martin wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni is a flawed coach in my opinion. People can change and I hope that is the case for him. However, he was flawed just based on his one sided approach to basketball. Remember the Suns traded Rondo because D'Antoni didn't think he could use him because he couldn't shoot. His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season.

I couldn't read past that. Rondo pick was traded cause Savor didn't want to pay luxury tax. Kinda the reason PHO traded a lot of their other picks.

His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season

nixluva wrote:

martin wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni is a flawed coach in my opinion. People can change and I hope that is the case for him. However, he was flawed just based on his one sided approach to basketball. Remember the Suns traded Rondo because D'Antoni didn't think he could use him because he couldn't shoot. His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season.

I couldn't read past that. Rondo pick was traded cause Savor didn't want to pay luxury tax. Kinda the reason PHO traded a lot of their other picks.

ALL COACHES have big egos. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's all too easy to just forget that MOST of the reason teams win is due to TALENT! That's the 1st thing that needs to be established for any team to be a title contender. Great coaching can add to the win total and get a team over the hump in a critical Playoff game, but no coach wins without talent. That being said. I think Mike is the kind of coach you want if you don't have a perfect team. His system has been proven to push teams further than their talent suggests they should go. Case in point the WCF's in 2006. When you can get your team to win it's div. and get to the WCF's relying on Diaw, TT and KT as your biggest players, you have a system that gets more out of the players you have than should be expected. I believe that with the talent we have, Mike should be able to do a lot.

This team looks like a superior defensive version of the kind of teams he had in PHX. He never had this much talented size in PHX. Never had two defensive PG's either. His entire roster is filled with superior athletes that should be able to get a lot done on the defensive end. If you're looking for a big reason this team should go far I think it could be the defense.

We have the right kind of roster to fit what Mike is good at. Smart players with real NBA skills. Athletes that can keep up with the pace and mental speed of his system.

CrushAlot wrote:

martin wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni is a flawed coach in my opinion. People can change and I hope that is the case for him. However, he was flawed just based on his one sided approach to basketball. Remember the Suns traded Rondo because D'Antoni didn't think he could use him because he couldn't shoot. His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season.

I couldn't read past that. Rondo pick was traded cause Savor didn't want to pay luxury tax. Kinda the reason PHO traded a lot of their other picks.

Here is the rest.

His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. [Coach K use D'antoni's offense to win the Gold in the Olympics.] His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. [Umm, besides Phoenix, where he was incredibly successful, where else has he been unsuccessful?] D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. [Is D'antoni complaining now, or has he ever complained since reaching NY? Did he complain when the Knicks dumped Crawford and Randolph even though the Knicks were playng competitive ball?] Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. [What about Terry Porter? He had D'antoni's team and did nothing with it. Only when Gentry came in and brought the Suns back to D'antoni's offense did thehy go back to winning...] D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. [Not sure where you are going with this.] His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. [Um... he could have gone pretty much anywhere... Chicago gave him a pretty good offer, he chose NY] His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. [Um, actually, Terry Porter's time in Phoenix exposed that team's flaws also. Ask any coach, D'antoni knows his business.] He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season [While I agree, I think the dependence on Nash is highly overstated. Its easy to criticize from the sidelines, but the SSOL offense has many supporters and Coach D is credited with its primary concepts. Everything comes down to execution, but do you really think any other coach would have done much better with last year's team? You think Phil Jackson rides Al Harrington to a championship? Or George Karl coaxes Duhon to an all star level? I'm sort of offended, to the point of asking you to pull your head out of your ass. Maybe Larry Brown could make Curry stop eating, but D'antoni couldn't? Maybe pissng off Larry Hughes was a huge mistake on Coach D's part? If Coach D was a better coach, Nate wouldn't shoot at his own basket? Likely chance. He's building a team now. Walsh knows the type of players he's looking for. He doesn't have to fight with Steve Kerr over personnel decisions. He's had the Suns stacked squad, which got better when he arrived, and he's had the Knicks crappy roster, which continued to underperform. Give the guy a chance.]

48 - 52 wins depending on 3 players 1. The Russian, 2 AR 3 the deepness of the bench. We already know what Gallo, Chandler, Felton, and Amear is bringing each night.

TMS wrote:41 wins & we barely make the 8th seed... maybe take 1 game in round 1 & Knick fans will be doing cartwheels. PROGRESS!

This year I think the strength of the team up the middle will bring stability and confidence. Felton/Amar'e settles everyone down and creates an atmosphere for success for everyone else. They take the pressure off early.

