# D'Antoni is a genius



## italianBBlover (Mar 5, 2003)

Look who was playing at center this evening for the Suns ... and against who ... and the stats 

http://www.nba.com/games/20051123/PHXHOU/boxscore.html

small ball rulez !


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## jibikao (Nov 14, 2004)

I think Diaw is a very good addition! Actually quite amazed by him. He can pass, drive, and shoot and at 6'8, he is pretty quick too. 

Bell is a great addition and so is James who can easily replace Q. 

The only guy I don't like so far is Kurt Thomas. Kurt just can't fit in right now..... he and Nash have very bad communication IMO.


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## reHEATed (Jun 29, 2003)

Pheonix and D'Antoni are amazing with some of the stuff they try. Diaw at center is one of those moves, and it worked out great this game

D'Antoni is such a different coach then the rest of them in the nba. Pheonix is going to be running for years. Very exciting basketball no doubt, but they will have to break that certain stereotype regarding winning in the playoffs with that style of basketball.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Got to love the Atlanta Hawks management: 2 first round picks and Diaw just to sign JJ to max deal


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## GoDWade (Jul 25, 2005)

Pioneer10 said:


> Got to love the Atlanta Hawks management: 2 first round picks and Diaw just to sign JJ to max deal



key word: potential

resume: good shooter, especially from 3 point-line, can handle the band, can post up, can cut to the basket, gritty playoff performance, good versatile player


so <3 the Hawks


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## italianBBlover (Mar 5, 2003)

wadeshaqeddie said:


> D'Antoni is such a different coach then the rest of them in the nba.


I think that 25 years of playing and coaching in Europe/Italy have some values for this.

He simply brought some european style in the NBA (above all the small ball thing with every player on the court that can do almost everything, i.e. shot the 3)


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

GoDWade said:


> key word: potential
> 
> resume: good shooter, especially from 3 point-line, can handle the band, can post up, can cut to the basket, gritty playoff performance, good versatile player
> 
> ...


It looks like Phoenix gets the potential in the deal. Diaw has almost as much ability as Joe Johnson, I mean, he can play five positions for godsakes. The Hawks were just not good enough to really take advantage of him. He's the type of player who gets better the better the players you put around him.

And the two first round draft picks....yeah, I'm sure those won't have potential...

The Hawks are fools. Damned foools.

Joe Johnson and his contract will be the death of basketball in Atlanta. That franchise will be forced to move.


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## jdg (Jun 13, 2003)

D'Antoni is one of my favourite coaches in the NBA right now, but I can't see him being an elite coach for a long long time unless he is more adaptable. His system only works with the right players, and I don't know if he would adapt to a different group of guys or try to adapt the guys to him. Let's face it, running up and down the floor like that would never work with a team like the Rockets. Yao and Motumbo would be dead by mid-November.

Of course, if the Suns management is smart, they will keep giving D'Antoni the right kinds of players to use. However, the trade for Kurt Thomas has given me doubts about this happening.


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

Run'N'Gun style was not D'Antoni's real style. 

He adapted to the players he had last year and it worked. And this year he has the same type of players, so hes running the same style.


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## ChristopherJ (Aug 10, 2004)

Interesting that people are calling the JJ trade a lousy deal for Atlanta. I recall it being the other way around a couple months ago.


And I know many don't like to give D'Antoni much credit as a coach because his lack of structure, but he continues to play small ball and it continues to work.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

See what depth does for a team? D'Antoni can work several different rotations/lineups/matchups to his favor with the talent they added over the offseason. When you play the run-and-gun style, you're going to need depth, and props to Suns management for actually going out and doing something to fix it.


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## Dodigago (Jan 13, 2005)

ive always been high on Boris Diaw

like ive said before - hes not a superstar but he does everything VERY well

ive always said "imagine bruce bowen on the atlanta hawks"


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Yet another advantage of having a small forward who grabs 12 boards per game. If they didn't have Marion, starting Diaw at center would not be possible. I like D'Antoni though, he is like a Don Nelson who knows what he is doing. It helps to have Nash constantly pushing the tempo and putting pressure on the defense, plus Marion who rebounds like an elite big man and runs the floor like a demon. D'Antoni is a pretty underrated reason for the Suns success.


