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Report: D’Antoni Out As Suns Coach

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main 

??????????????????????? Mike D\'Antoni

Things do not appear to be looking good for Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix as according to Jack McCallum of SI.com, D’Antoni will not return for the 2008-09 season as the coach of the Phoenix Suns; Wednesday evening - immediately after the Suns were eliminated from the playoffs - found D’Antoni artfully dodging questions about his immediate future.? However, sources within the Suns organization feel that D’Antoni doesn’t have the support of upper management - namely owner Robert Sarver and general manager Steve Kerr - and consider the situation beyond repair.

Ironically, it is the Suns franchise that’s considered the model for the NBA as both D’Antoni and Kerr are respected around the league - which makes it?you wonder how D’Antoni’s situation has gotten to this state.? How things unfold will rely largely on whether D’Antoni gets another job offer from another NBA team; one team certain to have interest in D’Antoni would be the Chicago Bulls.? The Bulls do not have a coach in place yet; perhaps the Bulls’ mindset is that D’Antoni can mold the team’s current roster into one that has the offensive potential to improve.?

Another possibility is the New York Knicks; you have to know that team president Donnie Walsh is taking his time in naming his next coach for a reason.? Another destination could include Toronto, where coach Sam Mitchell is rumored to be out.? D’Antoni is to meet soon with Sarver and Kerr, and one can expect this meeting to be tenuous; however, it is being tossed around that Kerr may make some demands - no doubt in order for D’Antoni to keep his job.? Some demands on the drawing board being rumored to be brought u in the meeting include: D’Antoni devoting more time to defense, having more confidence in his bench players, put together a plan to find a point guard to back up Steve Nash and find ways to get Amare Stoudemire more touches during a game.? Whether D’Antoni acquiesces to these rumored demands isn’t clear, but my hunch is that because of D’Antoni’s fractured relationship with the Suns’ upper management, this meeting may be an exercise in futility - which will follow by D’Antoni looking for work elsewhere.

Despite all of this, there is no denying that D’Antoni is a well-accomplished coach, as his 232-96 record will attest to; but like recently fired Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, D’Antoni’s accomplishments mean very little if your team is eliminated from the first round of the playoffs for 2 consecutive years.? I would suspect that D’Antoni’s fate will be determined - as soon as this coming Monday.? Assuming Phoenix lets D’Antoni go, you can rest assured that D’Antoni will find a job in the NBA next season; it isn’t a matter of if but when.



Comments

One Response to “Report: D’Antoni Out As Suns Coach”

  1. The Wrong Guy Is Getting Fired In Phoenix! » Slam Dunk Central on May 1st, 2008 7:15 pm

    [...] gut says yes, this is a travesty! As Steve Rhodes wrote in the initial report on Slam Dunk Central?Report: D?Antoni Out As Suns Coach? D’Antoni will be a hot commodity this Summer, he may end up better off in the long run. But [...]

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