Mike on: Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul trade, power of James Harden's play and personnel preferences, coaching without an extension, ownership's strong hand, a lingering regret of Suns-Spurs rivalry.
Tnx! I don’t think it will be any different from all his usual non-disclosure simpleton drivel. He never provides any insight
If you can read between the lines, you can take a lot from this podcast. There was tension between CP&Harden for sure, he wanted Bzdelik on his team, when talking about CP he could go for hours how great he is and about Westbrook he just says he's a good kid lol. I feel like Mike might be next to left the ship
EDIT. Apparently people are saying it's a candid interview (I'm glad) so I took down my imagined conversation with Dan Tony.
i think they need to extend him or replace him before the season starts. you don't bring a lame duck coach into the season when we're trying to win it all. you run the risk of him losing the locker room when the players realize he won't be back next year. you run the risk of having to remove him midseason and blowing another year of harden's prime. i say give him the extension so he has leverage to get players to listen or remove him and go in a new direction before camp starts.
Crazy.. Mike D'Antoni played with Tiny Archibald, George Gervin and our own Moses Malone. George Karl, Don Chaney, Maurice Lucas... I had no idea he played in the ABA. That must've been a hell of an experience! To play with Tiny then coach James.. what a life!
You didn't listen to this podcast in its entirety and it shows. Coach gives plenty of insight here. Especially if you have the ability to keep your mind open.
Tremendous listen. Surprisingly honest. -High praise for Cris Pail. Loves him. -reiterates that if stars want to make it work they can -tacitly admits that this trade happens because James Harden dictated it, says that’s how the league is now -talks about stars needing to be 100% on the same page or it can’t work. Organization needs to do what’s best for organization -had it run its course with Chris? Dantoni says no. Thinks he’ll be good next three years. He’s already leaner for next year. He’ll be very productive. Having said that you’d have to ask Harden and Paul. Traded a superstar for superstar. Would have loved to have stayed together but enthusiastic for this too -Didn’t feel tension between two. Heard it sometimes but didn’t feel it, didn’t hear different from year 1. -two alpha dogs always have tension, our chemistry wasn’t worse than other teams. All teams have tension it’s not selfishness -Dantoni dismisses media recounts from after the season -PJ Tucker yells at everyone and he’s best teammate ever -obviously talks about the what if against Golden State -last year was our best chance, this year wasn’t as good -Durant going out helped Golden State mentally and hurt Rockets Part 1
Part 2 -mentions Iggy going 5 for 6 from 3 being a scheme buster (@The Cat ) -Dantoni has two white whales in Golden State and San Antonio -Dantoni has moved past not beating them. He loves his job and loved his teams not concerned about history judging him -try again this year to get over the hump -regrets little things. Should have Steve Nash shooting more often but didn’t have the analytics to support so he didn’t go 100% -tiptoed in the water instead of diving in -how does he feel about super team changing and now you have clippers and lakers? Two stars in a bunch of places? Dantoni agreed league is wide open. Doesn’t think super team situation like Durant will be norm ever again. -mentions Portland Utah and Denver as begin as good as anyone in the league, don’t get credit because they haven’t done it yet. -team USA experience with Westbrook? He’s a great guy, great teammate unbelievable athletic talent and a great heart. It comes down to character. Who do you want to be there with? Russ is that guy. Championship teams come down to character heart and soul
Tnx @justtxyank! Glad I didn’t listen, nothing on changes for next season or how he sees Westbrook and Harden working.
"Well we gonna figure it out" LOL But he admitted, that in his head he loves fastpaced motion offense and he had to change for James
Part 3: -Going into last year of deal? Still chance for extension? You never know. He isn’t dwelling on it. Loves Houston as a city and team. It will work out. He has a great job not focusing on it. Doesn’t matter one way or another -Talk about Tilman being hands on? It’s just different. He’s been around different teams, owners very successful people and hope they share your philosophy. If they interfere with the job it won’t work out. So far so good with Tilman. Mentions the plane (lol bonus!) -Woj mentions league confuses about coach b? How did this play out why did he get fired? Jeff did a great job. Full stop. Lots of praise for Jeff. Dantoni doesn’t know why he was fired. Have to ask Morey. Morey likes to tinker. However, they wouldn’t bring anyone that Coach wasn’t comfortable. Repeats that it was Morey decision trying to get better. -in an ideal world should coach have autonomy on staff? Dantoni says no you can get lost in localities, must have power though to say must have cooperation. Likes setup with Morey.(seemed genuine) -melo talk! Would it have been hard to accept Melo earlier in career? Would have been different when he was younger for sure. He used to be more volatile. Understands now what is white noise and what isn’t. He really thought it was worth a try. Melo tried everything to make it work. Just wasn’t a fit. It wasn’t all Melo. Our veterans came back slower than year before. -Daryl did a great job fixing the team -have to start better this year -Two years ago he said he needed to build better relationships with stars. All accounts it’s been better has it been priority for you? Without a doubt that’s a lesson he learned. He needed to learn to ignore open door policy and instead go through their door. His relationship with Harden is off the charts great. He plays exactly the way he wants to coach. -Doesn’t forget guys at end of bench either -Whatever he tells you is the truth. Truth can change though from Monday to Wednesday lol. -was it a leap of faith to let Harden play the way he plays? Coaches job is to adjust to your talent. His vision of basketball is fast moving ball flying never sticks etc. -says James harden is the best offensive player in history -wants to be as efficient as possible and iso works. -harden is willing passer. Guys who play with James have career years. They shoot more than they do elsewhere, score more etc. -admits we iso too much sometimes but other teams overpass sometimes. Have to always work to find balance -we might not able to maximize a shooter who needs to fly around screens he likes guys who can stand still -we don’t need to change offense. We’ve been 1 or 2 in league. It’s bs to say we need to change offense. -most games come down to a couple of missed shots.
You can definitely tell he wasn't on board with trading CP for Westbrook. I hope he moves past his love for CP and dedicates himself to making the Westbrook acquisition work. The West is too tough to have to make a mid-season coaching change.
Part 4 -wants to keep coaching because he loves basketball. -thing about retirement is you never get a day off -excitement is still there -doesn’t know how long. Could be five years -still loves watching the games (accidentally mentions loving watching Chris) -plays come to by watching players play (mentions developing plays by watching Nash and Nick young) watching other coaches (mentions Adelman and Brad Stevens and European coaches.) -All he does is basketball -bottom line is great players make you look good -How important is continuity? It’s important because it takes years to develop layers in offense and defense. Last year we were hurt by not having continuity. -we’ve done a good job this year keeping some guys together and can add second level -we’ll be starting over a little with Westbrook trying to figure out what works. May take a week may take a month. Stresses how them wanting to work makes it easier -it will work. To what degree we’ll see
How much of Morey and MDA reportedly not wanting to let go of Paul comes from the lingering effects of that Game 7 and how close they were to winning it all? They are for sure the experts and I'm just some guy in front of a keyboard but I find it hard to believe that they are/were 100% good with Paul and the risk of him missing significant amount of time due to injury. It's not like Paul has had a clean bill of health the past few years.