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## MemphisX (Sep 11, 2002)

KidCanada said:


> Interesting that people are calling the JJ trade a lousy deal for Atlanta. I recall it being the other way around a couple months ago.
> 
> 
> And I know many don't like to give D'Antoni much credit as a coach because his lack of structure, but he continues to play small ball and it continues to work.


Actually most people agreed with signing JJ to an offer sheet, the trade was heavily criticized by most. Heck, even Suns fans that were in love with JJ were OK with the package they got for him. It all depends on how fast Atlanta gets good because despite their record they have been doing very well for such a young team IMO.


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## ChristopherJ (Aug 10, 2004)

MemphisX said:


> Actually most people agreed with signing JJ to an offer sheet, the trade was heavily criticized by most. Heck, even Suns fans that were in love with JJ were OK with the package they got for him. It all depends on how fast Atlanta gets good because despite their record they have been doing very well for such a young team IMO.



Hmm I don't remember it that way but I'll take your word for it.


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## chapi (Apr 4, 2003)

ok is diaw the first player that officially started at all 5 positions in the NBA??


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

MemphisX said:


> Actually most people agreed with signing JJ to an offer sheet, the trade was heavily criticized by most. Heck, even Suns fans that were in love with JJ were OK with the package they got for him. It all depends on how fast Atlanta gets good because despite their record they have been doing very well for such a young team IMO.


Agreed. I specifically said I wouldn't have traded anything for JJ. I would have forced the Suns to match (which they obviously weren't going to do).

Credit Bryan Colangelo for identifying James Jones and Raja Bell. Those were big signings man.


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## RSP83 (Nov 24, 2002)

Sir Patchwork said:


> Yet another advantage of having a small forward who grabs 12 boards per game. If they didn't have Marion, starting Diaw at center would not be possible. I like D'Antoni though, he is like a Don Nelson who knows what he is doing. It helps to have Nash constantly pushing the tempo and putting pressure on the defense, plus Marion who rebounds like an elite big man and runs the floor like a demon. D'Antoni is a pretty underrated reason for the Suns success.


I second your opinion about D'Antoni being similar to Don Nelson. Both are willing to try something different or even unorthodox with their lineup. Boris Diaw actually reminds me a little bit of Paul Pressey, the 6'7" PG of Don Nelson's Bucks team in the 80's. Like Diaw, Pressey is also a solid and versatile defender. It's kinda ironic, Hawks are thin at PG. They thought Joe Johnson can play PG full time. They think JJ is capable, but they just traded away who is probably their best PG in Diaw. But, I'm not going to say that Hawks really lose this trade. Diaw is a system guy. He plays better in a good team. He's the ultimate role player.


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## Sad Mafioso (Nov 7, 2004)

Phoenix seems to be great at not being contempt with their short sucess after bringing Nash and scouting the rest of league to feed the pieces they need for a run.

If Amare comes back strong from the injury. WATCH OUT!

PS-I love DIAW!. The only people who had faith in him where the french who've seen him play and sucedd on their NT.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

KidCanada said:


> Hmm I don't remember it that way but I'll take your word for it.



You don't remember all the fuss about him being extremely overpaid? 


Joe Johnson was overrated for the Suns last year, just like I suggested in the playoffs when people were riding his jock all over the place. I'm not rooting for him to fail, but I knew he wasn't all that great.


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## tempe85 (Jan 7, 2005)

chapi said:


> ok is diaw the first player that officially started at all 5 positions in the NBA??


Magic Johnson did too actually... he's the only other one I can think of.



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But anyways I must say I love the JJ trade now. At first I was satisfied simply because the Suns saved so much money and got a player they "thought" could be pretty good in Diaw. I trusted them because they do seem to have an eye for talent in drafting and free agent signings. The two first rounders are just icing on the cake.


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## 1 Penny (Jul 11, 2003)

Just before the trade, I kinda knew why the Suns would want Diaw, and even though JJ wanting to leave was upsetting, I knew that Diaw will fit in with the suns and be that miscellaneous type of player. But so far he has been meeting all expectation and exceeding some. The guy playing center/power forward and still managing to be effective... kudos to the system/D'Antoni and Diaw being able to do those things.

