Van Gundy has praise for SunsRockets coach says D'Antoni's style is balanced, deserves more creditPaul CoroThe Arizona RepublicNov. 30, 2006 12:00 AMPhoenix's and Houston's playoff fates are bound to cross at some point.The dichotomy of styles would be like a Ferrari and a Hummer. Line them up at the light for a drag race and the Suns tear away. Have them collide and the Hummer crunches the sports car.Houston center Yao Ming, seemingly refreshed from a slightly scaled-back summer, is posting his best numbers yet but has frequently had trouble having an impact or even staying on the court against Phoenix's style."Last year, he was fine," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said of a series that saw Yao go from seven points and four rebounds in the first two games to 27 points and 18 rebounds in the next meeting. "If you have two guys on you before you catch it and three guys on you once you catch it, you're probably not going to be as effective."Van Gundy's defensive focus, constant play-calling and slow pace seem as opposite from Phoenix's coaches as the Earth's poles. Actually, he's a great admirer and even thinks it would be "liberating" to coach the Mike D'Antoni way."Their whole philosophy is very well thought out and tied together," Van Gundy said. "They try not to foul. They do a great job defending the threes so that their three-point advantage is even a larger advantage."They almost make fun of themselves defensively but when you play against them you see a team that has a good philosophy, that plays hard and that has a much more balanced team than they would have you believe. I think they do a good job of taking away team's strength. I don't think they get enough credit for that."As much as Van Gundy thinks the Suns coaches are a joy, he has even more praise for how Steve Nash carries the role of co-captain."He might be the all-time, for a star, the all-time best teammate," Van Gundy said.
