http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7576223/nba-jeremy-lin-success-system
Figure a thread about D'antoni that's based off NBA players, scouts, and professionals would be good for a change.
Agree, disagree, or simply soak it in. Meat and potatoes in quotes below, some at the end are especially interesting:
Figure a thread about D'antoni that's based off NBA players, scouts, and professionals would be good for a change.
Agree, disagree, or simply soak it in. Meat and potatoes in quotes below, some at the end are especially interesting:
"What happened?"
In other words, how did this guy from a school that has produced twice as many United States presidents as NBA players, a guy who was jettisoned to the D-League last month, take the league by storm?
The answer was as honest as the question.
"It's a combination of the system, being able to fit into the system, being comfortable, being able to play through some mistakes, and then building confidence," Lin said.
Notice the only noun that appeared twice in Lin's statement was "system." This story might serve as the ultimate testament to how a coach and his system can make all the difference in a player's effectiveness. We talk all the time of the importance of chemistry in the NBA, but usually in regard to the personalities in the locker room. We underestimate how the alchemy of a coach's system and a player can elicit results we couldn't have imagined.
"In any other system in the world he wouldn't flourish," said an NBA scout. "In a Mike D'Antoni system, he flourishes."
"I think about 75 percent of the players in the league are dependent on circumstance, whether it's the coach, the system, teammates," said Steve Kerr, the sharpshooter turned TNT analyst. "For the majority of the league, there's a lot of luck involved and a lot of circumstance. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right spot
In Lin's case, the Knicks' offense suits him because it spreads the players around the perimeter in a setup scout calls "an open donut." Defenders must stay outside the lane, within arm's reach of an offensive player, to avoid a defensive three-seconds violation, creating plenty of driving avenues once Lin comes off one of the innumerable screens set by Tyson Chandler.
Lin calls D'Antoni "an absolute offensive genius."
"The way that he creates a system and, every single game, during walkthrough he does something different, and he'll do it to adjust to that specific team's defense," Lin said. "He makes us look good"
"Just to know when I missed a few shots, he told me to continue to shoot. When your coach has your back like that, as long as you're playing smart there's nothing you can do wrong. I definitely see that's what's going on [in New York], with D'Antoni having confidence in him and his teammates believing in him.", Lakers forward Matt Barnes
San Antonio's Gregg Popovich would be the first to tell you that he wouldn't be the longest-tenured coach in the NBA if it weren't for Tim Duncan. But Popovich maximized his status to create a culture, one that wound up being perfect for Bruce Bowen.