Diaw is averaging almost 10/6/6 a game in 24 minutes, and the guy is still learning a perimeter shot, Im optimistic that when Amare comes back, he'd improve his offensive game even better.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Before ripping on Atlanta too much they did seem to have made one of the shrewdest off season moves in Pachulalia. He looks to be a steal especially with how much they are paying him.

A team like the Lakers would be much much better with him then a guy like Kwame


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Man these premature threads and it's still not even December. A lot of stuff is going to get bumped. Do people not remember this time last year already?


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Pioneer10 said:


> Before ripping on Atlanta too much they did seem to have made one of the shrewdest off season moves in Pachulalia. He looks to be a steal especially with how much they are paying him.




Yep, that and drafting Salim Stoudamire have been two very good moves. Pachulia is very quietly averaging a double-double right now and is only getting paid 4 mill a season.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> See what depth does for a team? D'Antoni can work several different rotations/lineups/matchups to his favor with the talent they added over the offseason. When you play the run-and-gun style, you're going to need depth, and props to Suns management for actually going out and doing something to fix it.


yep, some said they looked at our moves and didn't think we got deeper. Imagine how we would be with Amare. We've been in every game except one. As I said during offseason I thought we could win 60 again. But that's with Amare.

And JJ is still good player just because the Hawks are 1-9 doesn't mean he was overrated, didn't warrant the contract or won't be good on his own with the Hawks. The contract was just 69.5 million, it's not 90 million deal like Redd got that people are making it out to be. And some people are forgetting or just in denial that we were willing to pay 75 million as Sarver said he offered him and JJ even said so as well. He felt insulted by the first offer of 60 million(just 9 million less than what Hawks gave him), so he asked not to match but we weren't just gonna let him leave for nothing.


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## SirChaz (Feb 4, 2005)

Nobody has mentioned yet that the JJ trade is what allowed the Suns to get Jones.

So far the Suns got Diaw, Jones, and 2 first rd picks for Johnson. 

Plus they still have over 3Mil left on a trade exception to add another piece.


I think most Suns fans knew it was a good deal from the beginning. Even before we were sure of what Diaw would bring. 

Diaw is no JJ but he has been outstanding in the Suns system.


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## Tiz (May 9, 2005)

Pioneer10 said:


> Got to love the Atlanta Hawks management: 2 first round picks and Diaw just to sign JJ to max deal


They have got to be hating that decision right about now. No slam to JJ as his stas are looking decent but Diaw has come to life this year. Those draft picks are just a bonus.


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## tempe85 (Jan 7, 2005)

SirChaz said:


> Nobody has mentioned yet that the JJ trade is what allowed the Suns to get Jones.
> 
> So far the Suns got Diaw, Jones, and 2 first rd picks for Johnson.
> 
> ...


Exactly... when it comes to trades most people tend to forget the money saved a team gets in return. In this case the Suns not only got Diaw + 2 firsts but they also got 75 million in extra cap room for the next 6 years. That's a lot of dough. This not only allows us to sign Jones plus players in the future (you could almost throw Bell in to the mix) but also allows us to keep Shawn Marion, who I think is probably the most important player on the Suns (not the best... just most important). 

So ask me this is Diaw, Jones, Bell, Marion, plus two firsts better than Joe Johnson?.. the answer is beyond obvious. 

This is also the way I looked at the Marbury trade. When we traded him most people couldn't believe how little talent in return we got. However the way I looked at it was the massive amount of money we were saving by letting him go. This in turn allowed us sign none other than Steve Nash. Of coarse signing Nash was by far not a lock so of coarse we were taking a chance... however the Suns are one of the best teams in the league at recruiting players so I think they liked their odds (however even Colangelo said he couldn't believe Dallas didn't try to match.. which Nash said they could have and he would have returned). 

Really only teams like New York think that saving money isn't a very big deal. However because of the salary cap rules look where it has gotten them? They won't be able to sign a big (good) free agent for another 10 years practically. Meanwhile the Suns have lots of talent and still room to manuver some trades (I'm hoping for Jackson+TE for Gadzuric... which would be another plus from the Johnson trade seeing they gave us the TE).


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## italianBBlover (Mar 5, 2003)

Mike did it again ... and Diaw was still freaking good at C

small bal rulez !


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