Apology Accepted: Mike D'Antoni Dominated All New Coaches

I honestly believe that if Troy got more burn in OUR system (not so much any system/team) that he would have gone on to become one of the next generations deadliest scorers.

 

^^^ I was never that high on those other coaches....^^^

Just tooting my own horn here and passing through. One of the few people willing to give him a chance.

 

I'm sorry... I was wrong. I was wrong about everything. I thought D'antoni coming here would be a disaster. I thought the additions of Ryno and Ego were terrible and that they would get injured before actually contributing to the team. I thought this year would be worse than last year with there only being one star to turn to. I thought our defense would be so bad that we would get outscored 140 to 120 most games.

I thought wrong! And I friggin love it!

 

It's not crazy, it only means our opinions are based on conjectures or perception of reality not on reality itself. Namely characteristics of players are not set in stone and no stats tell the full story of a player on offense and defense. Actually there is no separation between offense and defense in reality they are one whole just like there is no body and mind there is only body-mind/psyche or at least its closer to reality because reality can not be expressed in words.
So its no wonder better offense = better defense

On the other hand basketball is a team sport and teaming different players can produce results greater that the sum of parts.

Then you have coaching/psychology that is well known can produce unexpected in every area of human endeavor not to use the word that would be more suitable-miracles.

For example how to explain a player going from the bench to superstar and key cog in winning championship in just a year or even couple of months?

Draymond Green was a bench player in 13/14 almost unknown to the public and he suddenly become superstar in 14/15 and the key player in winning the title, and becoming best RS team ever a year after that!?

 

MDA actually uses his clipboard and calls/diagrams real plays out of time outs. The offense is actually structured, real x's and o's, even though it looks free flowing. McHale had none of these things. The solution to just "play harder" in tight games is a thing of the past, thankfully.

 

True, didn't think of it that way. Well said

 

Players aren't going to execute a play a coach suddenly devises on a clipboard. If it hasn't been practised, it's likely to fail. Using a code name instead of drawing up a prepared play make no difference.

 

He doesn't have anyone to replace Brewer with. I personally would try KJ but its not a huge upgrade. If Morey can trade Brewer for someone who could atleast shoot the ball at 34% from three it'd be a big improvement.

 

This is absolutely insane. Pretty much best case scenario as you can get. Tell me we'd be in contention for all those player awards I would have called you crazy.

 

I didnt.

 

Yep. Some of us continued to say this about McHale and one of the biggest reasons I was readily willing to accept MDA was for that simple reason. He actually has a structured offense. When he loses teams it's usually because the star player doesn't want to run HIS offense. Which means he has a plan in the first place.

McHale teams were always wasted potential to me. While I don't think MDA would have ever worked with Dwight (because...Dwight) I'm sure a Van Gundy would have got the most out of a Dwight-Harden Rockets. McHale's strength was motivation it sounds like and once that was gone and once the team stopped buying what he was selling the drop off was steep...there weren't any plays to fall back on. All that said, I think I can credit McHale for what Harden has become for better or worse. He gave the guy the entire offense and let Harden see the limits of his game for himself.

McHale is probably a very good coach for young teams that have a superstar player for that reason, for that freedom to just have the ball and see what they can do with it.

 

I have been awesomely surprised at the rapid development of the team given the new coach hiring, new players and my doubts about JH13's dedication to the game. MDA has been a breath of fresh air with a clear strategy, structure and substance. He is the boss like Mr Miyagi.

 

He's doing a great job.

 

Man, remember when you guys were blasting D'Antoni, blasting Les for the signing, and believing that Morey had basically mentally checked out? Knee-jerk hyve-mind reactions on here are hilarious in hindsight when they go the opposite way.

 

To me, the clearest sign of a good coach is getting the most out of your role players. That is where the chemistry, effort, and cohesion is all built around. Bev, Ariza, Capela, Eric Gordon, Dekker, Trez are all playing at an unprecedented level given expectations. Nene is slow but solid, Ryno hasn't been dominating but he can go off any night and his presence is huge alone, and Brewers just Brewer... even KJ looked damn good in stints earlier in the year.

 

I have to apologize again to MDA. I really thought he was and average coach that looked good because of his star players and was against the hiring. Wow, was I wrong. He's a great coach when he has coachable players like Harden and Nash and not with guys like Melo and Kobe. As long as you have one of the top point guards in the league, he's the best coach you can have. Now imagine if you added another great passing player like Lebron on the team.