Maybe Steve Nash knows something, or maybe he's freaking out over the idea of playing in a system other than Mike D'Antoni's free-wheeling, free-spirited system.
Reporters in Phoenix caught up with him at a charity appearance today and he addressed the speculation surrounding D'Antoni.
"This is the last thing I'm going to say about our coaching situation: Mike's my coach," Nash said. "So I expect to see Mike back here next year. And I know there's a lot of stuff going on right now, but Mike's my coach. I love playing for him. I expect to see him back in October."
No one benefitted more from D'Antoni than Nash, who arrived in Phoenix in 2004 and became a two-time MVP. The Suns went from a 29-win team the season before to a 62-20 finish in 2004-05. D'Antoni took over during the 2003-04 season, which saw all kinds of changes, including the blockbuster trade of Stephon Marbury to New York, which freed up cap space to sign Nash.
It is hard to believe D'Antoni can return to the Suns after all of this. Even if he doesn't take the Bulls offer and the Knicks decide not to go with him, D'Antoni will have other options later this summer with the uncertaintly in Atlanta. And the later this goes into the summer, the more pressure is put on the Suns to make a decision with a replacement coach -- not many options the longer they wait -- and then are forced to negotiate a buyout with D'Antoni. If they force him back to coach it would create a very strange and uneasy situation. But a contract is a contract.
Nash would obviously welcome that scenario, but you wonder if there is fallout to come with D'Antoni's departure. Would Nash seek a trade?
Stay tuned....
Comments (20)
Hey Alan,
What do you think about Berman's latest blog that negotiations have begun with D'antoni? Is it really that far-fetched that he would come to the Garden? I have never seen such differing reports on an a Knick issue before. ESPN.com says one thing, the Post another, Isola another, and you seem to be somewhere in between. I would be interested to know what you think the chances are that D'antoni lands here.
"Would Nash seek a trade?"
Ha ha ha. : ) C'mon, Alan -- don't tease us. Now you're just being mean.
cut the crap Peace.
u do not support da Knicks.
u support Isiaih Thomas
A lot of good hoop knowledge here.
Wake me when just one morsel of it comes courtesy of Peaceman.
Just one.
Miracles happen every day.
Maybe this will be Peaceman's day?
We can all dream.
I just don't see Marc Jackson being the right move for the Knicks. To begin with, I don't think NY is the right place to give a rookie coach "on the job training" even if he is talented. That goes double because NY is already frothing at the mouth over the Isiah years. .
You can take that kind of risk in a 2nd tier or 3rd tier market, but as soon as the Knicks lose a few games because of "suspect" coaching moves fan and the media are immediately going to start attacking Walsh and Jackson. The fans will have some patience with a rebuilding process, but they aren't going to like both rebuilding the team and educating a coach leading to another horror show of a season. They will want to see progress.
Maybe D'Antoni is not the right guy for THESE Knicks, but we aren't expecting these Knicks to be our team after we start unloading some bad contracts, draft a PG, etc... "D" will get immediate respect.
Now if you ask me my first choice, Tom Thibodeau is an absolute no brainer. He worked with Van Gundy who was wildly popular here, is from NY, is defense oriented, is experienced enough, has a reputation as a workaholic that will have this team prepared for the first time in years, fits what this NY Knick teams needs etc.... We should be signing petitions, begging, laying out the red carpet etc... to get this guy. That's how much of a no brainer it is.
allan
don't you think that comment
from nash was more i hope than knowledge?...
i still think that money talks and dolan has plenty to spend.
how can d'antoni go back to the suns now?
he would be submitting to kerr and losing all of his power.
i think he wants a fresh start.
I just don't understand why the Knicks don't go STRONG after Thibodeau when the Celtics are done. Why?
1. He is the defensive mastermind of the Celtics. Look at what the Celtics are doing to LeBron right now. He is a HUGE D man who is responsible for the Celtics being dominant rather than just good. We need that D mentality.
2. He's been here. He was an assistant under Van Gundy here, he gets New York and remembers what things "used to be like"
3. He's paid his dues and will make the most of this opportunity. A man that works as hard as Thibodeau in his first head coaching job? He will work his ass off. That is more than I could say for an offensive minded coach handed 30 million dollars.
To me it seems like a no brainer. Yes he is not the sexy pick but he would be perfect! A brilliant coach who has more than paid his dues.
The view from Phoenix:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/115881
Mike--(I guess we have to share the name...it's a good name : )--you commented on the last thread, about D'Antoni coming to NY as head coach, with Thibodeau as assistant. I think you're right that it wouldn't happen. Aside from the uncertainty around D'Antoni, for Thibodeau it'd only be a lateral move.
