OT: Why is D'Antoni allowed so many chances?

[Ignitowsky]

MDA is the man behind the curtain, the fake wizard who used smoke and mirrors to convince everyone that he's a great coach. What he's proven in NY and now in LA is that not only isn't he a great coach, he's not even mediocre. IMO he's done after this fiasco in LA is over. Great coaches use the peices they have and get those pieces to overachieve. Antoni has been given great pieces and is failing miserably and complaining that the pieces that he's been given don't suit his system. He's a fraud.

BTW, I still think that the only explanation for Buss not hiring Jackson and picking Antoni is that he wants the team to fail so he can blow it up. Antoni will be his scapegoat.

[moocow007]

It's just a really bad fit. Honestly don't know what Kupchak and (more likely) Buss Jr was thinking.

I mean you take perhaps the biggest ISO player in the NBA (Bryant) who spent his entire career in the Triangle, add 2 bigs (Howard and Gasol) that have thrived spending most of their career in the paint area and mix in a high maintenance defensive specialist who isn't know for shooting or executing in a fast paced offense (MWP) and expect all of that poor fit and giant high maintenance ego's to be ok with a head coach whose system doesn't fit the players and who refuses to manage ego's...just because you have Nash?

I mean goodness grief...forget about system...just from an ego/prima-donna standpoint the Lakers had probably two of the biggest ego's in the NBA (in Bryant and Howard) and a traditionally high maintenance player in Artest. Not to mention a somewhat mentally fragile guy in Gasol. The last thing you would want to bring in, just from that standpoint, is a head coach that isn't willing/able to deal with ego's or manage players. That's why Phil Jackson was so great. Not because his system generated championships but because he could manage great players ego's and get everyone in line and on the same page to push them across the finish line.

They should have begged Jackson to come back. And as much as the talk is that he woudn't have, he would have IMO...with the talent on this team? Absolutely. Barring that they'd have been better going with the anti-D'Antoni and bring Larry Brown back. Or they could have looked at any of the veteran ego managers that were unemployed. Or even if they thought they may get some continuity, the should have elevated Brian Shaw. D'Antoni? Was the worst choice of the bunch.

[MeloNY]

I think this little excerpt from Simmons latest Grantland article sums up D'antoni perfectly:

Simmons: I'm glad we finally got to Pau. Here's a good rule of thumb: If you're a professional basketball coach and your system is telling you, "I should play Earl Clark more than Pau Gasol," you need a new system.

Lowe: Here's something interesting: L.A.'s theoretical best five-man lineup — Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Howard — has played just 132 minutes together all season. The same lineup with Earl Clark in Pau's spot has already played 71 minutes! The Pau five is about plus-2 overall, but they've been horrid defensively — like league-worst horrid, giving up about 109 points per 100 possessions. Has D'Antoni sort of short-circuited this lineup too quickly, given all the roster and injury turmoil the Lakers have faced? I mean, we're talking about Earl Clark!

Simmons: I like how you went Iverson right there. Totally warranted.

Lowe: Earl Clark is a nice athlete, helpful on defense and on the boards, but he's not going to space the floor for Howard pick-and-rolls — which haven't been all that effective on their own, anyway.

Simmons: You left out "And someone who shouldn't be playing as much as Pau Gasol." There are two types of coaches …

1. A coach who looks at his players and says, "How can I put these guys in the best position for them to succeed?"

2. A coach who looks at his players and says, "How can I use these guys to make my system succeed?"

Now, think about the mind-set driving Coach No. 2: He's basically saying, I'm here only because of my system. I can't actually coach. If you give me the wrong players for my system, it doesn't matter — I will keep using the system anyway, because Plan B would be coming up with a more inventive way to coach these guys. And I can't do that. I'm not good enough. So if it's OK with you, I'd like to go down in flames with my system.

That's what D'Antoni did in New York (cut to Knicks fans nodding vigorously), that's what he's doing with the Lakers right now, and that's what he'll be doing when he's coaching the Minnesota Lynx in three years.

[Capn'O]

Kos and Moo - nail on the head about fit.

Regarding Nash - I wasn't keen about signing him here this summer and am glad we "missed out" if that's what really happened. The guy just made Kirk freaking Hinrich look like John Stockton. He can't stay in front of anyone and - ESPECIALLY at Nash's price - any time you're giving up that much on the defensive end it negates what's happening on offense. We've seen how much Tyson's D, for example, improves when Shump and Felton are in the game and manning guard penetration.


Jheri Curl - you hit on a point that I've been making about Mike D for awhile. His mark on the league has already been made. He entered a league that was very iso oriented and mostly trotted out traditional lineups. A lot of teams have pulled from his playbook and conversely have come up with schemes to defend smallball, high paced offenses. He doesn't have the element of surprise anymore nor does he really have that trust bond between his system and the players like he did in Phoenix. There may be a developing team that could use his services but I suspect this is his last NBA gig.


I thought MDA did an ok job pre-Melo. And really, without a penetrating PG we're seeing some of the same problems with Melo needing to play the point forward this season. But his work post-Melo should have been an ample warning sign to LAL about his ability to manage egos. I'm probably as big a MDA proponent as you'll still find around here but what is happening in LA is indefensible.

