Not every coach has a defence 1st mindset. D'Antoni's philosophy is very different to 98% of basketball coaches, however that doesn't make it wrong. If he has the right pieces (which he certainly didn't at the Lakers) then his offence over defence philosophy can and has worked in the past. It wasn't all Nash. Coach kind of has a little to do with what's going down on the court...
But it’s more than the on-court action that has D’Antoni most excited for his new job in Houston. He also brought up the off-the-court statistical support during his media-day news conference. This time, he said, things feel different from his previous NBA stops.
“You can stay in contact (with players) and send them little clips — get your ideas and how they feel comfortable about doing things before we put our program in stone. The landscape has changed a lot, for the better,” he said. “I’ve been on a lot of teams, and the information we get is a lot. With some things you have gut feelings, and you would like to go that way, but you kind of tiptoe when you have hard data saying, ‘You know what, that’s what you should do,’ and it’s without hesitation. So hopefully, with all that data and information we get every day about players, about teams, about combos, about other players, about what the league’s best are doing in pick-and-roll, it gives us a lot more confidence.
“But better than even that, you can tell the players the same thing and they’ll be on the same page. They’re not questioning, ‘Well I had a coach in junior high that told me to do this.’ We’re showing them, ‘This is why we do this.’”
D’Antoni has been criticized for a lot of things over the years — that his teams don’t play defense or that his pace-driven style isn’t conducive to postseason success. But early returns suggest he has a bevy of riches with which to work in Houston: a roster that is excited to play for him, a superstar offensive talent in Harden and support from the front office.
“That’s why I love coming here. From the owner, to the general manager, to myself, to the players, we’re all on the same page — we want to play this way,” he said. “And it’s been proven this way. The stats come in, and we say, ‘Hey, this is how we need to play.’ I don’t have to argue or talk or hope they believe it.”
Well that article shows he has support or at least sounds like it...about his vision for the team. If that's true and the players are on board then rockets are going to surprise some people imho. The issue is has the current iteration of the nba passed him by so to speak. If I'm the owners I give him one year and full and complete support to show what he's got. I wish him and the rockets well, will be watching.
James Harden and Mike D'Antoni talk often, more than Harden said he has ever spoken with an NBA coach. Basketball is only occasionally the subject. There is much to discuss, given the way their partnership was forged. It has been built on great success followed by struggles few saw coming but that put the immediate future of the Rockets in their hands. They often just chat and likely more typically share the quick one-liners they both favor. "We communicate all the time, the most with a head coach since I've been in the NBA, not just about basketball but about life," Harden said. "Life. Basketball. Everything." Little needs to be said, however, about what they have in common beyond their roles in so much of the Rockets' fortunes.
No question Harden is loaded with talent. Could say even fun to watch, when things are rolling.
He is not someone I would choose to have my back when the shit starts flying though.
Getting rid of DH is absolutely addition by subtraction.
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