Dantoni QUIT in NY while losing and his replacement did GREAT with the same players he quit on.

Dantoni is in LA with three active HOF and is losing to bad teams. Within his first week in LA, Dantoni managed to publicly snub Pau. It's laughable.

I don't want to hear about this system ever again. It does not work and has never actually won a thing due to lack of defense. Further, in the Olympics, the U.S. teams played great D thanks to coach K while essentially running an offense very similar to what coach K has ran at Duke over various past years (fast paced, lots of threes). I don't see why Dantoni gets so much credit for beating vastly inferior teams with the best players in the world during the Olympics while being an ASSISTANT COACH NOT the head coach.

Bonn1997 wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:Bringing gold medals back to the USA? .700 seasons with Phoenix?
When MDA's teams win, it's because of the players. When they lose, it's because of the coach.

I'm not looking to knock MDA but he was the offensive assistant for the team he wasn't the head coach. Coach K and Nate Mcmillian on the defensive side contributed just as much as MDA to the teams success, as did the players. Y its being stated like MDA is the reason why USA won gold is stretching out the accomplishment just a little bit.

This thread wasn't really made for MDA though it was made for the players as I have stated about 4 times and targeted in the OP.

But it is ironic that if a coach is put in a position that doesn't maximize his coaching ability then for some that is allowed to be used as an excuse. Yet if a player is put in a position that doesn't maximize his talent then for some of the same group of ppl they have no problem putting blame on the player.

The way I worded it gave too much credit to MDA but he deserves some credit for his work in the Olympics, no?

No

jrodmc wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

Rookie wrote:Dwight says he will leave the Lakers if he doesn't think they can win a ring. Didn't take long for the wheels to fall off the bus in L.A.

"So I want to do it the best that I can and I’m going to take everything in I can to get what I can out of the NBA. Which, for me, is winning a championship," Howard said. "So if I have to play on another team or do whatever I have to do to get one, that’s my goal. This is my passion, so I’ll continue to fight."

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/12/3/3721530/dwight-howard-lakers-championship-magic

Not the right time to say something like this.

When would be the right time to say that? When the NBA is populated by one-man teams? What a goober.

The new Barkley of HIS generation.

this guy is another bozo, straight from the same school of bozo's that carmelo came from.. difference is that Dwight is actually a real franchise talent and a dominant player... and that is why he will get chance after chance after chance.... I can't stand the guy to be honest, he cares about himself more than the team, and really has done little to improve his game, but has worked on promoting dwight "the personality".... I hope he leaves the lakers, good riddance, dantoni doesn't need that circus... this clown still can't hit FT's so the team can't keep him on the floor late in the 4th qtr and he has the nerve to talk about the lakers not being able to win a ring?!! please!!

dk7th wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:Right. As much as I hate Dantoni's coaching philosophy I think you have to wait to see what the team looks like with Nash and once Pau is traded for complimentary pieces before callig this a failure what 5 games in?

So its okay for Kobe, Howard, Gasol, to have to wait for Nash. But its Melo's fault for not being successful in the same system with Tony Douglas as his PG.

Didn't Dwight Howard lead a team to the finals practically by himself? Now he has to depend on Nash?

in the lakers case nash was brought here as part of a grand plan with specific players in mind.

knicks were not afforded that luxury with the carmelo trade.

this is another case of apples and oranges.

of course the lakers NEED nash.

and so the question remains: did the knicks truly need carmelo?

and so the answer will remain: No, we all loved missing the playoffs and planning for the future better than the here and now.

Walsh decontructed and cleaned out the IT cesspool. Brought in Amare and then Melo. As it turns out, Stern was orchestrating CP3, and DHow looks to be in the running to be the most talented headcase the NBA has ever seen.

Howard wants to be the man. He wants the ball in the low post.

That isn't happening with D'Antoni. Howard putting the Lakers front office on notice.

AnubisADL wrote:I'd gladly take Dwight on this this team. Dwight and Melo. Oh my.

Howard wants to be the man. He wants the ball in the low post.

That isn't happening with D'Antoni. Howard putting the Lakers front office on notice.

AN ideal pairing for me would be dwight with someone like deron, or kyrie irving..... problem is, the chance of getting either of them is 0....

gunsnewing wrote:Howard to Cleveland? I think he already said he wouldn't want to play at home in Atlanta

that would be silly for him not to want to play in atlanta..... again, I remember hearing that, not sure why he would feel this way.. this guy mind is not on being the best player he can be... dwight is into marketing "superman".. this guy is a moron..

3G4G wrote:Gasol is sitting out game against the Rockets due to knee tendinitis...Come on man. Just a couple games ago he was begging for touches in the post and troubled by sitting games late in the 4th. This doesn't make sense.

