So Mike D'Antoni huh, gotta embrace it!

If D'Antoni gets the players to buy in, we'll probably have a perennial playoff, 50+ win team. The Rockets will play up-tempo ball, that's fun to watch and will sell tickets and generate TV ratings. We probably won't even need to make many roster changes - D'Antoni's style is not that different from McHale's, so guys like Brewer and JSmoove can thrive.

But I don't think you're ever gonna win a championship playing a strict fast-break style. At some point in the playoffs you're gonna face teams with bigger lineup options, that can run a tight offense and will not give up those easy turnovers, that feed the break. And I'm not sure you can outrun teams like GS.

 

I'd be willing to bet the rockets win over 50 games this year.

 

Everyone should watch this clip. Alot of great behind-the-scenes on Mike D'antoni.

I'm excited..

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vLAURA-3cTs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I'm still not over this hire. I thought I'd be over it by now, but it just seems like such a poor hire. I like the defensive assistant, but if Pringles can't get the players to buy in, it's gonna be a disaster. And that really seemed to be his problem at his last two failed stops in NY and LA. Not to mention, we don't have the shooters and personnel to make this work. Just still hugely disappointed in this hire.

 

Really? That was the problem is New York and L.A. and not the complete lack of talent on the roster?

His NY gig was a rebuilding gig. He knew that going in. We all knew that. He didn't even coach a full season with Carmelo Anthony because he was traded to NY late in D'Antoni's tenure there.

And in L.A., he didn't coach Dwight, Nash and Kobe from the start. That was Mike Brown. Mike Brown was fired after he went 1-12 in preseason and the regular season. D'Antoni didn't coach his first game until game 10 of the regular season. That roster had major problems and chemistry issues before D'Antoni ever got there.



None of that had anything to do with players buying in. Phil Jackson could have coached those teams and they would have been just as bad.

 

Well, he's no Phil Jackson, but Mike Woodson certainly stepped in after Pringles quit and Did a better job. And it's well know that buy-in from some key players was lacking in both stops and contributed to poor outcomes.

 

Just for the record he didn't step in for Mike Brown in LA, he stepped in for Bernie Bickerstaff. Again just for the record, Bernie Bickerstaff had that team playing extremely well. The Lakers made a mistake by not sticking with Bernie For the rest of the season.

And again, when he left NYC Mike Woodson turned that team around over night.

 

Look where LA/NYK stand today --- in the gutter.

MDA didn't do a good job there, but neither has anyone else really (outside of maybe Mike Woodson...but who cares).

 

Carmelo (and probably some others) wanted Mike Woodson instead of D'Antoni. So they forced D'Antoni out by not playing hard when he was coach.

That's like saying Stan Van Gundy is a bad coach because Dwight forced him out.

And by the way, yeah, they had one good season under Woodson when they wanted to play for him... but the very next season they decided they didn't like Woodson either and went 37-45 under him. That was a low-character team.

And lol @ hyping up Bernie Bickerstaff. He coached the team for 5 games. FIVE! You think he was able to make any kind of drastic changes in those 5 games since Mike Brown was fired? That's such a silly argument.

 

1. That statement is nothing but hyperbole. The only facts is that the team turned around over night when MDA left. And one of the main reasons the Rockets hired MDA was because players supposedly want to play for him. What I'm seeing you state is that players do not want to play for him. Thats bad.

2. Five games is five games and you can snicker at it all you want. Having said that, the team was playing really bad under Mike Brown and when Bernie Bickerstaff took over they turned around immediately and played exceptionally well. They also played some really good teams in that five game stretch. There offense and defense were both outstanding in that five game stretch. They were not as good with MDA. Judge it however you choose.

 

Keep Hope alive!

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The NBA is a fraternity. The same coaches get fired and hired. There are so many better coaches than this guy. <a href="https://t.co/iD06ctg5V7">https://t.co/iD06ctg5V7</a></p>&mdash; I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) <a href="https://twitter.com/StarburyMarbury/status/743218807817310210">June 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

I'm more encouraged after seeing the clip above that Arjun posted.

Seems like a down to earth coach that really cares about his players.
Of course he was able to build a cohesive unit in PHX and it seemed they truly
cared about each other and hung out together.

Not sure Harden is going to fit that mold. DA is going to have his work
cut out for him by discouraging the 20 sec ISO ball

 

You'll get one when you can laugh like Les in public all.the.time.

 

I've not embraced it, still raw about it, and may never accept it.

Plus these kinds of comments from vet players like Rose and Marbury make me very nervous when you consider that his last two stops were failures. I hate this hire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Don't forget, 1/30th of the money you spend on League Pass goes back to Les. Or if you're in one of those few Austin ZIPs that got bumped to Rockets broadcast territory, the part of your sports package cable fee that goes to Root Sports could partially find its way back to Mr. Alexander. It's hard to be a Rockets fan without contributing to BRI in some way.

But hey, to stay on topic, I'm with you on D'Antoni. As with all things Rockets, I'll hope for the best at first, at least until there's something concrete to start clamoring about.

 

Yeah, I have yet to be convinced about this hire, or able to get excited for anything Rockets, it seems all superficial to Me at the moment.

I think I feel indifferent to this organization which I never thought possible at a time.

 

The bottomline is that MDA has winning seasons with primary ball handlers who are good at PNR. If we got one of those than this hire makes somewhat sense.

I want to see our length and athleticism in action, I'm talking KJ, Capela, and Harrell. I'm especially curious if Harrell can learn to stay on the court because he can already finish around the rim. If Harrell can demonstrate to MDA that he can set good picks (he's built like a linebacker with a wingspan bigger than Capela's) then I expect some pretty nasty PNR with him and Harden.