Yet somehow he's regarded as a snake oil salesman, the basketball equivalent of a Nigerian scam, because his mojo allegedly only works in the regular season.

Not to get all Al Gore on you, but it's times like these when I have to bring up some inconvenient truths.

Like the fact that Phil Jackson has nine championship rings and may get a 10th this year, but there's only one prominent coach he's faced in the playoffs and hasn't beaten: D'Antoni.

Or the fact that D'Antoni is 26-25 in the postseason; this doesn't seem impressive at first until you remember virtually everyone else has a career playoff record under .500, because Jackson and Gregg Popovich have monopolized all the playoff victories in the past decade.

Among coaches with at least 25 playoff wins, only D'Antoni, Jackson, Popovich, Byron Scott, Larry Brown and Mike Dunleavy are over .500; D'Antoni is the only one that hasn't made the Finals, at least yet. (Jerry Sloan, Mike Brown and Stan Van Gundy can also join that club, depending on how they fare the next few weeks).

Overall, D'Antoni's situation reminds me a lot of when crusty old baseball people criticize Oakland's Billy Beane for not winning a title ... as though he should turn around and do business like the Pirates since his system has "failed."

So let's cut to the truth. D'Antoni was wildly successful by any imaginable standard, and the Knicks are very lucky to have him. We'll see if the Suns can keep it up without him -- certainly there's talent there -- but one can't help but question whether they're overreacting to being in the 96.7 percent.

But in this 3.3 percent world, his accomplishments were made to seem like failures. And for that, I think we need to take a harder look at our own definitions of success. "

http://sports.espn.go.com/n...