Gentry Appreciation Thread...

[pauls931]

Ok, everyone jizzed over Dragic, but Gentry is also a huge part of this win. Remember the Dantoni days when he'd sub like clockwork. Dantoni would have NEVER left both Nash and Amare on the bench. Gentry saw something working and didn't fuck with it. Waiting til freethrow time to put Nash back in and left Amare out since the spurs did a good job of defending him.

Gentry recognized that the spurs geared their D towards guarding the nash/amare pick and roll and found offfense elsewhere.

Calling timeouts when other teams start runs, calling out the bench on D, etc... Not a coaching god, but at least he holds players somewhat accountable and isn't afraid to hurt players feelings even though I'm sure Nash and Amare (and Jrich) are happy with the W.

[Pero]

He should also get props for Dragic. He seems to have been very encouraging. Though during the season I sometimes thought he was an idiot for not playing him more. :lol

I wonder though if Dragic is mentally weak though, like if he played for Pop would he be able to make it?

[pauls931]

I agree, I think Porter and just the Presence of shaq created a pressure fill environment for Dragic his first year. Gentry is probably the most relaxed suns coach I've seen. In times when westphal or Dantoni would be screaming, Gentry would tell his players to relax and concentrate on executing. Also on numerous occassions he would tell dragic it's ok to mess up, just keep hustling.

[Giuseppe]

Nash still assassinated Porter. It wasn't right and I ain't forgettin' it.

[pauls931]

Nash still assassinated Porter. It wasn't right and I ain't forgettin' it.

Fuck porter, he didn't do his job. Only person who f'd up more in this ordeal was Kerr hiring the wrong coach.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Yup, if Porter was still Coach Dragic would wanna be getting shipped back to Slovenia. Lets not forget the two big things Gentry does that neither Porter nor Antoni could do:

Make Amare a complete player on both ends of the court
Successfully keep the Suns an up tempo team but make their defense better

[pauls931]

Damn I agree with Dok. Hell gentry even has Nash playing defense. Also note that parker is not smoking nash on every play. Why? Because they're playing team defense which helps compensate for nash's lack of athleticism.

[Giuseppe]

Ends don't justify means.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

I said before the series Nash's D wouldn't be an issue if he played D like he did against Portland and everyone scoffed at it.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Ends don't justify means.


I agree, Nash had no business doing what he did, but Porter did the exact opposite of what he was brought in to do.

[Giuseppe]

Duncan, you've jumped back & forth cross the fence so much the last 3 months nobody can say with any certainty where the fuck you stand on any point of interest Suns wise.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

I've never gone back and forth on what Nash did. It's always wrong to get a coach fired, plain and simple. There was a better way to handle it.

[pauls931]

Duncan, you've jumped back & forth cross the fence so much the last 3 months nobody can say with any certainty where the fuck you stand on any point of interest Suns wise.

If the suns are winning he tolerates nash, if not he wants Dragic playing 48 minutes a game.

[Giuseppe]

I agree, Nash had no business doing what he did, but

No "but". It was wrong. Just because Media didn't take off after Nash doesn't make it right.

[slayermin]

Brilliant move. Some people were downplaying that just because it was working. But if things went south, he would've been crucified in the national media for leaving Nash and Stoudemire on the bench.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

If the suns are winning he tolerates nash, if not he wants Dragic playing 48 minutes a game.


Tolerates? I'm being dead serious when I say I like Nash now after pissing off a significant chunk of his fan base. One reason I didn't like Nash is because I thought he did fake, phony things to become popular, but that proves he's someone who stays true to himself.

Also, seeing all these Spurs fans talk shit about a coach they should appreciate makes me realize how I sound talking shit about Nash.

[Giuseppe]

^& Kori says she can't figure out what I'm f'ing talking about 90% of the time.

:rolleyes

[Pelicans78]

I still don't see why it was wrong for Nash to get Porter fired. Something had to change.

[DAF86]

Hey DoK, aren't you tired of beign wrong about the members of the Suns organization? You're like Ghazi but the other way around, which is worst, imho.

[Goran Dragic]

Not really, I have never been anywhere near Kerr's biggest critic. I always thought Sarver/D'antoni was behind nearly every dumb move he made

Gentry I was wrong, great coach who can see obviously the big picture a lot better than me.

I couldn't have been any more right about Mike D'antoni, basically the scum of the Earth

And Ghazi's team has had 4 straight disappointing seasons, his organization has done nothing to deserve the blind faith he has in them. After the 2007, 2008 and 2009 season, it was understandable to be pissed at members of the Suns organization.

[DAF86]

Not really, I have never been anywhere near Kerr's biggest critic. I always thought Sarver/D'antoni was behind nearly every dumb move he made

Gentry I was wrong, great coach who can see obviously the big picture a lot better than me.

I couldn't have been any more right about Mike D'antoni, basically the scum of the Earth

And Ghazi's team has had 4 straight disappointing seasons, his organization has done nothing to deserve the blind faith he has in them. After the 2007, 2008 and 2009 season, it was understand to be pissed at members of the Suns organization.

Enjoy your players dude.

P/S: Didn't you used to be a big Shaq fan? :lol

[Goran Dragic]

Enjoy your players dude.

P/S: Didn't you used to be a big Shaq fan? :lol


I was a Shaq fan before he went to the Suns and I still am a Shaq fan. I don't think trading Shaq was what magically made the Suns a better team, it was a combination of things. I'm actually pissed in the sense that if he was willing to take on a lesser role having him as a 15-20 MPG guy would have helped in a lot of ways, but that's a big price tag for a 15-20 MPG guy.

[Cane]

Gentry is a great coach. So far he's found the right balance between Mike's offense, Porter's attempt at defense, and has a lot of trust in his bench players which he basically has to at this point with an ancient Steve Nash.

[Goran Dragic]

Porter never attempted defense, that's what his problem was. Steve Kerr hired Porter with the understanding he would improve the defense and keep them an up tempo team, instead he made the defense worse and turned them into a half court team.

[badfish22]

great fucking coach

[badfish22]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CqDk4jAv_Y4/S-UTE6cQ3oI/AAAAAAAACzE/WTa9rcS197U/s400/15.jpg

[SomeCallMeTim]

Brilliant move. Some people were downplaying that just because it was working. But if things went south, he would've been crucified in the national media for leaving Nash and Stoudemire on the bench.

Really?

Dragic was almost unstoppable in the 4th quarter. Going by Gentry's already-established sub patterns, Nash wouldn't have come in until 6 minutes left anyway. By that time, it was clear the Spurs were not making an in-game adjustment to Dragic or his hand was so hot it just wasn't going to matter -- or both.

Call me jaded, but giving a coach "props" for sticking with a player putting on a historic performance hardly seems noteworthy.

[Vertical]

Agreed. Dragic got hot at the right time. Only a moron would take him out at that point.

[Jeremy]

It's only noteworthy because we all know that D'Antoni never would have done it.

[pauls931]

You know what would be epic? If gentry started the subs tonight.

[Pero]

You know what would be epic? If gentry started the subs tonight.

:lol