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BOOKMARKPosted: Wednesday April 30, 2008 1:49AM; =
Updated:=20
Wednesday April 30, 2008 9:53AM
| Jack McCallum | > |
INSIDE THE NBA
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D'Antoni's tenure in Phoenix over |
Story Highlights
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SAN ANTONIO -- Mike D'Antoni, the NBA's Coach of the = Year for=20 the 2004-05 season and the man credited with reinvigorating = fast-break=20 basketball in a league gone stale, will not be back to coach the = Phoenix=20 Suns for the 2008-09 season, SI.com has learned. D'Antoni deferred questions about his job status after the Suns = were=20 eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of their Western = Conference=20 first-round playoff series on Wednesday night. "I'm just really proud of my guys," D'Antoni said after the = Spurs'=20 92-87 win that marked the third time in four years that San = Antonio has=20 ended the Suns' season. D'Antoni did not address his own situation. But sources within = the=20 organization confirm that D'Antoni feels he does not have the = backing of=20 upper management --specifically owner Robert Sarver and = general=20 manager Steve Kerr -- and considers the situation = irredeemable. The Suns have long been one of the NBA's model franchises, and = both=20 D'Antoni and Kerr, for whatever differences they might have about = the=20 direction of the team, are respected around the league. It's hard = to=20 believe, then, that D'Antoni's situation would devolve into an = ugly,=20 protracted war, New York Knicks style. How exactly the scenario unfolds depends largely on whether = D'Antoni=20 gets another job offer. The most palatable scenario for all in = Phoenix=20 would be this: Team A asks the Suns for permission to talk to = D'Antoni,=20 who has two years left on his contract; Suns say OK; D'Antoni = interviews=20 and is hired. One landing spot for him would seem to be Chicago, where = general=20 manager John Paxson has not yet replaced Jim Boylan, = who=20 himself replaced Scott Skiles (now in charge in Milwaukee). = The=20 Bulls underachieved this season under both coaches but would seem = to have=20 the kind of offensive nucleus (Ben Gordon, Luol = Deng,=20 Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni) with which D'Antoni = could=20 build. One other possibility is New York, where new president = Donnie=20 Walsh is taking his time making a head-coaching decision = despite=20 speculation that the hiring of former point guard Mark = Jackson is a=20 done deal. There has also been whispers of D'Antoni's taking over = in=20 Toronto, where Sam Mitchell's coaching future is an = ongoing=20 discussion and where Bryan Colangelo, D'Antoni's former = boss in=20 Phoenix and still a close friend, is calling the shots. But = Toronto=20 doesn't seem as comfortable a fit for D'Antoni as Chicago or even = New=20 York. Don't look for that to happen. As is the custom with all NBA teams, D'Antoni will meet soon = with=20 Sarver and Kerr, together or separately. Kerr said before Sunday's = Game 4,=20 which turned out to be the Suns' lone series win, that D'Antoni's=20 departure was not a fait accompli as far as he is = concerned. He=20 would not comment on D'Antoni's status after Game 5. But a source = said=20 that Kerr would make a few demands in the postseason debriefing: = that=20 D'Antoni devote more practice time to defense; have more = confidence in his=20 bench players, i.e., go to an expanded rotation; develop a clearer = plan=20 for a point guard to back up Steve Nash; and get more = planned=20 touches out of Amar=E9 Stoudemire in post-up = situations. D'Antoni, sources say, believes that the situation has been = festering=20 all season and that nothing would be accomplished in the meeting. = Whatever=20 the circumstances of his departure, it will probably be presented = as as a=20 rift between coach and GM, and to a large extent that's true. But = when=20 Colangelo left for Toronto, mostly because he and Sarver were = doomed not=20 to coexist harmoniously, D'Antoni lost his biggest booster in the = front=20 office, as well as a friend. It's what happens in the NBA and in = all pro=20 sports. Over four full seasons D'Antoni racked up a 232-96 record, made = the=20 Western finals twice and changed the way that observers both in = and out of=20 the league thought about the game. Management might have some = legitimate=20 gripes about his defensive coaching, and remember that D'Antoni = was a=20 bigger booster of the trade for Shaquille O'Neal than Kerr = was. But Suns management now faces one extremely formidable = challenge in=20 l'affaire D'Antoni: finding someone better. |
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