D'antoni responds to Amare's comments

[Myth]

LOL at defense being 80% effort. Why don't you go and try really hard and guard Chris Paul, I'm sure that will work.

Well, when you are a relatively well matched physical specimen like Amare is versus most other bigs in the league, much of it does come down to effort. Also, it takes effort to learn the D, which Amare has not done.

[Teanett]

Two of the greatest defenders in our generation never went to college, KG and Dwight. Jermaine O'neal is also a good example.

Kobe one of the best perimeter defenders in his prime never went to college, that's no excuse.

though you have to consider that kobe is a big guard and kg started as a small forward.

in amar'e's case, he was always asked to give up size on d in order to be able to outrun the opponent's center.
whenever he put 40 points on duncan, duncan would put 30 on him...

[rmt]

Amare wasn't coached as a young player. He didn't pick up a ball until 14/15. He only played 2 years of high school basketball. The guy was raw coming into the league and he was raw when DAntoni got him. DAntoni's system encourages his team to give up easy baskets at time to get fast breaks going....that is discouraging defense!!! His whole career has basically been in a system that thinks playing hard defense is not conducive to winning basketball games.

But lets look at Amare's "effort" ?
-Shows up ever year in tip top shape. Even after multiple career threatening injuries.
-Plays with intensity ever game
-Added a deadly jumpshot to his arsenal.
-Became a marginally better post player.

Certain things aren't going to change with effort. He was never going to be able to guard the center position in Phx, due to a lack of size, not effort. When you have a young guy like Amare, they put precedence on what there coach wants. Coach D wanted Amare to stretch the defense and attack. That is what he improved upon. Coach D never had a problem with his defense.....if he had a problem with it I'm sure Amare would have tried to fix it, that is how he has addressed every other issue during his time in the NBA.

But this defense is 80% effort thing is a joke(its 80% natural attributes including stamina and maybe 20% effort because if you don't have the attributes than the effort doesn't matter) put out there by guys who don't play basketball. Sorry, but if you are better than someone than they can go as hard as they want and it doesn't matter. You just use there aggressiveness against them. And Amare's problem isn't effort, it is understanding, anticipation and saavy. It is almost like no one sat down and taught him how to rotate in an NBA level defense. This is something that Amare, someone who may not be the most intelligent guy, may be able to do by himself and not during practice.

I'm not a fan of Amare. My outstanding memory of him is doing push-ups after scoring on Duncan and Nash having to come over and lift him up. If, as you say, he's just DUMB and has never been taught/mentored by those around him (parents, relatives, coach, team mates, etc.), then it's understandable why he's never actively sought out learning defense.

Mike D'Antoni and Nash (who should know better but I guess loved D'Antoni's system since it showcased HIS talents and got him 2 MVPs) were understandably not interested in defense, but Steve Kerr (GM) must know how important it is as a former Bull and Spur. Why was there no big man mentor (like Ewing with DH, or KAJ with Bynum)? Must be because of the SSOL system. If LAL didn't have more than their share of luck, I'd pity them for having D'Antoni as a coach.

[LamarOdom]

though you have to consider that kobe is a big guard and kg started as a small forward.

in amar'e's case, he was always asked to give up size on d in order to be able to outrun the opponent's center.
whenever he put 40 points on duncan, duncan would put 30 on him...

I'm pretty sure Amar'e and Dwight is as tall, Dwight might even be shorter.

[HorryIsMyMVP]

I'm pretty sure Amar'e and Dwight is as tall, Dwight might even be shorter.

Yeah pretty much. Duncan is actually close to 7 foot. And Amare is like 6-10 but Amare is stronger and more athletic. No excuses. You are too dumb to play defense and if it weren't for athleticism you wouldn't be in the NBA. And he is getting paid way too much.

[Mach_3]

But lets look at Amare's "effort" ?
-Shows up ever year in tip top shape. Even after multiple career threatening injuries.
-Plays with intensity ever game
-Added a deadly jumpshot to his arsenal.
-Became a marginally better post player.

.

