Dwight or Stan

[Miller4Prez66 545]

D'Antoni's style doesn't fit anyone, the whole run-n-gun offense is rarely used by anyone because it is consistently beaten by good half court defenses. I especially don't see how it fits our current roster. When you have a dominant low post player like Dwight, a run-n-gun will not work. Look at how the Suns' offense fell apart when they traded for Shaq and had to make adjustments. Dwight is athletic and can run the floor, but why would you want to waste his energy by running all night when his strength is taking over the low post? I'd hate to watch BBD in a run-n-gun too, he'd be out of breath five minutes into the game. You'd probably see the stats of players like Jameer and J-Rich get inflated, but who cares? We shouldn't be worrying about our offensive stats, but building a championship team.

 

The half court in and out offense works, and has worked for us before. We went to the ECF in back to back years with a trip to the Finals when the talent level around Dwight was at its' best. These past two seasons, our teams have been old and inconsistent except for Dwight/Anderson and this year we didn't even get a healthy Dwight for the playoffs. The Rockets won some rings with this style, though Hakeem was better than Dwight. What we need are younger, more athletic perimeter players. We could also see some better passing, and that includes Dwight who really needs to work on his timing and ability to pass in/out of the post.

 

I do think SVG will be fired, but mostly because of clashes with Dwight and others in the organization, not because of his "failures" as a coach. Ever since the disappointing loss to the Celtics in the 2010 ECF, the talent level on this team has consistently dropped off. We've gotten older, less athletic and our depth has gotten worse. Despite that, we've still been one of the better teams in the league (we were likely going to end up 3rd in the East if Dwight stays healthy). I think SVG has been able to get the most out of what he has. What we need to get over the top is better running mates with Dwight, not a new coaching philosophy. I also find it funny how some of us expect a coach with a history for not being able to get teams over the hump is going to come in here and get us over the hump. Is Stan stubborn at times? Yes, but all coaches are. Read every message board in the league and you see fans complaining that this guy should be getting minutes over this guy. I also think SVG adjusts just fine, but some of you guys' idea of adjustments is benching a player who is struggling for an unknown bench commodity. SVG went to a smaller lineup that helped get us back into the game in Game 4, and tried it again late in Game 5 but it didn't work. Other teams are capable of making adjustments too and when the other team has better players, it is easier for them to execute them.

 

There is my little rant. I'm expecting SVG to be fired, but I hope we don't even consider Mike D'Antoni. The dude is just a bad coach, you all like to complain about how stubborn SVG is and won't adjust, but D'Antoni has been well known for being like that. He is the Mike Martz of the NBA, he might make your players look better on the stat sheet, but he really isn't going to make your team better.

[Murphy13 185]

What's better, practicing and playing one style, only to change it for the playoffs because of how the game slows down in the playoffs, or playing that slower, deliberate half court game throughout the season as a way to prepare for said playoffs and be as effective as you can be?

 

You play like you practice (yes, we're talking about practice) and for contending teams, the regular season is pretty much 82 games of practice for the playoffs. So, why wouldn't you do your best to prepare as well as you possibly could for the playoffs?

 

I personally like the idea of changing styles for the playoffs, which are a time of adjustments anyway (atleast for the successful teams). If you just rock what you did in the regular season and don't mix it up it will be easy to adjust to you-ask the Hawks and Celtics about how consistent the Magic are/were. Now, if you change things up a bit, you will inevitably have times where what you're doing isn't in their scouting report.

 

I'm not saying a team should undergo an identity change from the reg season to the playoffs. I just happen to believe that changing up schemes is an excellent way to stay in control of a series....as long as you can still grind it out if you need to! I hate to side with the new guy thats frustrating all the vets but in this single regard he's probably correct in his assessment.

[DanA_TBDP 12]

Well obviously I have the Stan apologists panties in a bunch so let's go point by point.

 

We were great defensively in 09 but that had nothing to do with the additions of better perimeter defenders like Pietrus and Lee and Dwight being two years older. Love that the apologists get together for one giant circle jerk and + the hell out of everything that says "stan is the greatest coach ever" and all that BS and take things that the doubters say and turn them into absolutes and all that. I never said Stan wasn't a good coach. I think he is but his time is done here and he isn't someone who makes good adjustments and is too stuck with his system which has earned him one finals appearance and 0 titles in his 8 years of Wade and Dwight.

