good listen, didn't see a link to this yet. http://sports790.iheart.com/onair/the-bottom-line-w-jones-clanton-57128/mike-dantoni-on-the-bottom-line-14771166/
I thought you already did: 4 greats — great opportunity, city, organization, player. Said Mike, "I don't need to make the Rockets great again! They already are great!" Was there anything more?
I don't know if I agree with that. He listed the players already on the roster who he says can play the way he (and Les) want the team to play, including Ariza, Bev, DMo . . . which suggests some of those guys may get to hang around until next year. Plus he blew off the speculation about Jerry Lin returning, didn't even acknowledge the question. That's gotta be worth something!! I think there was a decent amount there, especially about his NY teams and also about where defense fits in. I enjoyed listening to it, there was certainly more than at the presser. Don't let the distaste for MDA get in the way.
I agree. I am trying my hardest to stay on the JR bandwagon. I mean, it was obvious from the press conference that Les is a looney and DM was not on board. But MDA is here. So, if I am going to be tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt, there were some interesting tidbits in there. Those tidbits might be excuses, though. Or they might be factual....
<iframe allowfullscreen width="600" height="150" scrolling="no" src="https://www.iheart.com/video/mike-dantoni-pgs-61616-27083786/?embed=true&autoStart=false&share=http://sports790.iheart.com/media/play/27083786/&siteid=589" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" ></iframe> http://sports790.iheart.com/media/play/27083786/ We're curious about how your offense will be different than what you saw from the Rockets. Not necessarily philosophically but what are some primary differences we can expect from a D'Antoni offense from what we've seen over the past 2-3 years with what the Rockets have done. It's hard to get into how they've played in the past. ... You hope it's the right fit. You'll try to make it the right fit. You should expect a fast brand of basketball. A lot of threes as usual but everyone does that now. Hoping for good ball movement. To go back and say we'll do this, they didn't do that, that's not fair to whoever was here. We're trying to play a winning type of basketball and be the best we can be. Anything different about the type of questions Daryl and/or Leslie asked you that maybe you didn't hear in other places? What the process similar or different? A little bit different. Different circumstances also. They had plenty of time. In LA, it was a last second deal. In New York, coming off Phoenix, not a whole lot of questions to be asked because we won ?? games four years in a row. They wanted to make sure as good as they could predict the right hire. Thorough, long, and they did their homework & talked to a lot of people. Lucky to have the opportunity and will try to make the most of it. As you progress or looked at how basketball is now compared to when you came into the league, have you had time to reflect and make changes on...what will I do now to not necessarily reinvent the offense but with more people doing it, have you looked at any changes or alterations to keep people off guard or on their heels a little bit differently than when you first came in? I think so. As coaches, you always try to improve & get better. You see things you can tweak and things you have more confidence in - certain things you were maybe tip-toeing into the water at first. When we started in Phoenix, the biggest factor was they changed the rules about hand-checking and all that on the perimeter. With that and players getting better at the 3pt shot, it made sense to open the game up and cut and move and get up and down the floor. Coaches got so good on the defensive end, if you walked it up, you have a lot less chance being successful on the offensive end. That's how it kinda started. We did it without analytics. Analytics has now proven this was the way to go. We can go further. We can add more speed to it. We can have more ball movement, move guys around and play positionless basketball. Traditional centers, wings & point guards are out the window. Basketball will always evolve because players evolve. Players get better. They have better skills. Big men have better skills. They can do more than just post up. They can run the floor & play on the perimeter. Fans will see exciting basketball. Very competitive in the west as always and we'll have to get our stuff together to be successful. Jeff Bzdelik as "defensive coordinator". Relationship with him? I've known him for a long time, back when he was HC with the Nuggets. Then spent time when he was at Wake Forest. My son goes to Wake Forest so I got to know him personally. His reputation from Miami was stellar. He prepared the game plans for Riley for years. Very meticulous, very organized and a good defensive mind. It was a good fit. Looking forward to working with him and getting the team as good as we can defensively. I was fortunate it coincided with me getting this job and getting him away from Memphis. Excited about him and the rest of the staff. There are some awfully good coaches in the NBA. They're underappreciated most of the time. It's a tough business. You gotta hit all the button to get up to the top. It's not always easy. Communicate with any more players on the roster? General sentiment of what is expected you from them and them from you? I've touched based with probably all of them, mostly just getting to know them. I'll sit down with them as the team takes form. I don't know how the roster will be so I don't want to say I want this from you without having to go back on what I said. I'll take my time a little bit. Mostly just getting to know their personalities, making sure they're working out and getting them excited for the upcoming season. Surprised James withdrew from the Olympics? You hate it. I hate it for all the Olympians. It's not in a good place this year in Brazil. There are some worries, overblown or not, it's out there. I feel bad for him. It would have been good for him, he knows that. He wanted to do it but again, you have to look at the whole picture and he didn't feel comfortable going. I'll support that 100%. I feel bad for the different sports people pulling out because right or wrong, there are perceptions it's not the best place to be. I'll support all the athletes. You feel bad for them. How do you view Clint Capela? I agree with you totally. You don't want to put undue pressure on a young kid. He'll continue to develop & get better. You hit it right. He is the modern day type center of what you're looking for. A guy who can guard the rim, run the floor, pick & roll, catch, dunk. He doesn't need a whole lot more. You only need one or two guys who can go one on one and create shots. We have that. You need guys who fill roles. They say he doesn't do "this". Doesn't matter. What he does is very good. We'll try to develop everything and make him complete but you can be one of the best players in the league and play within yourself. This is what I do and I'm gonna go out and do it better than anyone else. He has that potential. He works hard. Last 4 weeks he's been working at the Toyota Center 4-5 times a week. He'll be ready. I'm excited to coach him. Again, he'll be the poster child of the modern day center in the NBA in what you're looking for. Speaking of Clint, he's not the only one, is it difficult to run an offense, not that you'd do it with Clint, but to get a player involved in as big of an offensive strategy as they want to be if FTs are an issue? No. You can't do it. Especially when you go down the stretch with present-day rules. We'll see if it stays that way. When people start hacking you, it makes a big deal. They have to get better. Clint can get a lot better. A lot of that is confidence and being secure in who he is. We'll work on that. Yeah, if you can't dribble, hard to go to someone who can't dribble. If you can't shoot, hard to go to someone who can't shoot. If you can't make foul shots, it's hard to do. You try to improve them and use the best abilities they have. Famous mustache gone. It got old like me. It had to come off. It was time. Plus I don't think Pringles was paying me anymore so I'm done.
"Oh come on now J.R.; we are going to make the Rockets even more great. You know, I am okay with you telling me to go **** myself because the fans are the greatest. In fact I want to **** myself from all the positive out pouring I have received from this majestic organization and YOU J.R..... that reminds me of awesomeness, and nothing is as awesome as coaching this team next year and the year after, and the year after that, and the year after that. Les is just great, the man pours his heart and soul into the Rockets. The man cured James Harden of testicular cancer just in time for the playoffs in 2014. He willed the lump to go away and it did.... just a first class owner. Now if we could only get someone to run the front office. Daryl is great at what he does, obviously or Les wouldn't have hired him; but I think the Rockets deserve the greatest, not just greatness. See you at the Toyota Center P.J. <walks away shaking his head calling you great and pointing at the sky>" - Mike DeFraudToni
He seems very high on Clint. So I'm assuming we're handing over the C to Clint. Clint,== ==, Beasley, Harrell Ariza, Brewer, Dekker Harden,== Beverly, == I can't watch another season of Ariza and Brewer bricking corner 3s.
