D'Antoni Says That 'Politics' Is Why Offense Went Through Dwight and NOT Gasol

So, D'Antoni is saying everybody was kissing Dwight's ass. Well, no great surprise there, right? The question is "did the politics start and end with D'Antoni, or was the front office pushing him to do it?".

Either way, one more reason for believing he's a lousy coach.

What's the over/under on HEAD coach Rambis by the trade deadline? In my admittedly biased opinion, as a fan of Rambis and NOT of D'Antoni's, that'd be the best thing for them.

Anyway, enough about the Lakers. And now back to your regularly scheduled Boston Celtic programming...


bob


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Even if it's true, what a dumb thing to say.

Outside wrote:Even if it's true, what a dumb thing to say.

outside,

At the risk of repeating myself, one more reason to believe he's a lousy coach.


bob


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Why would the Lakers fire D'Antoni at the trade deadline?
They still wouldn't be going to the playoffs if Phil and Red were co-coaching.
It makes no sense to bring in Rambis and institute his ideas on this non-contending team mid way through the year.

The far majority of the players on this team will not be there next year.
Let a new coach start with new players.

Mike only said what everyone knew.
I'm glad he had the guts to say it.
Dwight has such a fragile ego that he had to be coddled by Orlando and the Lakers.

The "Dwight Rules" started before D'Antoni was hired...

It takes no guts to say it after the fact. Simply the beginning of the end for a mediocre coach on a short leash.

If Antoni actually had guts - he would have instituted his offense last season and ran it the way he WANTED to run it (through Gasol)...not bitch about it a year later.

Dwight complained about not getting enough looks as it was. Dwight was supposed to be the cornerstone for the future. No coach was going to ignore Dwight and focus on Gasol, who if you remember, was already fighting hamstring issues when D'Antoni was hired. Gasol missed many games not long after D'Antoni was hired.

Everyone had to treat Dwight like a primadona.
Do you think the Lakers wanted to put up those foolish Dwight Stay billboards in LA?

D'Antoni handled the Dwight/Gasol no differently then any other coach would have.

I dont think so TJ...sorry.

Doc did not take the ball away from Pierce to give it to KG and Ray. He made it clear - they would all get their shots, but Pierce was and would remain THE MAN in Boston. Upon his arrival, KG was easily as big a star as Dwight Howard - if not bigger.

MD could have done the same thing in LA...but he has no backbone.

mrkleen09 wrote:I dont think so TJ...sorry.

Doc did not take the ball away from Pierce to give it to KG and Ray.  He made it clear - they would all get their shots, but Pierce was and would remain THE MAN in Boston.  Upon his arrival, KG was easily as big a star as Dwight Howard - if not bigger.

MD could have done the same thing in LA...but he has no backbone.

How could D'Antoni have focused on Gasol with Dwight there?
As it was, Dwight took less shots then when he was with Orlando.
Did you see how poorly Gasol played with hurt hamstrings last year?

If you don't remember, during the previous two playoffs, Gasol was non-existant and Kobe had to light into him every other game.
Gasol is not a player to build an offense around at this point in his career.
The Lakers tried to trade Pau but haven't been able to.

D'Antoni didn't like having to kiss Dwights ass and hope he stays.

You can't compare KG to Dwight, they have very different personalities and were at different places in their careers.
KG never needs to have his ego caressed like Dwight did.
Dwight was 27 when he was traded to the Lakers.
KG was 31 when he was traded to Boston. He didn't need or want to be the man on offense.
Dwight wanted the offense built around him.

You are right TJ...the circumstances were different, however the fact that MD is a mediocre coach that has never been able to get his players on board with his unproven system, is his fault.

Him talking shit now serves no purpose - and shows not guts.

mrkleen09 wrote:You are right TJ...the circumstances were different, however the fact that MD is a mediocre coach that has never been able to get his players on board with his unproven system, is his fault.

Him talking shit now serves no purpose - and shows not guts.  

I'm not claiming D'Antoni is a great coach.
I think he is a good coach who can succeed with the right players.
His Suns team made it to the Western Conference Finals two times mostly due to his system.
If those Suns teams used a triangle offense, there's no way they would have made it as far as they made it.

Mike couldn't say anything about Dwight when Dwight was with LA.
You don't talk negatively about your players, especially your maqruis player who you are trying to keep in town.
So, he shouldn't be able to talk about Dwight now?
That's funny.

What purpose does it serve to talk about it NOW? None.

It is only a weak coach who cant comment on his players. No player is above criticism, the fact that you cant see that shows how far you have bought into the superstar rules that have become common place in the modern NBA.

The superstars have a bigger role in the NBA than any other league's superstars.
If you don't accept it, you are always going to come across as a whiner and a complainer.

What D'Antoni said was more to make Gasol feel better.
Mike didn't want to treat Gasol the way he did, but he had to.
No team is going to trade for the best center in the league and then tell him they are going to focus their offense around a 32 year old center with bad knees.

