Around the League: Week 9 12/19-12/25

[ShelC]

The Ws-Cavs game was a joke and only reinforced that there are times when the NBA is more WWE than an actual sporting event. No T on LBJ hanging on the rim late in the game, the refs give the Cavs a TO (they were out of TOs) by having to "review" a shotclock violation which let the Cavs get set and inbound for a Kyrie game winner. Also a potential foul on KD on the final possession that wasn't called.

Knicks-Cs was pretty good overall.

[O_Gardino]

Please send him to Sacramento, he deserves nothing but the best.

I actually think that an unselfish PG like Dragic could do wonders for Boogie's game. Sac should make 1-2 trades like that and then suddenly they will look like a respectable basketball team.

Perhaps. But the question is with what assets. They really have very little. WCS, Bog's rights, 2021 pick? That's not getting them much.

I actually think Willie Cauley-Stein is a desirable trade asset. Reminds me of a young Chandler. I could see the Heat (or us) wanting him + a pick. The question is what the Kings want. Do they even know?

[Ring_Wanted]

Please send him to Sacramento, he deserves nothing but the best.

I actually think that an unselfish PG like Dragic could do wonders for Boogie's game. Sac should make 1-2 trades like that and then suddenly they will look like a respectable basketball team.

Perhaps. But the question is with what assets. They really have very little. WCS, Bog's rights, 2021 pick? That's not getting them much.

I actually think Willie Cauley-Stein is a desirable trade asset. Reminds me of a young Chandler. I could see the Heat (or us) wanting him + a pick. The question is what the Kings want. Do they even know?

I guess they want to compete, given that surprisingly they at the moment in the hunt for the 8th seed. Appeases Boogie, the owner and Vlade earns a medal if he gets the Kings to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

WCS + pick is great value for a Knight+ trade. Actually, you send WCS elsewhere in exchange for an extra win now piece to Sacto. If you want to complicate things, add Chandler going to Sacramento and Rudy Gay to another team, with some other asset coming out way.

[Ring_Wanted]

https://twitter.com/craigmeyerpg/status/814343009244483585

[ShelC]

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/dan-dantoni-b ... 8UPROXX%29

That's the video, worth watching. He's pretty funny.

[SDC]

[Mori Chu]

LMAO! I am really glad to see the D'Antonii having success again. Imperfect coaches, but fun as hell and good to have in the league. If only Harden didn't have to be part of it.

[Ring_Wanted]

LMAO! I am really glad to see the D'Antonii having success again. Imperfect coaches, but fun as hell and good to have in the league. If only Harden didn't have to be part of it.

I can't stand D'Antoni haters.

[JustWinBaby]

LMAO! I am really glad to see the D'Antonii having success again. Imperfect coaches, but fun as hell and good to have in the league. If only Harden didn't have to be part of it.

I can't stand D'Antoni haters.

How many players have had their best games and years while playing for D'Antoni?

Raymond Felton was averaging 17.1 pts per game and 9.0 assists with the Knicks prior to be traded by their owner for Carmelo Anthony. If is really hard to listen to the folks that say MDA is a lousy coach. Imperfect, like most everyone, but pretty damn good.

He takes a lot of crap because he is not a control freak and is not overly impressed with himself. He gave Nash the freedom to be Nash. He is doing the same thing with Harden. He actually did the same thing with Kobe but Kobe has never given credit to anyone except the guy he sees in the mirror every morning.

[Superbone]

LMAO! I am really glad to see the D'Antonii having success again. Imperfect coaches, but fun as hell and good to have in the league. If only Harden didn't have to be part of it.

I can't stand D'Antoni haters.

How many players have had their best games and years while playing for D'Antoni?

Raymond Felton was averaging 17.1 pts per game and 9.0 assists with the Knicks prior to be traded by their owner for Carmelo Anthony. If is really hard to listen to the folks that say MDA is a lousy coach. Imperfect, like most everyone, but pretty damn good.

He takes a lot of crap because he is not a control freak and is not overly impressed with himself. He gave Nash the freedom to be Nash. He is doing the same thing with Harden. He actually did the same thing with Kobe but Kobe has never given credit to anyone except the guy he sees in the mirror every morning.

I've always liked D'Antoni. Too bad his ego got in the way of him staying.

[The Bobster]

D'Antonio is a good coach. If you give him good players to fit his system he'll be successful.

He's not the kind of coach who can adapt his system to the personnel he has if they don't fit his preferred style of play though.

[Mori Chu]

He is also a horrible development coach for young players who need actual mentorship and room to make mistakes and grow. And he's a horrible defensive coach. But he's a lot of fun and can really get the most out of a certain kind of roster. Houston did a wise thing in hiring him this year given the roster they have.

[carey]

He is also a horrible development coach for young players who need actual mentorship and room to make mistakes and grow. And he's a horrible defensive coach. But he's a lot of fun and can really get the most out of a certain kind of roster. Houston did a wise thing in hiring him this year given the roster they have.

