« Washington Offseason | Main | The Said Factor » D'Antoni to Chicago06 May 2008 02:12 pm
I wish Mike D'Antoni well, but Chicago seems like an odd choice of destination considering that the Bulls have been constructed around a defense first gameplan and that's hardly what D'Antoni's known for. On the other hand, the way in which Chicago spectacularly failed to meet anyone's expectations this year certainly seems to argue in favor of a change in direction. It was so strange to watch a pretty good and very young team regress so far. Comments (30)
If his other choice was the Knicks, there's nothing strange about this. 
My guess is that D'Antoni's tenure will yield 50 or more regular season wins; an all-star appearance for someone like Gordon, Deng, or Hinrich; very little playing time for the non-offense oriented Joakim Noah; and very few playoff wins. But there will be fannies in the seats in Chicago next season, too.
I can't imagine D'Antoni trying to use his system with Hinrich as his lead guard.
I think its possible that Noah will thrive under a run and gun style D'Antoni system. Obviously he can't shoot from outside, and can't create his own shot in a half court offense, but his quickness, speed, movement ability will be perfect for a running style. And his defense is something that the Suns could have used. Think of him like Camby in Denver. The success or failure of D'Antoni to the Bulls will depend on his ability to turn Hinrich into a good point guard. Not too long ago, Hinrich looked like a solid to very good young pg. His outside shot is obviously suspect, but its possible that D'Antoni can revitalize him. The players that will really thrive will be Deng and Nocioni. I think Gordon should also thank his lucky stars that he now has a coach who couldnt care less about defense, and wants his players to take quick outside shots. Interestingly, it could be argued that after this horrible season Gordon and Deng were idiots to have turned down the Bulls contract extension offers. But, now they may put up gaudy offensive numbers and price themselves out of Chicago!
God, I need this. Please, please, please. I can't imagine D'Antoni trying to use his system with Hinrich as his lead guard. Why? He's not going to blow anyone away with his quickness but he's a good passer and a great defender. You don't think D'Antoni would like to coach a PG who can play better D than a chair? I think its possible that Noah will thrive under a run and gun style D'Antoni system. And, in fact, the Suns wanted Noah very badly last draft.
The question is, what does the D'Antoni offense look like without Steve Nash? Pre-Shaq, I had never seen a team's offense so completely dependent on one guy (not even the Jordan Bulls). Mike
but he's a good passer Doesn't square with my recollection, which is closer to this: His current assist to turnover ratio is 1.76:1 which is nowhere near acceptable. Compare that number to other point guards around the league. * Jose Calderon -5.59:1 * Chauncey Billups - 3.56:1 * Jason Terry - 3.55:1 * Chris Paul - 3.23:1 * Steve Nash - 3.03:1
I think D'Antoni is a good fit. The Bulls have been horribly coached -- they actually have the personnel to run a Suns-like system, but Scott Skiles forced them into his vision of ugly basketball and general assholishness. Hinrich is no Nash, but he's a decent PG. Gordon, Deng, Nocioni and Hughes are all very talented offensive players. And Thomas and Noah are fast, athletic big guys.
Word on the radio was that a lot of Bulls players were excited by the idea of playing under D'Antoni. Not that it necessarily means much. . .
It could work out, because the existing players are obviously schooled in hard-nosed Scott Skiles style defense, so now you bring in D'Antoni to maximize them offensively (they won't forget how to play defense overnight). It's not like the Bulls really suck either, they were an excellent team until this season, and injuries to Deng especially limited them and held them back. Could end up a great move for D'Antoni to take over a non-playoff team that was a 50 win team the season before and turn them back into a 50 win team. At some point, they're still going to need a post guy who can actually score the basketball, even if the guy is only a role player in the larger scheme of things, so the Bulls need to find that player, and if not stars are available and it comes down to a role player who can score, they should focus on hometown boy Melvin Ely, who's picked up some valuable playoff experience last season with the Spurs and now this season with the Hornets.
Ty Thomas and Thabo Sefalosha's fantasy stock just skyrocketed, imo.
That was only this year, SCMT. I've only missed seeing four of the games he's ever played in the pros. D'Antoni's system will help him; it's not like D'Antoni has his pick from teams with elite point guards. No, he won't be Steve Nash, but he's a more than capable point guard, or has been every season but last. The goddamn Bulls hatred really drives me crazy.
SomecallmeTim, that column was written in December. At the end of the season Hinrich had a 2.85:1 assist to turnover ratio. Andre Miller has been lauded here lately. His ratio was 2.76:1.
If Kirk is already at 2.85:1 assist to turnover ratio, he'll be well over 3 with D'Antoni coaching. The last few months of the season when Skiles was well gone Kirk put up a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio.
At the end of the season Hinrich had a 2.85:1 assist to turnover ratio. Andre Miller has been lauded here lately. His ratio was 2.76:1. Interesting. I wrote Hinrich off sometime in January, so I haven't been paying any attention since. His FG% continues to look ugly, it seems. I dunno. I think MBunge is right that the system is highly dependent on Nash or someone like him, and I'm not sure Hinrich is that guy. But maybe it will work. I do think Pooh's right that--assuming a guard--D'Antoni can unlock the value of Ty Thomas, which would be pretty valuable.
Kirk's 3PT% is still very useful though, so it would seem that D'Antoni could coerce better shot selection out of Kirk within his system. Interestingly, over the last 3 months of the season, Hinrich shot 43% from the floor and 42% from behind the arc, so if I'm a coach coming into that system, I'd feel confident that Kirk could efficiently hit long range and my only job was to coach him into better shot selection. Statistically, Hinrich actually looks worst scoring close to the basket, where his % is barely over 50%, which would definitely not be comparable to Steve Nash, who is an excellent finisher in the lane. Still, it's not easy to draw firm conclusion from that either, because in Phoenix teams had to worry about Nash dishing the ball to Amare inside, while the Bulls really didn't have a big man finisher in the lane.