EwingsGlass wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

martin wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni is a flawed coach in my opinion. People can change and I hope that is the case for him. However, he was flawed just based on his one sided approach to basketball. Remember the Suns traded Rondo because D'Antoni didn't think he could use him because he couldn't shoot. His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season.

I couldn't read past that. Rondo pick was traded cause Savor didn't want to pay luxury tax. Kinda the reason PHO traded a lot of their other picks.

Here is the rest.

His philosophy has been used in the past and has never won a championship. [Coach K use D'antoni's offense to win the Gold in the Olympics.] His difficulties with communication, game planning, coaching young players and guys that might need an authority figure, and his rigidity have doomed him to not be successful unless he is blessed to have comparable talent to his rosters when he won in Phoenix. [Umm, besides Phoenix, where he was incredibly successful, where else has he been unsuccessful?] D'Antoni did speak against Marion after the Shaq trade and said that Marion did not know how good his situation was in Phoenix before he left. I think the same could be said for D'Antoni. [Is D'antoni complaining now, or has he ever complained since reaching NY? Did he complain when the Knicks dumped Crawford and Randolph even though the Knicks were playng competitive ball?] Gentry and Don Nelson have been good coaches when Nash ran their team as well. [What about Terry Porter? He had D'antoni's team and did nothing with it. Only when Gentry came in and brought the Suns back to D'antoni's offense did thehy go back to winning...] D'Antoni may never have the opportunity to have a roster that can overcome all of his short comings like the Nash led Suns did. [Not sure where you are going with this.] His ego and rigidity caused him to move to NY. [Um... he could have gone pretty much anywhere... Chicago gave him a pretty good offer, he chose NY] His flaws that were covered in Phoenix by Nash and others may very well doom him in NY. [Um, actually, Terry Porter's time in Phoenix exposed that team's flaws also. Ask any coach, D'antoni knows his business.] He needs to do some winning without Nash for the first time in his coaching career this season [While I agree, I think the dependence on Nash is highly overstated. Its easy to criticize from the sidelines, but the SSOL offense has many supporters and Coach D is credited with its primary concepts. Everything comes down to execution, but do you really think any other coach would have done much better with last year's team? You think Phil Jackson rides Al Harrington to a championship? Or George Karl coaxes Duhon to an all star level? I'm sort of offended, to the point of asking you to pull your head out of your ass. Maybe Larry Brown could make Curry stop eating, but D'antoni couldn't? Maybe pissng off Larry Hughes was a huge mistake on Coach D's part? If Coach D was a better coach, Nate wouldn't shoot at his own basket? Likely chance. He's building a team now. Walsh knows the type of players he's looking for. He doesn't have to fight with Steve Kerr over personnel decisions. He's had the Suns stacked squad, which got better when he arrived, and he's had the Knicks crappy roster, which continued to underperform. Give the guy a chance.]

Finestrg wrote:

nixluva wrote:It's real simple when Mike left and they brought in the defensive savior Terry Porter, the team nearly revolted and lost their minds begging for a return to Mike's system. That's why they wanted Gentry to be coach. They knew he could run it. They weren't exactly the same team, but as Gentry said it was mostly Mike's system and the Knicks said even the play calls were exactly the same.

I think Donnie and Mike are clear on how they want to do things and it should make for a much better organization from here on. Donnie did a GREAT job in making this team long and athletic, but smart too. Just listen to the guys talk and you can see that they have intelligence. Mike needs that. Dumb and lazy players think this is about jackin 3's. Smart and aggressive players realize that there are all sorts of angles and openings created by moving the ball and executing the plays. HIT THE OPEN MAN! Keep moving and keep the ball moving and you can pretty much react on instinct cuz the open shots will be there.

Still what I think will be our biggest area of success is on the defensive end. Having players that care about D and effort will be the reason this team wins more than 45 games this year and possibly 50. Teams won't be able to stop our offense, but playing even a little D will go a long way to securing wins. With a middle of the league defense Mike won 62 games. I think this team has at least that much defensive talent maybe more. PHX never had 2 good defensive PG's like we have now and they never had so many 6'10" or bigger players.

Excellent points.

Indeed ...it seems DW has emphasized defensive minded players who are young, long and athletic. Felton and TD are both good defensive points with excellent speed. Going to assume he did this deliberately feeling d'Antoni can foster teamwork and teach offense to the lot of them.