Woj Bomb: D'Antoni to HOU

[FTB]

Harden about to take 45 shots a game

[JDizzel3000]

It's hard to have a good defensive team when your two best players are bad defenders like Nash and Amare were.

"Just having a defensive coach for the first time in my career is going to help," Stoudemire said. "I've never been taught defense in my whole career. To now have a coach that actually teaches defense and teaches strategies and knows positioning and posture and how to guard different plays is going to be helpful."

and it really doesn't help when those players coaches don't give a damn about that side of the ball

Agreed. I'm sure it's why the Rockets are bringing in assistants to take care of that side of the ball.

Heard that one before

[ken6199]

Pre-season, everyone was saying Gentry would do wonder in NOLA and get that team into a possible top 6 finish yet they started the season sleep walking.

At this point one can only wish for a miracle and things turn out to be completely the opposite. After all, if we can get Lionel Hollins and get Clint 'I don't ask for ball like Dwight and happy to be a roll man' Capela going with Harden, it might not be as bad as it looks on paper.

[JDizzel3000]

It's hard to have a good defensive team when your two best players are bad defenders like Nash and Amare were.

"Just having a defensive coach for the first time in my career is going to help," Stoudemire said. "I've never been taught defense in my whole career. To now have a coach that actually teaches defense and teaches strategies and knows positioning and posture and how to guard different plays is going to be helpful."

and it really doesn't help when those players coaches don't give a damn about that side of the ball

chandler, marion, and bell were all elite defenders on d'antoni's watch and amare for sure didn't get any better defensively post-d'antoni

obviously he just didn't want to take responsibility for his lack of defensive effort and ability

Chandler,Marion,Bell were all defenders prior to having any dealings with Mike Dantoni ....you can't possibly sit here and credit there defensive ability to anything Dantoni related ....even insinuating anything like that is silly .....in fact why are you even brining those names up?


He's a bad defensive coach ....his teams production and history makes that rather clear

[Ugly0598]

Mike D gets a bad rap but with Harden and a roll man like Capela with a stretch 4 in Motiejunas the offense will be fine. On the other hand, his defense depends entirely on his players, he won't have bad defensive players defend better but he surely doesn't make a good defensive player defend poorly.

I was thinking the same thing. It'll be entertaining at least with Harden + D'Antoni.

[Spens1]

My condolences to the rockets fans and any stakeholders

No team should have to suffer through D'Antoni basketball and the lack of defense in the system

[nbafan341]

harden going to average 35 ppg and be the worst defender in the league

[cw3k]

Not sure what's the hate on MDA. MDA's Knicks were doing great until the arrival on Melo.

Lakers just a bad fit. MDa need a young roaster, not an old one. He also need a big role man which Dwright refused to do. He even refused to do so in Houston.

Rockets need to sign a big that will do PnR and dont demand for the ball

[Nazrmohamed]

Didn't Howard leave primarily due to D'antoni and Kobe? He's opting out for sure this summer and I don't see why he would want to go back to Houston. Maybe Dallas can pick him up for cheap? Howard obviously shown he's not a number 1 option so he shouldn't make that type of money. Wouldn't it be crazy Dallas gets Dwight and Deron eventually after striking out with them in their prime but getting them now that their values have sunk. Too bad Dwight will be looking for a max contract 30mil this off season when he really doesn't deserve it.

I have a feeling that Dwight is gonna be reasonable this summer. I think he knows he's not the same player he was on Orlando but nowhere near as useless as many fans make him. I think he anyways just wanted to go to a team that'll utilize him on offense and truth be told he wasn't getting a fair amount of attempts when he WAS in his prime. Before it was because he was soft and couldnt play in the post, now its because the nba has changed and he likes to play in the post. Dwight scores at a 60%rate and grabs boards. He isn't an elite defender by today's style of play but he can still anchor a team that funnels players toward him.

I think if all you do is show him how he'll be involved on offense more than 8 measley attempts, he'll sign for less than the max. I wouldn't try to insult him. But I think a old deal max might do it. Something like 18mil, maybe 20. He's gotta think that's fair and for most teams that's reasonable. Multiple teams have over 30 in space.

