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Originally Posted by itvnetop
Lebron didn't have players that fit in with him anymore than Kobe did. He just had players that could drain open shots because of the way he played. What exactly has Boobie Gibson or Sasha Pavlovic accomplished without him? If you've ever seen professional wing players on the playground, most of them can hit the open basket with ease- that's why they're professionals. Kobe definitely wasn't winning a ring with Smush and the machine (that sounds like some rejected hipster band name), but he sure didn't elevate their play with his own.
Steve Clifford may have been an assistant with Orlando- but he's not the reason why Howard won DPOY. Dwight Howard is DPOY because he is Dwight Howard. The Magic were decent defensively because of the risks they were able to take on the perimeter... The wings could gamble because they knew they had a safety net in the paint. In fact, the only other decent defender I can remember on that team was Courtney Lee. This should be good news for LA fans if Dwight can get healthy again.
If pick and roll was the only difference needed, I'm not sure why D'antoni was needed for that... the offensive set is a fairly basic one to teach. And the Suns and Knicks were bad on defense specifically because of the D'antoni system (there's no desire to play it if the coach emphasizes offense, only). If the coach's philosophy is to shoot the ball within 7 seconds, the ball is either going in or the defense is getting a rebound (with an offensive rebound once in a while). If the system tells you to run an offensive set that quickly, the team is running up and down the court. There's no time to set up a proper defense.
Wait... the Knicks seem to be a lot better defensively after D'antoni left. They've basically got the same team, unless you're going to convince me Raymond Felton is locking players down. And while Kidd was known for a being a great defender, he's hardly all team nowadays. Woodson was also an assistant under D'antoni, but what's the difference now? Oh yeah, the head coach sets the table. If Melo's finally playing defense, it's because Woodson's pushed the intiative. Most offensive players would love to have a coach tell them not to worry about defense- hence, why players love D'antoni. And if Amare comes back and starts playing D, we'll all know where the motivation comes from.
Hey, if the Lakers win the ring in the next two years I'll admit I was wrong. That's the window the Lakers have with this team. I think Howard's gone after this season if the year goes south.
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Welp, we don't need a coach for D because we have Dwight Howard. And we don't need a coach for offense because the pick and roll is so simple... i guess we don't need a coach.
Melo has already shown signs of letting up on D (not getting back, etc.), give him 5 more games and he'll be as lazy as ever. Granted they have been better on defense... but 6 games or whatever they've played doesn't sell me on much.
I still think D'Antonis a good hire. Inspired, thoughtful coach, isn't your average Joe like Brown seemed to be. The guys want to play for him, thats half the battle as an NBA coach. He'll conjure something up to fit this squad. Anyways, its all talk until the seasons over.