So Kuptchak meets with his reps and they ultimately say they'll have no choice to trade Gasol if he doesn't adjust and not he sits. So appears to me his agent(s) have drew a line in the sand with the Lakers....Get to trading my client while he sits as to not ruin whatever value he has.

If he was legitimately hurt Kobe would look like an arse for saying what he sad about Gasol. Lakers are done they aren't winning a chip this year. This is another example of why Kobe will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever come close to Jordan

D'AnToni seems cool as can be with it...

"We got to get him healthy," D'Antoni said. "Whatever it takes -- one game, two games, 10 games -- I don't know. It's day to day but he's got to be healthy. It wasn't fair (to him). He's trying to battle through some stuff and in this league, you just can't do that."

lol @ D'AnToni

Pretty much a trend at this point for D'Antoni.

And so many people crucified Carmelo. Gasol is butting heads with MDA as we speak. Dwight's causing a stink. Kobe's throwing Gasol under the bus like he always does to teammates, the gentleman he is.

MDA at his cancer coaching ways finest. Seven seconds or less baby!

3G4G wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

3G4G wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

3G4G wrote:As has been stated it shows how important Nash was first and foremost always and forever but second no player no matter what team he plays for is absolved from not giving full effort something Melo admitted he didn't do when D'Antoni was the coach. For this reason among many others he's made it hard for me to support him as a player.

Dwight Howard very similar to Melo in that he derailed Orlando. I loved the fact Orlando kicked their butts yesterday. I'm hoping if Kyrie can get back on the mend soon the Cavs can be every bit the foe for the Heat.

I do not, will not, support players who do things on their terms that in any way sets back a team or becomes a detriment to a team's present and long-term success.

Sorry I have standards

Yet MDA is absolved for admittingly quitting on the Suns, then quitting on the Knicks.

Who absolved him from quitting on this team? He went to mgmt made a request to trade for Deron and it's obvious how things shook down from there. He wasn't extended, somewhat forced to hire a defensive assistant, at odds with star, star at odds with him, the writing was on the wall, he was lame duck, he took the safe route not good.

I said from jump we should have never hired D'Antoni nevertheless it doesn't absolve Melo.

You state who absolved him from quitting in the beggining then go on to paint the picture on how everyone else did him wrong with absolutely no criticism.

He went to mgmt for Deron because he needed a stud PG. Lin started to fall off and wasn't reliable enough and he was running out of time to make it happen for the playoffs. He was forced to hire a defensive assistant because he deosn't teach defense which is one of his flaws as a coach. Again rather then accepting that as a flaw its painted as him being wronged. He was at odds with the roster which spilled over to the star since it put both he and the star in a compromising position.

MDA gets treated like the innocent coach who was treated unfairly, while Melo gets painted as the evil coach killer who ran him out of town. Truth is the roster wasn't set up for MDA to run his style of play so he needed to adapt until he got the pieces in place to do so.

It went for last season Melo as the sole reason to why MDA's offense didn't run smooth last season due to him being an out of shape, selfish, coach killer to Kobe, Gasol, Howard needing Steve Nash to make the offense work.

No just because I'm not absolving Melo from quitting doesn't mean I'm absolving D'AnToni from quitting. I simply chose to focus on how Melo did an obvious 180. Even if a coach has shortcomings(which D'AnToni had many once again I never wanted him here as coach and never felt confident in his ability to get the most out of this team pre Melo) nevertheless a player should never stop giving full effort, no matter the coach no matter the circumstance. When you so much as admit you did you confirm my doubts about you. D'AnToni did with his recent comments but here's the difference D'AnToni is not coaching this team anymore Melo remains a Knick therefore I can still legitimately critique him.

Case in point what if Woody shows his usual shortcomings come playoff time this post-season? Should Melo or any other player go into next season with a IDGAF attitude because doubts creep in about Woody's ability to take them to the next level?

For the record when Walsh took over I wanted these coaches here in this order....

Jackson
Carlisles
Avery

I'm not saying Melo shouldn't get blame. But Melo was blamed for the system not working, for Amare not playing like a star, for Linsanity ending. The system didn't work not because Melo quit or didn't care or play hard. The system didn't work because the pieces didn't fit for the players to be successfull. Are the Lakers struggling because Kobe, Gasol, Howard don't care and are not trying hard?

gunsnewing wrote:Dantoni was pretty successful with Amare and he didn't even have the midrange jumper yet. Dantoni needs a 4 who stretches the floor. Gasol doesn't and nor does he was to camp out on the perimeter

it may get a bit worse for the lakers before it gets better, but i have a feeling they will get it together and be a legit contender somewhere down the road....