Posted by islesfan:

There, that's better.

Duncan's Spurs, Wade and Shaq's Heat, Billup's Pistons, Jordan's Bulls, Hakeem's Rockets...

Superstar or not, if you don't play great team defense you have no chance at a title.

That eliminates any team that D'Antoni coaches because he and his teams are only concerned with outscoring a team and not about playing defense and making stops when you need them. Of course, by then it's too late.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by fishmike:

also every anti Mike D poster still doesnt address this question:

You have Nash, Amare, Q, Marion, etc what kind of system do YOU put in place to win the most games?

Sorry.. Mike D did a great job coaching that team. Two of the NBA's best GMs have hired him.

That's easy. I would have let Nash run but I would have demanded and put more of an emphasis on defense.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Man if Tim Thomas wouldn't have hit that three how much of a flop would D'Antoni be?

that's sorta like saying how much of a flop would JVG have been in NY if Allan Houston doesn't make the big shot vs. the Heat in '99, isn't it? bottomline, a coach's job is to prepare his team to be in a position to win games every night... after that it's up to the players to execute... there's more than a few NBA championship winning coaches who can trace back some big shots made by guys that has swung an entire series in their favor... ask Phil Jax how big that shot made by John Paxson was to the Bulls that year, or how huge Michael Jordan's shots have been to his coaching success over the years... how big was Robert Horry's big 3's to the championship winning Spurs & Lakers when he played for them? how big was Sam Cassell to the Rockets when they beat us in '94? u could go on & on w/this... it's silly to make such analogies when judging the quality of a coach.

No it's not sorta like saying that because of how they got to that point. If you look back at that series they played an inexperienced Laker team Sans Kobe and Phil and let Kwame and Smush Parker of all players beast on them. Kobe imploded in Game 7 but if he would of had his head on straight like he does now they would have got bounced in the first round.


[Edited by - TrueBlue on 05-20-2008 2:28 PM]

Posted by eViL:

Posted by islesfan:

Can you answer this question for me now:

Why didn't D'Antoni put more of an emphasis on defense or look to acquire better defensive players, despite having had several seasons to have done so but never did?

Why did the Suns lack of defense continue to be the reason for their demise season after season?

Defensive pick ups always work (see: Chicago Bulls, Ben Wallace)

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Man if Tim Thomas wouldn't have hit that three how much of a flop would D'Antoni be?

that's sorta like saying how much of a flop would JVG have been in NY if Allan Houston doesn't make the big shot vs. the Heat in '99, isn't it? bottomline, a coach's job is to prepare his team to be in a position to win games every night... after that it's up to the players to execute... there's more than a few NBA championship winning coaches who can trace back some big shots made by guys that has swung an entire series in their favor... ask Phil Jax how big that shot made by John Paxson was to the Bulls that year, or how huge Michael Jordan's shots have been to his coaching success over the years... how big was Robert Horry's big 3's to the championship winning Spurs & Lakers when he played for them? how big was Sam Cassell to the Rockets when they beat us in '94? u could go on & on w/this... it's silly to make such analogies when judging the quality of a coach.

No it's not sorta like saying that because of how they got to that point. If you look back at that series they played an inexperienced Laker team Sans Kobe and Phil and let Kwame and Smush Parker of all players beast on them. Kobe imploded in Game 7 but if he would of had his head on straight like he does now they would have got bounced in the first round.


[Edited by - TrueBlue on 05-20-2008 2:28 PM]

if Allan Houston doesn't make that shot the Knicks get bounced in the first round too... i fail to see a big difference there... bottomline is it's not the coach's job to make the shots on the floor, it's up to the players to do that... Kobe imploding doesn't reflect on Phil Jackson anymore than if he'd have stepped up & won game 7 for them does... you can try to find reasons to justify your argument til you're blue in the face but players executing on the floor is what it all boils down to.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by fishmike:

also every anti Mike D poster still doesnt address this question:

You have Nash, Amare, Q, Marion, etc what kind of system do YOU put in place to win the most games?

Sorry.. Mike D did a great job coaching that team. Two of the NBA's best GMs have hired him.

That's easy. I would have let Nash run but I would have demanded and put more of an emphasis on defense.

Can you answer this question for me now:

Why didn't D'Antoni put more of an emphasis on defense or look to acquire better defensive players, despite having had several seasons to have done so but never did?

Why did the Suns lack of defense continue to be the reason for their demise season after season?