Yeah MDA isn't a defendsive guru, but giving him a above avg pg, forgetabout it...we have went over this time and time again..The only reason Raymond felton was not a all atsr last season was primarily becuase of the lack of production he got from AR...had AR played the way we all thought he would play, there's no question ray's assist, defense, and scoring goes up..he can play his man tighter with better help d, more assit from a slashing AR/ally ooops..and easier trips to the basket.

Thibs still lost to miami in the playoffs cause his team (so many times during the playoffs) couldn't score, and he had like 1 perimeter player, and a incosistant (krover) three point specialist.

Your not winning no championships without the three ball..miami had dallas on the ropes down the strectch in 2 of the last 3 games, and kidd, terry, and dirk hit some monster 3's to not only get back in it, but to win it all.

Bottom line is Thibs and MDA together, along with an above average PG, would be a nightmare for the rest of the league

nixluva wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:My comparison of MDA to Doc was based on how they were perceived when they had horrible teams. Before Doc got KG and Allen, there was a huge outcry for him to be fired. They blasted his coaching decisions even despite the fact that the team wasn't very good. It's what seems to happen to MANY good coaches that end up with horrible rosters. All of a sudden their decision making is suspect. Well heck yea it's hard to make good decisions when you have a bunch of bad players and it's much easier to make the right call when you have a roster full of good to great players that you can depend on to make the right play.

As for the decision to bring in an assistant you have to remember that MDA didn't exactly have a great experience with assistants with Head coaching aspirations. Remember the problems he had with Del Negro?

One to avoid confrontation, he spent much of the season simmering that Kerr and his assistant, Vinny Del Negro, wanted to coach. He was right on one account: D’Antoni had no sooner walked out the door than Del Negro added his name to the list of replacement candidates. He eventually took the Chicago Bulls’ coaching job.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=jy-sunsdantoni121608

Perhaps he already felt that Kerr was looking for a way to replace him. Doc already knew that wasn't the case cuz Ainge was his biggest supporter. Ainge wanted Doc to be the coach when he brought in KG and Allen. I don't think MDA and Kerr had that kind of comfy relationship. Sometimes you have to just accept that each situation is different.

Perhaps with the advantage of time MDA feels differently now. Maybe he's less fearful of the possibility of his assistant gunning for his job. All I know is that unless this team improves the talent on this team no amount of assistant defensive coaching will change much. They have to improve the talent at the C spot.

I think you make some really good points. However, I still think hiring his brother was a bit arrogant and defiant on his part.

You do realize that Dan D'Antoni was already on the coaching staff right?

Dan D'Antoni's focus on Barbosa pays off for Suns

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 14, 2005 12:00 AM

Leandro Barbosa endears himself to anyone who cares about the Suns. In return, he clings to their wisdom.

As a rookie, Barbosa instantly accepted Stephon Marbury's mentorship. He hung on every word from former Suns assistant Tim Grgurich. He attached himself to Steve Nash immediately last year, even requesting the long-sleeved shirts Nash wore in practice.

But any desire for Barbosa to replicate Nash's game proved unwise. Anyone would fail that test, and Barbosa's confidence took a hit until a new ally arrived.

Suns assistant Dan D'Antoni, coach Mike D'Antoni's older brother, left 30 years of coaching a South Carolina prep power and found another willing student in Phoenix.

Each time Barbosa leaves the Suns bench from a timeout, he pauses to seek out Dan D'Antoni's pearls of wisdom from the assistant's chair behind the bench. Before each morning shootaround on game days, they go over a list of about 15 offensive and defensive keys that are specific to Barbosa.

"He has given me a lot of attention and helped me out a lot," Barbosa said. "I've been learning a lot of things from him that I didn't know before."

Something certainly clicked. Barbosa is averaging 21 points in the past three games and is expected to remain a starter. His breakthrough is just as affirming for D'Antoni, who quickly has found a way to make an impact on a staff of pro veterans.

It was Mike's idea for Dan to focus on Barbosa, who put his trust in the new assistant. They had daily talks about establishing Barbosa's identity.

"He has so much potential that it's a great project for any coach or teacher," Dan D'Antoni said. "He sucks up information. He wants it. He needs confidence. Last year wasn't good for him. I see great things ahead for him.