[Nebula1]

With the right roster, this could work great. Dantoni is boom or bust but his style matches Morey very well.

Land Horford this summer and we will see how it goes.

[rcfc1]

The new tagline: Get fouled in six seconds or less.

[Jedi32]

Why do teams keep hiring this guy when he has been successful with only one team and a failure otherwise?

I have to say, watching D'Anotni try to get along with Harden is going to be a popcorn event.

On the other hand, I thought D'Antoni was subverted both in New York and Los Angeles. Melo seemed to want him gone in New York, and Kobe did not seem to want him around in LA.

Still, if D'Antoni can't get along with vets then that is an issue.

D'Antoni is an offensive genius. What he's not is Mr Congeniality and he's also reportedly not someone who is going to go heavy on defense.

howard didn't want him either,and word was the biggest reason howard left was because the lakers chose dantoni after howard and kobe wanted phil back.

[Jedi32]

I have to say, watching D'Anotni try to get along with Harden is going to be a popcorn event.

On the other hand, I thought D'Antoni was subverted both in New York and Los Angeles. Melo seemed to want him gone in New York, and Kobe did not seem to want him around in LA.

Still, if D'Antoni can't get along with vets then that is an issue.

D'Antoni is an offensive genius. What he's not is Mr Congeniality and he's also reportedly not someone who is going to go heavy on defense.

I think it was Pau and Dwight who had the most problems with D'Antoni in LA, not so much Kobe.

I think Kobe was the core malcontent as regards D'Antoni in LA, although definitely Pau/Dwight were not fans, either.

One thing I actually like about D'Antoni is that he will stand up to players. Of course, a coach has to pick his battles carefully.

nah kobe is just where you want to put the blame.

[RollingWave]

I think MDA is a fine coach and is happy he's back in the league.

However, I also think he seem to always be choosing the wrong situation for himself.

He has a pretty bad track record working with high usage ball hogging stars who doesn't like to pass first (they might get assists, but it's usually their 3rd option.) and he decides to coach Harden?

I mean MDA would have been great for the Rockets all the way up to the first Harden years (imagine him with the Lowry / Dragic team. or with Lin / Parsons.) but since the Dwight / Harden combo really got started, it feels like an awful fit.

[bklynstoops]

the Rockets are nothing but Harden's marketing vehicle at this point. he's going to put up insane numbers.

[Jedi32]

looks like the rockets want howard out.

[HotRocks34]

nah kobe is just where you want to put the blame.

Don't confuse me with yourself.

You apparently wish for Kobe to avoid blame, I'm trying to go by what I actually remember happening.

Also, Howard wanted Kobe to be amnestied if I recall correctly. Dwight not wanting to come back to LA didn't seem all about D'Antoni, if you get my drift.

Anyways, let's try to stick with the facts and not "rescue Kobe" stuff.

http://www.lakersnation.com/kobe-bryant-and-mike-dantoni-barely-spoke-by-the-end-of-season/2014/05/12/

there was speculation that the five-time champion did not want to play for D’Antoni again and the former coach was well aware of that, leading to his resignation

...

The Bryant-D’Antoni relationship deteriorated to the point where the pair barely spoke by the end of their tenure together.

Bryant would often use the Lakers’ shootaround time to receive treatment in the training room. When D’Antoni thought this was causing a disconnect between Bryant and his teammates, the coach asked the star guard to change his routine, according to a league source.

Did Kobe undermine D'Antoni? Yeah, I think he did.

As in New York, D'Antoni seemed to step away from the job when his key superstar (Melo; Kobe) appeared to have undermined him.

You might not agree with that assessment, but the fingerprints seem fairly clearly on the walls to me.

What Dwight Howard wants as a Laker isn't relevant, particularly when Kobe Bryant is still a Laker. What Kobe Bryant wants matters.

