I think for right now where our talent is limited, and where half the team will be made up of rookies or 1-2 year vets, D'Antoni would be OK. There are a lot of teams he just would not be a good fit for and I am skeptical about him, but I am skeptical about our other options too. So why not.
D'Antoni feels more like a name to me than a coach. When he didn't have a future hall-of-fame point guard named Steve Nash running his show, what the fuck has he gotten done exactly? I guess you could say he inflated Jeremy Lin's numbers for a couple of months, but in terms of developing a winner? Meh. I'd be much more on board with Malone or Shaw and let these guys grow up together a little bit.
Don't forget making Raymond Felton look like a valuable player Dolan killed his philosophy in NY. Melo is not a good fit at all in D'Antoni's system, which is why he was ultimately fired.
Chris Tomasson @christomasson Jerry Sloan told me Portland GM Neil Olshey interviewed him Wednesday in Salt Lake City for Blazers head position but Sloan pulled out today
Chris Tomasson @christomasson Jerry Sloan on Portland: “I talked to them yesterday. But it just didn’t work out on my part' Sloan didn't want give reason why pulled out
Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes CSNNW has learned #Blazers will interview Memphis Grizzlies assistant David Joerger for their head coach vacancy | http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingb...phis-assistant-D=1&blockID=739692&feedID=5212 | Big fan, hope it happens
I think Sloan is a bit too old, he's 70 years old, how long would he coach? I was all for the Blazers making a push for Adelman when he became available, but they were stubbornly sticking to Nate McMillen. But D'Antoni is similar in that he likes to run a more fast pasted and flowing offense. Why are the Blazers looking at assistants and ignoring D'Antoni?
I'm not sure how good D'Antoni would do without Steve Nash running the point. He failed in Denver and he failed in NY.
Do players and coaches get along with D'Antoni? Does he have connections with coaches who he can bring in to help with player development? Or is he good at it? Nash makes coaches look very good. I wonder the same thing about D'Antoni. But I am also concerned with interviewing two defensive minded assistants. What about their offense? To me it is like college football. Your head coach IMO has to be the offensive brains behind the system. Assistants get promoted if they are good. You end up losing them. So unless you are Phil Jackson and keep the same triangle guru for 20 years, I would prefer a head coach who knows his shit. Not saying they guys don't. But I would like them to be flexible depending on their talent.
I think defense must come first. The Sixers showed that a good defense can give even a talent-poor roster a chance to compete. Of course, that's what the expansion Wolves did under Musselman, and it set them back about a decade.
Jason Quick @jwquick Been told Jeff Van Gundy not interested in returning to coaching until after his daughter graduates from high school in June of 2013
Not saying defense should be neglected, but you need to build your team around an offensive philosophy IMO. And as we all know players are not happy unless they are used "right" on offense. I assume this subject has come up in the interviews but I just would feel better if I knew the new coach had a system. To me Offense is predicated on talent and a good system. I understand you still need a good system in place for the D, but a lot of it is just a mind set and the effort.
