Dieselbound&Down wrote:Thabo could see a Boris Diaw type first season under D'Antoni next year if D'Antoni becomes coach.
I heard Greg Anthony make the comment this morning that one of the biggest criticisms of D'Antoni in Phoenix is he does not develop young players. Barbosa never took the next step and showed real point guard skills. Diaw plateued. This would be a huge problem for the Bulls as they will rely heavily on internal improvement if the team is going to go anywhere with the current group largely intact.
The negatives about D'Antoni: Shorter practices and does not emphasize defense.
We may be lucky in having players who naturally are defensive specialists as that is their M.O.
The shorter practices may kill our youth's development. But we have to also have faith in Pax's picks of Jibbyish players who have the work ethic. You hear about many guys working hard in the offseason or coming to practice early. I hope we have a strong core of assistants. I would love to bring in Paul Silas.
That said, D'Antoni is a player's coach, improves their confidence level, and if he does not make stupid rotation decisions, we should see improved play from guys such as Thabo and Tyrus. Two guys, who do not seem to succeed under the hard-ass coaches (Skiles).
Honestly, I view D'Antoni as a risk, but until we land that franchise changing talent, it's a risk I want to take. Because we need to leave the bottom of the barrel of offensive efficiency.