Not on defense he doesn't. No matter what excuse you come up with defense is about WANT at the end of the day. And Amare just doesn't want it, in the 8 or whatever years i've watched this man play basketball i have never ONCE seen him give a consistent effort to guard his man and stop him from scoring and that is the reason why he will never be even an average defender, not because Dantoni discouraged it but because he doesn't want it enough.

[Mach_3]

Yeah pretty much. Duncan is actually close to 7 foot. And Amare is like 6-10 but Amare is stronger and more athletic. No excuses. You are too dumb to play defense and if it weren't for athleticism you wouldn't be in the NBA. And he is getting paid way too much.

At no point in his career was Amare Stoudemire ever stronger than Tim Duncan.

[IGOTGAME]

Not on defense he doesn't. No matter what excuse you come up with defense is about WANT at the end of the day. And Amare just doesn't want it, in the 8 or whatever years i've watched this man play basketball i have never ONCE seen him give a consistent effort to guard his man and stop him from scoring and that is the reason why he will never be even an average defender, not because Dantoni discouraged it but because he doesn't want it enough.

this "want" stuff is such a joke. go guard Russel Westbrook, I'm sure you can because you got that "want."

this is like the new street hunger.

[Mach_3]

this "want" stuff is such a joke. go guard Russel Westbrook, I'm sure you can because you got that "want."

this is like the new street hunger.

Have you ever played basketball at the college level? or even high school level? The best defenders at any level of basketball will always be a mix of body type (height/length + coordination) and how badly they want to stop the guy in front of them. Mostly the latter. Like others said i'm willing to bet Amare doesn't try/isn't a good defender because playing good defense will never be glorified at the park or in the gym. Everyone wants to see 360 dunks and sh1t not Shane Battier locking up Kobe

Give me Russell Westbrook's height/wingspan and a large stack of money on how many stops i can get and i'll put him on shackles or at least stop him a good amount of the time.

[HorryIsMyMVP]

At no point in his career was Amare Stoudemire ever stronger than Tim Duncan.

I think when it came to upper body strength they were kind of a push. But Tim Duncan's trump card was always his wing span and bank shot.

[rhythmic]

D'Antoni thinks he's Phil Jackson or Greg Pop these days, calling out his team and stars around the league. This guy needs to shut his mouth and coach. So far he has been a disaster.

Lakers were 4-1 under their interim coach and all he did was let the team play (even without Nash). The pace was slower and they utilized the half-court offense far more effectively. They allowed far fewer points because they didn't have to run for 48 minutes and actually preserved the energy.

MD was a terrible decision for this time in hindsight, I was pretty optimistic at first but I am starting to hate this decision because the guy is a very one-dimensional coach.

[IGOTGAME]

Have you ever played basketball at the college level? or even high school level? The best defenders at any level of basketball will always be a mix of body type (height/length + coordination) and how badly they want to stop the guy in front of them. Mostly the latter. Like others said i'm willing to bet Amare doesn't try/isn't a good defender because playing good defense will never be glorified at the park or in the gym. Everyone wants to see 360 dunks and sh1t not Shane Battier locking up Kobe

Give me Russell Westbrook's height/wingspan and a large stack of money on how many stops i can get and i'll put him on shackles or at least stop him a good amount of the time.

yes, I have played on the college level.

but you don't have his height/wingspan all you have is "WANT." Since "defense is about WANT at the end of the day," nothing else should matter.

Defense is about first having the ability to be a good defender. That is a mix of anticipation, coordination, bball iq, saavy and body control. No matter what Kyle Korver was going to do he wasn't going to be all nba defense...WANT isn't the biggest component to defense.

[Rake2204]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[Heavincent]

I'm not a big fan of D'Antoni as a coach, but I love his asshole mentality. He got Amare good with that one

[IGOTGAME]

I'm not a big fan of D'Antoni as a coach, but I love his asshole mentality. He got Amare good with that one

amare should just start quoting Howards comments during the next presser, then point to the Lakers record and then put up a countdown until he is fired again.