Posted by ramtour420:

What are we even talking about here? Its pretty obvious that you gotta have a superstar to win a championship, as well as a 2-way style of basketball. Does D'Antoni being on the Knicks have something to do with this? No, he was brought here to perform some emergency CPR on this dying franchise. Once the Knicks are alive and breathing again, then we can think of what we need to do to create a championship contender.

It pretty obvious that the undelying issue here is D'Antoni. These guys just dont like D'Antoni's style of play and thats the bottom line. Even if teh Knicks start churning out 60 plus wins in a couple of years, people will still complain because they dont approve of his style of ball.

Posted by newyorknewyork:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by newyorknewyork:

They go hand and hand. You need superstar and a team that can get critical stops. But you must be able to get stops when you need it. Spurs,Heat,Lakers have all been able to get critical stops when they needed it. While Wade-Shaq, Parker-Ginobli-Duncan, Kobe-Shaq where able to put up big pts.

When Suns traded Joe Johnson they went after Raja Bell & took back Boris Diaw both were role playing defenders. They also signed or traded for Steven Hunter who is a rebounder shot blocker specialist. Also signed Marcus Banks who is a defensive specialist at the PG position behind Nash. The suns definatly tried to add some defensive role players to the team.

The problem is they had nobody that could own the glass like a Duncan or Shaq & even Wallace in Detroit could down the stretch of games. And they had nobody that would be the defensive presence in the paint they needed in critical times the way that Shaq & Duncan could & Wallace did. If Amare was cappable of doing so then they probably would have gotten some championships and Amare would be known as that elite championship superstar but his inability to do so is what holds him back from being that. That and the fact that he can't run an offense through the post, but Nash more then made up for that.

You say they had a rebounder/shot blocking specialist in Hunter but then you say that they never had a defensive presence in the paint or someone who could get that key rebound down the stretch. So D'Antoni had players who could do these things but never used them properly. Plus he never demanded more out of Amare to be that guy. Either way, that's a failing of the head coach.

Whos to say that he didn't demand more out of Amare but Amare didn't get it done defensively. Whats he going to do bench him for Diaw & Hunter down the stretch of games?

Hunter was a specialist because thats all he could do, not because he was a superstar at it. The point was they did try and add defensive guys to the roster. It doesn't mean that its going to work out as expected.

Should D'Antoni have benched Steve Nash in favor of Marcus Banks down the stretch of games as well? Maybe he should have closed games with Banks,Bell,Marion,Diaw,Hunter.

If that's what he has to do to prove his point, then yes, absolutely bench him.

What's the point of adding guys if you don't use them? So D'Antonio the GM wanted these players but D'Antonio the coach refused to play them?? He sabotaged himself?

There is nothing to suggest that D'Antonio stressed defense with his Suns teams.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by newyorknewyork:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by newyorknewyork:

They go hand and hand. You need superstar and a team that can get critical stops. But you must be able to get stops when you need it. Spurs,Heat,Lakers have all been able to get critical stops when they needed it. While Wade-Shaq, Parker-Ginobli-Duncan, Kobe-Shaq where able to put up big pts.

When Suns traded Joe Johnson they went after Raja Bell & took back Boris Diaw both were role playing defenders. They also signed or traded for Steven Hunter who is a rebounder shot blocker specialist. Also signed Marcus Banks who is a defensive specialist at the PG position behind Nash. The suns definatly tried to add some defensive role players to the team.

The problem is they had nobody that could own the glass like a Duncan or Shaq & even Wallace in Detroit could down the stretch of games. And they had nobody that would be the defensive presence in the paint they needed in critical times the way that Shaq & Duncan could & Wallace did. If Amare was cappable of doing so then they probably would have gotten some championships and Amare would be known as that elite championship superstar but his inability to do so is what holds him back from being that. That and the fact that he can't run an offense through the post, but Nash more then made up for that.

You say they had a rebounder/shot blocking specialist in Hunter but then you say that they never had a defensive presence in the paint or someone who could get that key rebound down the stretch. So D'Antoni had players who could do these things but never used them properly. Plus he never demanded more out of Amare to be that guy. Either way, that's a failing of the head coach.

Whos to say that he didn't demand more out of Amare but Amare didn't get it done defensively. Whats he going to do bench him for Diaw & Hunter down the stretch of games?

Hunter was a specialist because thats all he could do, not because he was a superstar at it. The point was they did try and add defensive guys to the roster. It doesn't mean that its going to work out as expected.

Should D'Antoni have benched Steve Nash in favor of Marcus Banks down the stretch of games as well? Maybe he should have closed games with Banks,Bell,Marion,Diaw,Hunter.

If that's what he has to do to prove his point, then yes, absolutely bench him.

What's the point of adding guys if you don't use them? So D'Antonio the GM wanted these players but D'Antonio the coach refused to play them?? He sabotaged himself?

There is nothing to suggest that D'Antonio stressed defense with his Suns teams.

Adding a player doesn't automatically mean that they are going to workout or be what you expected or hoped they would be. Steven hunter played one yr for them played 76games averaged 13mins per game providing 3rebs & 1.3blks. He didn't do enough to warrant taking over for Amare down the stretch of critical games if Amare wasn't getting it down defensively. But the fact that they made a move to go after a guy like hunter with NO offensive skill who was strictly a defensive player shows you that D'Antoni did think about defense and he did try to add players who played defense.

Hunter played on yr for them and then was replace by Kurt Thomas who was known for defensive rebounding, post defense and 15-18ft jumpshots. KT played 56games(got injuried) and played 26mins a game providing 7.8rebs & 1blk per game.