2012-13 Around the NBA thread

[itvnetop]

Originally Posted by Kindoy

Not even going into the LeBron v. Kobe thing and not comparing those rosters either. LeBron's roster had pieces that fit around him (shooters) - Kobe didn't quite frankly.

To answer your Steve Clifford question, yes. He was the defensive assistant that coached the Magic & Dwight the three years Dwight won DPOY as well as the year they made it to the finals.

D'Antoni, Kobe, & Nash will put their noggins together and make it work. If we're going with a Stephen A. quote marathon ill go with another thing he said - "They're too smart not to". D'Antoni will modify this offense and incorporate some looks to play to Pau/Dwight/Kobe's strengths. Nobody is calling for Kobe to shoot it every time down, but the base of this offense calls for early shots and if there is anyone i want shooting on this team it's Kobe plain and simple. You run the pick and roll and let Nash read, thats it, either kick it to Kobe or don't. If you're wingmen close then you dump it in to the post, I think D'Antoni is smart enough to figure that out. Dwight isn't going to just be doing cartwheels around the 3 point line after a pick and roll. Just because the Lakers want to shoot it early doesn't mean they have to. D'Antoni can really on the pick and roll all year teams have done it before and reached the finals (Stockton & Malone Jazz to name one) and teams still do it (Bulls, Cavs, Celtics etc.).

He's never had a team like this. The Suns and Knicks weren't bad at defense because he didn't coach it, they were bad because they were disinterested in defense. Nash jokingly said they didn't play defense because thats not what they were payed to do. Get Clifford, or McMillan if he is hired to motivate them a little and they'll play enough defense to win. Even Kobe in one of his recent interviews said they ran about 3 defensive drills EVER with Phil, no exaggeration, and many of those teams were consider solid defensive teams mainly because they had size in the middle (see Dwight, Pau, Hill). Defense in the NBA is effort, motivation, and good communication - not X's and O's.

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.