Jump to content
  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

D'Antoni lined up for Bobcats gig?


Recommended Posts

As many of you guys know, Mike D'Antoni stepped down from the Knicks yesterday and a report from deadspin.com is reporting that D'Antoni may have stepped down early because he may very well have the Charlotte job "lined up."

From deadspin.com

As for D'Antoni? Our tipster, currently batting 1.000, says that "he has either the Wash or Charlotte job lined up, otherwise he would not have left." For what it's worth.

My Two-Cents

Personally, I could see this happening but I don't know what I think about it yet.

D'Antoni loves point guards and that is clearly seen through his infatuation with guards such as Stephon Marbury, Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, and his latest infatuation: Jeremy Lin.

In Charlotte, D'Antoni would get to work with a young point guard in Kemba Walker and potentially turn him into a star.

D'Antoni also likes to run an up-tempo offense where the open player shoots the ball, not the superstar. That works perfectly in Charlotte as the Bobcats don't have a superstar.

However cases against D'Antoni are simple... his teams don't play great defense (then again neither do the Bobcats), his teams never can seem to reach their full potential (the Bobcats may have some potential after this years draft), and D'Antoni has coached teams with much more talent then the Bobcats currently have which could cause some problems for him.

I really don't know how I would feel about D'Antoni coaching the Cats right now, it really depends on whether or not we get the opportunity to draft Anthony Davis.

I would be interested to see what he could do with Kemba, Anthony, and Bismack. These three would easily compare to what D'Antoni had in Phoenix with Amare, Shaq, and Steve.

I guess we will see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldnt mind it. The thing with Dantoni is- as long as he has a good pg to run his offense, he can make mediocre offensive players look good. But he cant coach defense to save his life. This is perhaps theoretical, but I think that if you give him great defensive players Dantoni could coach a championship team.

Looking back at his Suns teams- he made guy like Marion into effective offensive weapons, but the team was built around guys who couldnt play defense (Nash and Stoudemire). Those are particularly bad players for a Dantoni team to build around IMO because his system tends to overrate his players, whose inflated numbers lead to inflated contracts. Nash wasnt a big problem because his offensive game at the time was irreplaceable, but if they traded Stat for someone like Kevin Garnett (when he was available), I think thats a championship caliber team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Those were the days lol 
    • Have you even been reading my posts?  I'm not so sure because you seem to insinuate that I'm expecting some monster year 1 season, but I've time and time again said I'm only expecting 800 yards from him as a rookie.  Because like you said, it's not in his control, we have a bunch of good receiving options and two 1k yard RBs in what should be a run first offense. And yes, I'm very much a T-Mac homer, I've never once denied it, I'm an Arizona alumni who has been open about that from the very first thread I made about him over 18 months ago. But that doesn't mean I'm blindly expecting him to be an All Pro as a rookie, I just know more about his game than most people here who watch his highlights and breakdowns.  Which generally focus on the things he does best and worst to highlight his best abilities (his downfield contested catches) and where he needs to improve (separation) as those are the two things fans care most about when talking about the draft. What those breakdowns don't cover much are the "boring and mundane" things he does very well and exactly what you are talking about needing for Bryce.   He was constantly used in the short passing game, whether they be WR screens or quick slants, to get the ball in his hands and let him make plays, it's why he was 5th in the Big 12 in YAC last year.  With his size and hands, when he runs a quick 5 yard slant in front of the defender and the QB delivers the ball on time with anticipation, creating buckets of separation isn't needed, he's going to make the catch and then get some YAC for a 1st down.  Go watch the 30 minute YT videos that string together every catch he made last year (or the same thing from 2023) and you'll see those plays constantly, but in the analyst breakdowns leading into the draft those things don't get discussed as much as the big plays and then the things he needs to work on, because they're just not as "sexy" to talk about as those. Per your ask... He has 3 main things he needs to improve upon, and again, "needing to improve" doesn't mean "he's terrible" at them, just things he can get better at, like all young players have things to work on. 1.  His get off at the snap.   For all the amazing things he did for us at Arizona, this was always the thing that would frustrate me the most, as he generally was a bit slow to fire off the line.  The nice thing is even in the minimal clips we've seen from rookie mini camp, his initial fire off the line already appears to have been sped up a lot, he clearly has been working on that in the lead up to the draft. 2.  His separation Yea, he's not a 6' quick twitch athlete, so his separation is never going to be at the level of a Chase or Jefferson.  I've always admitted that, but because he's not one of those guys, he also brings a lot of things that those others can't.  His catch radius and hands are why I'm not as concerned about his separation, because he's so good at making those contested catches by snatching the ball away from his body to where the defender can't get to it to break it up. But yes, he does still need to get better here, just as all rookies have things to improve upon. 3.  Using his body more physically This is something that he did at times, but he also is just a great athlete for his size and would often rely on his physical abilities to make defenders miss him in the open field than just power through them, which is fine in college.  But yes, at the next level, as he gets older and stronger, I'd like to see him use it more like Evans does, and that will come with time as he builds strength and develops that part of his game. Again, I implore you to to spend an hour watching those "Every catch from the X season" for his last two years in college.  If/when you do, I think you're going to be very surprised by the number of times we used him in the short passing game and let him gain YAC to move the ball down the field.
×
×
  • Create New...