You forgot about one .... D. Losing playoff series to one of the greatest teams in NBA history 4 times in 5 years
No team has won it all without top 10 offense AND top 10 defense. Need both. But defense still wins championships in modern era. Citing Suns 7 seconds or less offense as support for not needing defense completely refutes your argument.
It's not a McHale vs D'antoni argument. You want to place D'antoni on a pedestal, I asked what did he accomplish that McHale didn't. D'antoni wasn't brought in to play two extra WCF games.
The one thing McHale did that I like as a coach was when he benched Harden and some of the starts and let the bench get the W for us in game six against the clippers... that was good coaching there are only two coaches in the NBA i can think of that would bench their star/starting players if they are not helping the team Ty lue and Ime Udoka. Pat bev even talked about how most coaches in the NBA would not be willing to do that very thing.
Every HC is brought in to win. Are you saying that D'Antoni was held to a different standard than any other Rockets HC? COY, MVP, EOY, NBA leading scorer (3x), NBA AST leader, most franchise wins in single season, most points scored, top 10 defense, playoffs every season and top 4 in West, etc. And took the GSW dynasty to the limit when other NBA teams were rolling over or running away. All of above in just FOUR seasons. Context matters.
More like what did McHale accomplish to be even mentioned with D'Antoni? McHale made playoffs 4 out of 5 seasons while D'Antoni made playoffs every single season. McHale lost in 1st round of playoffs in 3 out of 4 postseasons. D'Antoni never lost in 1st round of playoffs with Rockets. McHale's Rockets teams were never the best in NBA, 3 out of 5 seasons with 30+ losses. D'Antoni never had a single 30+ losing season with Rockets. McHale alienated and lost trust with multiple Rockets players including Lowery, Dragic and Harden. D'Antoni was beloved by his players and they bought in to his system because MDA knew how to maximize their efficiency and success.
What identity did D'antoni give??? I'm sorry but the identity should be credited to Les and Morey. Les wanted pace and space, Morey brought in Harden. The defense you talk about... That wasn't D'antoni. Rockets FO had the foresight to understand you don't hand D'antoni all the keys and they hired Bzdelik who brought that defensive switch everything identity. Les sold the team and Rockets went a different direction. D'antoni is who he is, great in the regular season, Rockets set him up perfectly. Gave him two top 75 players of all time, plenty of shooters and a coach to handle the defense, because D'antoni doesn't do defense. Bzdelik return them to being a top 10 defensive team that they were the last time they made the WCF. Only difference is '18 had a MUCH better roster. You can hype up Warriors but Rockets had a ton of talent too and were literally built to beat the GSW. outside of those two teams the west was trash. Remember Spurs were without Kawhi. Not that they needed him to smack the Rockets the year before. I'm not giving D'antoni credit for half the positives you mentioned.
I cited the Sun's as a team that could never advanced because they COULD NOT play defense. No idea what you are talking about. And there have been teams that finished out of the top 10 in one of defense/offense... I mean the '03 Pistons were like a bottom half offensive team. Come on now...
That's SKRONG!! Loved me some D'Antoni even when he was with the Suns. Loved Adelman with Sacramento before he was with us and liked him as a coach here too. Can't think of any other coaches I have liked in the past or even now on other teams.
E. Ryan Anderson...probably the single greatest reason this team did not win a chip and stay together. History looks a lot different if this was dealt with differently.
No some coaches are brought in to be "leaders of young men", rebuilding years etc. Seriously, you're crediting D'antoni for Morey/Harden/CP3 success? Lol gtfo. Harden and CP3 were both all-time talents before D'antoni showed up. Bzdelik was the defense. But sure keep crediting D'antoni for all of that. To the order I would rank would be. 1. The players(duh?) 2a. Les Alexander (maybe overrating here because I hate overbearing trash owners) 2b. Morey/FO 4. Bzdelik, assistants, trainers & D'antoni.
Yeah bro, but it wasn't the WCF, the Rockets were a .500 8th seed team when Dan Tonio took over and were a 65 win team 2 years later. Shoulda stayed with McHale - said nobody ever . Anyway yeah we should place him on a pedestal - he's one of the most successful and influential coaches of the last 20 years and had a record to match. Of course most of coaching success is predicated on luck anyway. Bit whatever, he's one of the good and lucky ones.
Aaaaaah it now makes sense. Givony doesn't believe that the Rockets have more than one pick in the first round. That's why he mocks TyTy at #17. See his June 3 ESPN article on"Building the San Antonio Spurs perfect 2022 draft." Here's the key quote: "The San Antonio Spurs are one of four teams (Oklahoma City Thunder, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies are the others) with multiple first-round picks. . ." So does Givony know something we don't know, or is this simply a counting problem?
the 00/01 lakers were 21st in d rating and won the ring. There could be others I just know that one. I’m pretty sure they’re DRtg went up in the playoffs but not sure the exact change or story really. that said your conclusion seems correct to me in either case as it is the VERY rare exception.
Only THREE exceptions in the entire history of NBA. 2018 Golden State Warriors, 2001 Los Angeles Lakers and 1995 Houston Rockets
Both Rockets Championship teams '99 Spurs '10 Lakers '20 Lakers '04 Pistons I stopped at 94 Rockets as clearly your statement is wrong. Some of these teams were ranked in the bottom half of the league in one of the two categories. Obviously bad teams don't win championships but yea definitely more than just 3. We might be adding this year's GSW to that list.
Where was that Big Bad Boston D last night??? Nothing you can do against a swarming offense that can get after it on D especially when your own offense goes dormant for stretches. Funny thing is that both teams shot identical from deep 15-37 almost identical team rebounds and assists. GS won this game from the mid range and in the turnover department(s). Im of the belief that elite offense will beat elite defense 9/10 times and I'll just point to the rulebook - we are in the "freedom of movement" era. Build an offensive machine and have a good enough defense to get stops in critical moments and you'll be there at the end. https://theathletic.com/2364266/2021/02/04/nba-free-agency-why-elite-defenders-struggle-to-get-paid/
