Faulting D'Antoni is misguided, unfair
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
May. 20, 2007 12:00 AM
It's not easy being a nonconformist in a bandwagon town. It takes guts, conviction and really thick skin.
Mike D'Antoni is going to need it all in the coming months.
Although it is natural to blame the coach when things don't go well, it's always hotter in Phoenix, isn't it? The latest playoff disappointment has Suns fans madder than a nest of wet hornets. Amaré Stoudemire con uously blew off his exit meeting with the coaching staff Saturday morning, sending bad vibes through an already forlorn community. And with every postseason failure, the rap sheet on D'Antoni seems to get a little longer:
Too stubborn. Doesn't use his bench. Doesn't make in-game adjustments. Doesn't develop players. And then there's the system, a fast-break brand of small ball that is cherished when it works and scorned when it doesn't.
D'Antoni hears it all, and he hears it all the time. And guess what? He still won't budge. I admire that.
"The criticism would bother me only if guys in the dressing room started to do it," D'Antoni said. "If there was any kind of resistance from them over the way we play, then I need to go away. But right now, the players love it, it's a great product and we win a lot of games."
Unless Stoudemire is about to ask for a trade - and, really, who in their right mind would want to leave a point guard like Steve Nash? - we really need to lighten up a little bit. After all, in the days that followed the NBA's harsh ruling, one that significantly altered the Western Conference semifinals, there were (a) reports of a bogus bomb threat to the Spurs team hotel; (b) video of a water bottle thrown from the stands at US Airways Center, one that landed between Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan; and (c) Brent Barry claiming that a little old lady actually flipped him the bird.
So let's stop this crucify-the-coach routine before it gets out of control.
Besides, you want the scorecard? D'Antoni is more than a competent in-game coach. He is one of the best at drawing up plays on the fly. But strangely, the affable personality we all love actually hurts his image as a strategist. When he could be drowning us with X's and O's, he usually is poking fun at himself, talking about how little he knows and how little he does.
He can be very smart off the court, nearly in the class of Phil Jackson, but for much different reasons. D'Antoni is a natural optimist who keeps practices short, whose mood never brings down the room. He also is smart enough to give all the credit to the players, and secure enough to never ask for any on the side.
Like everyone else, D'Antoni has faults. Some players don't appreciate his small circle of trust. His emotions can get the best of him at times, where his desire to win can make him blind to his own bench. But in my book, the flaws pale by comparison.
"Look, I don't want to just play six guys, seven guys, eight guys," D'Antoni said. "We need depth. We know that. If you want to say we need more players, I'm with you. I'm on it."
Yes, the lesson here is pretty obvious, and it has not escaped D'Antoni. The Spurs are more than just a nemesis. They have re-emerged as the team to beat in the Western Conference. And with their nucleus of stars - Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker - under contract through at least 2010, they are going to be a force for a long time.
But at the end of Game 4, and even when they were scrambling to get back into Game 6, the Suns showed a defensive effort that made the Spurs squirm. The Suns rebounded, hustled and swarmed. Their energy was electric, and they looked like the much better team - one that actually was reaching for the ring. It was both inspiring and infuriating.
After all, the 2006-07 Suns wouldn't do that naturally, consistently or comfortably. That has to change, and that has nothing to do with any system. That simply means new players, and I'm guessing the only untouchables are Nash, Stoudemire (even with his defiant no-show Saturday), Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa. And it all begins after the NBA draft lottery Tuesday, where the Suns will learn what assets and leverage they have, and how they can atone for last year's abysmal off-season.
But that's about D'Antoni, the acting general manager. This is about D'Antoni, the coach. And in Phoenix, I think we're pretty lucky.
Here is a interesting question for Spurs fans......
who do you dislike more, George Karl or Mike D'Antoni?
One bonus about GK is that he has an absurd amount of respect for the Spurs. Im not so sure about D'Antoni, he had no qualms stating over and over that the Suns were better than the Spurs.
DA is a good coach, you'd be stupid to think otherwise. He's done good things with this team....that being said, he ed the entire series and set a bad example for his team...take that how you want.
