"I get a little down, because the first thing out of everybody's mouth is, 'They don't play...

"I get a little down, because the first thing out of everybody's mouth is, 'They don't play defense,' " D'Antoni told the New York Daily News. "First of all, we won (55) games last year, (61 the year before). Sixty-(one) times, we played better defense than the other team did, that's for sure, because we scored more points."

AZ Central

When everyone around you is saying one thing and you are saying another thing then maybe it's time to rethink your version of reality. See also Hill, Grant:

"You know what?" Hill said. "Guys wanted this. Guys, I think, got to a point where they wanted to play defense, we wanted to get better in that area. So the time was right for a coach to come in and try to make change."

about 1 year ago Phoenix Stan 6 comments 0 recs |

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I don't think we were that bad at D

Using basketballreference.com, in the past four years PHX has always been in the top 16 in defensive efficiency(16th in 07/08, 13th in 06/07, 15th in 05/06, 16th in 04/05)

Porter’s teams were 27th in 04/05, 25th in 03/04. So where’s this “Porter stresses defense” stuff coming from?

Mike’s teams were always near or at the top in offensive efficiency, and just about average in defensive efficiency, while Porter’s teams were in the upper half in offensive efficiency and towards the very bottom in defensive efficiency….so to write D’Antoni’s sentiments off would be a mistake IMO

by rsavaj on Oct 13, 2008 4:31 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Fair enough

Just remember that Porter’s Bucks teams weren’t nearly as talented
That the Suns players are commenting about how much harder they are working on D and how much more of an emphasis it is
That D’Antoni seems to be the only one that thinks that Suns D wasn’t a weakness

Personally, I have said all along that he didn’t need to change all that much. Just a bit more focus on D and the biggest adjustment would have been getting a true center a few years ago even if that mean slowing down a bit so that Amare wasn’t getting abused in the post and the team rebounding wasn’t so bad. The Suns still could have played D’Antoni basketball with that change but he was too stuborn and only agreed to Shaq b/c he thought he was an offensive threat as well. You only have to look at his comments about the trade. It was all about how Shaq would draw the double team, etc.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Oct 13, 2008 4:40 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Big Change?

Yeah, it is actually a big change when you run the break after stops. It’s nice to score in 4 seconds after the other team makes a hoop — but, then you’re just even.

Then there’s the whole new emphasis on pushing drivers to the baseline instead of the paint. It makes sense and all … but were the old Suns actually pushing anyone anywhere?

I still say that if he’d only committed to practicing D a little more that thing would be much different (e.g., jobs, playoff runs, etc.). He’s a great offensive mind, but no so much of a head coach.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 14, 2008 2:47 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

i always thought

they were screwed the moment they dealt kurt thomas. so much for the luxury tax bull. he cost less than half shaq. could defend, rebound, had decent post moves and a jumper. quite ironic that he’s now with SA. they could’ve gotten another big with marion/banks and you’ll have an even better team than the one on the floor today.

by phxsun on Oct 13, 2008 7:40 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

KT didn't play

I don’t blame the team for not wanting to pay $14m (or was it $16m) for Kurt Thomas when the coach wasn’t going to give him starter’s minutes.

He played 18 mpg for Phx. That was the lowest of his career (not including 97-98 when he only played 5 games). He played more minutes his rookie year.

And KT could at least shoot the ball. He wasn’t a complete waste on offense. But he couldn’t run the court the way Mike wanted so he was expendable.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Oct 13, 2008 8:21 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not Worth It

When you consider the cap and what KT gave the Suns, he wasn’t the best investment.

My biggest beef with the KT trade was the lie we were told — Sarver told us he’d only make moves to improve the team and trading KT was a good financial move, but not the best move for the team.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 14, 2008 2:49 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs