Posted by Bippity10:
Posted by nixluva:
My impression is that you feel this somehow reflects poorly on MDA's style and philosophy of coaching? To me Triano has some great ideas on coaching, but that doesn't mean he's got a better handle on coaching than MDA or that it will prove to be more successful longterm. MDA did more with less than a LOT of coaches have.
Instead of giving MDA credit people want to believe that it was all Nash! Really? That team was full of guys that bought into what MDA was coaching and as a whole they played above what was expected of them. They played efficient BB and just might have gone to the finals if not for some pretty bush league play by the Spurs. Just remember than once you got past Nash, Amare & Marion the rest of the PHX team was full of nondescript players, playing above their heads. That was some damn good coaching. Triano talks a good game, but he still has a lot to prove.
Yeah, Nix I'm not sure where you got that. DJ didn't even give an opinion other than that he thought it was a great interview. The reality is that Triano's offensive philosophy is pretty similar to D'Antoni's. As for defensive philosophy we don't know because Mike has never given us his philosophy.
I may have been reading too much into the idea of this post on this forum. I just know that there are many other attempts to take a dig at MDA in an indirect way like this. You never actually say anything yourself but you let the article say things for you in that you know people will juxtapose Triano's statements with what we assume we know about MDA and the job he's doing. Sorry if I read too much into this.
As for your assertion Bip that Mike has never given his philosophy on D, that's not fair. I'm sure if asked directly he would explain exactly what he tries to do. There was an entire article written on MDA's defensive style and how it works to support the speed he wants the game to be played at. MDA doesn't want the team to play so aggressive on D that they slow the game down with lots of fouls. He prefers that his team denies penetration, doubles the post and forces poor deep jumpshots. When you have players that can execute that on D, then you should end up taking higher % shots due to being able to get more rebounds and get out on the break more. This approach can work if you have quick defenders on the perimeter who can help and recover. He wants guys to look for steals without gambling too much, just playing the passing lanes and doing what we tried to get Nate to do more of and pressure the ball more.
Now our teams will never look like great defensive teams in the traditional sense, cuz our pace is gonna be high and we aren't trying to stop shots at any cost (fouling). This doesn't mean that there isn't a defensive approach or emphasis. It's just not the sole focus of the team. His game is slanted towards the offense, which when run right is one of the most efficient offenses in the league. 50% FG and nearly 40% on 3's. Couple that with a high point Differential and you have a team that is gonna win a ton of games and be in contention.
He's not trying to have a defensive juggernaut.
