D'atoni should not give some players (Duhon) real long leashes and others (insert_name_here) real short leashes.

JesseDark wrote:Doesn't look like his situation is going to get any better. I only caught the 4th quarter of the last game and didn't know he played 9 minutes in the last game. If Duhon is going to be playing less that should open pt up for him and Toney Douglas.

D'atoni should not give some players (Duhon) real long leashes and others (insert_name_here) real short leashes.

Agreed. I mean wake the F up Mike -- you're not winning anything significant this year. Play these two young kids (Hill & Douglas) and find out what the hell you have. You won't see some big precipitative drop in team performance by playing these two over these other guys. The team will still operate on the same level, probably better. These two need to play the rest of the way. End of story..

Tell you what, I do feel D'Antoni should be going up to some of these guys and telling them privately what his current plan is and whether or not they're still in the rotation - I can kinda understand where the frustration of a few guys has come from - I don't understand why he's failed to be up front with a few of his guys during the year. He must be a real non-confrontational guy (some people are like that, to a fault even as we're seeing here), but even still, you're the head coach - it comes with the job. You owe guys an explanation if you suddenly up and change the gameplan, no? I think so. If he had done that a couple of times, there's probably no issue right now.. Very strange. Proper damage control can go a long way in eliminating any unnecessary controversy... Whatever, it doesn't really even matter. The damage is done and most of these guys are gone at the end of the year anyway -- Hughes, Nate, etc. Maybe some by the deadline.....Let's get down to business now and start playing the young fellas. It can only help, can't possibly hurt..

He is what he is, but he could be a great vet for us to have next year cheap.

Does anyone think he's getting any kind of big money from anyone in the league?

He might very well sign for the vet minimum. And at that price, would be a great player for us to have next year.

But I can't see him resigning here under any circumstances.

D'Antoni might not normally talk to players about their playing time, but anyone think he maybe should make an exception, if only to calm the 'discord'?

He came back and was still hurt and stunk.

Doghouse.

Then thrown onto the fire out of nowhere last game. Of course he was going to play poorly.

His attitude? It's the exact reason the Cavs and Bulls got sick of him. He eventually speaks and it's never good. Post deadline? Waive him and be done with it.

PLAY TONEY DOUGLAS INSTEAD.

The hell is Mike thinking...........

Oh, and in case everyone forgot, one reason he was traded from Cleveland is because he thought he was the team's superstar, and he took shots away from LeBron. They dumped him so LeBron could grow. So all this "hughes and bron are friends" talk you read about is pure BS. LeBron wanted him gone and Cleveland got rid of him.

Chicago Bulls: Larry Hughes Plays for Himself

by
Marcus Hagness

Senior Analyst Written on March 05, 2008
"They wanted me to sacrifice things so we could win." That is the quote of the year so far from former Cleveland Cavalier, now Chicago Bulls swingman, Larry Hughes.

That sounds like one of the most selfish things a player could say. The most alarming thing about Hughes' comments is that he doesn't seem to realize that LeBron James is on the team roster he was a part of prior to February 21, 2008.

Did he think that LeBron should have been deferring to him? I just don't get where he was coming from with these comments. When he signed with the Cavaliers he had to know that LeBron is going to be the guy.

I don't have any problem that Hughes like to play to enjoy himself and have fun. I just don't think he should have released those comments to the public. If winning the NBA championship isn't your ultimate goal that's your prerogative, but what does that make his teammates think of him?

His teammates and coaches now must be ultra-confused. Knowing you have a guy who just wants to play for himself and to have fun while doing it.

Sounds like the kid's mentality in all of us that we'd like to see more, but he has to realize that the NBA is also a business. Each team wants to win a championship to bring in more revenue.

Now when you have a player that doesn't care if he wins one, what do you do?

Shawn Marion was happy to be traded from a Western Conference powerhouse in Phoenix to the ass of the NBA, Miami. What's going on here?

Why do these guys wish to be traded from good teams to bad teams? Larry Hughes just made it to the NBA finals last year, and now he's playing on one of the worst teams in the East.

Do guys like Marion and Hughes have their priorities out of whack or is there something to this?

Derek Fisher had to be separated from his sick daughter last year in the playoffs and wasn't happy with success. That's different. These guys seem to be unhappy because they aren't "the man."

I think everyone wants to win, but they want to do it their way. I believe Hughes does want to win a championship, but only if he is the MJ of that team. Problem with that, Hughes isn't talented enough to lead a team to a championship.

If Shawn Marion is looking for that, he's on the wrong team. Dwyane Wade has already been the man and lead Miami to a championship. If anyone on that roster would do it again, it'd be Mr. Wade.

Moral of the story:

Larry Hughes needs media training.