It's an intriguing idea, but I don't think it would work, anyway. It's a coaching version of fantasy basketball: putting two different guys together who are effective separately, and assuming they'll work well together. We've seen over the past few years what fantasy GM'ing will do to a roster. Concerning the coaches, D'A and Thib (for short) have nearly opposite philosophies. D'A likes his team to establish a primarily offensive identity; Thib a primarily defensive identity. I just don't think such a strong contrast is compatible within one team. Thib, in NY, worked under another defensive-minded coach. The players need to conserve their energy. Plus, the mindset needed to play tough D--an aggressive, angry, in-your-face kind of attitude (like KG's)--is different from what you want on a freewheeling, run-and-shoot offense, which is happier and more carefree (a little like Nash's--though he's as tough a competitor as anybody). I might sound a little foofy, but I'm perfectly serious when I say that insisting a team do both things, be hard-hitting defensively as well as high-flying offensively, will start to give the team an identity crisis (not to mention wear them all out by halftime).
This isn't football, with separate offensive and defensive squads, each with their own coordinator. One team, one philosophy. D'A and Thib are individually good coaches--and I think Tom would be a fine head coach--but I just don't think their styles would mesh.
I think Nash's playoff performance this year negatively propounded whatever power he had in the past! His window has closed! I wonder what D'Antoni's true feelings were about the Shaq trade?
BTW ....the thing that posted @ 16:51 & 16:55,
I'd like to see things from your point of view but I can't seem to get my head that far up my azz.
According to Peaceman, in his postings at KD, he gave Trane a serious beatdown here @ Alan Hahn’s blog. In addition, Peacewoman proclaimed that he made an azz out of Trane here at Knicks Fix.
Go to KnickDefense’s archives. They’re all there.
Defend your manhood and watch your backs.
This weekend is Peaceman's visitation rights to his 14 kids monitored by various social workers and his parole officers.
Peace: Ignore.
Peace.
I just made a Jackass out of Trane on Hahns blog! Trane basically said I was lying about Mark Jackson
calling the Knicks fans “Rats on a sinking ship” he stated it was Richardson saying “The ship be sinking”
which was true but a different time period, I told him to look it up. He told me he didn’t have to…he cited it!
Well here’s the link to prove it, Note the date is on the extreme left hand upper corner 1989,
This is the reason Mark Jackson will never Coach the Knicks!
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDE1239F937A25756C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
His arrogent ass is silent now! As it should be! LOL
Comment by Peaceman
Jackson=GM
Thibodeu=coach
Williams=ass't coach
Ewing= ass't coach
D'Antoni=wrong fit for knicks
I have been thinking about what the knicks really should do this offseason. I really would like the assistant coach from the celtics to get the job, Avery would be my second choice. As for players, i dont think we have enought draft picks and i dont think we can acquire enough draft picks to have a descent team so this is what i think the knicks should do (the salaries match):
1 Trade Marbury for Jermaine Oneil (pacers do it to get marbury’s huge contract off the books this year. Oniel’s contract is a year longer than Marbury’s.
2. Trade Curry, Crawford and Rose for Jason Kidd. I know Kidd looked like he has nothing left when he was in dallas but i think he thrives when he is the team leader and if not he will be in his last year of his deal (i think). Dallas might do this because they get a decent scoring center in Curry im sure he is an upgrade to Dampier, and Crawford is a good scoring optiojn off the bench for them.
3. Trade Zach for Atest and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The kings do this for much needed help in the front court. Knicks do this to get rid of Zachs contract and give D lee some more playing time
4 Big board should look like this : Rose, Beasley, OJ, Bayless,Brook Lopez.
The starting lineup should look like this at the start of the season:
PG Kidd
SG Artest
SF Chandler
PF Lee
C Oneil
Would D'Antoni be the best fit for this team??? No. Unless, there are some wholesale changes on this team which the cap and player value is preventing any major moves this off season. How can we expect 360 change with a veteran coaches. Cmon Fixers. Larry and Lenny has a distinguished pasts and we know how that ended up. And I know how this will end up. Hire Jackson Donnie...
Interesting ideas, J! I'm assuming you've run the salaries through ESPN's machine, and the trades all clear. None of the trades look like dogs, either--the other teams would at least consider them, I think. I'm not sure Indiana would want to commit so completely to rebuilding--which is the only reason to trade Jermaine for an expiring contract--but it's a legit option for them. Malik Rose is a Rick Carlisle kind of guy, but I'm not sure about the other two--the only way I see that happening, is if Cuban decides the Kidd experiment has already failed (a correct decision, I think). Sacramento's the iffiest...but a productive post scorer to go with Kevin Martin and a good passing center in Brad Miller...I applaud your ideas! That would be a makeover...
Trane,
Understood! DFTT!
Pairing D'Antoni and Thibs sounds nice. Pay Thibideau like a head coach and see how "lateral" the move is.
If they hire D'Antoni, that completely changes how they'll draft. If the lotto is unkind and they can't get Derrick Rose or Jerryd Bayless, do they look at a 7-foot superfreak athlete like DeAndre Jordan?
I trust Donnie to do the right thing for the Knicks.