Mike D'Antoni on the Phoenix defense.

[Flash3]

-= original quote snipped =-


No not really, nash can't defend the pick and roll to save his life, he doesn't play the screen-roll well. And gets killed on it, he struggled to fight through screens on numerous occasions.

I never said he was an average defender either.

I said, as in the Suns not playing defense, Nash just might not have the athleticism/desire, but the same can't be said about Amare.

That's what I was trying to convey....

[KingAmmar]

I choose to flip that quote. 58 wins means their offense was better than the other teams in 58 games. Prove me wrong

[goat:manu]

you can blame him, AMARE + NASH, worst defender of all time, all they care is their number of pt, assists and blocks, the number of blocks don't show that you're a good defender. and nash, the worst defender i've never seen!!!!! how he's got 2 times mvp?????

[Batman1]

If Larry mother **** brown can't succeed with the Knicks, then what on gods green earth were the Knicks thinking that the D'Antoni will.

[Ballings7]

Their defense can't be justified as anything of legitimacy.

Inconsistency in being played in spurts, unproven in the playoffs, and decent at best (plays into the previous three factors).

They just weren't a defensive team - various times over 4 seasons doesn't mean anything for that, obviouslyy.

Ultimately, their defense over the 4 years was moreso not there, than when it was.

[Blame Rasho]

Defending was never a priority for Coach D and the Suns... You can talk about it till but it means nothing if you never practice it.

[mkot]

Nash, fine. But there is no reason for Amare to be such an atrocious defender. I completely blame D'Antoni. You take a kid out of high school with that kind of talent and athlecism, you should at least teach him how to block shots. A high school player can be molded moreso than the guys coming out with some college experience.

Amare is a project of Marc Iavaroni, who's now in Memphis. He worked on Amare's big man skills and Phil Webber, who will follow D'Antoni to NY, worked on his shooting skills. I'm not saying D'Antoni isn't repoinsbile, but we simply lack a big man coach to develop Amare. We have a coaching staff full of guards.

[Malinhion]

Amare is a project of Marc Iavaroni, who's now in Memphis. He worked on Amare's big man skills and Phil Webber, who will follow D'Antoni to NY, worked on his shooting skills. I'm not saying D'Antoni isn't repoinsbile, but we simply lack a big man coach to develop Amare. We have a coaching staff full of guards.

Hire one. It's that simple. Coaches have great leeway in bringing guys onto their staff to teach the players. It's probably the area where they get closest to acting in a GM's capacity.

Ewing started with the Magic after SVG came in. Dwight's defense and rebounding improved impressively. To me, these are both areas that Amare suffers in considering his athletecism and ability. Ewing wasn't doing anything for a few years leading up to the hire. The Suns could have snatched him up a hundred times if thy really wanted to get a big man coach in there. But they didn't. They wanted him to play like a guard, and he obliged.