I think Noah could be perfect for D'Antoni, he's quick, athletic, strong enough to finish and gets back on defense. Weren't the Suns rumored to be eying him with the No. 4 pick last year if Atlanta had been forced to give up their draft selection?
How about Hughes? He can't shoot, but he likes to run. If he didn't work in Cleveland, and doesn't fit in Chicago, it's hard to figure where he would fit.
Noah is definitely going to be legit, that Bulls job is a sweet opening.
I'll definitely concede that it's an open question whether D'Antoni's system can port to other rosters. The thing is, if it really requires such a specific set of personnel-- is it really a good system?
as a bulls fan, i'm very excited. there's athleticism all around the roster (thomas, noah, deng), some shooting, etc. and if hinrich gets back to last year's hinrich, well then we've got something. still have the problem of a too-small backcourt, but oh well. don't forget this year's lottery pick. if there's truly a david stern conspiracy for lottery picks, then the bulls will be moving up.
It will be really interesting to see what happens with the Suns and D'Antoni when they split. Barbosa was a project of Dan D'Antoni and Diaw has been supported/coddled by Mike. At one point, I also heard Mike say that Nash is so much a part of his strategy that he was thinking about giving up coaching (at least in PHX) when he retired. I think D'Antoni nutures talent in a way that may benefit the Bulls (who were stifled) but may harm the Knicks (who ran amuck). He wasn't ever a great coach when it came to making adjustments in playoff ball or developing new talent, but he produced some beautiful and successful run-and-gun play. As a Suns fan, I place blame on the current situation squarely on Sarver and Kerr (who is a product of the douchebag factory in San Antonio) for (1) a perverse adherence to the salary cap and (2) a desire to turn the Suns into the Spurs. It sounds like Kerr is the model of a meddling GM.
The "specific set of personnel" taht D'Antoni requires are: 1) a PG who can distribute very well, penetrate towards the basket, and shoot outside. (Gee, that sounds like the definition of a good PG that could thrive in any system), 2) athletic wing players who can run fast, finish on the break, and shoot outside shots. Also hardly a ground breaking requirement. Look, I cant stand D'Antoni. We Laker fans call him Pringles (give it a second ...). And just about the funniest moment of the year came during the early Lakers victory against the Suns, when Mike D was whining and crying over a Lakers timeout, and Phil Jackson, without ever leaving his seat, yelled at Mike to "Go sit the F*** down!" I think his demeanor on the sidelines during games is embarassing. I also think that Nash may not mind seeing D'Antoni go because of his sideline antics during the playoffs. But, Mike D can coach offensive regular season basketball. The Bulls should be jumping for joy if they get to hire him as coach.
To really appreciate what a great offensive strategist D'Antoni is, think about this: the coach Steve Nash had before him, the coach who just couldn't quite turn Nash loose the way D'Antoni did, was Don Nelson. In this case, anyway, D'Antoni had a more creative basketball mind than Nellie.
I'm sorry, wait-- someone invokes Phil Jackson when complaining that Mike D'Antoni's system requires superior talent? Uh, dude-- I'm a Chicago Bulls fan since I was four years old and I have a lot of respect for Jax. But he's never won anywhere without having literally the best player in the game at the time.
Well, Jackson's winning now, and Mike Brown has the best player in the game.
Freddie: You misunderstand. I was responding to the argument that D'Antoni's system is wedded to Nash, and that without Nash in Chicago, D'Antoni will not succeed. I disagree with that argument. I think D'Antoni will be successful in Chicago, partly because they have good talent (no coach can succeed without good talent). And, anyway, my citation of Phil Jackson was in direct support of my argument that Mike D'Antoni is an embarassment on the sidelines with his whining antics. By contrast, Phil Jackson is an amazing example of calm composure on the sidelines, so much so that he is criticized for it. And, I think it is an under-reported fact this year about how well Phil has developed less than superior talent on the Lakers. The last few years I was convinced that the Lakers had some of the weakest talent in the NBA (Sasha, Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker) ... and yet he had turned at least two of those guys into regular contributors, and the bench itself has been hailed as one of the best in the NBA. Jackson did one of his best, if not his absolute best, coaching jobs this season.
The last few years I was convinced that the Lakers had some of the weakest talent in the NBA Phil's a great coach, but you were kind of wrong, too. OTOH, what do I know? I thought the Cavs signing Marshall was inspired, given that he could board and hit the three. Hell, I couldn't understand how they could get him. Lesson (half) learned.
The Lakers definitely had some of the worst starting talent in the NBA before this season. Smush Parker shouldn't be anyone's starting point guard, and Kwame Brown had/has psychological issues that prevent him from being an effective offensive presence (he's a net negative in many ways actually). Lamar Odom is legit, but Luke Walton was the other starter, not exactly jumping out at ya as a star or huge basketball talent, yet that team was solid in the West last season until Odom got hurt sometime in December. Off the bench, Sasha Vujacic hardly put fear into opposing teams last season either. To say that Phil Jackson had superior talent the two seasons before this one is absurd, especially considering the cavalcade of injuries the team suffered. Yet, this season, until Andrew Bynum got injured (and well before we traded for Pau Gasol), the Lakers were #1 in the West, that's great coaching.
Comments closed May 20, 2008. |
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Heads in the Sand
I certainly don't think its that crazy. They have a lot of young, athletic players who can run the floor. They're not nearly as talented as Phoenix, but he'll definitely make them better.
Posted by Stacy | May 6, 2008 2:50 PM