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Here comes Dramastache

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Phoenix has long suffered an inferiority complex as a  7th city full of East Coast transplants that didn't quite have the chops to make it all the way to Los Angeles.

So for us when the New Yorkers comes to town be it the Mets, Knicks or (hide your children) the Yankees it's always a big deal.

Suddenly you hear people ordering "cawfee" with their tacos and the local Basha's clerks can fugetaboutit when they ask if the overweight bejeweled customer wants to use coupons.

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When you add on top of the normal Phoenician identity crisis what's become a very public spat between the spoiled stubborn head coach who refused to consider even the slightest input from his "bosses" and the overbearing under qualified TV analyst turned GM and his stingy banker owner then you have yourself a real duel in the desert. A showdown at the US Airway corral. An Oedipus vs Hamlet tragedy for the ages.

Mostly though it's just one big mess that makes for great fodder for talk radio. And blogs.

 

 

Star-divide

You will recall that when D'Antoni left Phoenix the accepted spin was that Kerr and Sarver wanted him to focus a bit more on defense and to consider deeper rotations.

We now know so much more thanks to a series of media barrages by both sides.

The first shot was fired by the highly emotional West Virginian whose pride clearly was offended by the notion that he should be accountable to anyone. In between churlish attacks on his former employer, Pricklystache saved some venom for his players as well:

"I'm a head coach," D'Antoni said defiantly. "I'm neither an offensive nor a defensive coach. I'm a basketball coach. Maybe I should go to a seminar. But I think I know how to guard a guy. How do I get a player to guard a guy? Well, that's harder to do."

A seminar isn't bad idea come to think of it. Larry Brown could co-host with Jeff Van Gundy. The first session could be called: "How to bench a player that won't defend his man". After lunch could be a panel discussion on "How to instruct your players to switch off non-shooting big men for last second shots in the playoffs". See Exhibit A.

Now that Regretstache is in Phoenix and feeling Sarver's energy field he seems to soften a bit saying that he shouldn't have said what he said but at the same time not backing off anything he said. That's convenient isn't it.

To sum up, it was Sarver and Kerr's fault for intruding but at the same time he over reacted to the loss against the Spurs and perhaps moved to hastily. One thing for certain, after hearing Weepystache talk about losing that first game to the Spurs you see now that the Suns never had a chance to come back.

The mental toughness to overcome was lacking and in it's place the team was lead to inevitable defeat by the pity party approach of the coach. Spurs fans were right. Our team was weak.

Listen for yourself to Mediastache after his team practiced on Sunday at Brophy High (save the gloating you private school snobs). Audio provided by Sports 620 KTAR.

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Sarver in response on local radio talked for over 15 minutes (ironically to a New York transplanted radio host) and responded to all of Bitterstache's charges.

Yes, the Suns asked Stubbornstache to add a defensive coach and yes they asked him focus a bit more on defense. No, they didn't intrude on how he ran the team beyond that and no they didn't want him to leave.

If at this point you haven't figured it out, I am siding with the Sarver / Kerr alliance. I think Creepystache is a brilliant basketball coach and has incredible desire to win but his emotions and stubbornness got the better of him and he became as much of a primadonna as his highly paid young stars. He should do great in New York.

In the end he failed to lead his team past an agonizing defeat in game 1 and let the pain of the loss turn him paranoid. Losing is hard but if you can't put defeat behind you and get ready to play the next game you will never be a champion.

For all that, I am going to award Kerr a Genius Point as a symbol of my support in Le Affaire de D'Antioni. Many of you will disagree so bring it strong because I am pretty set in my ways on this one.

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Also here's Porter, Barbosa and Nash talking about Knickystache and the upcoming game. Nothing earth shattering but I am sure a more competent writer then I could (and will) hammer out a few graphs about Nash's feeling the change.

Personally, nothing said really intrigued me so you all can just listen for yourself and bang out your own report. Desperate Housewives Football is on.

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Don't forget that you can subscribe to the audio feed at here.