"Eventually, he's going to have enough confidence in himself that (leaning on D'Antoni) will stop. Eventually, the parent lets go of the bike and you're on your own."

Their focus began on defense when Barbosa expressed how badly he wanted to remain in the rotation. The idea was that he could not be kept off the court if solid defense accompanied explosive offense.

The two talked about cutting back on reaches and guesses. Barbosa's speed and long arms can do enough damage without the gambles.

"He wanted to be so good that he overplayed on offense and defense, and it got him out of position," D'Antoni said.

Offensively, the two talked about Barbosa sticking to the easy play. Nash can hang onto the ball, weave and circle while making decisions. That was Barbosa's path to trouble.

"Calm down," Dan D'Antoni told Barbosa during his hyper offensive moments in practices.

The staff emphasized for Barbosa to take the first easy pass, driving lane or shot. Barbosa, playing more off-guard now, has committed two turnovers in the past five games and ranks 18th in the league for efficiency rating. He is still getting the same 2.2 assists per game that he averaged in his first two seasons, but without the mistakes.

The Suns needed his burst for a spark, something Dan D'Antoni pitched long before Barbosa's first start Saturday.

"They (the other coaches) would probably tell you I was a pain in the butt with that," he said. "I wanted it yesterday."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns...4suns1114.html

martin wrote:more likes PHO didn't really want to spend $ on an assistant coach and just used it as an excuse for whatever. They did that a lot over the years (not spend $).

Suns owner Robert Sarver went on a Phoenix radio station a day after D'Antoni laid out his beefs with the Suns in a New York Post article last December and said after the 2006-07 season, the organization had indeed wanted D'Antoni to hire a defensive coordinator kind of coach. (Again, sound familiar, Knicks fans?) But instead of Sarver's and Kerr's choice, Tom Thibodeau -- who joined the Celtics instead and helped make them into the best defensive team in the league as they won the title his first year there -- D'Antoni hired his brother, Dan, who is now on the Knicks' staff, too.

Crush, your becoming like FoxNews and taking the negative impression and trying to turn it over and over and over and over until you may actually believe it.

Hindsight is easy especially when you ignore the time line.

Your accessment of the knicks roster and MDA is usually over blown and your looking back on the Suns and missing the details that add up.

If your going to do this have your facts ready to present.

And in the end when you promote defense you also loose offensive production. Having Thibs on the suns vs. the Celts is not the same thing as you might have suggested.

Time is a funny thing! We all lament the knicks never winning in the 1990's and so much blame on Charles Smith missing the layup! I think the knicks shot 67% from the line that game. Never should have come down to the layup! The devil is in the details!

martin wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

martin wrote:more likes PHO didn't really want to spend $ on an assistant coach and just used it as an excuse for whatever. They did that a lot over the years (not spend $).

I have only read accounts that said Sarver and Kerr wanted Thibs and D'Antoni chose Dan.

Suns owner Robert Sarver went on a Phoenix radio station a day after D'Antoni laid out his beefs with the Suns in a New York Post article last December and said after the 2006-07 season, the organization had indeed wanted D'Antoni to hire a defensive coordinator kind of coach. (Again, sound familiar, Knicks fans?) But instead of Sarver's and Kerr's choice, Tom Thibodeau -- who joined the Celtics instead and helped make them into the best defensive team in the league as they won the title his first year there -- D'Antoni hired his brother, Dan, who is now on the Knicks' staff, too.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=howard_johnette&id=6443780

Well don't you think that the article is flat out wrong? How could Mike hire his brother after 2006-07 season for the team if he was already on it in 2005?

Also, if Sarver and Kerr were serious about having Thibs on staff, why didn't they hire him as coach after Mike left? As assitant or head coach? Or why didn't they hire any type of defensive coach after that?

Porter, 45, who replaces Mike D'Antoni, will provide a new approach, combining a fast-break offense with a stronger emphassis on defense. Kerr said he believes Porter will help toughen the suns' defense without sacrificing their appealing offense.
"The key for us was having somebody who would be balanced on both sides of the ball, who wanted to maintain our uptempo style but could also help us improve defensively," explains Kerr. "That's one of the reasons we felt like he was the right Fit."

Then this is what happened to Kerr's plans:

Suns tell Porter his job is in jeopardy
by Seth Pollack on Feb 9, 2009 8:23 PM MST in Phoenix Suns Commentary

Sources close to the Suns front office tell me that Terry Porter hasn't lived up to expectations and has been given a list of specific things to improve on. Failure to perform could cost him his job.

Many blame Porter for not maximizing the talent on the roster and for not gaining the respect of his veteran players. Reports include Barnes and Shaq ignoring him on the bench and demanding to be put back in the game or refusing to be taken out.

Porter has been unable to display the confidence needed to earn the trust of his players and, in retrospect, may have never had the experience and reputation to be successful in this environment.

It would not be fair, however, to put all the team's woes on the head coach's shoulders. Porter has his work cut out for him trying to balance the desires and demands of his two MVPs, along with a large assortment of star players both young and old. He walked into a situation where Shaq, Amare and Nash all needed the same space to work. No coach can change the laws of physics and create space where none exists.

Porter's boss, General Manager Steve Kerr, drafted and signed guys for their defense and hustle but then quickly abandoned this approach in favor of unleashing his point guard. Unable to gain their buy-in, the team traded two defensive role players for yet another scorer who needs the ball to be most effective.

It is hard to find an example of another team with six guys that all can shoot 15 times per game being asked to mesh their various skills together and learn to be role players. Five great players at their position makes for a nice fantasy team but not necessarily the best basketball team.

The fact that this information came to me (along with similar reports to Hoops World) says as much about the struggles of the coach as the organization that employees him. I wonder if Porter is being set up to take the fall for the lack of consistency and commitment to a coherent vision from the top.

Terry Porter might not be the right guy for this job, but if that's the case, the person responsible for hiring him cannot be ignored.

I have no word on timing or who possible replacements would be. One would assume Alvin Gentry, who has head coaching experience with the Clippers, could be interim choice if a move is made.

Moving Amare...

The word I am getting from the top is that moving Amare is for financial reasons and that is certainly consistent with other reports, along with what Amare believes.

Amare made these comments after Monday's game in Detroit:

"I think it's all about what they want to do and what they're trying to do financially," he said. "I think their main focus is their financial intake."

I have my suspicions about this. My guess is that putting the "blame" on the finances will cause less turmoil with Amare if a deal isn't done and also serve to increase (or least not decrease) his trade value in the eyes of other teams and their fans.

The term "addition by subtraction" was used by the Suns' front office in the past few weeks, although that kind of talk has now died down.

That is not to say that I don't believe that the team's ownership group wants to get under the salary cap, but if that's the primary goal, there are certainly other ways to get there without trading away a young All-Star like Amare.

The Suns' organization declined to provide an official response to these reports.

Steve Kerr promised that if his gamble was a bust, he would take the heat for it. Well, the heat is on! Time for him to take his poor planning and his poor choice for head coach and go find another winning, successful team to ruin.

You can't really blame the players, as they are much the same as they've always been. You must blame the "defensive philosophy" Kerr tried and failed to institute with the Suns, and the coach he picked to implement that philosophy.

One year ago, the Suns were the most fun thing to watch on TV! Nowadays, I can't stand to watch, even when they manage to pull out a narrow victory over one of the lower-echelon teams. I know I speak for thousands of fans when I say, Steve Kerr and Terry Porter must go now.

- Rick Ramsay, Mesa

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2009/01/27/20090127tuelets274.html#ixzz1VVobx22t

Fishmike brings up a good point about how the roster is constructed. If you want MDA gone and go defense minded, then you got another gut job coming on the roster.

Nalod wrote:Crush.....you bought it up. I think the burden of proof is on you. In any event they went to Porter who went more to the Defense and it was a flat out disaster. Why? The roster was built to run.

Fishmike brings up a good point about how the roster is constructed. If you want MDA gone and go defense minded, then you got another gut job coming on the roster.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-06-06/sports/27066338_1_tom-thibodeau-bulls-job-leon-rose
http://www.laneviolation.com/knicks-to-add-defensive-coordinator/
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=howard_johnette&id=6443780
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/806764-new-york-knicks-5-steps-to-get-back-to-nba-prominencehttp://http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2011/04/29/2011-04-29_knicks_seeking_more_d.html#ixzz1Kuh6SIpz