Mike D'Antoni Defends Shaq Trade

[The Diesel]

Hey guys,

I found this quote from another Suns board in which Mike defends the Shaq trade.

"There's a lot of factors . . . We really felt that we were stale as a group of I did . . . We couldn't guard the low post and Tim Duncan was killing us int he low post and . . . It was not an easy call but Shawn was up and he was unhappy with the way things were going and we just felt that was the best thing for the team at the time and I still feel like we became a better team and more equipped to win. Now, it didn't happen and we all knew that was possible but if I had to go back and do it again, I'd do it again."

Thoughts?

It would be cool to read everybody's opinions in regards to these comments about the trade.

Thanks!

[enigmatics]

Hey guys,

I found this quote from another Suns board in which Mike defends the Shaq trade.

"There's a lot of factors . . . We really felt that we were stale as a group of I did . . . We couldn't guard the low post and Tim Duncan was killing us int he low post and . . . It was not an easy call but Shawn was up and he was unhappy with the way things were going and we just felt that was the best thing for the team at the time and I still feel like we became a better team and more equipped to win. Now, it didn't happen and we all knew that was possible but if I had to go back and do it again, I'd do it again."

Thoughts?

It would be cool to read everybody's opinions in regards to these comments about the trade.

Thanks!

Hopefully that shuts up the people who are living in denial still claiming that Mike didn't want the trade .........and especially the people who thought they could hold onto Marion.

[Suns_fan_2007]

The Shaq trade was not what killed us in the playoffs. It was everything else - rest of team not performing, bad coaching, inability of the defense against hack-a-shaq, etc etc.

[ma_falaa_50]

the trade allowed phx to rebound better. Shaq presence also help amare become more dangerous. I think Shaq trade got too much crap because the suns lack of perimeter defense was exposed. Amare, Nash, Barbosa, Diaw need to become better defenders if they want to win the championship.

Shaq help rebound the ball and put less pressure on nash. He pretty much did evrything under his control. Amare defense is on Amare. the lack of killer instinct is on the team. NAsh always disappears when Bowen guards him and I dont think thats shaq's fault.

[b-ball forever]

Hey guys,

I found this quote from another Suns board in which Mike defends the Shaq trade.

"There's a lot of factors . . . We really felt that we were stale as a group of I did . . . We couldn't guard the low post and Tim Duncan was killing us int he low post and . . . It was not an easy call but Shawn was up and he was unhappy with the way things were going and we just felt that was the best thing for the team at the time and I still feel like we became a better team and more equipped to win. Now, it didn't happen and we all knew that was possible but if I had to go back and do it again, I'd do it again."

Thoughts?

It would be cool to read everybody's opinions in regards to these comments about the trade.

Thanks!

Mike D'Antoni being Mike D'Antoni.

He's just laying low and tryin to keep a cool head, like usual.

He always lies to the media to try keeping things cool and not start any ish, just like when we were gettin crushed by the Spurs and he said everything was just fine, or like when he said that Grant Hill was gonna be back in the playoffs at 100%.
Anybody who followed the Suns over the years knows that.

U could easily tell by the look on his face in the press conference at the time we pulled off the Shaq trade that he was pissed and hated the move, it goes against every concept of his system and basketball philosophy.

I mean it's obvious, wake the eff up already!
He says "We needed low post defense", and Shaq O'Neal was supposed to be the fuggin answer???

D'Antoni isn't that stupid

[jaypo]

No, we need perimeter defense. Shaq doesn't guard guards and forwards. And they can't guard him.

[Sun Scorched]

Sometimes we complicate the Shaq trade.

We needed rebounding and we really needed to move Amare back to his natural position at PF. Amare's increased output isn't because of Shaq directly, it's because he doesn't have to play the role of the undersized Center anymore.

[enigmatics]

Mike D'Antoni being Mike D'Antoni.

He's just laying low and tryin to keep a cool head, like usual.

He always lies to the media to try keeping things cool and not start any ish, just like when we were gettin crushed by the Spurs and he said everything was just fine, or like when he said that Grant Hill was gonna be back in the playoffs at 100%.
Anybody who followed the Suns over the years knows that.

U could easily tell by the look on his face in the press conference at the time we pulled off the Shaq trade that he was pissed and hated the move, it goes against every concept of his system and basketball philosophy.

I mean it's obvious, wake the eff up already!
We need low post defense and Shaq O'Neal is supposed to be the fuggin answer???

D'Antoni isn't that stupid

No.

Since when did you become Mike's representation?

[enigmatics]

No, we need perimeter defense. Shaq doesn't guard guards and forwards. And they can't guard him.

What do you mean "no"???????????? Brotha, did you not witness the massacre we suffered by other teams hammering the offensive boards in the first half of the year?

