Re: RoCo already making a difference
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 1:08 pm
AbeVigodaLive wrote:thedoper wrote:Dantoni is a great regular season coach. He will be fired at the end of this season. Morey probably too (which is probably undeserved). Roco is a fine complimentary player, unfortunately he never really helped us win because we didnt have proper lead dogs to compliment his skills. He's going to be great in Houston until they choke in the playoffs.
Maybe. And maybe Dantoni is a bit of a gimmick coach or not good enough for the playoffs.
But some of that is luck, too.
The 2018 Rockets were definitely good enough to win a title. Then, Chris Paul was injured after the Rockets took a 3 - 2 lead. The depleted team that was left was leading in both Game 6 and Game 7 at halftime.
In Phoenix, the Suns were either the 2nd or 3rd best team multiple times. And bad luck kept them there.
- The Horry hipcheck game was disheartening... and a bit dastardly and definitely an overreaction by Stern.
- Earlier that series, in Game 1, Steve Nash was playing awesome leading a comeback when he collided with Parker and bloodied his nose. He kept returning to the game to make a big play... only to be told he had to leave because he was bleeding too much. The Suns couldn't stop the bleeding when he was off the court (ahem, ahem) and the Suns lost a close game.
- In Game 3... Tim Donaghy was a game official. The game was atrociously officiated... just saying.
- The Suns under Dantoni made the conference Finals without Stoudemire. They had former PG, Boris Diaw, playing center. That should be applauded.
- In 2005, Joe Johnson broke his face in the 2nd rd of the playoffs.
He also had Robert Sarver as an owner who made cost-cutting move after cost-cutting move in the middle of all that Suns success... to line his own inept, gold-line and ego-boosting pockets.
Titles are won on talent. Luck. Coaching. And other stuff. Sometimes, you need all of it.
I know you're a fan of those Suns teams. I think any way you dissect it, Dantoni has not focused as much as he should have on defense on his teams. I think he has been an innovator, changed the game and has a huge role in the amazing new skillsets that players have coming into the league. He's a unique coach, and a talented individual. That being said, defense wins championships. I feel he has always had an impact on the makeup of his teams, as a coach naturally would. And usually his system and the personell he seeks out to execute his vision is at the cost of defense when they need it most. Luck is a huge part of success in many walks of life, but the makeup of a team and how you use those pieces can compensate for luck.