TMS wrote:i think after starting out 1-9 while playing your vets, u owe it to your franchise to shift the focus of the season & start planning for the future good... he made it a point to say he wanted to make that the focus of this season when we passed up on signing Allen Iverson at that exact juncture... giving the rooks playing time at that point wouldn't have been objectionable to anyone involved when your team is putting forth historically bad level of play & futility while doing things your way & you proclaim to the fans that you're more concerned about young guys & their development... i think he showed after that he was speaking out of the other side of his mouth.
you know, i don't know if it was the soft part of the schedule or what it was, but right after they spurned iverson, the knicks actually put together a string of solid play. you know when he says "developing young guys" he also means gallo and chandler. those two certainly stood to lose the most from signing iverson. and there could have been many reasons they passed on iverson, but the stance they took publicly was probably the most respectful to AI. better than saying he's a washed up drunk that they want nowhere near their team. lost in all this, "d'antoni doesn't like rookies talk" is the fact that we have two young guys, granted they are not rookies, both playing well and improving. do i wish that jordan hill and TD could be in that equation? yes. but alas, hill is gone and now TD, whether held back in the past or not, is finally showing flashes. what's important here? if it's TD's development, then despite d'antoni's best efforts to sabotage him, he seems to be doing ok. [/sarcastic douchey-ness]
don't u think if his concern was in not creating rifts in the locker room, that he shouldn't have played favorites with certain vets that were clearly struggling all year tho? did it serve us any good to jerk around veterans like Nate & Hughes & ignore our rooks the way he did this year in trying to build team chemistry? i don't think the way he managed that situation helped at all... in fact, i think a large portion of the season was lost when guys stopped putting forth any effort after he had lost the team... at that point, playing the rooks would have been his only fallback option, but he stubbornly resisted tooth & nail until even Sergio Rodriguez proved to be another busted option at the PG position & Jordan Hill was long gone... playing TD was pretty much his last option that he begrudgingly put into the starting lineup & he pretty much proved right off the bat that he was the best option all along... to me, all these factors are black marks on MDA's eye for talent, lack of foresight & tact, & a general inflexibility to adjust on the fly.
i don't think he's intentionally causing rifts here. remember, there's more than just d'antoni in the equation. this is a group of human beings and when dealing with groups of people, especially sports teams, things are not always harmonious. factor in that the team is losing. there is no clear player leading the pack. he didn't do himself favors, but i'm not sure there was a magic way to get these guys to all be happy in lieu of winning. as far as the guys who stopped giving effort, there's no excuse for that. i can never side with a player who stops giving effort. that is not a winning player and guys like that don't deserve the privilege of being pro athletes. i don't care how bad coach hurt your feelings. sure looks like playing TD was a last resort, but TD wouldn't be the first rookie PG that was brought along slowly by his coach. apparently it's one of the tougher positions to pick up. i think his stubbornness is to blame for some of his mismanagement, but i can't be too upset about that. a few years ago we were up in arms over larry brown and his record breaking lineup changes. i really believe that in this context sometimes there's nothing you can do. i hope that the players that will be returning next year are really learning the ins and outs of the system and that the continuity serves to provide a solid foundation for a revamped squad next season.
i completely agree we are lacking a real leader on this team & that is a hardship... coaches usually challenge their best players to take on that leadership roles on their teams... maybe D Lee doesn't have it in him to be that leader? i used to think he would make the perfect candidate to take on that role, but it's hard to tell your teammates to play tougher defense when you're not playing any yourself... this summer our main target needs to be on a guy that can take on that mantle of leadership... Lebron obviously is the #1 target, but if we miss out on him we should seriously consider someone like Manu G IMO.
yeah, i don't see lee as a leader type after this season. can't blame him completely, he hasn't exactly been exposed to the best player leadership since he arrived. anyway, i don't know why i've taken on the role as anti-mda counterpoint specialist (notice: i did not say mda-supporter). i really just think i feel so burnt by all the coaching changes we've had, that i'd be advocating to retain just about anybody. sure, d'antoni's resume with the suns leaves me hopeful that he'll help recreate a new and improved version of that team, but more than anything, i just feel like it's about time we stay the course for once. if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. we have tried everything but this. somethings bound to work eventually.
good talk bro. i don't think i can go any further without a break. you make a lot of good points. d'antoni has a lot to prove. let's hope he's learning from his mistakes. otherwise, it's just gonna be more misery for us die-hards.
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