 

 

Poll
Who's side are you on in the D'Antoni vs Sarver-Kerr spat?
D'Antoni got a raw deal. Why mess with success?
120 votes
Sarver and Kerr were the bosses after all - grow up Mike
65 votes
Terry Porter engineered the entire thing from Detroit just to get out of the snow
20 votes

205 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 29 comments |

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Comments

Display:

Both sides are correct

DAntoni was pushed out.

DAntoni is an oversensitive stubborn genius.

Everything must go.

by ZonaFlash on Dec 14, 2008 9:50 PM MST reply actions   0 recs

then again

arent most geniuses oversensitive and stubborn?

by ryansunsfan on Dec 15, 2008 1:22 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

I'm with Kerr/Sarver

D’Antoni may have felt he was pushed out (due to his paranoia) and he is definitely oversensitive and stubborn.

by TwinnerA on Dec 14, 2008 10:23 PM MST reply actions   0 recs

As a hardcore 7SOL homer, it pains me to see Mike losing so handily in the poll

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Dec 14, 2008 11:19 PM MST reply actions   0 recs

He may be oversensative and stubborn..

But his teams won at least 55 games a year…. Could he have focused a little more on defense? Of course! But there was no reason he should have been nudged out by Kerr/Sarver to be replaced by a coach with a .432 winning percentage.

I don’t understand when people say that his coaching/style couldn’t produce… Each year with Nash, D’Antoni took us to the playoffs and was 1 unfortunate event from taking us further.

Yes…… I am a huge fan of Steve, Raja, D’Antoni, and 7SOL, but I really do think that he was our best chance of winning in the postseason.

by brian13 on Dec 15, 2008 12:30 AM MST reply actions   1 recs

we're due for a miracle

we are one of the most successful franchises ever (in terms of winning percentage) yet we have not won a championship in our very long history. so you never know, hey if miami could beat dallas, heres hoping.

by ryansunsfan on Dec 15, 2008 1:24 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

remember when

patrick ewings 8-seeded knicks went all the way to the finals? :)

by ryansunsfan on Dec 15, 2008 1:26 AM MST reply actions   0 recs

and

remember who beat them…? :( yuck

Once upon a time the Suns got out on the break... and along came Steve sucKerr

by Murcy on Dec 15, 2008 4:49 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

hahahaha

why did you have to bring that up?? :((

by ryansunsfan on Dec 15, 2008 5:33 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

btw

id like to make a minor point in response to steve kerr being a moron. if we could right the mistakes of the past, would you guys do it? i mean, trade back, etc (but of course, now being the basis)

would you:
1. trade shaq for marion and banks?
2. trade j-rich for bell and diaw?
3. trade terry porter for d’antoni? (i know this isnt possible but lets play pretend)

in retrospect, kerr didnt seem so stupid to me :(

by ryansunsfan on Dec 15, 2008 5:56 AM MST reply actions   0 recs

I would reverse 3 immediately, and then out of necessity I'd reverse 1. I'd waver on 2...

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Dec 15, 2008 9:42 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

I'll take option 4

Give Joe Johnson the $50 he asked for in the first place and keep the Deng pick.

by SoCalSun on Dec 15, 2008 10:31 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

Eh

Keep the Deng pick and you don’t get Q, and I don’t know if rookie Deng could have done what Q did for us that year.

Keep JJ and you’re screwed in 05/06 when Amare goes down.

It’s interesting in retrospect…

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Dec 15, 2008 4:54 PM MST up reply actions   0 recs

i never said sarver wasnt an idiot

he is, absolutely. however, those three options were kerr moves. btw, kerr also signed grant hill and matt barnes to contracts under 3 million TOTAL.

by ryansunsfan on Dec 16, 2008 12:16 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

Find me one team

that wouldn’t go back over the past 4 or 5 years and change some decisions….

by Seth Pollack on Dec 15, 2008 10:59 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

Boston seems pretty happy...