The funniest thing about Kobe/D'Antoni/Scott that I remember from that time period was this:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24733393/kobe-bryant-says-mike-dantoni-thought-differently-about-winning

Kobe: "DAntoni and I didn't have the same philosophy on winning. For me, it's winning and no inbtwn...it's championship or a waste of time"

...

Bryant was one of the biggest proponents of the Lakers' hiring Scott in the offseason. Bryant played with Scott in his rookie season and has a good relationship with him. The two talked and texted on a regular basis this offseason and say they are on the same page going into training camp.

"It's a philosophical thing," Bryant said. "(Scott) agrees with me, and it's the Lakers organization. We're here for one reason only, and that's to hang championship banners, not division banners or conference banners or anything else. We don't do that. We focus on winning championships, and that's very important for our young guys to understand."

Yeah, and the Lakers, Scott and Kobe set the Lakers all time worst record for a season this past year. Good thing Scott was all about winning like Kobe said he was.

Because if you can't hang championship banners, you might as well hang 17 win seasons where you go out shooting 50 times in the final game. That or championship banners, maybe it's a push.

[Pointgod]

D'Antoni and James Harden is a match made in non defense playing heaven. Harden is about to have career highs in every category and whoever he's guarding as well

[Cactus Jack]

Houston... We have a problem

Unoriginal, totally expected...but at least get the quote right.

It is "Houston, we've had a problem here."

[Jedi32]

nah kobe is just where you want to put the blame.

Don't confuse me with yourself.

You apparently wish for Kobe to avoid blame, I'm trying to go by what I actually remember happening.

Also, Howard wanted Kobe to be amnestied if I recall correctly. Dwight not wanting to come back to LA didn't seem all about D'Antoni, if you get my drift.

Anyways, let's try to stick with the facts and not "rescue Kobe" stuff.

http://www.lakersnation.com/kobe-bryant-and-mike-dantoni-barely-spoke-by-the-end-of-season/2014/05/12/

there was speculation that the five-time champion did not want to play for D’Antoni again and the former coach was well aware of that, leading to his resignation

...

The Bryant-D’Antoni relationship deteriorated to the point where the pair barely spoke by the end of their tenure together.

Bryant would often use the Lakers’ shootaround time to receive treatment in the training room. When D’Antoni thought this was causing a disconnect between Bryant and his teammates, the coach asked the star guard to change his routine, according to a league source.

Did Kobe undermine D'Antoni? Yeah, I think he did.

As in New York, D'Antoni seemed to step away from the job when his key superstar (Melo; Kobe) appeared to have undermined him.

You might not agree with that assessment, but the fingerprints seem fairly clearly on the walls to me.

What Dwight Howard wants as a Laker isn't relevant, particularly when Kobe Bryant is still a Laker. What Kobe Bryant wants matters.

The funniest thing about Kobe/D'Antoni/Scott that I remember from that time period was this:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24733393/kobe-bryant-says-mike-dantoni-thought-differently-about-winning

Kobe: "DAntoni and I didn't have the same philosophy on winning. For me, it's winning and no inbtwn...it's championship or a waste of time"

...

Bryant was one of the biggest proponents of the Lakers' hiring Scott in the offseason. Bryant played with Scott in his rookie season and has a good relationship with him. The two talked and texted on a regular basis this offseason and say they are on the same page going into training camp.

"It's a philosophical thing," Bryant said. "(Scott) agrees with me, and it's the Lakers organization. We're here for one reason only, and that's to hang championship banners, not division banners or conference banners or anything else. We don't do that. We focus on winning championships, and that's very important for our young guys to understand."

Yeah, and the Lakers, Scott and Kobe set the Lakers all time worst record for a season this past year. Good thing Scott was all about winning like Kobe said he was.

Because if you can't hang championship banners, you might as well hang 17 win seasons where you go out shooting 50 times in the final game. That or championship banners, maybe it's a push.

i'd never confuse you for myself. i said in another post that kobe and howard wanted phil and didn't like that the lakers hired dantoni,that's not news at all. also howard denied trying to get kobe amnestied but that's neither here nor there. lastly there's no need to rescue kobe how career speaks for itself.