 

How does the run-n-gun fit this team better? Well for starters, we don't have anyone who can consistently create their own offense. So trying to score in the half court relies on Dwight being able to set good screens and score on post ups or kick outs. When teams don't double Dwight, other guys struggle to get going because they can't create on their own. Best example is Anderson. I will say that I think Ryan can get his offense better than a lot of people think and should've been used more in the post having a 2 inch height advantage on West. We couldn't score anyway; might as well. Without someone who can constantly get into the paint, the offense turns into contested deep 3s most of the time.

 

By getting out in transition, you can get a guy like Richardson into the corner more open. He can still run and looked better during that short up-tempo stretch we had. A guy like Ish will play over Duhon most likely and one of his biggest issues was outrunning his teammates? What if we played a style that brought his teammates up the court with him and he had a Redick or Richardson open on the wing or Dwight with great post position down low? A guy like Anderson is perfect for the secondary break. Defense runs back, and considering bigs are usually told to run to the paint, Anderson would get open looks on the secondary break. He's a few years older, but Q has shown he can succeed in a faster tempo game, Redick can, Richardson can, Dwight would be a 25-15 player I have no doubt, especially if we were able to get Nash.

 

We were a god awful offensive team this year and how many times did we score under 80? Under 70? Half court offense wasn't working anyway. A lot of that is due to Otis, but a lot of that is also due to us being so deliberate in the half court and being one of the slowest-paced teams in the league.

 

Our defense was good again, but it's going to be good no matter who the coach is because Dwight is that good! We were a top 7 defensive unit under Hill and it's no accident we've stayed there as Dwight's gotten older. Awesome, we jumped from 7th to 5th while being a slightly worse defensive team. Regardless, not a big jump either way (what we let up or where we ranked) because we were already a good defensive team because we had Dwight.

 

I disagree with the notion that we wouldn't play defense with D'Antoni here because frankly, our wings don't play defense as it is and rely completely on Dwight to make things happen defensively and to get stops. He's a one man defense. D'Antoni had a top 10 defensive unit with Chandler this year and as good as he is, Dwight's better.

 

To the notion that Dwight would clog the offense like Shaq; no. Dwight's used best in that Amar'e role playing the pick and role and scoring that way or off of faceups 5-10 feed from the basket. Suns were at their best when Amar'e was at center playing that style of basketball. 4 around 1 playing the pick and role game like we do now but with a faster tempo to get ourselves easier looks.

 

Two types of teams are effective in transition; athletic ones like the Heat who can get to the rim at will, and teams who shoot the 3. Transition basketball not only gives you clearer lanes to the rim and also doesn't give a defense an opportunity to set up giving your shooters open looks.

 

Stan's a good coach (dont know how many times I have to say that before the nut-huggers get it through their heads) but his time is done here and we'd be better served with a coach who is going to play a faster pace.

[KandiKane 136]

I could write a novel.... Or.... Dwight>Stan, Stan>available coaches...

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

I personally like the idea of changing styles for the playoffs, which are a time of adjustments anyway (atleast for the successful teams). If you just rock what you did in the regular season and don't mix it up it will be easy to adjust to you-ask the Hawks and Celtics about how consistent the Magic are/were. Now, if you change things up a bit, you will inevitably have times where what you're doing isn't in their scouting report.

 

I'm not saying a team should undergo an identity change from the reg season to the playoffs. I just happen to believe that changing up schemes is an excellent way to stay in control of a series....as long as you can still grind it out if you need to! I hate to side with the new guy thats frustrating all the vets but in this single regard he's probably correct in his assessment.

 

Do the Lakers and the Celtics change styles when the playoffs start?

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

This guy implied that I wear panties and called me a "nut-hugger".

 

I feel incredibly emasculated, and as a result am starting to question my own sexuality. Maybe this guy is right, and I like men. That would make me a clearly inferior human being, but maybe there's no escaping it at this point. ****.

