I'll give it time. I don't love the signing, but I'll give it time, unlike most people here. Defense was an issue last year, but I thought the offense was the even bigger problem. The ball movement was terrible, no plays, no sets, tons of ISO ball. DM loves to shoot the 3 ball, but it's amazing how many of our 3's didn't come off a pass. Our mediocre 3 point shooters took an obscene amount of off-the dribble isolation jack-ups, which needs to change. Most of the complaints I saw on CF all year were about our terrible offense. Well, this man might be the best for the job to fix that. Yes, D'Antoni strukout in his last two jobs, and his defense has never been great. But D'Antoni knows offense, and if he is given reign over that side, and we have effective assistants controlling the defensive end, this may workout.
I like the hire... The name of the game isn't score points, it's score points efficiently, and we didn't do that. But really, until the roster is upgraded it doesn't matter who is coaching.
There is so much negativity around this I'm starting to feel like I'm getting poisoned coming onto this site! I wanted someone else too but not sure what to think yet about D'Antoni. I am going to sit back and wait 15 games into the season before I give an opinion on this decision. By that time I can judge on facts and not feelings.
I'm ok with this. Rockets scored a lot of points, but if they could improve their offensive efficiency and just play a more pleasant brand of ball that would be great. Defense is still an issue, but maybe better offense helps the defense some.
Lol. I'm having a hard time envisioning Harden as more suited to MDA than Melo or Kobe. Harden's game seems much closer to them than Steve Nash. Which means they initiate the offense by making a quick move, often one-on-one, drawing a double and passing. Or by utilizing a PnR and passing. Whereas Nash is much more Tony Parker, Steph Curry'esque. Lots more ground covered both with the ball and without. I'm not commenting on which version works better overall, but I am commenting on which version works better in a MDA system. Another LOL. The Rockets were 7th in the league this year in ORtg. D'Antoni will deliver a top 10 offense? Who the f' cares? McHale and JBB were able to do that. I can do that, because it's not that hard when you have an offensive talent like Harden. And now you're touting a starting 5 that includes Harden, Ryan Anderson and Michael Beasley as a positive. Holy f'ing ****. That's a negative, not a positive. You could add Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson to that and you'd still be in trouble with MDA coaching, because the defense will f'ing suck. How is OKC beating GSW? How did they beat SAS? How did GSW become so dominant? How has SAS been dominant for 20 years. An equal f'ing commitment to defense and offense. A MDA team has never shown that to be possible. Never. In 10 years as a coach. Sorry to take a dump on the positive MDA thread.
Look he was not my first or second choice but I'm excited for something new. Plus I think its more important we get the right players. It does not matter who is coach, we are not winning a title as is. And he has had some success. Dude is not a total bum. Lakers and NY were both crappy teams with or without him. Give him the right players and lets see what he can do. I'm not going to go crazy until I see the product. Its way too early to lose our minds for next season lol
Dudley likes it: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"> <a href="https://t.co/4ifJUXYevG">https://t.co/4ifJUXYevG</a></p>— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaredDudley619/status/735945814154039297">May 26, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Offensive rating for teams is points scored per 100 possessions. By its nature, its a stat that encapsulates efficiency. It encapsulates 3 pt vs. 2 pt, free throws, turnovers, offensive putbacks, whatever. The Rockets were 7th in the league. Still not good enough, but pretty close. And the idea that MDA is the only f'ing guy in the world who knows how to run an efficient, innovative offensie is horse****. There were plenty of other options. Les hired a dude he liked. Similar age bracket. Friendly, white dude. Hmmm... sound familiar? McHale, Adelman. JVG wasn't quite in the same age bracket, but similar, and had the NYC thing going on. I'm not trying to make this about race. I am just pointing out clear patterns in how Les hires coaches.
The Knicks got better the second MDA left. They had first round exits under MDA, and were 18-24 in the year he left. Woodson, who also preaches some defense, took over and they finished 18-6 (strike shortened year), and the following year went 54-28 and made the 2nd round of the playoffs. Then things unraveled. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in LA. Pretty crappy situation in retrospect, with a superstar that didn't like Dwight, and basically was uncoachable at that point (Kobe coached himself, wouldn't let himself come out of the game, etc.), and with Dwight being Dwight anyway.
I think it could work really well with the right personnel. People are just being irrational right now. I think the deal has a lot to do with Les not wanting to pay Dwight 20 million dollars next season and this is the only real way to 100% make sure he won't.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Talked to former Rocket Isaiah Canaan briefly- D'Antoni coached him in Philly. Says the mix of D'Antoni and Harden will be a good one.</p>— Jenny Dial Creech (@jennydialcreech) <a href="https://twitter.com/jennydialcreech/status/735963045940191233">May 26, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
