CrushAlot wrote:

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:

Moonangie wrote:

TMS wrote:the biggest issue is that this team will never be a good defensive team as long as he's our head coach.

Hogwash. We had games THIS YEAR where we played outstanding defense. I agree that MDA isn't going to "teach" defense or coach it from the sidelines. But that hardly means he doesn't care about it. Defense is much more about heart than finesse/skill. You have to be motivated to win in order to play solid D, but it's not rocket science. It requires hustle, tenacity, exertion. These things are hard to muster up when your team of cast-offs sucks and the whole roster is subject to turnover. Get a solid core and a steady rotation with a couple of superstars and MDAs team will play terrific defense because they will be MOTIVATED to win.

It's time to stop scapegoating MDA for our current state of suckiness. This season and last was part of Donnie's plan to rebuild our team. MDA will shine as a head coach once given a roster that can contend. And they will certainly play solid D. They won't be at the Celtics/Lakers level in the first year, but they will bring the required intensity to stop the other team from scoring at will.

please name me one team MDA has coached that played consistent tough gritty defense.

one can say that MDA coached to his players' strengths. Name some players on his teams that were defensive minded.

Every player wants to score, to be Mike, to be Kobe, Dr.J etc scoring is a personal victory. Defense is a team mentality. It is the blue collar portion of basketball. It isn't glamorous but it is neccessary for a team to win. Getting a group of guys to buy into a team mentality where tough defense is played for team goals is part of a good coaches job. Scouting, preparing your team to play defense and take away teams strengths is not glamorous for a coach but it is what successful and championship coaches do. D'Antoni was blessed with one of the most talented distributors in basketball during the winning portion of his tenure in Phoenix. In my opinion he has parlayed his time with Nash into a second big paycheck that he will never live up to. D'Antoni doesn't scout and he doesn't coach defense. Opposing coaches have been quoted as saying that they changed their offense but it wouldn't matter because D'Antoni doesn't scout or prepare for opposing teams so his team would not be ready for their adjustments.

did you even try to answer my question?

martin wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:I did. If I wasn't clear my point was that defense is a team mentality and the coach has to emphasize it. MDA didn't do that. He did have some guys credited as being good defensive players but that was self-motivation. When the Knicks were winning in the 90's they focused on defense and conditioning. In rebuilding they have hired a coach that doesn't want to teach, play rookies, or play defense. Marion and Bell were are both considered excellent defenders.

2 of the 5 were decent defenders. Raja is still undersized at his position while Marion can be considered big. Meanwhile, Nash, Amare and caca at center are below average defenders.

Also, their main nemesis throughout this whole time has players that are exactly at the positions that are against their weakest link: The Spurs with Duncan and LA Lakers with Shaq and Kobe.

This is a question that I posed to Marv a while back: If Riley was such a genius on the offensive end when at the Lakers, why couldn't he produce a better offensive team with the Knicks during the 90s? That was their Achilles heal, the offense. Or was it such that they just ran into better teams all-around (mainly the Bulls)?

martin wrote:

TMS wrote:

Moonangie wrote:

TMS wrote:the biggest issue is that this team will never be a good defensive team as long as he's our head coach.

Hogwash. We had games THIS YEAR where we played outstanding defense. I agree that MDA isn't going to "teach" defense or coach it from the sidelines. But that hardly means he doesn't care about it. Defense is much more about heart than finesse/skill. You have to be motivated to win in order to play solid D, but it's not rocket science. It requires hustle, tenacity, exertion. These things are hard to muster up when your team of cast-offs sucks and the whole roster is subject to turnover. Get a solid core and a steady rotation with a couple of superstars and MDAs team will play terrific defense because they will be MOTIVATED to win.

It's time to stop scapegoating MDA for our current state of suckiness. This season and last was part of Donnie's plan to rebuild our team. MDA will shine as a head coach once given a roster that can contend. And they will certainly play solid D. They won't be at the Celtics/Lakers level in the first year, but they will bring the required intensity to stop the other team from scoring at will.

please name me one team MDA has coached that played consistent tough gritty defense.

one can say that MDA coached to his players' strengths. Name some players on his teams that were defensive minded.

i don't agree... i think he coaches to HIS strengths, & that is the dedication & belief in his offensive minded system that it will net results... so far it has succeeded in regular season success but no championships to date... most NBA champions place much more emphasis on playing defense than MDA's teams traditionally do.

MDA has never shown a willingness & adaptability to completely change his system to suit the players on the roster the way a Pat Riley did for the Lakers, Knicks & Heat for example... yeah, he slowed down the pace a little this season because we had no able PG to run his SSOL system correctly, but there was still zero emphasis being placed on defense... it was essentially still a system where getting the ball & shooting the ball was the foundation to maximize possessions during the course of a game, it was not a defensive-centric philosophy, & historically none of his other teams ever had a defensive-mindset.

but to answer your question, Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Jake Voskuhl, Steven Hunter, Bo Outlaw, Brian Grant, Kurt Thomas, Brian Skinner, Fishlips, Toney Douglas (who he refused to use until the season was essentially over), Larry Hughes (who he completely phased out of the system entirely even after the team had its best run of success this season with him a major part of the rotation) & Danilo Gallinari are a few of the defensive minded players he's coached over his tenure in Phoenix & NY... i won't even bother counting his stint in DEN but i'm sure you could probably add a few names to the list... even with personnel that are capable of playing defensive style basketball, he's consistently coached teams that were rated in the bottom 1/2 of the NBA while being offensively rated in the top few... he is an offensive minded coach... pure & simple.

crzymdups wrote:fish, but last year you really thought eddy was going for 14ppg/6rpg/55%fg. book it, you said.