Lakers fire Mike Brown

coynejeremy · Nov 13, 2012

The legend of Mike Dantoni's bad defense is debunked.

Mike D'Antoni May Be Second-Best, But He Can Lead the Lakers - The Triangle Blog - Grantland

Spare me the nonsense that D’Antoni doesn’t coach defense, or that his Phoenix teams were terrible defensively. They ranked right around the league average in points allowed per possession during most of his tenure there. Our collective addiction to points per game and (declining) ignorance about pace made it appear the Suns were hemorrhaging points like the Warriors. They weren’t.

Nor were D’Antoni’s Knicks, at least the version that was actually trying to win games instead of engaging in a prolonged LeBron James roster tear-down. The Knicks ranked around ninth or 10th in points allowed per possession when D’Antoni resigned, and though they improved under the defense-first Mike Woodson, the absence of Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony’s sudden decision that earning $20 million meant he should actually try hard, had something to do with that improvement.

Please also spare me the dreck about how D’Antoni’s system “failed” in the playoffs or “can’t win” titles. Two conference finals berths in an ultracompetitive West is not a failure. The Suns suffered a disproportionate amount of bad luck in the postseason. Joe Johnson’s orbital fracture cost him the first two games of the 2005 conference finals. Stoudemire was out for the entirety of the 2006 postseason, and several other key guys, including Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas, were in street clothes for part of that run. The suspensions of Boris Diaw and Stoudemire for Game 5 of the conference semifinals against San Antonio in 2007 shifted the entire series.
Luck is a factor in every playoff run. So are injuries. You don’t have to go back even one year to realize that. You could also ask Jerry West about luck, health, and the difficulty of winning even one title despite a “clutch” reputation. The people who ignore luck, injuries, matchups, and a dozen other variables that help determine the league championship every season are the same people who said LeBron would never win one because of some internal weakness.

"With that said"...

There are examples, too, of teams that won titles or nearly won them using the Phoenix model of fantastic offense and average defense. The 2010-11 Mavs blew the doors off everyone in the playoffs while allowing points at a league-average rate during their postseason run. That understates how good the Mavs were defensively, since they were top-10 in the regular season and faced some of the best scoring teams in the league during the small playoff sample size. The 1994-95 Rockets had a similar offense-first run, playing just good enough defense against four scoring machines.

But such runs are the exception. A top-10 defense is a borderline must-have for any team that wants the title. Even some of the very “worst” defensive teams to seriously contend for a ring or even win one — the 2001 Lakers, 1998 Jazz, and 1994 Rockets, for instance — turned mediocre regular-season defenses into stingy playoff juggernauts. Neil Paine’s essential research at Basketball-Reference has shown that an elite defense is slightly more important in winning a title than an elite offense, though both are crucial.

D’Antoni’s Phoenix way can work, but it is not ideal. The Heat were able to weather their own bad injury luck in part because, even without Chris Bosh, they could lean upon a very strong defense.

Bottom line...

The idea that D’Antoni doesn’t coach defense is ridiculous. It’s all over Seven Seconds or Less, Jack McCallum’s must-read book about the 2005-06 Suns, and one conversation with the guy or a coach who has worked with him will reveal that D’Antoni talks a ton about defensive X's and O's. He has a lot of ideas to guard Star Wing X, and he knows very well that Big Guy Y likes to spin baseline on post-ups.

BallDon'tLie · Nov 13, 2012

dba · Nov 13, 2012

I'm guessing that "league average" defensive teams don't win too many titles either.

LA Dre · Nov 28, 2012

I watched the D'antoni coached Lakers tonight.....they looked dreadful losing 79-77 to the Pacers and it did not really appear to be that close until they finally tied the game 72-72 via an 8-0 run with 2 minutes left.

Kobe was playing with the flu and had a triple double...40 pts, 10 boards and 10 TURNOVERS..... Yep Kobe 40, rest of the team 37

The Laker bench will be their downfall this season as they shot 2-15 from the floor and had 5 points.

Not to be outdone...Laker starters Gasol, Morris and World Peace were 3-23 from the field. (Kobe and Howard were 19-38 from the floor

Let's talk about free throw shooting....23-43 from the line with DHoward missing 9...

D'antoni 2-3
Bernie Bickerstaff 4-1
Mike Brown 1-4
Overall record 7-8

Nemo · Nov 28, 2012

Stuckey could improve their shooting percentage off the bench.

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Lakers fire Mike Brown

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LA Dre One Time Champion

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Lakers fire Mike Brown

coynejeremy Super Moderator

BallDon'tLie Hji

dba Article Contributor

LA Dre One Time Champion

Nemo Member+

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