 

I have a lot to think about here.

 

Sorry I called you out, guy.

[A Better DJ & Photographer 461]

Do the Lakers and the Celtics change styles when the playoffs start?

 

I'm not sure about the Lakeshow but the C's definitely crank up the D in the playoffs and KG emerges as the star he was.

[Murphy13 185]

Do the Lakers and the Celtics change styles when the playoffs start?

 

Not so much the Lakers, although if you call the addition of Pau in midseason a change then yes...since he directly led to their finals run that year, and helped Kobe take them over the top the next season.

 

Celtics? Of course, they have mailed in the reg season for years, then turn it up in the playoffs.

 

Remember I didn't say to change identity of the team, I just said its best to mix it up.

[30Assists 342]

I'll start this one off by saying that when I first got into NBA basketball, I started following Barkley. Loved the guy: never gave up on offense, wasn't a great defender, but was always fun to watch.

 

When he bounced over to the Suns, I followed, especially since the Suns seemed like the only team that could stick it to Jordan (oops). The Magic were my team, unquestioningly, but I've always had a soft spot for the Suns.

 

The Suns under Mike D were real fun to watch - they crushed the league in the regular season, especially if a team was unfortunate enough to show up at their place on a back-to-back. But...

 

The second the playoffs hit? The second teams forced the Suns to play half-court? The second teams started figuring out that defending against the fast break killed Mike D's game plan?

 

His teams started losing.

 

Don't get me wrong: the style of ball he brings to the game is a hell of a lot of fun. I think the Magic could benefit from running a bit more (as opposed to Duhon's slow plod up the court, crossing the halfcourt line just as the ref is raising the whistle to his mouth, gazing reptilianly around, dribbles once....twice....looks around....looks some more...picks up his dribble...looks around some more...panic-passes to some dude with 2 seconds left on the shot clock (and pray it's one of our guys)).

 

But while I think the Magic could benefit from running a little more, and while I think it would be awesome to have Nash play out his final season in Orlando, and while I think Mike D might bring us more regular season wins, our fate would be the same as the Suns: great regular seasons pinned in by dramatic defeats in the playoffs by teams with a more half-court oriented style.

 

I get you're frustrated with SVG. I am too. I think he should have gone deeper into the rotation this year, even if it cost us some games, just to keep guys healthy, but there are only...what? Two, three teams? with a better record than the Magic since SVG took over. If Dwight hadn't gone down, in this bracket? With Rose out for the Bulls? We probably would have swept our way to a match-up with whomever won the Celtics-Heat series (Heat, duh).

 

But with Dwight hurt....

 

Just a frustrating season.

 

I've said this in other posts, but the ONLY reason to get rid of an elite coach like SVG is if you 1) replace him with someone better (Mike D's entertaining, but he's not that guy - come on), 2) Dwight says that he signs an extension if SVG's gone.

 

That's it.

[30Assists 342]

This guy implied that I wear panties and called me a "nut-hugger".

 

I feel incredibly emasculated, and as a result am starting to question my own sexuality. Maybe this guy is right, and I like men. That would make me a clearly inferior human being, but maybe there's no escaping it at this point. ****.

 

I have a lot to think about here.

 

Sorry I called you out, guy.

You'll always have Roadhouse, Jackie: he can't take that away from you.

[DanA_TBDP 12]

Mike D'Antoni playoff record against teams not named San Antonio

 

2004-2005: 8-2 (Lost in WCF to Spurs)

2005-2006: 10-10 (Lost in WCF to Mavs)

2006-2007: 4-1 (Lost to Spurs in Semis)

2007-2008: 0-0 (Lost to Spurs in first round)

 

In 05, Spurs won the title, in 06 the Mavs went to the title game, in 07, the Spurs won the title again, and in 08, the Spurs lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals.

 

Mike's Suns playoff record against teams not named the Spurs was 22-13. It was just a hump he couldn't get over moreso than his style not working.

 

And it's not that he's a better coach it's that I think his style fits this team better than Stan's does.

[Magic Fan 4 Life 14]

Everyone should be backing up Dwight. Dwight is our franchise player, Stan is not a franchise coach.