why are you guys trying to get JVG a job. Him being a coach again is a pure burn 1. No more best ever commenting on NBA games. 2. I have to want him to lose when he plays rockets.
Look at D'Antoni's situation is kind of funny. For a guy like Steve Kerr to come in and tell D'Antoni to play defense. Kerr didnt play much when he was a player.
He's leaving at the right time. Shaq is going to continue to decline at an accelerated rate and I guarantee you Nash is going to fall off badly next season. Too much of that team's core is old and injury prone. Scratch Phoenix from the list of title contenders next season.
He doesn't deserve to be fired, but it's for the best for both parties. D'Antoni gets a fresh start someplace else and the Suns can take one more shot with this roster with a different coach and a different approach(likely one predicated on actually playing defense). Still, the Suns' days as a top tier contender are probably done. Nash is looking older. Shaq already is old. Hill is old and can't stay healthy. They have no bench. And unless the NBA changes the rules, Popovich's Hack-a-Shaq strategy might be used quite a bit next season against them.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0430dantoni0430.html http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NBA/article/419787
When you have Steve Nash and Amare on your team, and you keep running late game iso's for Diaw...then you deserve to be fired. I know the Jazz often had shorter players like Hornacek checking Pippen when they met in the Finals, but you didn't see the Bulls stop giving the ball to their best scorer so a worse one could take advantage of a mismatch.
If Sam Mitchell gets the boot in Toronto what are the odds D'Antoni follows Colangelo and takes the Toronto job?
great move. D'Antoni is more worried about getting a shot up with 18 on the shot clock than playing defense....that's just ridiculous. the guy has been unlucky too though the suns shouldve won the championship last year but got cheated injury to amare injury to joe johnson
The Suns aren't going to amount to anything without D'Antoni, even if they haven't so far. I'm sorry if they ran into the Spurs 3 times in a row. D'Antoni sold tickets, put them back on the map, made a lot players a lot of money by having them flourish under him. Phoenix is never going to win anything without him, might as well try again with him. He's a good coach.
MDA should be fired. Look at the talent he has had to work with in 2005, 2007, and 2008, with nothing to show for it other than about the best regular season record over that span (I assume probably SA, Det and Dall are the other top 4, and they at worst have an NBA finals loss). MDA main issue is he doesn't preach defense of any sort and has short bench that wears down his players even if they wanted to play defense. If I were the Suns I'd bring in a JVG or LB and look top move Diaw or Barbosa +15 pick for an upgraded swingman (spread the floor on offense and who can defend). I'd look for a Battier II.
Crazy. During trading season, both the Suns and the Mavs overreacted to the Gasol trade and made rash decisions to acquire Shaq and Kidd. Now these two same teams are overreacting again. Too bad these coaches have to pay the price for the managements' stupidity. I honestly feel bad for D'Antoni and Avery Johnson.
just remember, the suns had their entire team the rockets don't have the best C on the planet and seem to put up more of a fight
I am OK with Johnson being fired, I think he's the most overrated coach in the league, and a pretty poor X's and O's guy. He really doesn't have many plays and doesn't seem to be all that creative. As for D'Antoni, I have a problem with him being fired, simply because -- based on everything I've read -- he wasn't on board with the Shaq trade, and apparently thought it was the wrong move to make, but management (Server, and then Kerr doing his dirty work) disagreed and made the move anyways. It wasn't his fault, he just took one for the team there, it wasn't his move that doomed them. That being said, if I was D'Antoni I would absolutely consider quitting, or I would demand a lucrative contract extension and sucker the Suns into losing a lot of money if they fire me. Anyways, either way the Mavs are perhaps doomed for good (this is a trend now, not a one year aberration), and the Suns will continue to be a top team simply because they're very talented and that will be enough to keep them competitive for another couple of years, at least, until Nash breaks down and has to retire. Oh, and I should add that if I were a betting man, I would bet that MDA quits the Suns job or finds a way to get fired, then immediately joining forces with Colangelo in Toronto. That team is another 'Suns-light' team that likes to run and gun, and they have a pretty mobile big man in Bosh alas Amare, and decent young guards. In fact, this is probably the preferred outcome for MDA.
I don't know, maybe Avery isn't as good as a coach as I thought, but I like him. Anyways, do you really think so tigermission? I think the Suns would be good, but not even close to title contenders if they aren't playing D'Antoni's style.
Yeah, I think they're in no danger of being worse off than the 5th best team in the West. The Suns have a lot of talent, they would have to figure out a way to lose all that talent overnight before they start sucking. I wouldn't feel too bad about it either, because another West team will step up and take their place (Rockets, I am hoping). I really think the Rockets are poised for a breakthrough sooner rather than later, they just have to figure out a way to keep Yao/McGrady fresh and healthy for the postseason. I LOVE our young talent and I really do think that outside of the Spurs, Jazz and the Lakers, we're that other 'powerhouse' of the future in the West. If we're fully healthy and return next season AS IS, the Rox will have to be favored for a top-seed in the regular season. We all know the Spurs 'cruise' and don't really care about seedings at all. Let them play the Jazz for a change...
Yeah Spurs will cruise and once again will demolish any first round opponent next season, but slowly and slowly the upper rounds are going to get tough for them, if this series vs. the Hornets isn't tough enough. I always thought the Suns success was due to 2 things: D'Antoni's style and Steve Nash's brilliance. I know they have lots of talent and a young star in Stoudamire, but D'Antoni and Nash have made a lot of players look good. Q-Rich, Eddie House, Tim Thomas, even Kurt Thomas. The only one they let go that is a strong talent is Joe Johnson, and even then, before the Hawks started playing well, he was the first option for a crappy team. Everyone else just looked great in the run-and-gun style, but they are not playing up to the expectations of the teams who signed them. 5th seed in the West? If we're healthy, the Lakers, Hornets, should be top 3. Then the Spurs, Jazz, Suns, tier 2, do you say?
I think you may be overestimating the Suns. Grant Hill is 35. Nash is 34. Shaq is 36. Raja Bell is 31. All four of those guys slowed down this season and I expect more of the same next season. Barbosa has hit his ceiling. Diaw just doesn't have the fire to play hard every night (what a waste of skills and talent). With a new coach and these same players, the Suns will not be a contender next season. I think their future is mediocrity and it will be hard for them to improve. After the last few years, Suns fans will have a hard time coming to grips with this.
My understanding is that AVERY JOHNSON was pushing for the Dirk Nowitzki for Kobe Bryant trade that never happened in the offseason and the Jason Kidd for Devin Harris trade that didn't pan out. Everything I've ever read about the Shaquille O'Neil for Shawn Marion trade suggests that Steve Kerr was the one who was adamant about making that trade. My opinion is that Avery Johnson deserves to be fired, because Mark Cuban mortgaged the future of the Mavericks in order to get Avery what he said was needed to win it all now. Avery wanted drastic changes ever since the Mavericks lost to the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals. Last year you feel the pressure to win in Dallas, and it clearly got the best of Avery and cost the team a first round exit at the hands of an 8th-seeded team. Avery got what he wanted in the Kidd trade, knew the risks involved, so when it didn't work out it was appropriate to fire him. As for Mike D'Antoni, the Suns weren't going to get past the Spurs or Lakers with Shawn Marion, so the trade for Shaq was made. That didn't work out, but the test only showed that D'Antoni couldn't win either way, and that the Suns were built as a regular-season juggernaut that couldn't succeed in the playoffs.
