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D'Antoni, Kerr to meet on differences

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Clearly, philosophical differences exist between Mike D'Antoni and superiors. Owner Robert Sarver and team president Steve Kerr are unhappy with their coach's defensive preparation and unwillingness to hold players accountable. A Phoenix hall monitor divulges a meeting between D'Antoni and Kerr is scheduled for this morning. Here today, gone later today. Should no agreement be reached on radically improving those two areas, the Suns will be on the prowl for a new coach by early afternoon.

New York Post

Mike D'Antoni , AP Mike D'Antoni , AP
May 2, 2008  07:35 AM ET

Wonder where Avery Johnson will end up at? PHX or NYK

May 2, 2008  09:28 AM ET

Avery should go to NYK....its tough to get an offensive team to play D. Defense is a want to... a desire...a sacrifice for the team....but an offensive team dont really have that....it takes years to get that will to play defensive...that is if they want to really want play D

May 2, 2008  10:23 AM ET

See ya Mike. The front office is right on this one. The Suns are much better than they're showing. We need someone who will stress DEFENSE, and eliminate some of the mental lapses that we're experiencing now.

May 2, 2008  10:43 AM ET

The Suns need a coach who can preach defense. Jeff Van Gundy? I can't think of any other coach sitting at home right now that could work.

May 2, 2008  10:52 AM ET

Gotta blame someone, when really it's all about the Spurs dominance of the Suns in the playoffs...year...after year...after year! Maybe the Suns should make a run for Popovich, Duncan, Parker, Ginoboli, the Spurs water boy...

May 2, 2008  11:43 AM ET

Wonder where Avery Johnson will end up at? PHX or NYK

JTMeek |

I hope it's NY. As a Spurs fan, it killed me to actually see AJ in Dallas. It would be worse if he were in Phoenix.. He might cure them of their whining though. AJ will not be mishandled!

May 2, 2008  11:43 AM ET

Gotta blame someone, when really it's all about the Spurs dominance of the Suns in the playoffs...year...after year...after year! Maybe the Suns should make a run for Popovich, Duncan, Parker, Ginoboli, the Spurs water boy...

ToM
after year!

May 2, 2008  11:54 AM ET

Defense wins championships.You cant outscore people and constantly win.He is a good coach but it will only go sooo far.It is time for a change.

May 2, 2008  12:30 PM ET

I agree with T.W.
Defense wins championships, Until Suns (R.I.P) get a defensive system going to add to thier high octane offensive they will always be the doormat of the NBA Playoffs

Phoenix Suns - Texas Owned since 2001

And as Always I agree with JPD

May 2, 2008  12:47 PM ET

the spurs pick and rolled them to death, shaq has never been able to guard that and i dont think it will be changing any time soon. THE SUNS CHANCES OF WINNING A RING WITH THIS TEAM ARE DONE.

May 2, 2008  01:49 PM ET

D'Antoni's time is up . Offense wins games, defense wins Championships. There is no reason why the most explosive offensive in the league can't get it done. This is why it's called coaching.

May 2, 2008  02:09 PM ET

Steve Kerr needs to take the blame on this one; he's the one who traded for Shaq. He shot 9/20 at the foul line in the elimination game and was missing easy shots all night! Absolutely terrible trade; the guy is too old to play his game anymore.

May 2, 2008  02:12 PM ET

Like JPD said, we don't want Avery in Arizona. He would bring what they need: DEFENSE!

May 2, 2008  02:25 PM ET

I believe if they kept Shawn Marion they would have had more shooting power, and they should have just got them a big man in the draft because Shaq will be retiring soon, so the trade was a not a good idea

May 2, 2008  02:28 PM ET

What did they disagree on? Bringing in an old and overrated Shaq? You know the guy who was outplayed by that juggernaut, Erick Dampier, in the Finals? I believe it was the Big Fraud-o-stotle who said, "when people say bad things about me and I tend to go out and win championships". So where's the chip Shaq? Oh, I forgot, you didn't have DWade, the referees or Kobe to go out and actually win it for you.