His main fault is probably his whining..sets a bad tone for his team. He has a lot of strengths. He stands behind his team and has their back; he doesn't take credit and gives it to his players (see Larry Brown and George Karl for counterexamples); he doesn't backstab his players in the media (see LB, GK, and Phil Jackson on Kobe).
Defense wins championships, and he's doing his best to try it the other way... who knows, a couple breaks here and there, maybe. It's sure easier to find talented small men than big men.
I wouldn't be surprised to find, eventually, that Stoudemire is a locker-room cancer. They need to ship him out for KG.
You can't blame D'Antoni. He told the team to "go" during the timeout.
O'Antoni is a great regular season coach.
It's kind of interesting...
I see a lot of similarities in not necessarily personel... but situation between 90's Spurs and 00's Suns...
Same can be said for 90's Spurs fan and 00's suns fan...
They are still falling for all the crazy propaganda getting thrown around... still think they are just unlucky... think the only reason the other team wins is because it cheats etc...
tough choice. I'd say both equally.who do you dislike more, George Karl or Mike D'Antoni?
But D'antoni is more amusing, the way he throws his hissy fits on the court LMAO
I lived in Arizona for awhile, I feel like Dan Bickley is from Bizarro World. Randy Johnson throws a perfect game, Bickley leads the charge to run the guy out of Phoenix. D'Antoni gets completely outcoached in every facet, Bickley calls the detractors "misguided." Phoenix is the strangest damn sports city.
I think if they ever met each other in the playoffs they would both so much about each other ing that it would rip the space/time continuem
The universe would suck itself up, leaving only a vast nothingness...and in that vast nothingness, the echo of "we're more talented!" can still be heard.
suns have big things to do this season
do they fire the coach?
do they trade nash and give up and get a younger point and get someone for nash?
(by then amare will be ready in 2 years t win)
do they trade marion?
do they trade amare?
do they keep everyone pay the tax and play the rookies?
they have got to to play a 10 man rotation in oct-jan
antoni is like jack nickolson in the tom cruise movie, "a few good men":
you cant handle the truth.
who cares the suns are gone
another coulda, shoulda, woulda article. NEXT
WHo is Mike D'Antoni?
You gotta watch it with those little old ladies.Brent Barry claiming that a little old lady actually flipped him the bird.
The only coach I have a really strong dislike for in the NBA is Pat o'Rielly because he won;t give up the damn ghost already.Here is a interesting question for Spurs fans......
who do you dislike more, George Karl or Mike D'Antoni?
One bonus about GK is that he has an absurd amount of respect for the Spurs. Im not so sure about D'Antoni, he had no qualms stating over and over that the Suns were better than the Spurs.
Phil* Jackson is a close runner up.
Yeah, I think I hate Phil more. He just sits there when things go bad and people call that great coaching.
well.. in fairness to phil.. that style of coaching made him win all those championships.
Amare Stoudemires Spurs Comments
A lot was written recently regarding Amare's comments about the Spurs being a dirty team. Now, I don't know what his reasoning was behind those comments without talking to him but I do know that some guys say things as a personal motivator. When I was playing, I never said anything about the other team, pro or con, because I didnt care what they did. That was Reds philosophy as well. I knew what I was going to do. The only time I would talk about the other team, if at all, was in our locker room to my teammates.
by Bill Russell Advice for Amare
This quote from the TrueHoop column on ESPN sums it up best:
Mike D'Antoni really does not exude leadership in big moments. That screaming is appropriate if a car is parked on your foot, and maybe if your pants are on fire. I love the guy, but it's nuts after a measly iffy call. I could put a camera on him, and a camera on Gregg Popovich, and show you the two tapes. Anyone who watched both tapes would know that Popovich's team was better prepared to win. Winning is, on some level, an at ude -- a confidence, a poise. Phoenix gets that at ude from Nash more than D'Antoni.
But then Nash finally reverted to whining about every call (or non call). I know it was at a desperate time, but I think he started to convey to his team, they couldn't win against the Spurs.
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