But you’re right, of course. There is really nothing new being said now that was not already known or surmised, Sarver and Kerr wanted D’Antoni back, he took the whole thing a little too personally and talked himself out of wanting to continue in Phoenix, and all concerned wish things had worked out differently. The drama is only here today because the media requires grist for the mill. I’m usually a fan of the AZ Republic (stemming, no doubt, from fond memories of delivering copies on my bicycle as a kid and stealing Christmas light bulbs back when people used bulbs…) but today’s headline “Nash: I feel like I’ve been traded” omitted : “he chuckled” is a prime example of stirring things up for no reason.

I am heartened to see D’Antoni’s comments today that attempt to moderate Vecsi’s Post article, hopefully tonight is a high-scoring love-fest with ovations all around for former Suns, ending in a win for the home team.

by SoCalSun on Dec 15, 2008 11:30 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

I agree

However give me Rondo and Rudy Fernandez on this team.!!

"Have You heard of the Boom on Mizar 5?"

by Grockcubs on Dec 15, 2008 3:11 PM MST up reply actions   0 recs

I hate typos

but I make SO MANY of them! I need an editor! Any volunteers? :)

by Seth Pollack on Dec 15, 2008 2:54 PM MST reply actions   0 recs

You want to scream sometimes.

Coach Dan did turn the valley into fun and run. But I think it was a combination of alot of things. Maxed contracts, Sarver, Kerr, D’Antoni stubborn head, Brian Grants contract essentialy costing us Rondo or Farmer ( who was available) the Deng pick, getting unluckly with the Hawks pick, and now our 2010 1st round pick is unprotected.
 Have to move on, use the draft, count the days the Shaq contract goes off the books and hope to God we get a point guard after Nash leaves or retires.

"Have You heard of the Boom on Mizar 5?"

by Grockcubs on Dec 15, 2008 3:04 PM MST reply actions   0 recs

You're an Idiot

I don’t understand anyone who sides with Kerr/Sarver. You have an owner whose got no credibility as an NBA owner. A GM who has lots of credibility as a TV analyst, but literally none as an NBA GM. Those two conspire to try and tell one of the winningest coach of the last few years what to do, and you defend that? Then they replace him with the career loser (as far as head coaching) and you defend that?

Which brilliant coach was it that did really well taking orders from the crappy GM and idiot owner? Was it Pat Reilly? Larry Brown? Phil Jackson? Is NBA head coaching filled with super humble guys who let non-coaches tell them what to do?

Its not better now. Period. Stop lying to yourself. Crappy owner, crappy GM, a Coach with no business here whose been trying to run Pistons sets, and you’ve pissed off the most important player on the team repeatedly (or maybe both of them). Well done. This franchise is run worse than the McDonald’s down the street. Years from now everyone is going to look back at this and say, wow, what a disaster Sarver and Kerr were. Remember when we were good before they screwed it all up.

by truth32 on Dec 15, 2008 5:07 PM MST reply actions   1 recs

Seriously?

Seriously? Just ban me.

I don’t need threats from blog moderators who are over reacting. Its the internet. Come on.

by truth32 on Dec 15, 2008 9:52 PM MST up reply actions   0 recs

yeah and people like you make it a bad place

you can just agree to disagree and leave it at that

by ryansunsfan on Dec 16, 2008 12:17 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

And Stan doesn't need to be called an idiot

For having a different opinion than you.

Well, there goes the “need” portion of our show.

by Azreous on Dec 16, 2008 12:21 PM MST up reply actions   0 recs

Idiot

idiotic comment from an idiot responding to an idiot with an idiotic comment about an idiot writer and an idiotic blog. Idiots.

I hadn’t heard the word “idiot” used for a long time. However, I now have my fill of the idiots.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Dec 16, 2008 12:57 PM MST up reply actions   0 recs

oh and btw, suns where number 1 offensive team for years on end

but yeah, they never won a championship so defense, definitely wasnt the issue. bottomline: you may be smarter than your boss but he’s still your boss. so you listen to him. and honestly, i think more than half of suns fans knew defense was the problem.

by ryansunsfan on Dec 16, 2008 12:21 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

Well, winningest coach except for the fact that he never won when it mattered

That’s pretty sad, don’t you think? D’Antoni’s complete lack of defensive adjustments, inability to call a single good offensive play due to his over-reliance on “freedom and creativity” led to the offense completely stagnating whenever Nash was locked down. You rack up 55 wins because you get easily 50 games a season against poor defensive teams. D’Antoni never won, or coached, when it mattered. How do you defend that?

