Quote:
Originally Posted by Phlip
The most important part of the D’Antoni thing is that the two most important people in his starting lineup have always loved him, which is a luxury that he didn’t have with the Knicks.
As long as everyone NOT named Steve Nash can be disciplined and self-respecting enough to play defense without a coach who will EVER ask them to, this could work.
Praying for the best, bracing for the worst.
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I had a big laugh just like anyone else who is not a laker fan when I heard they hired D'Antoni. D'Antoni is not better than Phil, but sources are saying he's the best coach available AFTER Phil. I seriously think Phil was considered coming back from retirement had the lakers only waited another day and didn't pull this Oklahoma City move.
The way I do see this as possibly working is that Nash, Stoudemire, and Marion with a bunch of not so great role players consistently brought the Suns into the 2nd round and conference finals for many years and this Lakers roster is IMMENSELY better. Yea, Nash is old as hell now but Kobe is the best closer in the game which the Suns never had the luxury of having, Pau is better than Stoudemire, and the Suns could only dream of having a center like D12. At least you have this thought to keep your hopes up.
The only downside is that D'Antoni never could bring the Suns to the Finals after all those years and this is probably enough to kill all your hopes. No one expects a coach who is offense only going far either. You are right, it will be up to the players to play D if they want to. Kobe and Dwight will, I don't know about Gasol, and Nash can't defend even if he wanted to.
I don't know if you expected the Lakers to win it all this year. Everyone already knew the Lakers will make the playoffs for sure and at least into the second round. With D'Antoni, I'm skeptical myself that the Lakers can get further than that.