The good coaches dont bend over to accommodate the superstars - they develop a give and take.

I am not impressed with MD - so feel very little desire to give him credit for bringing this up now. But if you think it will help the Lakers, more power to you.

Maybe Mike oughta own up to the fact that he's a 3rd rate coach...



KJ

mrkleen09 wrote:The good coaches dont bend over to accommodate the superstars - they develop a give and take.  

I am not impressed with MD - so feel very little desire to give him credit for bringing this up now.  But if you think it will help the Lakers, more power to you.

Dwight was here before D'Antoni.
Are you telling me if Doc was coaching the Lakers that he would have told Dwight and the Lakers management that the offense is going to run through Pau? Never.

Mike's comments won't change anything for the Lakers this season one way or the other.
The plan is already in place for Pau to have a decent sized role in the offense with no Dwight or Kobe.
This is mostly a non-story that was made into a story.
I don't think that D'Antoni even used Dwight's name at all.

k_j_88 wrote:Maybe Mike oughta own up to the fact that he's a 3rd rate coach...



KJ

KJ,

This is such a vague comment it's hard to know how to reply.
How do we rate all of the coaches that have never won a championship?

You weren't around this forum at the time but up until Erik Spoelstra won a title with Miami, he was mocked endlessly on this forum for being a terrible coach and how he's nothing more then a glorified video coordinator. Remember, Doc never won anything before Danny traded for KG and Ray. Phil never won anything without Jordan, Pippen, Shaq, Kobe.

I think D'Antoni's Suns teams over-achieved with the lack of talent they had.

tjmakz wrote: Dwight was here before D'Antoni.
Are you telling me if Doc was coaching the Lakers that he would have told Dwight and the Lakers management that the offense is going to run through Pau? Never.

You are joking right? If Doc thought his best option was to run through player X - that is how the offense would have been run, or Doc would have left. Same with Pop or George Carl, or any coach with a backbone.

TJ,

I'd rank Thibs, G. Karl, and Frank Vogel over D'Antoni, and none of them have won titles as HC's.

And if you aren't aware of my stance concerning Doc, I don't think he's all that great of a coach, either.

A real coach works with what he has, instead of forcing guys into roles they won't succeed at. That's where Mike made his mistake.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:TJ,

I'd rank Thibs, G. Karl, and Frank Vogel over D'Antoni, and none of them have won titles as HC's.

And if you aren't aware of my stance concerning Doc, I don't think he's all that great of a coach, either.

A real coach works with what he has, instead of forcing guys into roles they won't succeed at. That's where Mike made his mistake.



KJ

Who knows about Vogel over D'Antoni.
Being ranked behind Thibs and Karl doesn't mean that he is a third rate coach.

Look at the roster of the Suns teams he coached.
His style produced the best results from Nash, Barbosa, Marion and even Raja Bell.
Would forcing Dwight into the 3rd option have been the best for the Lakers?
Mike adjusted his schemes and offense in the second half of the year and they played much better as a team.

TJ,

Point is, Lakers made the wrong hire and they paid for it by losing Howard. Why on Earth would any GM hire that style of coach knowing you have a top center on your team? Makes no sense. There is no way to justify this nonsense of a hire.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:TJ,

Point is, Lakers made the wrong hire and they paid for it by losing Howard. Why on Earth would any GM hire that style of coach knowing you have a top center on your team? Makes no sense. There is no way to justify this nonsense of a hire.


KJ

KJ,

You keep moving the goal posts.
This thread has nothing to do with whether D'Antoni was a good hire.
Do you think Mike Brown would have done any better than D'Antoni with the roster and injuries the Lakers had?

I hope I haven't irritated anyone with my non-stop rhetoric in this thread. I'm amazed that everyone cares so much about this subject. There's all sorts of stuff going on behind the scenes that we don't know anything about and, in most cases, probably never will. As a Celtics fan, it's as much of a non-topic as I could ever imagine.

Great that the season's right around the corner, huh? And how about those Red Sox?

Sam

TJ,

Mike Brown was a terrible hire as well. I estimate they'd have done about the same, ie, just another average team that could use some real direction.

I'd rather hire Phil back or Bickerstaff, or even Shaw.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:TJ,

Mike Brown was a terrible hire as well. I estimate they'd have done about the same, ie, just another average team that could use some real direction.

I'd rather hire Phil back or Bickerstaff, or even Shaw.



KJ

Phil's Lakers teams had run their course.
Phil and the Lakers were swept off the floor by the Mavericks in the playoffs.
Phil, Shaw and the other coaches were not asked back after the Debacle in Dallas.

Brown was a former coach of the year.
He had success with a not terribly talented Cavs team.
Bickerstaff? What has he ever accomplished as a head coach?
Maybe these numbers will help us decide:
In 15 seasons as a head coach, his teams never finished higher than third in their own division.
His teams won a grand total of 12 playoff games in his career.
You want your franchise to be led by this guy?