There had to be something he said in the meeting, or a stat that sold Les on him. Frankly, he came out of left field as in I dont think anyone expected him to interview for an opening, much less get another HC job just yet. What do you think MDA said to Les to sell him on the idea that he can lead this squad?
With the players we have and the style of play that we have the potential for, D'antoni is the guy we need.
he sees the potential for an uptempo exciting team to watch - even if we don't win anything... Les is all about selling tickets and creating excitement... without necessarily having to win... He's playing the odds to make $$$ He knows there's no guarantee to winning (as this season showed WCF to 8 seed) so, uptempo basketball sells more tickets than grind it out JVG ball...
Offensively, MDA is a savant. As much as you guys hate him, he's what he's to offense as what Thibs is to defense. Les loves that idea. But then again, it's all about optimizing the other areas; getting defensive concepts integrated and getting the depth to let MDA use a 9-10 man rotation not a heavy 7-man one he used in Phoenix. I was indifferent about the hire, but we put our eggs in a basket here. Fixing the other sides is not as hard as getting someone this sophisticated. The only candidate I would've been clearly more of a fan of would've been Thibs. We'll have a premiere offense next year, we'll have an offense that'll rival the best and genuinely influence a new wave of progression. Where we lack, on paper with MDA, is defensive concepts, strategy, and emphasis. This is much easier to cover with a proper set-up. It's MUCH harder, and I really emphasize the MUCH part to get such a sophisticated offense. We sit here and rave about Bud's Hawks, or Pop's Spurs movement, but we saw how a clamped down defense and size disrupted that. MDA will bring us in that upper offensive echelon, it's upon Morey now to get the players that fit that system WITHOUT sacrificing defensive builds. It's upon MDA to realize and listen to defensive concepts(from assistants) and actually emphasize this. If we're going to double down one way, I'm fine with the offensive way. Defense is primarily strategy. Offense is talent, player, and ball movement. I have no issue now without our inept iso harden, **** inbounds plays, end of the shot clock possessions that were just disgusting to watch. We're going to be sophisticated here.
where was that offensive genius in LA and New York? You're not a genius if you can only get those results in situations that are nearly impossible to replicate (having one of the best PGs of all time and multiple all stars).
You look at the history .... Les goes after big names at every opportunity. Damn if those big names are washed up or if the parts fit. The big names put asses in the seats. This was no different , there was no bigger name left in the coaching pool than D'Antoni , especially after Thibs & Brooks signed elsewhere early in the process .... accept for maybe JVG who we are told was Morey's top choice but you know damn well Les was having none of that. My problem with D'Antoni is that he's not a good defensive coach and his offensive scheme is not good for the defense either .... you take a lot of long shots , they lead to long rebounds and the other team getting out on the break often .... This team wasn't very far removed this season from last years offensive numbers .... but they were miles away from the defensive numbers they posted the season before. The defense is what was broke and D'Antoni does nodda to fix it.
Honestly, if you think about it, getting 23m off the books and only a 3 year 12m contract is a net 11m gain. DD
