# D'Antoni says "HA!" to extending bench rotation



## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

> Fans at US Airways Center imploring Suns coach Mike D’Antoni to expand his rotation to include guard D.J. Strawberry and big man Brian Skinner can save their breath — the coach won’t be going beyond his starters, Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw and newcomer Gordan Giricek.
> 
> When asked when he planned to extend his bench at Friday’s shootaround, D’Antoni was clearly irked.
> 
> ...


Read what the idiot had to say

The more I listen to him, the more I start to believe he truly doesn't understand the game of basketball. 

Interesting tid bit below.



> O’Neal’s 18 rebounds Wednesday in Denver was the most he’s had in a game since grabbing 21 on Nov. 12, 2004 – his sixth game as a member of the Miami Heat. …


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## atmacfan (May 28, 2003)

here is a video of the conversation with MD http://www.ktar.com/sports/?nid=21&sid=755815 incase anyone wants to watch it. 

*Here's the highlights of Mike's stuff. He's very "ticked off" when people question what he's doing: 

The whole point of the game is to win. You want me to play DJ ahead of Steve? Suns starters play less than anyone in the league. If Chris Paul is playing 40 minutes, I've gotta have the MVP out there or we don't win. The object is to win and not play everybody and make everyone happy. We need to play well and wins will come. 

Skinner isn't playing because Shaq is here. That's the only reason. Doesn't want to play the same way the whole game, that's why Boris is in there instead of Brian. 

We're frustrated because we know we should be winning more. But the schedule is tough. We're excited. We know we believe we can win the whole thing.*

This wasn't a concern prior to the Shaq deal because the minutes were OK. However, here are some numbers: 

Prior to Shaq: 
Nash - 34.0 MPG 
Bell - 34.4 MPG 
Amare - 32.2 MPG 

After Shaq: 
Nash - 37.1 MPG 
Bell - 38.8 MPG 
Amare - 37.5 MPG 

What's killing us is that Mike just piled on the 10 more MPG that Marion averaged over Shaq to the minutes of Nash, Bell and Amare. Instead of working in DJ to get those 10 extra minutes, we are burning out our starting backcourt when we go small.


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## Silent Lamb (Dec 18, 2005)

D'Antoni is a cretin and is reason why the Suns probably won't win a championship.


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

atmacfan said:


> here is a video of the conversation with MD http://www.ktar.com/sports/?nid=21&sid=755815 incase anyone wants to watch it.


Where's the video? I don't see it. I completely agree with the article though.


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## atmacfan (May 28, 2003)

Aylwin said:


> Where's the video? I don't see it. I completely agree with the article though.


sry i posted the wrong link... here it is http://www.azcentral.com/phpAPP/multimedia/flash.php?path=rtmp://azcentral.com/sports/0307dantoni


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