Everything you wanted to know about how Phoenix phans pheel about D'Antoni

as well.

One of the things that made Skiles so great with a young roster (before he sucked with an old starting lineup, before it became young again) was his willingness to go so deep into his bench on a regular basis. D’Antoni seemed to want to tighten his rotation more and more, and you wonder if this became an over-reliance on Nash at the expense of Nash’s ability to endure, and at the expense of keeping bench guys involved.

Another weird thought was, what if D’Antoni requires that the Bulls have a decent backup PG to entice him to come to Chicago, and what if that means keeping Chris Duhon? That would be awkward, given that he’s been written off as “gone” since Hughes came to town.

And what the hell would D’Antoni do with Hughes anyway? His system calls for a lot of shooting, but it has only succeeded with players who were generally smarter and/or better shooters than Hughes. I mean, is it conceiveable that he turns Hughes into less of a liability (while keeping him in the game)?

And how will the youth of the Bulls affect the whole process? D’Antoni is credited with developing Diaw, Barbosa and to some extent Joe Johnson, but he’s had one of the more veteran teams the last few years. Hopefully Noah, Thomas and (if he’s on the team) Duhon won’t act like children with D’Antoni and his staff.

but not because teams knew the Bulls plays. I think a lot of the teams in the league run the same stuff. According to Larry Hughes, when he got here, a lot of the plays were the same, just the calls were different. I remember hearing Jason Kidd say the same thing after his trade to Dallas (I’m too lazy to look for the articles).

Hughes seems to have play-call-stealing, down to an art…

All your friends are jealous of you and if s/he is also smart and fun to hang out with, you feel like you’ve won the lottery. If s/he turns out to be lame and boring, the fact that your friends are envious keeps you with her/him for at least a little while. You might eventually break up but will still remember all the good parts later on. You think Nick Lachey has any regrets about his marriage to Jessica Simpson?

I mean, why the hell not go for D’Antoni? We know he’s going to reinvigorate our guys and bring some excitement back to Chicago. The worst case scenario is that we find out he can’t adapt his style, at which point he’ll be fired and one of his promising assistants will step in. What else is there to be scared of? More rebuilding? Let’s face it: this team is ok, but there are no guarantees that it’s even close to championship caliber. Going after D’Antoni at least give us a chance to find out.

really? I don’t think that way at all. Jason Kidd doesn’t count. Heck, Avery probably did a good enough job just be keeping his players focused enough to ignore the owner.

has the exact same weakness as the Bulls version. If you don’t make 60% of your shots with the small ball lineup or rebound at a higher rate than the 5 man would otherwise rebound then you’re sunk. Furthermore, if you use small ball you have to use it effectively as a scheme against an opponent that isn’t going to the low block on every possession until you substitute the bigger body back into the game. The Spurs and Mavs both schemed against this very well to defeat the Suns in the last few postseasons.

Right now, I think the ideal potential candidate is George Karl, but it sounds like he’s not going anywhere

Marc Stein’s sources, though, seem to think he’s going to find his own way out.

He was very successful in Seattle with a loaded team. He was successful in Milwaukee with a team that couldn’t play D. He’s done well in Denver despite numerous injuries to key players and total indifference to D from his 2 stars. His style fits better to this team than any other coach mentioned. His teams play a highly uptempo game while still playing above average to fantastic D (except Milwaukee). That’s exactly what this team as currently constructed needs. He could easily return these Bulls to the top of the Defensive Efficiency rankings. Yes, he’s had several personality conflicts with players and burned himself out at one point in his career. Still, he’s done well with every job he’s had since his first with Golden State. He’s not your typical retread, he actually has a winning track record.

but interesting nonetheless:

Donnie Nelson will nonetheless be charged with assembling a virtually all-new bench, for starters, after the Mavs got such a limited contribution from a few free agents handpicked by Johnson (Eddie Jones, Devean George and Juwan Howard) and longtime Avery favorite Jerry Stackhouse.

How Skilesian.

I thought this counter-argument was 100% correct.

Given the raw materials on D’Antoni’s bench, benching Amare and/or Diaw would have been a laughable show, not a credible threat. Certainly they teach you military types that only credible, communicable threats count?
For example, when Scott Skiles had similar motivation problems with his players, he would bench the whole frickin lineup and play scrubs who weren’t half as good. The players learned nothing except that Skiles is an @$$4073, and within the season Skiles was out of a job. Sounds like you are in the hunt to bring Scott Skiles back to the valley. LOL.
That’s also the problem with guys like Avery Johnson – they push so hard all the time that players eventually tune them out. You want these players to die on the court in November? It’s funny, Pop benches players in November for the exact opposite reason.
Finally, consider the Zen Master. When Kobe was mailing in and sulking through games in the loser years, did Phil Jackson bench him as he should have in your estimation? No. Seek and ye may find the answer as to why.

Yes, there was actually the suggestion that D’Antoni should’ve benched Stoudamire and Diaw for low energy levels.

http://www.blogabull.com/2008/4/30/470330/let-s-get-d-antoni#5610998...not actual figures, but the part about tampering and Kerr giving permission

doesn’t seem so out of line? 4.2 per year? I believe D’Antoni market value might be near 20 mil/4 years or 15 million/3 years.

