D'Antoni: The Real Choke Artist

Another year in the NBA and another predictable playoffs. The Raptors stunk-it-up again against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors won a series as an important piece on the opposing team was injured. LeBron James made it to another NBA Finals (This was probably the most predictable). Last but definitely not least, good old “Let’s double the offense!” (shout out to Game of Zones) failed to live up to expectations in the playoffs, once again.

Ahh, Mike D’Antoni. Some call him an offensive genius. Some call him a defensive wizard (hmmm, doesn’t sound right to me). Some call D’Antoni the one who helped usher in the new age of basketball. A style of basketball involving running up and down the court, jacking up semi-open three after semi-open three. The iconic phrase used to describe his brand of basketball: “7 Seconds or Less.” Hell, theres even a book about it.

Back in his days in Phoenix, D’Antoni implemented the “7 seconds or less” system to perfection with 2-time MVP Steve Nash orchestrating the offense on the court. In 4 seasons as the full-time head coach of the Suns, the organization made the playoffs 4 straight years, recording 50+ wins in each of those seasons. However, much to D’Antoni and the Phoenix Suns dismay, their run ended before reaching the pinnacle. The first 3 years, the Suns were eliminated either in the conference finals or conference semi-finals. However, in his fourth and last season with the organization, his Suns squad was bounced out in the first round after a 55 win regular season.

D’Antoni continued to achieve big in his seasons in Phoenix except when it mattered the most. Why is that? Well, the answer, quite frankly is D’Antoni. The Suns may have been an offensive symphony but their defense crumbled, letting players through like a revolving door. Despite the best efforts of Steve Kerr to encourage D’Antoni to hire Tom Thibodeau as the key defensive mind the Suns team desperately required, D’Antoni refused, leaving the Suns for good. Turns out Tom Thibodeau can coach some defense. Hmmm. Minnesota? ….We don’t talk about that.

After a few quick stints with the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers that ended quite unceremoniously with him being fired or him “resigning”, D’Antoni, out of nowhere, got another head coaching opportunity. Daryl Morey, envisioning a high paced, high shooting offence run by NBPA MVP (LUL) James Harden hired D’Antoni to take the Rockets to new heights. And, as much to the leagues surprise, the Rockets had tremendous success.

In his first year as the head coach of the Rockets, D’Antoni secured 55 wins but the real surprise came this past season. The Rockets, with new addition Chris Paul and surging new star Clint Cappela, added 10 more wins to their previous seasons’ win column. Racking up 65 wins, the Rockets dominated much of the competition all year long, particularly when the trio of Chris Paul, James Harden and Clint Capella were all on the floor. together What was most surprising was the Rockets defence. After seasons of being ridiculed for having a lack of focus on defence, D’Antoni now fielded a team that was very capable of guarding multiple positions. Individuals questioned, “Has D’Antoni finally found the right mix?” and “Is this where he gets success in the playoffs?” Most importantly, “Has he changed?” No.

See, despite making it to the conference finals this year, being up 3-2 on the defending champions and having success with Clint Capella in pick-and-rolls against the Warriors, D’Antoni said “I don’t think so.” I don’t know what D’Antoni was preaching to the Rockets during the halftime break of game 7 of the Western Conference Finals but if his postgame interview is any indication, he was preaching “play like we have been all season.” Not “keep playing how we have this game.” You know, you would think that would be good advice considering its working. But no. Let’s just continue to jack up threes because it worked during the season despite it not working out in the game.

This is precisely why D’Antoni continues to frustrate Owners, GM’s, Players, and Fans across the NBA. You could beat it into his head and it still wouldn’t matter. D’Antoni fails to understand that it’s not all about his system. It’s not all about shooting threes and playing at a high pace. Sometimes, particularly in the playoffs, its about slowing the game down and making 2’s instead of jacking up threes. But I guess if he didn’t get it by now, he probably never will. So keep smiling in your post game interview D’Antoni talking about “just missing” all day. Just know, it is your own stubbornness that has continued to help hold your team back in the playoffs.

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