Mike D'Antoni Discussion: post in 7 seconds or less

he can't come this season?

bring in gentry

get rid of jordan, bickerstaff, and clifford who were brought in to help implement the princeton offense but are just dead weight ever since dan tony got here. i still don't get why they kept all of mike brown's staff which created a mess of too many assistants

so it'll look something like this(assuming dan tony remains in LA which I hope he doesn't but i highly doubt they'll fire him)

HC-mike dan tony
AC's
Alvin Gentry
Dan Dan Tony
Darvin Ham
Chuck Person

I really wasn't happy with the coaching yesterday; I felt Clark should have closed the game out. Our defense is horrendous when Pau is out there. He could do fine coming in for a 10-12 minutes stretch with the 2nd unit giving them offense and playing with the opposing teams 2nd unit. Why MDA had him in there for the last 5 minutes boggles my mind. He does not give us the best chance to win.

As much as our defense improved, the offense last night was just bad; specifically late game execution. MDA said we needed to move the ball faster; also, Dwight & Pau couldn't set a proper screen to creat the proper angles/lanes to receives the pass. I understand it's not all MDA's fault, but couldn't we have tried other offensive sets/options? Instead, when the initial pick & roll didn't help, Kobe has to hoist up shots because the 24 second clock is close to expiring. We need more in-game adjustments, please.

^ Nailed it.

I'm glad I am not the only one upset with the coaching. It's not ALL his fault....but we had 20 TO's. Our plan to get the ball inside failed --they would just swarm the paint and force a TO or bad shot.

Plus trapping Nash on pick and rolls. It happened so many times, yet we CONTINUED to run it. My god Mike, you really can't draw up other plays? Where are the adjustments.

Late game offensive execution was terrible. Defensive rotations continue to be late. It's like this team has no defensive game plan. During that 6-0 Heat run to end the game, I remember seeing Haslem come to set a pick on Nash for a Ray Allen curl. No rotations, late communications, easy Heat buckets.

That's not championship D, that's not playoff D, that's not winning D. Figure it out, Mike D.

^Seriously. I understand the guys need time to work it their offensive sets; and since injuries have played a part, we're still in the process of trying to understand what works and what doesn't. That only comes with time. However, I think it was TheRealDeal who made a great point in the Dwight Howard thread; he said on the Steve/Dwight P&R, Steve isn't as quick as Jameer and Dwight isn't as explosive as he was in Orlando; add to the fact we don't have the shooters to space the floor they did in Orlando. That's an excellent insight.

Add to the fact, MDA, didn't play Meeks at all. That's why I know part of this is a personnel/roster issue. We need floor balance. However, you have to work with what you have at the moment and adjust accordingly. MDA didn't do that. As I said in an earlier thread, I like him. I think he's an ok coach. So, I don't want to sound like I'm bashing on him...

Everytime I see jordan in the 2nd row look like hes falling asleep.

It's not bashing. Players play, coaches coach. Dude needs to make the proper adjustments for his players. He comes across as a narrow-minded guy.

"This is how you play basketball, and this is how we're going to play it". So grounded in his ways and its killing this team.

Friday, Mike D'Antoni didn't Gasol was going to the bench, but made it clear he'll do it if he thinks it's best:
Said D'Antoni after practice in El Segundo:

"Here's the deal: We're going to work everything we can, we're going to see (everything). My job is to put the best team on the floor. If I feel like (Gasol starting) is the best way to go, then we'll go that way. If I don't, it's nothing personal. It's just I've got to do what i think is right. And I think every player has to accept what's right, whether he likes it or not. So that's the bottom line. Does he deserve a say? Yeah, he does. He's been here a long time, and probably that will happen. But if it doesn't, you've got to go on. You've got to contribute. You've got teammates to think about, and you've got the Lakers to think about. You've got to do whatever is best for the Lakers. Whether we agree or not, that's something else. We can agree to disagree. My job is to try and get the best team on the floor all the time, and make it work. That doesn't mean I'm not including him. I just mean that's my job."

Major props to MDA for that statement. Winning over everything.

While it's nice to see MDA have some b****, that's a statement you make to someone like 2010 Lamar.

2013 Pau is a different story. There need not be that much discussion (as head coach) about his role.

Great for MDA. I now have more respect to him. But I would like to see him bench Pau first. If he's not traded before that.

Au Contraire... He played Pau with Howard for almost the entire 4th quarter, which IMO, was an absolutely horrible idea.

Great statement by MDA, it's great he's not allowing players to dictate their playing situation.

^
lol....

giving MDA props....

The guy can't coach or use personnel properly............ maybe MDA should listen and try and adjust....

He's not.... he only knows one style and it's not the winning style of basketball....... too many unbalanced floors offensively trying to sell out on offense and making a poor transition defense into something worse than poor. His system is seriously flawed.... poor fundamentals in understanding floor balance for both sides of the court.......his system is completely irresponsible in that manner.

giving him props is giving the ok to not coach effectively...... the coach is the issue in the first place.

My OCAA college coach could do a better job and that's just sad when you think of the level of play here......

Can't wait until he's canned.... and he will get canned...... book it.

Nice use of ..........................., I have to.......... admit.

