I guess we hear what we want to hear. It's interesting to me that so many here think MDA wants Harden at the point all the time. I heard none of that. Heard just the opposite. Comments such as: how much does he have to have the ball? Can he be the playmaker? 7-8 assists, what about 12-13 assists? He's got game and money, now he wants to win. I think we can move him over (my interpretation is off the ball to make room for a real true distributor). Ball movement...bam, bam, bam. Let the ball get back to James (interpreted by me to finish) after it's moved around. One thing we know he's going to score. Comparison to Kobe. Constant references to Nash. Multiple usage of the word hybrid in reference to the offense and Harden. Spinning out of control without Nash or Blake (not Kobe but Nash and Blake). I heard a very clear distinct message of wanting that guy on the floor that moves the basketball around, whose job first and foremost was to facilitate ball movement and feeding the other guys. There is no way harden can get to 12-13 assists without throwing the ball away about 7 times a game and decreasing his own scoring average. Listening to this and reading between the lines MDA is pulling that rope tied to Harden towards acceptance of a primary playmaker that will get him the basketball and make it easier for him to score the ball even more frequently and efficiently than he does now. I'm convinced MDA wants a true distributor to run the show. And if MDA actually accomplishes getting a great ball distributor like Rubio in here I might have to totally unwind my negativity towards his hire. Because I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that a Rubio directed offense with Harden as the primary scorer is the perimeter foundation of a championship team. If MDA actually convinces Harden to accept Rubio and to move off the ball in favor of Rubio feeding this team then we have a lot to look forward to over the next few years. In my opinion this is the most revealing interview of MDA I've ever heard. Gotta credit Woj for that. See my signature. I think MDA knows we need a true facilitator.
I like how he calls it like it is. Melo is a pain and if Harden does not work together with D'Antoni, that's on him. I think Mike did try to hold him accountable at least. He called out Harden on his defense here too. So we are really going to roll with Harden-Gordon or at least try it, it seems.
It's all in how you interpret it. MDA wants to see a player get 12-13 assists a game running his offense. I see nothing in his comments that makes me believe he thinks Harden can do that. He could've easily said. .....I'd love to see 12-13 and Harden is very capable of doing that now that we have better shooters around him. But he didn't say that......Did he? Instead he said. ....We'll see. Not a great vote of confidence there. Its all in how you interpret it. To each their own. I stand by my assessment. I'm convinced Mike wants a playmaking point guard and he wants to move Harden off the ball except when the primary playmaker sits. And I'm further convinced that he wants to play smaller than we already have been and have Harden defend 3's and 4's even more than he has been.
"James has always played off the ball." Wut. "James is an under valued passer." Not really, we know he creates corner 3s at a high rate and is good at the PnR. That's why he initiates the offense. Has Dantoni watched any tape of Harden?
I'll take an Amare lite. He doesn't need to post-up like Amare, but those PnR's yes plz. Nothing about this interview is surprising. We knew that with d'Antoni we were getting no defense, likely no championship ceiling (which 98% of the coaches out there would have given us to be honest), but for the first time since Adelman we were actually going to have an offensive gameplan. It's a damn shame this team hired McHale to be that player's development coach when it looked like we would be tanking, then were too weak to fire him after Harden and Howard fell into our laps and all of a sudden we needed a real brain in the coach's seat. Now the Harden Howard era is wasted, and all I have to show for it is this Dwert Pls T-Shirt I made for myself and like five friends.
Yes these comments are concerning to me. I mean, I have to root for the guy, but I really hope he knows what he's doing. More than that, If he doesnt know what he's doing, i hope it comes to light before Les offers him a contract extension.
one of the things that made amare so great offensively (pre-microfracture) though was his ability to stick the midrange J.......i mean he was money from 18ft in........so teams couldn't just pack the paint at the rim against him like they will with capela. if clint can get stronger he'll be a much better defender though
Somehow Harden averaged 7.0 assist this season.... With no shooter might i add. 12-13 with a Dantoni systems + Anderson, Gordon, Ariza, Beasly... Maybe MDA sees somethings we dont.
He knows he's in a fixer upper foreclosed home. Glad he has a smart mouth, last coach had a dumb mouth with dumb words coming out. I'm optimistic he will ruffle some feathers for my entertainment
lol i was at work dying from laughter listening two this because he had to instances where he goofed up while talking. First one was "nobody wants to win, i mean lose" And "you never want to point out a players strengths, err weaknesses" Just funny since he was in Philly