Steve Kerr is the one who should be taken to task. I do agree defense wins championships, so instead of trading for Shaq at the deadline, how about sending Banks and maybe a couple of throw ins to Sac-town for Artest? You keep Marion, who was the best defender outside of Bell, and you add Artest who can also hit an open 3?

May 2, 2008  02:30 PM ET

Too close for the last few years, something needs to change and will change.
Coach is probably out, much easier to move a coach than a player with a huge contract.
And how did Steve Kerr become such an authority on Basketball. Isn't this his
first management position in the NBA? I know he played a bunch of years, then sometime with TNT, but really what does he know?

May 2, 2008  02:39 PM ET

LF
hmmm five NBA rings
I would say he knows something about the game

May 2, 2008  04:48 PM ET

Avery Johnson would be perfect to replace D'Phoney. Avery know Nash game and he can coach defense.

May 2, 2008  06:15 PM ET

the spurs pick and rolled them to death, shaq has never been able to guard that and i dont think it will be changing any time soon. THE SUNS CHANCES OF WINNING A RING WITH THIS TEAM ARE DONE.

You know, the Spurs looked deflated at the end of the 1st quater Game 1. But when the Suns started giving the game away, the Spurs had no choice but to take it. But if you'll recall, nothing they were doing worked offensively or defensively for the first 12 mins of that game. They fought like champs after that, won the game (barely) and got their fire back. But Steve Nash had it right: the Suns are more talented than the Spurs. And it's not a talented like Denver or Golden State where you have to deal with a lot of attitude problems. These guys, for the most part, are vets who want to win it all. Everyone who criticizes Shaq now was in awe of his shut-down defense on Tim Duncan, "the best big man in the game." They also raved about how much his presence helped Amare's game. But they lost and all of a sudden it was a bad trade. You got to remember, they didn't have the services of Grant Hill available either. You can't blow off the loss of a starter. It screws with your whole rotation. But regardless, they made fundamental errors on offense down the stretch of Games 1 and 5 that could've made a HUGE difference. Defensively, they were good enough to have beaten the Spurs (forget about Games 2 & 3 when they were back on their heels still recovering from Game 1). But I WILL agree that were severely outcoached. When you have Amare, Nash & O'Neal, you don't go to Boris Diaw 75% of the time. You've got to let your stars either win the game or lose it. And forget going to the bench for a lift. D'Antoni has never trusted his bench & we saw the fruit of that when Grant went down. It's a mistake not to get your bench involved. All great teams do. The Spurs have always been 10-11 deep. The Lakers are at least 10 deep now. The Celts & Pistons rely heavily on their benches as well. D'Antoni's a bit of a micro-manager on offense & I think he's got to go. I love his philosophy of offense-first but you have to have the personnel to make it work and they have to buy into it and Marion & STAT never did. That's why even if they would've had Marion I still don't think they would've beaten San Antonio or even stayed on top of the West like they were when the trade went down. The Suns need a coach who will trust his players and let them do what they do. Van Gundy seems like the best candidate for that. He's a defensive guy who believes in working the post & using his reserves all things the Suns sorely need.

 
May 2, 2008  06:30 PM ET

Those with no true knowledge of the game will continue to blame Shaq. The fact is Phoenix shooting percentage, fast break opportunities, rebounding are all up. Stoudemire's scoring average went up 4 points a game. Shaq is an excellent passer out of the post but the ball never went in to him. He wasn't used properly. It's not Shaq's fault that Nash doesn't know how much time there is on the shot clock. It's not Shaq's fault that Ginobli wasn't fouled before kicking the game tying bucket.
Phoenix problem is on the defensive end of the floor. Amare, Nash, and Barbosa are all liabilities on defense. Parker single-handedly dismantled this team. If it was Shaq's fault, what happened the last 3 years?

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