They kind of constructed it for him, signing Gordon and Anderson who shoot the 3 really well. Both are very fragile and could go down for extended periods. With Capela already down you just have to hope that they stay healthy.

[Mori Chu]

I enjoy the fact that Mike D has single-handedly resurrected the career of Eric Gordon. Seems fitting since he almost became a Sun many years ago (though not when D'Antoni was here).

[JustWinBaby]

D'Antonio is a good coach. If you give him good players to fit his system he'll be successful.

He's not the kind of coach who can adapt his system to the personnel he has if they don't fit his preferred style of play though.

In all due respect that is the argument against him that really makes no sense, but everyone uses it.

What coach really has been successful with a group of players that did not fit their system?

It surely isn't Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich.

[Ring_Wanted]

D'Antonio is a good coach. If you give him good players to fit his system he'll be successful.

He's not the kind of coach who can adapt his system to the personnel he has if they don't fit his preferred style of play though.

In all due respect that is the argument against him that really makes no sense, but everyone uses it.

What coach really has been successful with a group of players that did not fit their system?

It surely isn't Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich.

Yeah, and not playing rookies or the bench is almost all crap as well. We had what we had during his tenure and he extracted the most out of it more often than not. A ton of players owe him contracts. The disrespect he gets is particularly funny considering the shit state we are enduring.

[O_Gardino]

D'Antonio is a good coach. If you give him good players to fit his system he'll be successful.

He's not the kind of coach who can adapt his system to the personnel he has if they don't fit his preferred style of play though.

In all due respect that is the argument against him that really makes no sense, but everyone uses it.

What coach really has been successful with a group of players that did not fit their system?

It surely isn't Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich.

Yeah, and not playing rookies or the bench is almost all crap as well. We had what we had during his tenure and he extracted the most out of it more often than not. A ton of players owe him contracts. The disrespect he gets is particularly funny considering the s*** state we are enduring.

Agreed.

[EDC]

Coach D deserves a lot of disrespect for the way he quit on us in the middle of a fucking playoff series against the Spurs. He did some amazing things when he was here but the shit that he pulled at the end is very hard to forgive.

[Mori Chu]

He was a very talented coach, but let's remember that he isn't perfect. He would play guys way too many minutes, including entire quarters at a time, and at the end of blowouts when we were already up by 20+. He stubbornly refused to practice defense, and our teams under him were generally only decent defensively because we had the transcendent Shawn Marion out there doing Matrix things. He refused to let us draft Rajon Rondo, who would likely have been a gigantic boon to our team and the backup PG to Nash that we sorely needed for years. He often kept a 6-7 man rotation all season ("7 starters" BS) that wore out our core players so that we almost never were able to give a healthy and energetic 100% in the playoffs.

He brought us close to a title, but he also contributed significantly to the reasons why we did *not* win a title.

[JustWinBaby]

D'Antonio is a good coach. If you give him good players to fit his system he'll be successful.

He's not the kind of coach who can adapt his system to the personnel he has if they don't fit his preferred style of play though.

In all due respect that is the argument against him that really makes no sense, but everyone uses it.

What coach really has been successful with a group of players that did not fit their system?

It surely isn't Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich.

Yeah, and not playing rookies or the bench is almost all crap as well. We had what we had during his tenure and he extracted the most out of it more often than not. A ton of players owe him contracts. The disrespect he gets is particularly funny considering the s*** state we are enduring.

Amen

It seems like most guys want no part of MDA. Even if they do, they have to bring out any and all flaws that he has to make themselves feel they are right. Steve Kerr and Bob Sarver ran him out of town and they got their wish. They hired the great defensive genius, Terry Porter. Kerr soon thereafter cut and ran after all the talent he inherited was gone and Sarver was unwilling to give him a raise. Then Kerr gets handed a tremendous roster in GS, brings in D'Antoni's chief assistant and wins a title. No one wants to put any blame on Kerr for some reason but he did nothing to make our roster better while he was GM and left with the roster in horrible shape. We still have not recovered.

Since Mike left town, we also have never been as good on the defensive as we were with him as our coach. Another myth.

I really think Charles Barkley and Jalen Rose have created most of the negative energy directed at Mike. They had big voices on TV at the time. Charles was jealous of the success and wanted to be part of it. Jalen Rose wanted minutes from Mike but he was done when we acquired him and Mike sat him. He never played again for another team, maybe Mike new what he was doing. They constantly took shots at Mike and the defense we played. This is from two guys that will never be remembered as great defenders or part of any great defensive teams. Jealousy, pure and simple. They constantly took cheap shots at Mike.

I highly doubt that Mike is going to win a Championship with that group in Houston, however he now has an owner and GM that are willing and able to acquire players to make their team better, who knows.