Didn't MDA say once he got hired that a system that can't use the talents of Pau Gasol, isn't much of a system at all....haha.

Also, when is that "talk" going to happen? This team isn't averaging 115-120 like he wanted.

Just like NY, dude continues to prove that he's a fraud. Either way, we'll all find out soon enough if the guy has real cajones...giving up props right now??? Please..

If you're going to talk the talk, let's see you walk the walk when it really matters. He's got a couple more months to yap away, but when the playoffs hit, the pressure is on and let's see if props are warranted then.

Vasashi17 wrote:. Just like NY, dude continues to prove that he's a fraud. Either way, we'll all find out soon enough if the guy has real cajones...giving up props right now??? Please..

If you're going to talk the talk, let's see you walk the walk when it really matters.

So I should just continue to hate on him like you do? Is that what I am supposed to do?

I am supposed to hate on him for saying he's going to put the best team out there to win and not play egos? Why? Isn't that what a coach is supposed to do?

He's talked the talk and walked the walked in regards to that statement. How many times has Pau been benched this season in the 4th? How about coming off the bench? That's the topic isn't? How hasn't he done what he's said he was going to do in that statement?

But I should just continue to hate on him now for something that he might or might not do in the future?

I'll continue to give him props when it's warranted and criticize when necessary and you can continue to hate on him for no matter what he does because he's not living up to your expectations for something that hasn't happened yet.

Doc Brown wrote:

Vasashi17 wrote:. Just like NY, dude continues to prove that he's a fraud. Either way, we'll all find out soon enough if the guy has real cajones...giving up props right now??? Please..

If you're going to talk the talk, let's see you walk the walk when it really matters.

So I should just continue to hate on him like you do? Is that what I am supposed to do?

duh, you're not allowed to compliment him until all of our problems are solved and we win 30 straight

I agree with what some posters have already said.

There was a number of reasons we lost against the Heat, but poor offensive adjustments and poor rotations during key stretches on defense is what sticks in my head.

The P&R WAS NOT WORKING and yet we just continued to beat our heads against the wall.

Then at the end, with Pau in, LBJ was driving the lane like a beast and we had no way to stop him. Happened over and over in crunch time, seems like something and NBA coach would notice and try to stop...

Anyway, even if we make an amazing playoff run we wont win EVERY game. Here's hoping for a nice long streak.

Sub .500....and we're talking about the regular season...not the playoffs...regular season! C'mon man?!?
You guys don't have to hate on him and I'm not saying that...what I am saying is that with this team, right here...this team, right here our expectations shouldn't be sub .500...have expectations fallen off that bad, where we give a man props for sitting a dude that he pretty much said any offense should highlight?

Screw D'Antoni....props should go to fans that have remained patient with this mess and are trying to support a ridiculously bad hire at the coaching position...kudos to you guys for keeping the faith...but that's something I just can't do...especially after seeing his exodus from a pretty talented NY team.

I think we should have a little patience with Mike, this really is an extraordinary situation that he has been a part of and it is just taking longer than we expected for him to figure it out. I still have faith going forward that this team can figure out how to win.

Vasashi17 wrote:Sub .500....and we're talking about the regular season...not the playoffs...regular season! C'mon man?!?

What do you want me to do? Just wait until the playoffs to post? I should just trash the guy until the playoffs start than see what happens and adjust my thoughts accordingly?

Don't tell me to c'mon man. I'll give the man respect when it's deserved and criticize him when it's warranted. I don't care what our record is, we could be 0-40 right now, if he does something that I think is positive I'll give him credit for it.

I'm not going to sit here and trash him for EVERYTHING he does because I'm bitter about "Jimmy" picking MDA for Phil Jackson.

You guys don't have to hate on him and I'm not saying that...what I am saying is that with this team, right here...this team, right here our expectations shouldn't be sub .500...have expectations fallen off that bad, where we give a man props for sitting a dude that he pretty much said any offense should highlight?

The topic isn't about expectations, it's about playing players that win you ball games and ONLY THAT. This has nothing to do with the record, the playoffs, or any thing else, except the statement he made.

He said he's going to play the best players that give the team the best chance to win. And you hate on him for that? Isn't that what all coaches are supposed to do? He's managing an ego filled team and you know what he's doing, he's COACHING. He's doing what a coach is supposed to do and not play favorites and play the guys that give us the best chance to win.

.especially after seeing his exodus from a pretty talented NY team.

You mean this talented team....

Kamenetzky Brothers ‏@ESPNLandOLakers
D'Antoni had 49 different players between 2009-11 in NY. Think that might of had something to do w/the bad defense? AK
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He's back tracking big time...but hey, you see it your way and I see it mine.

You want to give him props for lip service, then again props should go to you. Till I see something...anything...pan out from what this guy has said, then I'm not buying anything he's selling. Till we start averaging 115-120, I guess "we need to talk" then...cause right now, there's nothing any D'Antoni proponent can say that can convince me he was the right man for the job.

He isn't the right guy for the job... but 90% of the coaches in the league aren't. This team needs an elite coach to get it back on track. An average coach won't do. This shouldn't have been the case at all, though. Any average coach should've been able to take this team deep into the playoffs. We now know there are major flaws on this roster, no matter what.

"hes made it clear he wants to start so duh, hes gonna start"