Oh well. you can see it here

In other words, the Bulls are going to have to violate the NBA’s tampering rules or D’Antoni’s going to have to resign.

Sure, it’s an off the cuff response, but what a horrible answer.

First of all, it’s not clear that the players bailed on Skiles; there’s some substantial writing out there implying that the reverse happened. And that’s not even approaching the question of whether Pax even put them in a position to succeed this season.

Second, the guy first in line as far as bailing was Ben Wallace, and he’s gone. What, are you going to tell me that Gooden, Hughes, Simmons, Brown and/or whoever else the Bulls pick up this preseason don’t deserve a great coach? Or that Noah doesn’t deserve a great coach? Or how about the franchise, or the fans? They don’t deserve a great coach because of some lame-ass karmic retribution for dropping from 8 games over .500 to 8 games under .500?

Who appointed Adande God’s deputy on earth to enforce a good attitudes among players who weren’t prepared to play hardball with their GM in contract negotiations?

And most importantly of all, where’s their karmic reward for having to put up with the worst coach in the fanchise’s history?

::hangs head in shame::

he brings back Tim Floyd

Not that this can all be laid at a single assistant coach’s feet (unless his name is Boylan, then go ahead). But to lose all 3 games in Atlanta? Pax may be able to interview him at leisure pretty soon.

(Not that I actually think Boston will lose game 7 at home, but this series sure didn’t go as predicted – and I can’t help pulling for Atlanta, even though I have nothing against Boston with the exception of Posey)

Carlisle obviously isn’t Paxson’s first choice. Instead of “settling” for someone, he’s waiting until the right one comes along. Risky, but okay w/ me.

Are you multiple people or just a multiple a-hole? There are plenty on this site who wish the Lakers well in these playoffs. Don’t be a douche and ruin it for them.

let’s get a coach who has won a championship. Wait, which one should we get?

or an apt comparison, I think you’re dreaming.

It’s not just about stats.

But the shooting percentages don’t match. Kirk doesn’t have the shooting ability or dribbling ability to make the huge leap Nash did.

If you mean “as good” as in “overall contributions to the team”, I would disagree, but not as strongly. I think, in the right system, with the right coaching, Hinrich can improve his offensive numbers over last year, but they won’t approach Nash’s. Still, with the ability to play defense, he could be close to “as good”. I think. Maybe. I’m hedging my bet on that one.

Trust me, they all want him back, just as Kerr does.

They devoted most of their practice time to defense. This has been documented: the Macallum book/articles, Amhad Rashad and NBA TV cameras/reports, and local media here in PHX.

Agree that accountability could be an issue. If you want a drill sgt, better look elsewhere.

We really should listen when Paxson says he wants a coach that will bring a model that is DESIGNED FOR THE PLAYERS presently on the roster. Paxson is telling you what he wants. He picked these players. Now he wants a coach that will pick the system for these players.

came up with this scenario too! :) really would be a dream…

Ainge may even want to pay Thibodeau more money just to stay in Boston. Contending teams’ assistants usually need bad luck and timing to get head coaching gigs the very next season.

absolutely true.

It should be D’Antoni and some less-heralded defensive specialist. Thibodeau two years ago. That guy exists somewhere.

you must know insiders!

Sure, Walsh is now there, but all the players are still there. It’s going to be just as much of a problem working with that roster next season as it was this season.

I’m guessing the Knicks just make Marc Jackson the head coach while his agent shops him around to elevate his price tag making Jackson a first time head coach making upwards of 4 mil per.

D’Antoni inches ever closer.

Whatcha been doin’ O? You was one of my faves waaayyy back! ‘80s baby!

Seriously, I just heard this and had to get on to update everyone, but you beat me to it. Don’t know why D’Antoni would choose NY, they have far, far too far to go. He’s very picky about choosing his players, they won’t be able to get rid of all those bad contracts…but maybe Walsh can lose enough deadwood for him: If there’s oh say two or three useful guys already on the roster, that means only four or five more makes “The D’Antoni Seven”. Obviously, they want to shake it up, even if they hire Mark Jackson, but I still can’t see him there. Plus, he’s a small, coal mine town guy who bristled at the pressure cooked up in PHX. What’s he want w/ NYC?

Wouldn’t the money be similar to Skiles’ contract, and isn’t Reinsdorf off the hook for that since he’s at MIL now? Why would NY grossly overpay him to keep him away from Bulls, when their personnel isn’t currently close to being a good match?

WIth his left when setting up the half court offense, he also has a tendency to drive to the rim from the left when he is going for a layup. Nash is flashy and has all sorts of hesitation steps and stutters while he dribbles not to mention mastery over the bounce pass. Kirk has grit and other intangibles that really dont help set up players or penetrate but mean alot on the defensive end. Nash is confident and a leader naturally, kirk often lacks confidence in his own ability and is trying to learn to be a leader. Both are unselfish ball players, who can be good shooters when they need to.

When kirk drew comparisons to steve nash in 2005-2006 playoffs it was because of his unselfish moving of the ball and hitting key shots in the game keeping up with miami. His playing style really doesnt resemble nash’s however, which also doesnt mean he cannot be effective with d’antoni.