[mkot]

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Hopefully that shuts up the people who are living in denial still claiming that Mike didn't want the trade .........and especially the people who thought they could hold onto Marion.

What he said there simply was 'I support the deal and I still think it should work out'. He didn't say he's the one to convince the hesitate Kerr to make the deal. And no, I didn't say we should retain Marion. I actually said, when the trade happened, we should've traded him in the offseason because the damage was already done in the offseason when he demanded to be traded. We had options like Camby and AK but we passed.

MikeD was on PTI yesterday and briefly talked about the Shaq deal too. He basically said the reason why things got turned around to make it seem like MikeD had to convince Kerr about Shaq is because the media jumped on the idea of MikeD being hesitant. So Kerr came out and was like if anything he convinced Mike and he was the reluctant one. Kerr came out in the media to defend MikeD as to make it looked like they're on the same page.

Again, he support the trade, and he had to anyway. But the talk of him being the one to convince a hesitate Kerr to pull the trigger is simply not true. That's just the way they tried to save face.

[Sun Scorched]

No, we need perimeter defense. Shaq doesn't guard guards and forwards. And they can't guard him.

We need perimeter D now. We no longer have Marion.

Please remember what our rebounding looked like before Shaq. We were the WORST rebounding team in the league.

Please say something that indicates you have been a fan since before the all-star break. Thanks.

[b-ball forever]

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No.

Yes

Since when did you become Mike's representation?

Is that you Steve "I am an idiot" Kerr?

[mkot]

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Please remember what our rebounding looked like before Shaq. We were the WORST rebounding team in the league.

Indeed. Before the Shaq trade, our rebounding rates was at 47%, *good* enough for 30th in the league. If someone don't know how bad that was...let's just say we had the worse offensive rebounding percentage, overall percentage, and worst differential since 1999-2000 (the ESPN database only goes back to 2000-2001).

Our rebounding differential were at -5.6 before the Shaq trade (our worse rebounding differential rate during the Nash era was -4.08 during the 05-06 season where we had Boris at the 5 spot for half the season), and that's the worse differential I've seen in a loooooong time. After the Shaq trade, we were at a positive number. At one point we were at +3.6.

We do have some issues created after the Shaq trade, but rebounding certainly isn't one of them. I still remember we won almost every rebounding battle since the Shaq trade it's very refreshing.

[scootfu602]

Didn't he have the right to veto any trade he didn't want? I thought he endorsed this one

[mkot]

Didn't he have the right to veto any trade he didn't want? I thought he endorsed this one

I don't think he's totally against it to the point where he wanted to use his veto right to kill the deal. I just don't think MikeD is the one that pushed for the trade and Kerr is the one who's hesitated. I think it's the other way around and the fact that Sarver wanted it too. No sense for MikeD to veto the deal at that point regardless of what he wanted.

[enigmatics]

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Is that you Steve "I am an idiot" Kerr?

Well you bed buddy Mikey D must be an idiot too, because he signed off, endorsed, and was happy with the deal. ***

What are we 8 years old?

TASTIC

[b-ball forever]

Yeah, he's happy, at least he won't be forced to work with Steve "I am an idiot" Kerr anymore, what a relief.

And my bed buddy MikeyD's coaching resume craps on your shag-partner Stevie Kerr's GMing resume.

You too BBF

Keep the name calling to a minimum chaps, we're all angry and we all have differing points of views, deal with it.

TASTIC

[JohnVancouver]

[quote="enigmatics"]-= original quote snipped =-



Well you bed buddy Mikey D must be an idiot too, because he signed off, endorsed, and was happy with the deal. ***


--- Nash too - teh quote was "Do it" when they asked his opinion.
I can't find the interview now - either kerr or Mike but to my recollectionit was

"We can get Shaq for Shawn but .."
Nash: "Do it"
"But.."
Nash: "Do it"

Anyone else recall this?
Nash sounded exhausted with things as they were.

[Phoenix1977]

Just so you guys are CLEAR on how the trade went down...Kerr asked Mike if he liked the idea...Mike was VERY CLEAR that he DID like the idea and wanted Kerr to make it happen. Anything you guys hear or read is a bunch of heresay. Sure, my info is 2nd hand, but it's credible. You guys fail to realize how much Shawn was loathed by the coaching staff. It definitely didn't hurt them to see him go.

[Sun Scorched]

Just so you guys are CLEAR on how the trade went down...Kerr asked Mike if he liked the idea...Mike was VERY CLEAR that he DID like the idea and wanted Kerr to make it happen. Anything you guys hear or read is a bunch of heresay. Sure, my info is 2nd hand, but it's credible. You guys fail to realize how much Shawn was loathed by the coaching staff. It definitely didn't hurt them to see him go.

dbdynasty25 hath spoken.

End of discussion.