I don’t understand how anyone could side wiht D’Antoni.

It wasn’t going to work then. Period. Stop lying to yourself. Crappy coach, crappy defensive players, crappy team mentality. Stoudemire standing around, Nash being unable to guard even Brent Barry/Jacque Vaughn(this is an exaggeration for satirical effect)

Note: We were never good because we were never a dominant playoff force. The Nuggets have made the playoffs 5, 6 years. And you know how good they are.

by felixthm on Dec 17, 2008 5:04 AM MST up reply actions   0 recs

You don't know what a bad owner is

until you’ve lived down the freeway from Donald Sterling for a few years. Now there’s an owner who is interested in nothing but making money. No doubt Sarver has made a few mistakes, but he does appear to be learning relatively quickly, and it appears he’s a doing a little better job of staying out of his own way, and letting the basketball people (Kerr, that is) run things after meddling a bit too much the first couple years. Again, he’s made a few mistakes, but I don’t fault the guy for wanting to be hands on with his $400 million purchase. The list of horrid NBA owners is pretty long, how about Dolan in New York, kohl in Milwaukee, Glen Taylor in Minnesota, Johnson in Charlotte, and George Shinn is an a-hole by most accounts, despite the recent success of the Hornets. Sarver sits courtside, waving that purple finger because he is invested in what happens with his team, and that is a good thing.

I haven’t been happy with what I’ve seen from Porter, but the last few games have seen the offense loosen up, and I’m pretty excited with the JSon trade. The sparse schedule over the next couple of weeks will suck for viewing, but it will give the team a chance to integrate the new players and rest the vets. I like where we’re headed.

by SoCalSun on Dec 15, 2008 5:43 PM MST reply actions   0 recs

Glad to have some Suns fans on my side, instead of the many other nostalgia-maniacs, who think that getting 45 wins from beating weak teams is a sure-fire indicator of success. It was nice to watch, and cool for the bandwagon/casual NBA fan, but I’ve followed the Suns since I was 11 years old, and I kinda feel that we Suns fans are due a championship. Why not follow the blueprint that erm, the past 10 NBA champions have been following? It’s “changing a formula that was successful” in the delusional mind of myopic fans, but in reality, it’s “changing to the formula that the Pistons, Heat, Lakers, Spurs, Celtics” have proven in the past 10 years. They’ve won the NBA championship. We, under 7SOL, have not.

Remember the 8 minute stretch in the 3rd-4th quarter of game 2 when the Suns produced virtually ZERO offense. Outscored 19-4, I believe. We couldn’t buy a basket simply because Nash was locked down by Bowen. And what adjustment did D’Antoni make? He frowned. He let Nash make good plays, like forcing the switch and letting Boris Diaw post up against Tony Parker/Brent Barry off the mismatch FOUR TIMES. But he forgot to sub Diaw out, because Diaw travelled once, and missed three easy 5 foot shots. Because 7SOL makes Nash the engine that the Sun’s offense is 99% dependent upon, it makes us simply too one-dimensional and it actually got to the point where in our playoff series, we were pathetic on defense and stuttering on offense as well. I would even go so far as to argue that our offense under 7SOL is worse than what our current brand of offense is producing. Right now, we have dribble penetration kicking out to spot up shooters, Nash creating, Nash-Amare PNR and Nash-Amare-Guy 3 man PNR, Shaq post-up, LB/J-Rich running off screens, Amare/J-Rich iso, that’s a lot more offensive versatility and potency as opposed to Nash-Nash-Nash. It also causes less fatigue to Nash as he isn’t required to do as much, and he can take over down the stretch. I simply cannot see how the Suns can be regarded as having regressed in any tangible way.

by felixthm on Dec 17, 2008 5:44 AM MST reply actions   1 recs

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