By Matt Willens
On Tuesday at 7:30pm Mike D'Antoni will sit in one of the most coveted seats in all of sports, and begin to put his imprint on a team that has already won 16 NBA titles. The Lakers are built to win now with a stacked roster studded with stars at nearly every position. It has been 2 seasons since the Lakers last won an NBA title and the fan base, ownership, and players are getting restless. Will D'Antoni be able to deliver this team to the promised land? In my opinion he will. D'Antoni is an offensive genius who put together a team in Phoenix that scored at one of the highest rates seen since the 1980's, and he did it with a line-up that had half the talent that the current Lakers' roster has. The Lakers are better at nearly every position than the D'Antoni coached teams of the mid to late 2000's, and those teams were a few games away from the NBA Finals several times. The big "issue" with D'Antoni, according to many analysts, is that he is allergic to teaching defense. Yes, his teams have never been defensive juggernauts, however he never had defenders like Metta World Peace and Kobe Bryant on the perimeter, and more importantly he never had an inside presence as dominant as Dwight Howard to protect the rim. To make this difference a little more tangible the Lakers roster currently boasts 14 appearances on the NBA All-Defensive First Team and 4 Defensive Players of The Year Awards, while D'Antoni was coaching the Suns he had a grand total of one NBA All-Defensive First Team appearance. Those numbers alone should be enough to calm the pundits down, and give Lakers fans confidence that their team is going to be something special under D'Antoni. Will they be the best defensive team in the league? No, but they should be near the top.
I believe that Coach D’Antoni was the best fit (other than Phil Jackson) to lead this star studded team to Laker glory. D’Antoni is use to coaching multiple superstars competing for minutes, touches, and personal accolades. As an assistant coach for the past two Olympic Games, D’Antoni has coached some of the biggest egos in the NBA while accommodating the needs of the individual players in pursuit of two Gold Medals. If there is anyone that can coach a team with four offensive threats and keep them all happy it is him. D’Antoni is an offensive guru who brings a unique philosophy on offence that caters to players putting up shots and tallying in between 115-120 points per game. With rumor of D’Antoni bringing along Coach Nate McMillan, defensive specialist and fellow USA Olympic assistant coach he should more than prepared to silence the critiques not only on the defensive end but also in the trophy case.
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