Man, Mike D'Antoni is really a good coach after all

D’Antoni or any other coaches system does work well if the players either don’t believe in or are poor fits for it.

Dwight Howard does what he wants and doesn’t listen to his coaches. He is/was potentially a great fit if he would run the pick and roll; which he didn’t do anywhere. So he was a terrible combo with D’Antoni’s system. Kobe Bryant was a terrible fit as well. He wasn’t going to learn a new basketball philosophy and was not big on sharing the ball and loved to ISO. Steve Nash was always hurt. Gasol had no interest in running and no interest in practices. It was just a bad match for everyone involved.

If Harden and Paul didn’t believe in D’Antoni’s system the Rockets would be a mess. Where Morey deserves credit is for learning from TMac and Howard. You can’t build around a very flawed star player like TMac and you need stars that will buy into your system. Which is why Harden and Paul are vastly superior to Harden and Howard; even with Paul being 32.

 

He wasn’t healthy, nor was he really with the Rockets... but most the issues in LA were chemistry related and Howard not wanting to play in the system.

 

Howard could’ve been so much better if he just accepted his role for a cheaper price. He couldn’t improve his offense and relied on his athleticism which caught up to him with old age

 

^
This qualifies as an endorsement.

 

having quite a good season this season.

 

I was all aboard the JVG bandwagon. I was wrong.

Then again I didn’t really mind Milkhair so I guess I’m just a horrible evaluator of coaches.

 

Morey wasn’t happy with how the interview process with D’Antoni was handled. Meetings took place and conversations that took place that the GM wasn’t aware of.

Morey suggested strongly Silas and Hollins. Alexander didn’t want someone as young as Silas and Morey felt Hollins would get the approval of Alexander. Hollins and Silas had the same agent and Hollins would be an associate head coach for a year.

Alexander wanted D’Antoni from day 1 and knew Morey had spoken highly of his ability years prior. It put Morey in a tough spot, with D’Antoni also known as a coach that would blame the front office or attempt to usurp power.

The Motiejunas situation caused a little disagreement but overall they have worked well thus far.

 

I was really opposed to MDA. I thought this team needed discipline and defense and focus that he would maximize our strengths and do nothing address our many weaknesses.
At the time, his track record on NYK and LA made him radioactive.
His success is a testament to the foresight of Morey/Les and their vision for Harden's Rockets, and I'm not ashamed of being wrong.

I remember threads from that time and I'm pretty convinced that if anyone claims they were "for" D'Antoni and they weren't very outspoken about it, they're lying.

 

I always had faith a team with Harden would make out 54-56 wins in the West no matter the coach, but 2nd rnd was all I expected with Harden alone.

Maurey's signings are always decent in value. They are still risks because they're bets on players usually at the tail end of their curve (Sura/Mutombo) or undersized in some form but make up for a freak outlying attribute (wingspan, thiccness, or fanatical devotion to defence)

I wanted JVG because we sucked on defense. I was totally wrong... The surprise in D'Antoni, whom I last paid attention to was Linsanity and the ensuing Melodrama, was him extending the lifespan of Morey's signings like Anderson or EGo and turning those signings into a finals threat. Verdict is still out on Anderson, but the Moroey/Mike duo is almost like both intended it would be this good.

And adding CP3? I guess these ******* pundits thought old man Chris Paul would be on Jerry Lin's level, and he wouldn't be able to do his thing with Harden getting his touches. They so wanted to revive the "Harden can't share the ball with another playmaker" storyline five years ago.

Those media hacks are slow and old news. At least read reddit or Clutchfans if you're not doing your job.
http://newnation.sg/wp-content/uploads/b****please.jpg

 

Kobe turns it up the playoffs though.

 

People tend to forget the following about MDA's last few teams...

1. Lakers - Aging ISO king Kobe, aged Nash with nerve injury, injured and petulant Howard
2. Knicks - Inefficient ISO queen Melo, injury prone Stoudamire, and Linsanity until Melo came back

When MDA had players who were willing to take to his coaching and system, he usually did very good. Problem was, he was setup for failure on those teams. Like many though, I had my hearts set on a defensive minded, young coach after our catastrophic season.

 

i was for giving jbb another chance. at least 2 more years.

 

I wanted MDA I couldn’t stand McHale. His timing for subs was terrible. I thought he would help Dwight but didn’t after a year they should have hire someone else or after 2. Didn’t thwy gave him an extension just before that terrible year.

Anyway I liked MDA I just felt LAL had love and Dwight they didn’t mesh well and Steve Nash was hurt. With the knicks he just didn’t have a good team.

 

The MDA hiring worked out because of JH13. I was on the fence with the hiring because I thought the Rox needed defence and discipline exemplified by JVG far more than offense.

CP3, Tucker and the Prince has help fill in those gaps. Then CP3 adds all NBA play making skills that makes the offense hum for 48 minutes.

I'm happy for MDA and the Rockets.

 

What if MDA had declining Dwight instead of CP3..... well he had that with the Lakers. Harden would have kept that boat afloat but I am not sure.

Without a good PG that man is still average at best. He is a PG's dream though.

Also Bzdelik seems to be working well with him, shoring up good D.

 

Both of them are doing well right now tho.

 

I was one of the few intelligent posters here that wanted MDA. But he's been better than I could have ever imagined.

 

As long as we didn't hire Kenny Smith

 

I think it was cyberx who said during the peak of the Dwight fiasco in 016 that the issues were on the Court. Off the court Harden and Dwight were fine and getting along but the team wanted Dwight to be a set picks and roll like he did in the playoffs in 015 where he was so deadly as a roller with Harden and Smith and Dwight was not having any of it.

 

Didnt like him before, especially the way he did my fave starbury dirty in NY. His failures in LA made validated my feelings about him being overrated. However this last two years made me realize that with the right personnel he could produce magical results. I did not realize how he was such a players' coach. As this season moves along and seeing the devt of james as a transcendant star has been such a thrill. Entering into the season, i thought GS was unbeatable, but with our current success- i strongly believe that we have a special team on out hands that could really win it all.