[Capn'O]

Remember the Lakers started to win when Andrew Bynum finally fulfilled his potential and played like a top 5 C at the beginning of the 2007-2008 season (it was before they even acquired Pau Gasol). Odom was motivated again, they acquired Ariza and that team suddenly became the best in the West. It's a shame Bynum was damaged goods and wasn't commited to resign with the Lakers. Not sure they would have traded him for Dwight if he was 100% healthy and willing to commit long term.

I'm really of the mindset that a healthy Bynum is more of an asset to most teams than Dwight Howard. Bynum doesn't give up a whole lot in defense and just has a much more complete offensive game. He is a very skilled player, which is something Dwight will never be. As much as I don't want him in our division, I hope he gets healthy for the league's sake. We need some real pivots!

[BleedOrangeBlue]

I love watching Kobe burn lol.. possibly his last years in the league and he is just stuck on a crap team (literally no bench) with a crap coach.

[DrKnick]

2005 Coach of the Year Award winner...

[DrKnick]

Haven't watched much basketball lately. But, meh... I knew this was going to happen.

[kane2021]

Because he's an ass hole.

[blue and orange]

because hes a genious with this 7 seconds or less offense, and chucking up 3's, he works on his defense for 20 minutes in practice at most, he doesn't need to coach defense because he can score 3 points per possession with his 3 pointers . He has his teams give up layups on the defensive end and shoot 3's on the offensive end, so why play defense when you can trade 2's for 3's. People need to give the guy a break he needs a HOF pg you cant win any other way .

[Red Vines]

That's what D'Antoni did in New York (cut to Knicks fans nodding vigorously), that's what he's doing with the Lakers right now, and that's what he'll be doing when he's coaching the Minnesota Lynx in three years.

Lol.

[SkipBaseless]

[D-BE-LAW]

UNLEASH BERNIE.

[mattkabara]

All it takes is one team. It's not like the whole league wanted to hire him, the Lakers did, and most people thought it was a stupid decision.

[gamer4Life]

I
2. A coach who looks at his players and says, "How can I use these guys to make my system succeed?"

Phil Jackson fits this description as well.

[Vertical Limit]

I don't think he's a bad coach honestly.

If he's given an opportunity like Phoenix he would have a team winning 55 games.

But if he's going for the money with pre-existing players that don't fit his system then he's not going to lose.

Perhaps he should look for a rebuilding situation next time. He can succeed in this league but it has to be his system with his type of players. You put D'Antoni in Minnesota or Portland and they both are better teams than they currently are at the moment. You put D'Antoni in New York or Miami and those two teams are worst off.

[moocow007]

I
2. A coach who looks at his players and says, "How can I use these guys to make my system succeed?"

Phil Jackson fits this description as well.

Jackson really is more of the "how do I convince this or that prima donna in bying into my system and winning". Jackson's greatest skill is his ability to get guys that might not like each other, that may not respect each other, that might even hate each other (see Pippen and Jordan) to play as a team, to play all out and to win when it counts most.

[ibraheim718]

I
2. A coach who looks at his players and says, "How can I use these guys to make my system succeed?"

Phil Jackson fits this description as well.

Jackson really is more of the "how do I convince this or that prima donna in bying into my system and winning".

Or how do I trick them into buying into the system.

[moocow007]

Phil Jackson fits this description as well.

Jackson really is more of the "how do I convince this or that prima donna in bying into my system and winning".

Or how do I trick them into buying into the system.

Yep. At no point through 11 championships did he ever have his best players even remotely like each other. Jordan and Pippen absolutely detested each other and no one liked Rodman...Shaq and Kobe also rarely ever spoke and had a contentious relationship...and yet when they were on the court they didn't let that dislike prevent them from focusing on winning. Right now, it's pretty clear, that the angst/hate/animosity/etc is absolutely the focus instead of winning. I said this before, but you know it's bad when Ron Artest (and I love Artest) is the one that most appear to be buying into the system and being the "good soldier" of the group.

[ibraheim718]

Yep. At no point through 11 championships did he ever have his best players even remotely like each other. Jordan and Pippen absolutely detested each other and no one liked Rodman...Shaq and Kobe also rarely ever spoke and had a contentious relationship...and yet when they were on the court they didn't let that dislike prevent them from focusing on winning. Right now, it's pretty clear, that the angst/hate/animosity/etc is absolutely the focus instead of winning. I said this before, but you know it's bad when Ron Artest (and I love Artest) is the one that most appear to be buying into the system and being the "good soldier" of the group.

I don't think Howard ever really wanted to go to LA and I don't think Kobe ever wanted him there either. These guys are around each other enough between all star games and the olympics to get to know one another pretty good and quite frankly I think Kobe would rather lose games chucking then give into Dwight Howards bitching, sulking, and moaning.

If it's me... I'm cleaning house completely. I'm trading Gasol and Howard.. I'm amnestying MWP and I'm canning D'antoni (after the season so it doesn't look so bad). I'm recouping any kind of draft picks I can and I'm bringing back the guy they should've never let go Brian Shaw and I'm letting time go by and if Kobe doesn't like it.. too bad.